My Honda CBR250R Ownership Review


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First i apologies for not having any Old pic as i lost my 160gb hard drive , also lost all of my Pics from 2009- till date :( . I never cared to take back up and paid the pries Hard Way . Even lost my pics from Leh Trip . Any way before starting this thread i clicked some pics, got few one from my friends and from my old picasa album which are of SO...SO quality . Once again am extremely sorry for not having any pic from day 1 . Also the bike was purchased in 2011 , so am a little late for writing ownership thread .

OK, here we Go !

I was/am will always be a bike lover , Before Ertiga and CBR my first love RTR-Efi used to rule in my world . Sunday or any other weekend used to be pure RTR day . For weekends either i used to Ride or Used to do DIY stuff / basic Service on my RTR. I crossed 32000kms in 1st year and soon crossed 65k mark after 2.5 years.
RTR was getting old, Even my mech told me that "Abhi tera bike ka crank ne signal de diya hai , I think you should think about buying a new bike for your touring purpose. " at first i was'nt agreed and also argued a bit and told him that she is still as good as new . So he picked up his son's RTR160 and asked me to take a small TD , I did a small Round of hardly 3-5kms and then he asked me to Ride my bike . Well after riding a younger RTR i could feel the Performance loss was almost 50% compare to bike i Test rode . Also there were small issues coming up like Fork oil leaking, Rear shocks Oil leaking . Tappet noise, Oil leaking from head cover etc . So in practice way this bike was not fit to Touring any more . That's how hunt for new Bike stated for me.

My requirements :-
1> Good Performance with ability to cruise 120-130kmph easily .

2> Good handling .

3> Consistent Mileage / FE

4> Reliable Engine .

Bikes i shortlisted :-

R15 V1 :- I'd rode this bike many times and i know R15 has its own charm. Handling is killer , Front end of the bike will give you strong inputs about road surface you are traveling and many more. Lots of power (17bhp) and light wight to (only 125kgs) . Good FE and superb performance.
Draw back i saw were that it lacks cruising ability , I mean the torque band is way higher than RTR and R15 needs to be rived above 7-8k rpm to maintain three digits speed. Also Rim's were prone to crack , bend very easily , hard shock's .

Karizma ZMR :- Karizma truly defined a Touring bike in India , nothing will come close to it when it come to Performance and comfort . But once again , availability of parts and it's costs were the let down for me . So i skipped this bike.

RTR180 :- Now i have emotional connection with the name TVS APACHE RTR . RTR180 is also a good product, best braking in its class, wonderful handling and also affordable , Comes with ABS and other goodies like Digital console .
But practically it was the same thing as RTR160 with LITTLE bit more power , that's it . and after using FI i did not want to buy a " Carb " bike.

Ninja 250 :- Bike was well over my budget so no reason to look at it.

Now again there were news in the forums that Honda is Going to launch some 250cc bike in India , and i could see that it was already launched in Indonesia and in some other Asian countries . Reviews were very impressive , It was going to be 26bhp motor , A perfect upgrade for me.

finally on 4th January my friend told me that some dealers are accepting booking and on 5th Jan i booked my bike (Red/silver ) with initial payment on 5000/-. Official booking was yet to be opened .

TD bike came by the end of March , and so one fine day i got Test Ride of Black CBR 250R . Well i wasn't expecting bike to be a good handler as it has a very upright siting position and Longish wheelbase compared to other small bikes, But surprisingly bike was doing good with the handling part and i was OK with it. I knew i had to compromise a bit on handling department from the very 1st day i saw Full specification's of this bike . [ Honda Worldwide | CBR250R ] Official link for specs.
Felt little bit heavy as it wights around 161kgs and managing traffic was tad difficult than my RTR .

Engine was Refined and smooth unlike RTR's RAW and vibrant engine , Low end torque was fantastic and you could pull from 30-110 in same gear , a little Twist of the Wrist and i was flying @ 120+ in no time , yuuhuuuu ! after good 15mins TD was over and there was Big [:D] on my face. Finally found my self a nice upgrade.

