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#1
When I first used Computers while studying in 1st or 2nd standard, I saw the Road Rash game.
I was fascinated by this game, and more so by those bikes that were faired. Decades later, the Dhoom movie was released, and I can confidently say almost all bikers today who were born in the 90s got the fire of riding from that epic movie.
Robbers robbing a bank and running away from the police in superbikes with Nitrous! This was the first time a lot of us came to know about the mighty Hayabusa.
Fast forward and I was 18 with all the dreams of getting a faired sports bike. But as fate has it, I got a Yamaha FZS as my first bike. For what it's worth, it's genuinely a mini sports bike. It is the bike that taught me how to ride, how to corner, and how to do long rides on a bike.
The Duke 200 was launched at the same time in 2012. It was a revolutionary bike with a high-performance 200cc engine which was affordable, unlike the CBR 250R at that time. Later they launched the 390 and my friend got an RC390. I traveled from Bangalore to Kerala just to see that bike in person!
I got in love with the power of the 390 and my only objective in life was to get that bike somehow.
I used to watch the Duke 390 and RC 390 review videos by PowerDrift every single day and admire those machines.
It took me 6 years to make that dream come true and buy a 2017 Duke 390 which has a thread here.
I got the Duke instead of the RC despite being a sucker for faired bikes because the seating position of the RC was so extreme and committed like how a supersport should be, and it was a track machine. My riding was mostly commuting and touring.
The dream of a faired sports bike was always in my head. Since I was living in Bangalore from 2013-2018, superbikes were a common sight there. All sorts of big bikes would fly past me while I was at Bangalore and it's back then I fell in love with the inline 4 roar of these machines.
The 390 was such a good stepping stone for me into big bikes and it gave a mini superbike kind of acceleration and braking at a fraction of the price.
Later, even though I was able to save up to buy a big bike, a lot of other stuff in life took priority over getting a big bike. I had to work in a different country for 2 years and I could not even ride there.
Fast forward to 2025 and I almost lost all interest in getting a big bike since their prices kept increasing and the ownership costs were also higher than what made sense to me. I have discussed multiple times in my Duke 390 thread how buying a big bike made no sense financially.
It was until recently, my views on life took a turn when one of my colleague's sons passed away in a train accident while crossing the track. It made me realize that no one knows how long we are going to exist in this world and therefore, there is no point in saving up all the money for tomorrow. We should live the life in the present. When I looked back at my life, had I invested the money I used to get the Duke in stocks or mutual funds, I would have made a lot of returns, but I would never be able to be a 21-year-old with a Duke 390 no matter what I do! I can make the money again. So, I decided to bite the bullet and get a CBR650R brand new. The choice of CBR was made a long time ago after taking all the aspects into consideration like usability, service, parts availability, costs, and most importantly reliability. Out of the 12.5L on-road price, 2.5L was road tax alone. I called up the Honda Big Wing showroom and asked them for a quote. But they didn't have the quote at that time and told me they would call me back and did not call me back for days.
It was at this time, I started looking for pre-owned bikes. I was able to find a lot of bikes listed by dealers in OLX. My foremost requirement was a bike in mostly stock condition because my experience with modifying my FZ was not so good.
It was then I came across a tbhp classifieds listing of a 2016 CBR650F.
The bike was in stock condition with only some functional mods like windscreen and tank pads.
I contacted the owner, he was a gentleman in his 40s. He was transparent about the whole deal. The previous owner used to get it serviced from a superbike FNG in Bangalore. After getting this bike, he always serviced it from Honda BigWing. The bike had no mechanical issues and he was actively using the bike for long rides across South India. His travelogues were also documented in tbhp. Soon, we agreed on the price and decided to close the deal if I was satisfied with the bike after checking it out in person. On that same weekend, I traveled to Bangalore to see the bike.
Seeing the bike in the flesh for the first time. Tbh, this was the first time I saw a CBR 650F close and in the flesh. It was overwhelming!
