Hi,
I've been sitting on the fence for a long time about buying a bike. I was torn between the RE Classic 350 and the Honda CBR250R. Though I had booked for a C3 on February, I decided to buy the CBR instead. I had gotten worried about RE's bad reputation in quality and servicing and decided to put my trust in the CBR. And I'm a proud owner now!
Dealership experience:
I had visited almost all the Honda dealers in Cochin while I was deciding to switch over to the CBR. Oddly, almost all of them only had the tricolor in stock- no reds or blacks. The standard reply I had got was-'Sir, the CBR250 is now available only in tricolor for Kerala. The production of other colors have stopped.' That sounded like hogwash to me. I bought the CBR from my native town where they had a red example fresh off the truck. The experience was hassle-free as I personally knew the owner. Got the bike yesterday. I'm a happy soul now.
Now, about the bike-
Engine: I'm no expert on bikes. The only experience I had with them was riding my bro's Honda scooter and the weekend trips on the RE Classics loaned from the showroom. Compared to the Enfields, the CBR's motor felt quite refined and vibe free. It's smooth and doesn't exhibit any drama. I guess that makes it a relaxed tourer. I'm sticking to below 4000 rpm for 500 kms for now. I'll update later after I've completed the first service.
Gearbox: Extremely smooth and positive feeling. I've only got a couple of grouses about them. One is the fact that the gear lever's a bit too short. But I can get used to that in a couple of days. Secondly, I'm missing a gear or two while shifting, ie, while shifting to second, I'm inadvertently shifitng to third. I think that I maybe at fault here. Gotta work up my shifting skills while riding alone late at night.
Ride & Handling: Sure footed and stable. I got the feeling that the Conti rubbers weren't too fond of wet roads, but they didn't lose traction or anything. The ride quality is pretty good though not in the Classic's league.
Braking: Mine's a STD version with Bybre brakes. The brakes don't have much bite and feel safe and progressive to operate. However, they can be inadequate while braking from high speeds. Seems like replacing the stock brake pads with better ones can improve things. I need to practise more braking on the CBR- just to be safe.
Ergonomics: The positioning takes a bit of getting used to. My wrists were aching after a ride. As I had said before, the gear lever and the brake pedals are small but one does get used to them over time. The main seat's pretty okay so far. The pillion seat seems uncomfortable and I don't think I would want to take a ride sitting on that seat. I didn't like the look of the rear footpegs and would be replacing them with something classier and made out of aluminum.
The switchgear and plastic quality seems to have improved over the first batch. I had been quite unimpressed with the plastic quality of the first batch of CBR-s. But now, they seem to have improved quite a bit. For example, the weld marks on the chassis aren't as prominent as they were before.
The instrument console's pretty nice. Simple, but functional.
I apologize for the poor quality pictures. My cam had run out of juice and I had to make do with my lousy phone's camera instead.
Pros-
1) Refined and smooth engine.
2) Linear power delivery. Has the grunt to make light work of most vehicles.
3) Smooth gearbox.
4) Good ride quality and sure footed handling. It's no corner carver, but what it can do is more than enough for me.
5) Heavy and feels quite stable.
6) Improved quality of plastics.
7) Extremely forgiving vehicle- it's easy to ride even for a noob like me.
8) 5 year extended warranty at a nominal price. A lot of peace for the mind.
9) Spares and servicing seems to be cheap.
10) The internals seem to be reliable. After all, it's a Honda.
Neutral-
1) The CBR's looks take some time to grow on you. The reaction of people was polarized, however. Some seemed to like it and some didn't. Oh well, it's me who's going to ride it- not them so who gives. It's not that I'm running a popularity contest anyway.
2) Gear & brake lever length is a bit short. Not too big a deal though.
3) Riding position. Again, needs a bit of getting used to.
4) Fuel Efficiency. Around 30-35 kmpl would be okay for me. Haven't checked it though.
5) Refinement. While it's a huge step up from the RE-s I have experienced, it's not as refined as say, an FZ16. It's got more clatter and noise than the FZ. Maybe it'll subside after the first service. I like the rorty sound, however. Adds a bit of character to the bike.
Cons-
1) Expensive. I would have seriously gone for the Duke 200 instead except that there are no KTM outlets in Cochin. There's only one in Trivandrum and travelling for about 120 kms for a service isn't practical. There's no doubt that the CBR250's expensive. Now that the Duke's here, it's not quite that VFM anymore. One's going to have a hard time convincing people it costs north of 1.5 lakhs. My neighbour took a guess at its price: how much did it cost? 75K?!
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2) Still some rough edges in the fit and finish. The clip on handle bar is a one. The finish where the handle bars are bolted to the bike's chassis is terrible. It looks crude and shoddily finished.
3) Poor rear seat storage mechanism. I'm having a hard time opening and closing the storage area under the rear seat. For one, the space's pretty small and secondly, the hinge and snap lock mechanism are poor.
4) I like the linear and progressive feeling brakes, but many who ride at high speeds might find them inadequate. Replacement of brakepads with better ones might solve the problem.
Overall, it's a pretty good bike. Great for long distance trips and mile munching. It's a likable bike- it just grows on you. Hmm... time to hit the road and pile up some miles.