Delivery :-

After paying remaining amount I got my bike on 5th May 2011 . Me and few friends went to Pilot honda's Yard and there she was waiting to get started. Did brief check up , cleaned my bike , And now it was time to Push the Started . I was getting nervous as this is going to be my first 250cc bike and was never used to such Full faired bikes. I pushed started but nothing was happening, WTF ....whats going on, why isn't she starting ?. I called up yard manager and told him the issue, He gave a strange look to me and said " Sir aap Chabi Ghumana Bhul gaye ho. " (Sir, You forgot to turn On the ignition Key), " Bhaaahhwawawawawawawawwawaw " my friend fell on the ground Laughing Out Loud , also few other guy's cracked joke on me.

Well, i never cared about whats going on around me and This time Turned On the Ignition Key , just gave slight push to started button and bike came to a live. At first Engine was running bit fast 2k RPM and it took good 1 minute to come down to 1500Rpm its Iding speed. Meanwhile I filled correct time in the Clock and also Checked Oddo reading (it was 0.7kms) . Took her home , Pooja was performed by my Dad and Mom , Ever other guy/girl in the society was looking at my Bike and was praising its look and road presence. As always Registration took good 6-7days and till then i had to wait as these days RTO might reject registration of the new vehicle if the Oddo readings are above 200kms < this was told to me by Pilot Honda. Till then i did only 1 round to Chembur SVS for Checkup .

Here are Few Pics of My CBR250R:
Console

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Pojing Time

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Me and CBR

TAI%2520CBR%25203.jpg

On 13th may i got receipt and No. for my CBR by 6p.m. and i was out on the National highway by 7.p.m reached Panvel (30kms from my house) and gave a call to my friend about my new purchase, he to was super exited and asked me to come down to Pune right away . I was already geared up , but just for precaution i stopped @ Panvel Mc'D and checked basic things like Coolant Level , air pressure, Checked for any leak or loose bolt . by 8.30 i started my 1st ride towards Pune . Reached there by 12.30am , met my friends had some coffee and came back home by 5.30am.
 
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Congrats for the bike Abhiwar.

The bike looks stylish as much stylish as you look!! I wish you many good times with this bike.

And, what was the on road price?
 
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Nice one Abhiwar, the last pic especially is good. Sorry about your hard drive loss, but its time to click some new photos, great if you can do a photo review from each angle of the cbr. Many questions in my head but to start with hows the gear shift hows the braking?
Also a quintessential question "kitna deti hai?"

Wish you many a safe miles.
 
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Hey Abhiwar Welcome to TAI !!

That CBR looks very good man and as IR told the last people is very good. Yes you can click some new pics now and post them for us [:)]
What is the current FE you are getting from it !
 
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Congratulations for the CBR250R Abhiwar.

And welcome to The Automotive India buddy.

CBR250R is a nice bike and definitely meant for highway cruzing. I had budget constraints when we were looking for a new bike so i went with Yamaha R15 v2. If i had the budget than my next choice would have been CBR250R.

By the way put some pics and also what is the FE you getting?
 

350Z

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Re: My CBR250R Ownership Review

That was super Fast . Thank You 350Z for quick approval .
Nice review. This is one of the few bikes that stirred up some interest in me prior its launch. You have chosen a unique colour too. So far red is the most common colour on CBR. I have never owned a bike until now, and if I do consider owning one in future (that would be purely for riding pleasure on weekends), CBR is something I would not miss checking out. I am following this thread. Keep us updated. :smile:

Drive Safe,
350Z
 
Thread Starter #10
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Re: My CBR250R Ownership Review

Nice one Abhiwar, the last pic especially is good. Sorry about your hard drive loss, but its time to click some new photos, great if you can do a photo review from each angle of the cbr. Many questions in my head but to start with hows the gear shift hows the braking?
Also a quintessential question "kitna deti hai?"