The bike had a few scratches, dings on the tank, and cosmetic imperfections here and there as expected from a bike that was used and not a garage queen.
I did all major checks and the bike was good. I took a short test ride in the neighborhood in 1st gear and decided to close the deal. I transferred the amount to him online and took his signatures on the transfer papers. I decided to keep the bike in his parking as it was safer than the hotel I was staying in. The last thing I wanted was someone stealing it!
After finishing all the formalities of the name change with the help of my friends in Bangalore, I started the ride home the next day at 5:30 AM.
It was my first time riding a 4 cylinder bike. Although, a few of my friends have superbikes I have never felt right in asking them for a ride in it. Also, I had written long back in my mind that the first big bike I would ride would be my own bike after I bought one. Being a 390 rider who redlines it often, I couldn't believe, how slowly I was riding the bike like a beginner. It felt like steering a huge thing under me. I was also scared about the bad roads of Bangalore and hitting the belly pan.
I was not at all used to the Honda switch controls with the horn and indicator positions swapped. I rode mostly under 40kmph till I reached the electronic City flyover.
I was keeping the bike under 60 for the most part on highways. After reaching Krishnagiri the daylight was breaking in, so I stopped to fill the fuel. I also filled the air pressure to the recommended levels, 36 front and 42 rear.
It was then I took a walk around the bike to see it in daylight. The next stop was Salem where I planned on having lunch.
I rode the bike under 80kmph in 6th gear as I was getting used to the seating position and brakes.
The summer was taking a toll on me. The Puig touring screen did its job well and directed the air away from the rider. This made me sweat more compared to the Duke.
As I continued the ride, it was an unbelievable feeling to know that the dream that I had for 2 decades had finally become a reality.
My emotions went through everything I have been through in the last 2 decades to reach the point where I am right now.
I was heartbroken that my dear mother was no longer with me to share the joy as she left us one and a half years ago. She always loved to see me getting something I always longed for. As my emotions were running high, I slowed down further to get a hold of myself.
Soon, the road was opening up and the traffic was getting faster, so I naturally increased the speed to be in line with them.
When I reached Dindigul, I decided to stop for lunch at a random place.
After having the brunch, I was feeling energized and back in reality. By this time I had already covered 334km and I was feeling more confident in pushing the bike.
There was a fuel pump where I stopped and so, I also filled up the tank. Surprisingly I got 29kmpl tank full to tank full, 25 kmpl speedometer indicated.
I started pushing the bike harder like the 390 in a few good stretches. After 7000 RPM, the sweet whine of the inline 4 engine changes character and roars like a beast pulling close to 200kmph at which point I got scared and eased down since the stretches ran out and people were randomly crossing the highway. The bike can easily do 230+ stock.
Somewhere near Madurai.
Earlier, with my 390, I used to race the sunset. Meaning, I would leave Bangalore before sunrise and reach my home before sunset. But with the CBR, I was taking it slow. It can be ridden in 6th gear as low as 40 kmph without any vibrations. Twist the wrist and it smoothly pulls all the way to 200 and more. The FE also drops from 25 to 10 kmpl understandably!
As the night sat in, I realized that the headlight throw was so poor and worse than my FZ. I am planning on upgrading it soon.
I reached home at 7:15 PM and as soon as my Father heard the sound of the bike, he came to open the gates to our home. I could see overwhelming happiness on his face as well. Maybe because he had been hearing it from me for 2 decades that one day I would buy a big bike. Maybe it's because I bought this bike with my own money. All my other bikes were bought with money given to me by my parents. I feel good as a human being that I had worked for it and waited for so long and finally achieved a dream.
Now, I know that this is not even an actual superbike, this is what the world terms as a middle-weight bike. But then for me, this is indeed a superbike, at least as far as India is concerned. I wish to do a lot of touring on this bike and take good care of it. As some of you may know, I do most stuff of my bikes DIY and I intend to do the same with this bike. The closest BigWing showroom is in Kochi and it's 200km away. So, I am going to do all basic maintenance myself and log in this thread, and use this thread as an ownership review thread as well.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. Have a nice day.
