The Japan-spec 2020MY Honda CBR400R comes at a starting price of JPY 8,08,500 or INR 5.61 lakh
Japanese two-wheeler manufacturer Honda has announced the launch date of its latest entry-level middleweight sportsbike, CBR400R. The 2020MY Honda CBR400R will hit its home market on July 31 at an ex-showroom starting price of JPY 8,08,500 or roughly INR 5.61 lakh. Apart from minor cosmetic tweaks such as fresh graphics (primarily a new ‘CBR’ logo), the latest Honda CBR400R does not carry any notable improvement over its 2019MY version.
Chances of it coming to the Indian market are unlikely but Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) has already revealed its plans to bring four 500cc twin-cylinder motorcycles: CMX500 Reber cruiser, CB500F naked, CBR500R faired and CB500X adventure-tourer. Rumours suggest that the Honda Rebel would be the first one to come. Once launched, the company will open a new market for entry-level middleweights in India.
It was only recently that Honda unveiled its 2020MY CB400X dual-sport motorcycle in Japan. It is priced at JPY 826,100 or almost INR 5.82 lakh ex-showroom. Like the 2020MY CBR400R, the new CBR400X carries minimal changes over its 2019MY counterpart. However, the list of updates is slightly longer. Honda targets an annual sales figure of 1000 units and 700 units for the 2020MY CBR400R and 2020MY CB400X, respectively.
Powering the 2020MY Honda CBR400R is a 399cc liquid-cooled DOHC twin-cylinder motor good for around 45bhp @ 9,000rpm and 38Nm @ 7,500rpm. The engine is mated to a 6-speed transmission. Its adv sibling employs the same power plant in a near-identical state of tune.
Prominent features include twin full-LED headlamps, ‘assist and slipper’ clutch, dual-outlet exhaust, fully-digital instrument console, adjustable front brake lever and more. It is essentially a sports tourer offering a comfortable riding position. To a good extent, one can regard it as a trimmed-down avatar of the Honda CBR600R inline-four sportsbike, already available on the Indian market.
The India-bound CBR500R, in its global format, employs a 471cc liquid-cooled DOHC twin-cylinder engine churning out around 47bhp @ 8,600rpm and 43Nm @ 6,500rpm. This is somewhat the same output characteristics as its other ‘500’ counterparts.
In other news, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India has removed the entry-level Wing World product, CB300R from its official website. The ‘neo-retro’ streetfighter was launched back in February 2019 as a CKD (Completely Knocked Down) product, with a starting price tag of Rs 2.41 lakh ex-showroom. It would most likely return in a revised BS6 format to take on dominant players such as the KTM 390 Duke, Bajaj Dominar 400, TVS Apache RR310 and BMW G 310 R (BS6 version in development).
