CB650R any help is much appreciated for CB650R ABS

[FrankSH]

First, I am sorry that I couldn’t login and reply all massages.


Second, many thank to all you guys. I took time to think about all your comments and read many reviews. And


Finally, I ordered my CB650R yesterday, and should be delivered in 1 month!

 

[halfmt1]

Congratulations, You will LOVE it!

 

[FrankSH]

Finally, She is here, in red! love it!
thank all of your comments!

 

[Itchytoe]

Congratulations on the new bike. Enjoy her!

 

[Saqib200]

Looks amazing.. brand new and shiny. Congrats!

How are you finding the bike? Let us know what you think after you have ridden it for a bit. Would love to hear.

 

[FrankSH]

"How are you finding the bike?"
To answer that, I have to start where I am from? My first bike was an upright position 250CC and I only put 8500km on it. With the new bike and new tires, the first 20km from dealer in shanghai traffic was a bit struggle to me.

Because of my bad experience with slippery new tires, I decided to stop at an empty parking lot to break in the tires. By doing some circles and figure 8 for 1-2 hours, I was able to reduce “chicken strips” to 1 inch on both sides of rear tire. With the practice, I am more in love with the bike. I can see why people say it is an easy bike.

Here, I have two questions:

1. I was doing 20-30+km/h with 2nd and 3rd gear with about 2k to 3k+ RPM. Is it NOT so good for engine break in?
2. I don’t want to push too much on the new bike. But I just curious that whether or not you guys can do the full tire?

After I have some feeling and confidence of tires, I found a route home with light traffic. With what I read about engine break in, I tried not to push too hard, but use various gears and kept RPM 3k – 6k. I plan to keep this way till reach 800km for first service.

Here are my other questions:

1. When did you do your first service? Manual says 1000km, some suggest earlier.
2. When RPM reach 5k-6k, I can feel quite obvious vibration from foot pegs and seat. Do you feel the same? It will go away later? Will a proper engine break in will help? If yes, how?

Since last Friday, I can only put 170km on the bike. But I really enjoy it. By the away, the picture was taken 1 day after I washed the bike. I spent almost 2 hours on her. Love it!

 

[Saqib200]

It's great to hear your feedback, glad you are enjoying it.

Chicken strips.. I never went to the edge on my bikes, not on the roads. It is not safe on the public roads, unless you have LOTS of experience and perfect conditions. Only really relevant on a race track.

Break in - lots of different thoughts. I say use the engine normally, but do not be rough or jerky with the throttle, do not use full throttle at low rpm (under 4k rpm ish). Using the engine at 2-3k rpm will be laboring the engine.. is okay at light throttle loads though.

First service is at 600 miles, or 1000km.

I have changed to a FireBlade now. So am not on this forum much, sorry.

 

[Itchytoe]

1. I'd recommend a bit higher RPM. 2k is pretty low. I'm normally above 3K all the time, even in traffic. I typically ride with it around 4 to 6K around town. As long as your throttle hand is easy, you won't damage it at 2k rpm.

2. If you are riding on the streets, no I don't think you can push the bike hard enough to completely get rid of your chicken strips. The CB650R is an extremely capable bike. If you are scrubbing off your tire edges, you are doing something very bad. Maybe it's bad riding technique, or maybe you're doing three times the speed limit around turns. Either way, you are doing something bad. Chicken strips aren't a good way to measure a rider's skill or abilities. People who make fun of someone because of their chicken strips are bad riders. They honestly mean nothing on a street bike. Don't worry about them, or try to get rid of them. If anything, they mean you are riding safely, so wear them proudly!

If chicken strips really bother you, scrub them off in a parking lot by doing circles at 20 kmh and leaning the wrong way. Seriously, do everything wrong and you'll get rid of those strips at low speeds in a parking lot.

3. I did my first service at the recommended interval. Don't be afraid to rev past 6K rpm when you are breaking in your bike. Constant full throttle runs with a cold engine is a bad idea, but once she's warm, ride her like you own her.

4. Yea, the inline 4 can be a bit buzzy. Yes, it goes away a bit as the engine breaks in. How? The break in process files down all of the mechanical components that rub each other. That makes them smoother so they scrape less when the engine is running. That results in fewer vibrations being produced. It won't completely stop the vibrations though. That's just the nature of an inline 4.

 

[Saqib200]

Good advice here from Itchytoe ^^

 

[FrankSH]

1. I'd recommend a bit higher RPM. 2k is pretty low. I'm normally above 3K all the time, even in traffic. I typically ride with it around 4 to 6K around town. As long as your throttle hand is easy, you won't damage it at 2k rpm.