I was fascinated by this game, and more so by those bikes that were faired. Decades later, the Dhoom movie was released, and I can confidently say almost all bikers today who were born in the 90s got the fire of riding from that epic movie.
Robbers robbing a bank and running away from the police in superbikes with Nitrous! This was the first time a lot of us came to know about the mighty Hayabusa.
Fast forward and I was 18 with all the dreams of getting a faired sports bike. But as fate has it, I got a Yamaha FZS as my first bike. For what it's worth, it's genuinely a mini sports bike. It is the bike that taught me how to ride, how to corner, and how to do long rides on a bike.
The Duke 200 was launched at the same time in 2012. It was a revolutionary bike with a high-performance 200cc engine which was affordable, unlike the CBR 250R at that time. Later they launched the 390 and my friend got an RC390. I traveled from Bangalore to Kerala just to see that bike in person!
I got in love with the power of the 390 and my only objective in life was to get that bike somehow.
I used to watch the Duke 390 and RC 390 review videos by PowerDrift every single day and admire those machines.
It took me 6 years to make that dream come true and buy a 2017 Duke 390 which has a thread here.
I got the Duke instead of the RC despite being a sucker for faired bikes because the seating position of the RC was so extreme and committed like how a supersport should be, and it was a track machine. My riding was mostly commuting and touring.
The dream of a faired sports bike was always in my head. Since I was living in Bangalore from 2013-2018, superbikes were a common sight there. All sorts of big bikes would fly past me while I was at Bangalore and it's back then I fell in love with the inline 4 roar of these machines.
The 390 was such a good stepping stone for me into big bikes and it gave a mini superbike kind of acceleration and braking at a fraction of the price.
Later, even though I was able to save up to buy a big bike, a lot of other stuff in life took priority over getting a big bike. I had to work in a different country for 2 years and I could not even ride there.
Fast forward to 2025 and I almost lost all interest in getting a big bike since their prices kept increasing and the ownership costs were also higher than what made sense to me. I have discussed multiple times in my Duke 390 thread how buying a big bike made no sense financially.
It was until recently, my views on life took a turn when one of my colleague's sons passed away in a train accident while crossing the track. It made me realize that no one knows how long we are going to exist in this world and therefore, there is no point in saving up all the money for tomorrow. We should live the life in the present. When I looked back at my life, had I invested the money I used to get the Duke in stocks or mutual funds, I would have made a lot of returns, but I would never be able to be a 21-year-old with a Duke 390 no matter what I do! I can make the money again. So, I decided to bite the bullet and get a CBR650R brand new. The choice of CBR was made a long time ago after taking all the aspects into consideration like usability, service, parts availability, costs, and most importantly reliability. Out of the 12.5L on-road price, 2.5L was road tax alone. I called up the Honda Big Wing showroom and asked them for a quote. But they didn't have the quote at that time and told me they would call me back and did not call me back for days.
It was at this time, I started looking for pre-owned bikes. I was able to find a lot of bikes listed by dealers in OLX. My foremost requirement was a bike in mostly stock condition because my experience with modifying my FZ was not so good.
It was then I came across a tbhp classifieds listing of a 2016 CBR650F.
The bike was in stock condition with only some functional mods like windscreen and tank pads.
I contacted the owner, he was a gentleman in his 40s. He was transparent about the whole deal. The previous owner used to get it serviced from a superbike FNG in Bangalore. After getting this bike, he always serviced it from Honda BigWing. The bike had no mechanical issues and he was actively using the bike for long rides across South India. His travelogues were also documented in tbhp. Soon, we agreed on the price and decided to close the deal if I was satisfied with the bike after checking it out in person. On that same weekend, I traveled to Bangalore to see the bike.
Seeing the bike in the flesh for the first time. Tbh, this was the first time I saw a CBR 650F close and in the flesh. It was overwhelming!
The bike had a few scratches, dings on the tank, and cosmetic imperfections here and there as expected from a bike that was used and not a garage queen.