Wish you many a safe miles.
Hey Abhiwar Welcome to TAI !!

That CBR looks very good man and as IR told the last people is very good. Yes you can click some new pics now and post them for us [:)]
What is the current FE you are getting from it !

Nice review. This is one of the few bikes that stirred up some interest in me prior its launch. You have chosen a unique colour too. So far red is the most common colour on CBR. I have never owned a bike until now, and if I do consider owning one in future (that would be purely for riding pleasure on weekends), CBR is something I would not miss checking out. I am following this thread. Keep us updated. :smile:

Drive Safe,
350Z
Part2 :-

After riding her for 3 days i'd covered up good 800kms and i went on my final ride to complete Run-in period. Once again On a Friday night I started to move towards Pune from NH4. Its a 4 lane divided road hence a safe route to take while Night Riding. I generally don't prefer riding at night but the Level of excitement and Adrenaline was too much for me to resist it.

I slowly started to move towards JNPT and soon joined NH4 . The patch between Panvel to Khopoli is well known to me . I was keeping bike below 5000RPM as suggested in manual, with a short bursts till 7-7500rpm . Bike hits 85kmph mark on 5k and did 110kmph on 7500Rpm in 6th gear. This bike has wonderful Light Setup .It has Excellent 55W halogen which is more than enough for Night rides, Light spreads evenly on the road .
Well i was enjoying my ride at decent speeds when a Skoda Octavia overtook from left , guy must be doing more than 120+ on straights , I dont know whats wrong with this guy and soon with in blink of an eye i got overtaken by an R15 aging from left side with hardly an inch gap between our bikes . Was badly shaken by this and gave some harsh inputs to handle , Bike went sideways for a second and it seems it was going to be nice High Side on my 1st Ride , did nothing but to release my Grip on handlebar and prepared my self for the crash, to my surprise bike came back into straight line and fortunately i was still siting on my Bike. Husshhhhh...pulled over into next petrol pump for a quick break as i wanted to create some gap between these idiot and me. Again after few km's i saw a car speeding towards me from Left lane, He was extremely fast as he covered the distance between us with in second , i didnt got a chance to give a side and again i was overtake by left side in a very rash manner, followed by an R15 , WHAT T F [drive] .

This time i started to follow them from a distance, I noticed one thing Skoda guy was complete newbie in driving and R15 rider was even Stupid than Drive. Both used to brake hard even on long corners , and then used to Rip hard on straights . WTF . I downshifted to 4 from 6th , and started to build up speed, Over took R15 in same gear (poor fellow) , Plonked 5th @ 9000RPM , Kept her in same gear, Speed was around 132kmph , Was approaching at " S " turn , as expected Skoda brake's hard before entering the corner , I didn't brake at all , i did some throttle adjustments and Leaned in to 1st Right turn , picked up my bike and again leaned into Left handler . LOL , Both R15 and Skoda vanished into My ORVM's . I continued riding like this till i reached Express way and then slowed down . Continued my journey toward Pune , had a blast with my friends ,came back home next morning, Went to SVC > did my 1st service , and that's how i did my 1st sprinted ride (thanks to some idiots) and first 1000kms .

(It was never a Race for me , I tried to stay behind these people but guess what they used to slow down for me allowed me to overtake and then do same thing . Was never intend to ride in this manner rather i was force to do so, for my own safety , What if i got Rear ended at that speeds..? would been a fatal crash for sure. This is the reason i decided to ride little faster than these idiots . )

Ride Report:-

Brakes :- CBR comes up with both Front and Rear disk brakes (BRIMBO) . Bike wights 160kgs hence carries good amount of inertia with her. Yet brakes are Decent enough to shave off speed/ momentum very quickly. A soft suspension setup doesn't inspire any confidence in you while braking hard, rather it will make you nervous as front end of the bike will dive very fast and this is not a good thing to experience.
I see people complaining about poor brake pad life ( some people even had to replace pads on/with in 3500kms ) . I think Brake Pad Life depends on your riding style and also on a compound used to make brake pads. For me i replaced Front Brake pads @ 10200kms and after 14000kms i am yet to replace Rear Brake pads. For me Braking is 7/10 .

