[luky_13]

aargee, Congrats on the CBR. Just read your story, took me back around 15 years when I bought a new Kawasaki Bajaj 125 and drove it from Bangalore to Shimoga, approx 270 Kms. Although I drove at a steady 60 kmph - the Piston rings gave up and the engine had to be opened to replace them all shy of clocking 500 km's. So i can understand the pain, although that was Bajaj and this is mighty Honda. You are lucky that the MOCO acknowledged the 'Fault' and gave you an engine replacement, now I assume there is some peace of mind. Imagine having just had pistons replaced, your mind wouldn't be a peace knowing that this motor has once let you down.

At the end all's well that ends well. Best of luck and wishing you a happy driving experience. Cheer up and post a detailed ownership experience, you owe us one don't you ?

[sids911]

Originally Posted by aargee

Rajeev & other's - Guys, pls read the C250R's owner's manual before saying I violated the owner's manual, especially when it comes to keeping the bike under the RPM limit. Once again I stress, HMSI has NOT MENTIONED anything on it. They only say avoid sudden accelerations. When speaking to one of the HMSI personnel, he said, I could go even upto 8K RPM during run-in, just that, I shouldn't accelerate hard or suddenly.
Despite all this, I kept moving gradually from 4K RPM to 7.5K RPM.

There are folks who follow motoman's method of running in on modern engines and get away scott free (i dont prescribe to that method, and i never will - i have my reasons). So i dont think the problem is your running in process.

Anyone can produce a lemon (despite exacting processes that modern day factories employ), and more so when a company is hell bent on keeping the costs low.

[RX135]

@aargee :

I suggest, you don't ponder too much over what has happened. While it will play on your psyche every time you ride the bike for next 2-3 weeks, depending on how the bike fares, intensity of those thoughts will water down. Thinking over it again and again would only elongate that process.

While I was never a Honda fan, I expect the bike to fare much better. So give it some time and enjoy your ride. I really doubt if you'll regret your decision.

[Tommie]

Originally Posted by luky_13

Just read your story, took me back around 15 years when I bought a new Kawasaki Bajaj 125 and drove it from Bangalore to Shimoga, approx 270 Kms. Although I drove at a steady 60 kmph - the Piston rings gave up and the engine had to be opened to replace them all shy of clocking 500 km's. So i can understand the pain, although that was Bajaj and this is mighty Honda.

I want to share one of my 15 year back experience with the KB-125. My bike one among the first 2000 bikes that came out of the factory. The new KB-125 bikes had some modified gearwheels to match the higher engine power. The bike was one of the nice bikes during that time(RX was stopped and RXG was coming out) in terms of both power and stability with the all new aluminum engine which was pretty smooth. I used to ride the vehicle really fast and could out beat all the RX and the Shoguns during that time. I think I had done all the first 3 free services and after that a problem started to appear.

After 3 months or so, a problem started to appear. Once the vehicle crosses 60kmph mark in the 4th gear and when the speed drops below 55kmph, the 4th gear was automatically shifting to 3rd gear. Imagine you are trying to slow down and all of a sudden the gear shifts automatically to the lower gear creating a total confusion and raising the RPM and engine breaking. It was a real mess. I took the bike to the authorized service station. I had also written to the Bajaj and they were very prompt on responding to the fixes and they tried to fix with new gears and clutch for my bike. However, the whole activity took more than 1 month I guess.

After couple of days, a new problem starting coming out. Once I engage the clutch, the wheel was having some resistance from the engine. In simple terms, even on a neutral gear with engaged clutch it was behaving like a brake. Then the next set of investigations and on and on. Then the oil leakages. So in the first six months my bike's engine was opened close to 6-7 times and all the fun of the bike was gone. The initial raw power was gone, then tried changing the piston rings an some things were fixed by a good mechanic. I used that bike for close to 5 years and then sold it for a price of 13K. I heard that the second owner then sold to another person for 2.5K after 2 years.

My moral of the story is:
(1) Indian manufactures are not good with innovation in the first release. Wait till the refined(bug-fixed) version comes out after 1.5 years.
(2) No mechanic can fit the engine back to the original factory fitted way and get back the same smoothness.

[baddy]

If u did mention that the piston was scuffed only on one side, iam wondering if it could be due to the forward offset cylinder design which honda advertises to be reducing the piston cylinder friction. Btw was it the inlet or exhaust side that got scuffed.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by baddy

Btw was it the inlet or exhaust side that got scuffed.

It was at the inlet side.

Originally Posted by baddy

forward offset cylinder design which honda advertises to be reducing the piston cylinder friction

And appreciate to explain this. Tks.

Edit - Never mind ^^^ I got it. That was w.r.t crankshaft.