2. If you are riding on the streets, no I don't think you can push the bike hard enough to completely get rid of your chicken strips. The CB650R is an extremely capable bike. If you are scrubbing off your tire edges, you are doing something very bad. Maybe it's bad riding technique, or maybe you're doing three times the speed limit around turns. Either way, you are doing something bad. Chicken strips aren't a good way to measure a rider's skill or abilities. People who make fun of someone because of their chicken strips are bad riders. They honestly mean nothing on a street bike. Don't worry about them, or try to get rid of them. If anything, they mean you are riding safely, so wear them proudly!

If chicken strips really bother you, scrub them off in a parking lot by doing circles at 20 kmh and leaning the wrong way. Seriously, do everything wrong and you'll get rid of those strips at low speeds in a parking lot.

3. I did my first service at the recommended interval. Don't be afraid to rev past 6K rpm when you are breaking in your bike. Constant full throttle runs with a cold engine is a bad idea, but once she's warm, ride her like you own her.

4. Yea, the inline 4 can be a bit buzzy. Yes, it goes away a bit as the engine breaks in. How? The break in process files down all of the mechanical components that rub each other. That makes them smoother so they scrape less when the engine is running. That results in fewer vibrations being produced. It won't completely stop the vibrations though. That's just the nature of an inline 4.

thank you very much for your advices. Itchytoe.

for chicken strips, i think i mislead you. How people look at my tires doesn't bother me. but I am careful how slippery my tires are. two years ago, I drop my brand new bike due to cold new tires on a cold day, and lack of experience. that's why I spent a hour or so to break in my tires. and you are right about safety.

but what do you mean "scrub them off in a parking lot by doing circles at 20 kmh and leaning the wrong way. Seriously, do everything wrong and you'll get rid of those strips at low speeds in a parking lot". I was doing circles and figure 8 to break in my tires. what do you mean "do everything wrong"?

thank you.

 

[Itchytoe]

To get rid of your chicken strips in a parking lot, you really just forget everything you learned and do it all wrong. Ride around in first or second gear, then turn right. Normally, you would lean to the right, but instead, lean as far left as you can. Try to keep your body straight up instead of leaning with the bike. Scoot your butt off the seat and sit on the side of the seat. That forces your bike to lean more without the need of going faster. The more your bike leans over, the smaller your chicken strips get. Just go a little faster or turn a little tighter and you'll completely scrub to the edge of your tires, or scrape the pegs. You should stop when the pegs start to scrape.

You could also just scrub them with a kitchen scrubber when you wash the bike.

 

[FrankSH]

Thanks for the advice!

 

[EricTsang]

果断入手就对了！

 

[daLe32]

Hello Guys,

As in Subject, any common is much appreciated to help me decide for my Second Bike.

Before going into my questions, please allow me to explain the reasons why I want to be careful with the decision. I am living in Shanghai, China. to own any imported bike is VERY expensive. For example, for CB650r, I need to pay 105,8000CNY and about 25,000CNY for tax, it is almost 16,300Euro in total! As now, the average waiting time is 3 – 6 months. And to make the thing even worse is, by Chinese current law, the “lifetime” of any motorcycle is 13 years, which means 13 years after the purchase, the only option you would have is scrap it! (CRAZY!) I know it is unlikely that I will keep the bike for that long, but I think that will affect the resell value, right? So, please understand the reason why I need to know as much as I can before I go for it.

Here is something about who I am:

1. Male in 40s, heck, I am 47
2. 177cm and 92KG (I know, I know..)
3. Got my license 2+ years, and ride 6000+KM so far.
4. Current bike: Suzuki GW250 250cc
5. Mainly usage: daily commute and possible short trips.
6. What I am looking for: with limited experience and age, I cannot picture myself sitting on an aggressive, speed monster. 😊 from what I read, CB650r offers a gentle, linear power output might suits my needs.
7. There is Honda dealer in Shanghai. I could schedule a test ride, however, the test ride is limited by time you ride, where you ride, and how fast you can ride. I will do that. But I would love to hear your comments rather than the sale talks.

Now here goes my questions:

1. Age: am I too old for such Bike? 😊
2. Ergonomics: my GW250 is upright bike, is CB650r too aggressive?
3. Vibration: from what I read, there is quite noticeable Vibration beyond 6000RPM?
4. Rust: from EnglishBikerDan’s post, some parts rusted after some time. Do you have the same problem?
5. Oil leak: in some Chinese forums, some riders complained there is oil leak. Please check the picture. Do you or hear such problem?View attachment 7830
6. Hard seat: in some posts, some riders mentioned the seat is so hard that they must rest after one-hour ride.

Again, thank you all.

For me number 6 question is true... but you can customize your own seat or buy aftermarket seat like Bagster sells.