The Honda CBR650F is one among a handful of middleweight bikes that can take care of commuting, sport riding as well as long distance touring with the same proficiency. Honda launched the 2017 CBR650F in India today priced at Rs 7.3 lakhs (ex-showroom), featuring a more powerful engine and an upgraded suspension and brake setup.
While it directly competes against the inline-four bikes like the Kawasaki Z900 and the Benelli TNT600GT, there are a bunch of other twin-cylinder motorcycles that you can buy with a similar budget. Here is a rundown of what else you can buy for the price of a Honda CBR650F.
Ducati has a bunch of motorcycles from the Scrambler and Monster range in this price bracket, all powered by the 803cc air-cooled desmodromic L-twin engine. The most affordable of the lot is the Scrambler Icon priced at Rs 7.03 lakhs. Then you have the Scrambler Full Throttle priced at Rs 8.18 lakhs, which features a design inspired by oval track race bikes. For exactly the same price, you also have the Scrambler Classic and the Urban Enduro. While the former gets old school styling harking back to the original Scramblers of the 1970s, the Urban Enduro is a hybrid of a street bike and an off-roader.
The Monster 797 is slightly pricier at Rs 8.28 lakhs. The entry-level model in the Monster range, the Monster 797 mimics the minimalistic character of the original Monster from early 1990s.
Triumph has three modern classic motorcycles from the Bonneville range that you can buy for similar money. These bikes retain all the good bits from the old Bonneville range while adding a new liquid-cooled engine and more technology to the equation. All three bikes feature the same 900cc liquid-cooled parallel-twin engine, delivering 54bhp and 80Nm of torque.
The Street Twin is the entry-level model priced at 7.3 lakhs. The Street Scrambler features a slightly revised chassis, long-travel suspension and spoke wheels to make it a better off-roader. It is priced at Rs 8.1 lakhs. The Bonneville T100 on the other hand, is priced at Rs 8.28 lakhs and gets a classic and elegant design.
But if you want an adventure touring motorcycle, you can look at the Kawasaki Versys 650. The engine might be short of two cylinders, but it compensates with the long travel suspension, which gives the Versys 650 an edge in markets like India. It is priced at Rs 6.5 lakhs. All prices are ex-showroom.