I did all major checks and the bike was good. I took a short test ride in the neighborhood in 1st gear and decided to close the deal. I transferred the amount to him online and took his signatures on the transfer papers. I decided to keep the bike in his parking as it was safer than the hotel I was staying in. The last thing I wanted was someone stealing it!
After finishing all the formalities of the name change with the help of my friends in Bangalore, I started the ride home the next day at 5:30 AM.
It was my first time riding a 4 cylinder bike. Although, a few of my friends have superbikes I have never felt right in asking them for a ride in it. Also, I had written long back in my mind that the first big bike I would ride would be my own bike after I bought one. Being a 390 rider who redlines it often, I couldn't believe, how slowly I was riding the bike like a beginner. It felt like steering a huge thing under me. I was also scared about the bad roads of Bangalore and hitting the belly pan.
I was not at all used to the Honda switch controls with the horn and indicator positions swapped. I rode mostly under 40kmph till I reached the electronic City flyover.
I was keeping the bike under 60 for the most part on highways. After reaching Krishnagiri the daylight was breaking in, so I stopped to fill the fuel. I also filled the air pressure to the recommended levels, 36 front and 42 rear.
It was then I took a walk around the bike to see it in daylight. The next stop was Salem where I planned on having lunch.
I rode the bike under 80kmph in 6th gear as I was getting used to the seating position and brakes.
The summer was taking a toll on me. The Puig touring screen did its job well and directed the air away from the rider. This made me sweat more compared to the Duke.
As I continued the ride, it was an unbelievable feeling to know that the dream that I had for 2 decades had finally become a reality.
My emotions went through everything I have been through in the last 2 decades to reach the point where I am right now.
I was heartbroken that my dear mother was no longer with me to share the joy as she left us one and a half years ago. She always loved to see me getting something I always longed for. As my emotions were running high, I slowed down further to get a hold of myself.
Soon, the road was opening up and the traffic was getting faster, so I naturally increased the speed to be in line with them.
When I reached Dindigul, I decided to stop for lunch at a random place.
After having the brunch, I was feeling energized and back in reality. By this time I had already covered 334km and I was feeling more confident in pushing the bike.
There was a fuel pump where I stopped and so, I also filled up the tank. Surprisingly I got 29kmpl tank full to tank full, 25 kmpl speedometer indicated.
I started pushing the bike harder like the 390 in a few good stretches. After 7000 RPM, the sweet whine of the inline 4 engine changes character and roars like a beast pulling close to 200kmph at which point I got scared and eased down since the stretches ran out and people were randomly crossing the highway. The bike can easily do 230+ stock.
Somewhere near Madurai.
Earlier, with my 390, I used to race the sunset. Meaning, I would leave Bangalore before sunrise and reach my home before sunset. But with the CBR, I was taking it slow. It can be ridden in 6th gear as low as 40 kmph without any vibrations. Twist the wrist and it smoothly pulls all the way to 200 and more. The FE also drops from 25 to 10 kmpl understandably!
As the night sat in, I realized that the headlight throw was so poor and worse than my FZ. I am planning on upgrading it soon.
I reached home at 7:15 PM and as soon as my Father heard the sound of the bike, he came to open the gates to our home. I could see overwhelming happiness on his face as well. Maybe because he had been hearing it from me for 2 decades that one day I would buy a big bike. Maybe it's because I bought this bike with my own money. All my other bikes were bought with money given to me by my parents. I feel good as a human being that I had worked for it and waited for so long and finally achieved a dream.
Now, I know that this is not even an actual superbike, this is what the world terms as a middle-weight bike. But then for me, this is indeed a superbike, at least as far as India is concerned. I wish to do a lot of touring on this bike and take good care of it. As some of you may know, I do most stuff of my bikes DIY and I intend to do the same with this bike. The closest BigWing showroom is in Kochi and it's 200km away. So, I am going to do all basic maintenance myself and log in this thread, and use this thread as an ownership review thread as well.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. Have a nice day.
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