Chassis Design :-
The bike is designed to be a tourer/commuter so the Chassis . Its a Frame ( Diamond) type chassis which gives a bike superb stability on straights and on long corners. Even on high speeds bike feel planted on roads and stick to tarmac . Never experienced any shake or fishtailing till now because of high speeds or bumpy roads. Bike is not designed to take sharp turns so don't expect it to be sharp shooter on corners . Chassis Design 8/10 for me .

Handling :- Handling is acceptable for me as i like to cruise than be a sprinter . Also am not a cornering junkie so i don't care much if i've to slow down a bit before any sharp turn or hairpin bends . An Upright riding position and a longer wheel base and (super) Soft suspension setup makes bike a bit lazy on corners . Maneuvering into thick traffic is a pain in the A$$ . Over all Handling 7.5/10

Suspension Setup :- Bike comes up with Front Telescopic and Rear Pro-link suspension system is the Softest setup i've ever experienced in any bike. Front is super soft which is not good for tight corners at all . Combination of both Rear and Front suspension makes a ride little more Comfortable than other bikes . It absorbs small bumps and uneven surfaces so easily that you will hardly get any jerk on handle . Its fun to ride CBR on highways for same reason, you can ride all day long and still be left with enough energy to roam around in marketplaces or to enjoy Night parties with you friends and family. so I give 8/10 for Suspension

Engine :- Its very refined Liquid cooled 249cc, Single Cylinder , short stroke , DOHC Engine . This Powerhouse makes 25bhp @ 8500rpm and produces 22.9NM torque @ 7000Rpm . Above specifications makes this bike very Fast in straight line acceleration . 0-100 comes well with in 9 seconds and in No time bike will hit 130kmph mark, after this progress till 140 is bit slow and if you get enough road you can see 150-152kmph mark very easily. Personally I've hit 154kmph on Jaipur Express way and still there was some throttle left but never cared to use that extra ounce .. You will enjoy effortless riding specially on ghats or on steep incline where other bikes struggle , all you've to to is roll on throttle a bit and Enjoy overtaking. Low end torque is a boon in city as well as in signal to signal runs also. CBR is a silent runner and there is not much to talk about exhaust note here.
Enough of Performance now lets talk about Fuel Economy here . Bike give a steady mileage between 35-29kmpl highway , depends upon you nature of riding. cruise at 90-100kmph and you will be blessed with nice FE figures (36kmpl is a nice figure for me ) . I never got good average in City , used to get 26-28kmpl and now a days 25kmpl constant. So all n all For Engine 9.5/10.

Tyres :- Pathetic is the only world for Contigo tyres. I feel it would be west of time to write about it so i will cut short. Nice grip on Tarmac roads but once you enter in a gravel or Wet tyre looses all its grip . Even you can feel the difference right away . For Tyre 3/10

I think i've covered major topics in here, feel free to shoot any question regarding CBR . In next part i will cover my experience with ASC and Issues i faced with this bike.

Thank You every one and i hope you got your answers .
 
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Re: My CBR250R Ownership Review

Hahahahahahah Abhiwar, it was like watching "Dhoom 1&2 " in TAI with your experience man[lol]

But my sincere advise until unless it is really important, please avoid driving in the nights. Nice unbiased views, I wish you more and more happy miles ahead[:)]
 
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Thread Starter #15
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is yours not the ABS version?

congrats on the bike man. its an awesome machine!
Mine is Standerd version.

Congrat's on your new ride, wonderful crisp review and beautiful pictures
Thank you Visran .
cbr was my first priority but ended up with r15 v2.congos for the bike though its late.
Thanks, nitninja .

guys am uploading few images from my recent ride to Malshej Ghat .

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