You’re up before anyone else is, before the sun even. It’s a Sunday, and while everyone else around you chooses to remain tucked in, you do it differently. It’s what makes you special, it defines the choices you make. Like the Honda CB650R in your garage that’s eager to be brought to life in the wee hours. The irresistible howl from that in-line four is what keeps you wanting more of it. You can’t even wait to silently stir up a steaming cup of coffee. Chinstrap tightened, gloves fastened, it’s time to do your way.
Even in the dark of the early hours, the CB650’s sheen makes you take a step back and soak in its timeless styling. Ah, if only the CB650R didn’t boast those Neo Sports Cafe lines – an evocative hark back to the cafe racers of the sixties, but with a sophisticated and appealing flair that can only come with Japanese design and engineering. You admire the neatly stacked quad-exhaust headers that scream ‘legacy’, the muscular profile, the upswept tail-end and the overall compactness of its dimensions as you thumb the starter, bringing that legendary engine burbling to life and subsequently hear it settle at an exciting idle. It sets the tone of what’s to follow.
As the sun appears on the distant horizon, you’re already chomping down the miles down an arrow-straight highway, making the scenery blur past aesthetically. The motorcycle under you glides along effortlessly, attentively and instantly responsive to your every input. A mild twist of the throttle makes it surge forward with electric agility, leaving the sparse traffic far, far behind. It’s a nice place to be, the CB’s saddle, letting you experience the charm of Honda’s iconic yesteryears and modern-day finesse, all at once. The sense of refinement is only amplified with every gearshift, every raise of the revs. Your own shadow, and that of your motorcycle, can barely keep pace with you. The destination, for all you care, may only be a cup of coffee.
And then, you truly become one with the motorcycle. The distant hills are now a lot closer, as you snake up the curves carved into them. You steer the CB650R effortlessly, its precise responses swinging you from apex to apex in a seamless motion. It’s a perfectly harmonious experience, riding the CB650R up twisties you wish would never meet the dead-end they eventually do. But it’s not all that bad, given that you can ride down them, too, and back up again if you so please – there’s nothing more important than to feel the CB come to life today, after all.
The motorcycle soon becomes a musical instrument, perhaps the sweetest sounding one of them all, the riveting howl from its exhaust bouncing off the mountain as the revs rise steadily. It’s a consuming experience, to feel every input being responded to with immediacy, all the while with you seated comfortably and in absolute control. The wide, sticky tyres communicate fluently, and the Showa Big Piston fork isolates you from what you don’t need to feel. And for when it’s time to drop anchor, the twin discs up front react deftly, bringing you to a swift halt with absolute predictability. It’s a sensory treat riding or watching the CB650R in its element. It’s magical, being one with it.
The numbers on the reverse LCD screen shoot up violently as you twist the throttle wide open on the downhill leg. The sensation of speed only gets more gripping. And yet, the CB650R remains sublime, doing all the work for you while you sit in command, revelling in its nimble agility. It’s the kind of motorcycle you’ll want to ride all day. It’s the kind of machine that makes you want to do nothing but ride it everywhere.
As the sun sinks below the horizon, and the city lights get nearer, you’re still as refreshed as you were when you woke up. The other inhabitants of the urban jungle queue up outside night clubs and cafes, but not you. You’ve got a party going on all day. They look, their heads swinging in shock and awe, as you blur past, leaving a raspy exhaust note in your wake. The lure of empty city streets is stronger than the premise of having mobile phone flashes thrust in your face. You can’t hear them grumbling over the heady, bassy inline-four anyway.
You reluctantly head homeward, consoled by the promise of another day to do it all again – tomorrow, even. The CB650R relaxes its muscles, its LED illumination guiding you home as if it weren’t midnight at all. It’s been a Sunday like no other, but one that’ll redefine Sundays forever. It’s the way you’ve chosen to live. It’s what makes you stand apart. Just like your motorcycle, then. There’ll be nothing else like it.
