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Honda’s Most Approachable Street Bike Now Looks Better Than Ever

Six years after its introduction, this incredibly popular and rider-friendly motorcycle gets a well-deserved aesthetic refresh.

Close-up of a motorcycle engine and exhaust system with black frame and gold front fork against a green background.Honda

By Steve Mazzucchi

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Launched in 2019, the Honda CB650R was pretty much an instant hit — and one of the brand’s bestsellers ever since. 

With a silhouette dubbed neo sports café, the naked street fighter sibling to the sportier CBR650R carried the three-pronged appeal of approachability, affordability and aesthetics.

Blue and black Honda motorcycle with gold front forks and wheels, exposed engine, and round headlight.
Of the four new paint schemes, the darkly dazzling Matte Jeans Blue Metallic is easily my favorite.
Honda

Those qualities have only improved in the past few years, most notably on the approachability front, as these two bikes debuted Honda’s E-Clutch technology in 2024.

The latest update to the bike, however, has much more to do with something much more important: style.

Color my world

See, the 2026 editions of the bike just introduced to the European market — with a US rollout presumably to follow, based on precedent — crack open several lively cans of paint. 

I would not be so excited about such a purely surface-level modification if the colors were not so damn good. 

Red and black Honda motorcycle with gold rims shown from rear side on a gray background.
This Grand Prix Red tank nods to Honda’s long history with the color, which has earned it the nickname The Red Brand.
Honda

While the 2025 bike is limited to a solid, understated Pearl Smoky Gray, the next model year gets four head-turning new hues: Matte Gunpowder Black Metallic, Matte Jeans Blue Metallic, Candy Energy Orange and Grand Prix Red.

What hasn’t changed, and didn’t need to, are its performance qualities, headlined by the 649cc liquid-cooled inline four-cylinder engine, which makes a claimed 94 horsepower at 12,000rpm and 46.4 Lb-ft of torque at 9,500rpm. 

Orange and black Honda motorcycle with gold front forks and bronze wheels on a gray background.
The Candy Energy Orange treatment gets my nomination for “Easiest to Find in the Parking Lot.”
Honda

Helping to tame all those horses are dual 310mm discs with radial-mount four-piston calipers up front and a single 240mm disc in the rear, both with ABS.

Suspension, meanwhile, is handled by a 41mm Showa Big Piston fork with 4.7 inches of travel up front and a Showa single shock with 5.1 inches of travel in the back.

Clutch performer

That said, it’s not the engine, brakes or suspension that make the CB650R so rider-friendly.

Nor is it the upright riding position, 31.9-inch seat and curb weight of 456 pounds, though those certainly don’t hurt. 

Heck, this bike is not even the smallest or cheapest of its kind, as Honda also offers a CB300R.

Close-up of a black Honda E-Clutch cover mounted on a bronze motorcycle engine with visible bolts.
The not-so-secret rider-friendly sauce of the 650 bikes is Honda’s electronically actuated clutch, aka E-Clutch.
Honda

No, the big story with the CB650R and its fully faired brother is, they are the only two in Honda’s 13-bike sport/standard category to feature E-Clutch, the brand’s ever-evolving approach to making motorcycles easier to ride without going full DCT.

The move is very much in line with the industry trends, which appear to be following what happened in the car industry a few decades back, the beginning of a dramatic, ahem, shift in the ratio of automatic transmissions to manuals.

As the name suggests, this technology gives the bike an electronically actuated clutch. 

Person wearing a brown jacket and silver helmet riding a black and silver Honda motorcycle on a city street.
Even the Matte Gunpowder Black Metallic edition pops thanks to the fork, engine and those glorious pipes.
Honda

When you go to shift the gear lever with your left foot, the system automatically pulls in the clutch, then releases it once you’ve clicked into the next gear.

For what it’s worth, the bike still has the clutch lever, so you can kinda squeeze along with the action if you choose.  

A little bit goofy for an old-school curmudgeon like me? Perhaps. But much easier and more comfortable to ride, especially while navigating gridlock? Absolutely.

Availability and pricing

The 2026 Honda CB650R E-Clutch starts at £7,999, which is roughly equivalent to $10,650 USD.

Considering Honda’s track record of bringing bikes to North America following their introduction in Europe, I am optimistic we’ll get this one by the end of the year.

Whether it will be available in these four wonderful colors is a different story, however.

About the Author:

Now managing editor, Steve has served in a variety of roles with GP since 2019. Having previously written and edited for such publications as Men’s Health, Men’s Journal, Esquire and ESPN, he enjoys covering a range of topics — but mostly those pertaining to cycling, snow sports, pocket knives and motos — and dreams of a utopian world in which everyone’s bike seat is at the proper height.

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