Who knows about the Honda FMX650

[guest24]

I am still looking for a new bike (see earlier threads on DRZ400). Have stumbled across some cheap dealer offers for the Honda FMX650. Is it cheap because its crap? Or is it cheap because the uneducated masses cant cope with a bike with only 1 cylinder??

It looks nice to me especially the one in black. You can even get a backrack so I can strap on my rucksack full of butties that I bring to work every day.

Anyone ridden one, used one, got any opinions on it?

Might try and blag a test ride this weekend.....eek. I can see the moths escaping from my wallet already.

[guest29]

I think that they are basically a super moto'd  NX650 without the fairing et all so I would imagine they are a decent tool. Go on have a test ride  You know you want too!         
Then report back to the website with your findings

[hondamichael]

the fmx 650 isa supermoto style bike , basically a slr 650 which is a dominator without fairing  not a bad bike , reliable ,looks good , and rides well but the engine is unchanged since the 80`s of the last century
also the frames are i think nearly the same since the 80`s so  a bike thats in production since
nearly 30 years , only downside originally the engine had  i think a poweroutput of 50bhp
but already in the slr these 50bhp came down to 44 bhp then to 39bhp and in the fmx there are now
just 37bhp left , not realy competitive in the supermoto leaque in thew 600+cc class
where the fmx has to compete against bikes like bmw g650 ( 53bhp), ccm r30 (50bhp) ,
husaberg 650e (63bhp),husquarna sm610 (53bhp) ktm 690 supermoto (63bhp) mz baghira supermoto (50bhp) and the yamaha xt 660 with 44 bhp)  so in a ideal world the fmx is a good choise  if you want something bulletproof , but the customers think of it what it realy is, a dated old hack with some new plastic parts , so the only chance to sell a few are to drop the price dramatically what honda did , its the cheapest , but if you want a bike thats reliable , and if you dont care about
that the engine is a bit dated and underpowered compared with the other supermotos ,  for everyday use you wont find a better bike for that price in the 650cc class if you look for a thumper
in the real world you dont realy need more power , and with a little fiddling (in germany is a company they have specialised in thumpertuning  and give the fmx what she deserves (697cc and 59bhp)
http://www.egu-motoren.de/02c637997d0e30001.php

[squirrelciv]

Nice bike matey De-tuned Dommie motor (cams different aparently) take a look at www.xrv.org They have a dommie/FMX section where more knowledgable folk than I might be able to help

[guest24]

Hmm.

Been looking and thinking and decided not to even inspect the FMX. Its horsepower is less than a DRZ400, it weighs 65+ pounds more than a DRZ400, and it has very dated technology. I have also heard some horror stories about that engine eating cams etc...

Guess which bike I am going to look at? Yup, the DRZ400SM.

Oh, the XTX660 is my second choice though its a bit of a porky beast.

One day I will make a decision and actually buy a new bike.

[guest7]

The funny thing is, whereas all XBR owners live in fear of that telltale tapping from the rockerbox, I have never heard of a Dommie motor suffering the same fate.

GC

[guest27]

Remember the old saying - you have more pleasure for longer from a tuning fork than a chicken wing.  Not sure where the leaping horses fit mind.

R

[hondamichael]

cam eating  ..i very much put that in the tale section 
i know someone who has a slr 650 with over !!!! 70000 miles and this thing is bulletproof
hes now on his way to jordan  on it  to visit petra
and would you give him a drz he wouldnt want to ride  on it again as he had one for 3 days, he gave his slr in part ex for it  and a weekend  trip to south france  later  ...he brought it back to the dealer and asked for his slr back , as to light(gets blown all over the road at sidewinds ) to uncomphy, not suitable for luggage and despite more bhp not realy faster as the slr is more torquey
ok the drz is a good bike if you like a short balst over some b roads but for everything else the slr/fmx  is the better choise even if the engine  is dated , but a dated engine doenst mean bad bike

[guest18]

Doch, cam eating is no tall tale for Honda engines!! XBR's are well known for eating cams and followers, but as GC says, Dommies seem not to suffer (fingers crossed).

As to the power, all these figures are manufacturers numbers, take 10hp off each and you're probably getting close to the output of the bikes rolling out of the showroom, and I base that on rolling road tests I've seen done on bikes in the metal not what the magazines say!

As Michael says though, don't buy a bike on the power output. The only time I miss the grunt of a big powerful bike is when I'm in company of such a machine or a fast car, the rest of the time the Mastiff has plenty go, in fact I would go as far as to say it's just right for UK speed limits/roads.

[guest24]

Aghhhhhhh!

Now you are all scaring me.

One of the best bikes I ever owned was my SRX250. It weighed in at about 122kg and made 32bhp.
The worst bike I ever had was a Benly 200 weighing 2.5 tonnes with 6bhp or something like that.

I suppose the best thing is to test-ride both. 99.9% of my riding is 12 miles to work in Central London and my tight pocket may well favour the bike that has the best mpg value.

Wednesday I am back at work and will inspect the DRZ on the way home at Infinity motorcycles in Clapham. Watch this space for more of my ramblings!

[hondamichael]

one thing for sure nobody buys a drz because of the great mpg 
so you mainly commute in london or should i say filter through a big carpark
so why look for bhp even a c90 is faster then every car in london 

[guest18]

If it's for commuting in London then buy a cg125, cheap to buy, over 100mpg, nice and narrow for filtering... then use the leftover cash to buy a nice clean used thumper