[ku69rd]

Originally Posted by aargee

Beyond 4500 RPM (70 Kmph) & 6th gear there's real good vibrations starting from thighs all way up to foot; the RVM's have minor vibrations at idle. Do any of the C250R owner's experience the same two symptoms? I simply don't feel like owning the bike anymore. Like they say, first impression is best impression, may be probably that is lost. Damn!!! My 20 year old Rx has the same vibrations only after 85 Kmph!!!

What vibrations would these be? Where are they originating from? My guess from your explanation could be a loosened engine mounting to the chassis/ Swingarm. Just shooting in the dark since you have updated us of the engine change.
For the RVM vibrations please do refer to mantrig's thread where a fastener was missing which caused the vibrations.
Agree that RX does not vibrate cause it aint having any plastics around it like Honda CBR With the advent of plastics/cowlings these issues are bound to happen. Probably you wanna try some innovative approach to resolve it?

@ Tommie,
Surprised that a KB 125 could race/outdrag RX & Shogun!!!
KB 125's were basically a disaster with their poor bottom end. There were instances where the complete bottom end were changed without the customer's being aware of it.

[sandeepmohan]

This is unacceptable for a Honda product. They got the pricing spot on for the 250R. I just hope the parts used are not sub standard in quality.

You should ask for a full replacement. I know its a little too late for this but you should. An engine seizure is not supposed to happen so early into the ownership.

The run in procedure you have followed is a bit too much. A good thing but I would not care much for a liquid bike. Take the bike to what ever speed you want but don't rev the nuts off the bike in any gear. This is more than enough for a run in on a liquid cooled bike.

[abhinav.s]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

You should ask for a full replacement. I know its a little too late for this but you should. An engine seizure is not supposed to happen so early into the ownership.

They have replaced the entire engine block! Are you saying they have to replace the bike with a new one? If so, then it might be a stretch to get Honda to replace the bike.

But anyways Aargee has been running in the new engine and it seems to be ok except for other niggling issues. So lets wait for him to report back on the performance of the new engine.

[sandeepmohan]

Abhinav: Yes. It will be a lot of work and endless emails and phone calls but do it. There will be a engine and chassis number mismatch. You have posted that you are having this sorted out in the RC book. No matter what you do, you can't get the speedometer to start from "0" again. You paid a premium for this bike and I believe a replacement is the way to go. You may never face issues again with the bike but you should still ask for a replacement.

[Bluu]

I agree with Sandeep. Not only will aargee be happier, it will help HMSI's image in the eyes of all enthusiasts. There are so many people for whom this experience has been a turn-off. Honda needs to bite the bullet.

[Leepower]

Guys, there is nothing wrong with running-in a bike in a day or two provided you stick to what the manual says. I have run-in four bikes (brand new Suzuki Heat, Bullet 350 -- twice after piston change, Yezdi again after piston change and finally my brother's brand new Bullet 350 UCE). What I do is I ride on NH 4 from Pune till somewhere near Kolhapur and then turn back with 1 hour breaks after ever two hours. And till now I have face no issues while doing this.
And aargee, I think the honda fellas should replace you bike, not just a new engine.

[sam_sant2005]

Originally Posted by brraj

First of all you should have asked for a new BIKE, surprising that you were ready for piston/engine change for a 1k kms done bike? Your resale will go for toss if some one sees your bike history in RTO/Honda database.

Well said. great point made. But for getting the bike changed one would have to move legally and spend much more. And only way out is to use this bike for next 5 yrs min.


And for everyone who is following this thread, a million dollar advice => Those who took CBR and are suffering, they did not follow the basics of automobile industry - TO WAIT A MINIMUM OF ONE YEAR BEFORE YOU BUY A NEWLY LAUNCHED PRODUCT (be it a car or a bike).

Now what they have is a prestige of being the first lot of owners (and would be head turners for sure), but in the process the risk they took was enormous. Personally, I would never do this.

On a different note, I do agree that this is least expected out of Honda. But still, though brand is old, product is new!

[2StrokeJunkie]

Feel very sorry for u arrgee . I feel you should have demanded a fresh bike - dont feel sorry for any MNC - they are not running an ashram but a money making business .

This just goes on to show that anytype of machinery is prone to failure regardless of the brand attached to it . Be it parts like Wiseco and Hot Rods . Or Automobile giants like Honda and Toyota . Sometime your locally built 20 year old Chetak if rebuilt well, will turn out to be more reliable than a Liquid Cooled 4 valve Honda . Make your wifey happy for peace of mind

[aargee]

Originally Posted by sam_sant2005

Those who took CBR and are suffering, they did not follow the basics of automobile industry - TO WAIT A MINIMUM OF ONE YEAR BEFORE YOU BUY A NEWLY LAUNCHED PRODUCT (be it a car or a bike).

Lol!!! If that were the case, then every body keeps waiting indefinitely to buy products that has been manufactured atleast an year old; the buyers keep waiting for over an year while the manufacturers waits to sell vehicles made about an year ago.