Team-BHP - Honda CBR 250R : Answers to some commonly asked questions

Quote:

Originally Posted by needmorebhp (Post 2738173)

Another thing I really liked was its stability in crosswinds. Between Wayanad and Mysore, encountered rather stiff crosswinds and my friend was really struggling to keep his RTR going above 60. I on the otherhand was going over 90 without issues except that my neck was fighting hard to keep my head erect so you can guess winds must have been pretty strong.

Yes, I noticed this when I was riding to Kanyakumari last week. Since I've done this stretch on a Thunderbird, I was expecting the CBR to wobble at around Aralvoimozhy - where the windmills are - very windy place. But it didn't. In fact, the only thing to remind me of the heavy winds was that my helmet was moving about for a while. Loved this ride!

Mpower - IMHO, from practical few humble Kms of riding experience, CBR 250R can smoke out any car on long run. In my recent ride from Trivandrum, there was absolutely no vehicle that could've reached Chennai before I did for the very reason...TRAFFIC; Motorcycles rocks on traffics. So all the 0-60, 0-100 works out mostly on race track because on road, the scenario is different altogether.

Nevertheless nice idea though; having lost one GoPro, if you can help me with one, I can certainly put up 0-60, 0-100 timings.

ram_hyundai, BANDHAV, amit_purohit20, RX135, Ricci, Sheel, justwheels, mathranik, needmorebhp - Thank you everyone for your encouraging words & adding your bits of valuable information.

.anshuman, adi99, akshay380, anachronix, anoop_lamba, Blow Horn Ok, chetans, CliffHanger, condor, deadman, dreamseller, Eddy, FourWheelDrift, GTO, highway_star, james, kodivasanth, Latheesh, Leepower, MadBiker, mathranik, Maverick_x1, needmorebhp, ninjatalli, nosfreak, phamilyman, prateekm, Ricci, sagarpadaki, SDP, Skyline GT-R, sramven, Sutripta, Tushargohil, Visaster, _raVan_ - Thanks from my bottom of my heart to you guys

Naveenroy - Had a chance to ride through Aralvaimozhi yesterday morning; I only had to tuck in, the cross winds hardly mattered. I'd also ridden through Chitradurga during heavy crosswinds, the bike was quite rideable, just that I hadn't tucked in completely then.

It took a while for me to respond as I was busy preparing for another ride, which eventually didn't go out well as planned. The T'Log is shaping up here - [Photo Feature]: Is this a Coastal Ride? - xBhp.com : The Global Indian Biking Community. There was lot of learnings, as usual, from this ride as well.

Some more to add...

Hearty Thanks to afficionado (in xBhp) for sharing his experience on the following...

Q. Now that I have finally decided to go for the CBR what should I do?
A. Start calling up the Honda dealers in your locality. You can find the dealer list of your place on the HMSI (honda2wheelersindia.com) website. Do this before you approach any specific showroom. Tell them that you will pay full cash the only condition being that you want the bike immediately. You would be surprised at the response you get.

The results:
City Honda:Silver readily available with ABs,Red standard.
Silicon Honda:Red readily available for ABS as well as standard.
Dream Honda:Not available.Quoted 1 month waiting.
Anand Honda:Black readily available with ABS
Haiku Honda:Tricolour readily available with ABS.

And here I was waiting for more than a month after paying the complete amount although all the colours(even the discontinued silver)were readily available.

Q. But I dont want to pay full cash?
A. Dosent matter, atleast now you are aware about the availablity of the bike. Use this information to deal with the sales rogues if not anything else.

Q. Should I pay the complete amount while booking?
A. Never do that. Pay the complete amount only after you see the bike alloted to you in person. Else the showroom guys take you for granted. Also if you have some extra cash in hand you can go ahead and block a readily available bike at some other dealer.

Q. Any other things to take care of while booking?
A. If you are specific about not taking delivery of a display vehicle(at least I am), take a note of the engine no of the display vehicle whenever you visit the showroom.

Q. The sales guy has claimed XYZ delivery date,should I trust him/her?
A. Take whatever the sales guys claim with a huge pinch of salt. Ask counter questions like when has/will the vehicle dispatch from the factory happened/happen. How long does it take for the transit. Make it clear to them that beyond the promised date you would start discard them.

Q. Now that I have booked the bike and waiting for delivery what should I do?
A. Go through ownership threads on forums like xbhp in a detailed manner and try to gather as much information as possible.Try to dig out information on the details of the bike and go through the owners manual on the web(should be available in PDF format).Keep in touch with the sales person dealing with you and keep reminding them of the delivery dates promised to you.

Q. My CBR has arrived at the dealer, what should I do next?
A. Hold your excitement. Head to the dealers yard if possible and take a note of the engine no of the vehicle alloted to you. Also take a note of the ODO and make sure it is <3kms. I was present at the yard when the bikes had just been unloaded and all the bikes i checked had <2kms on the ODO(thats how it comes from the factory); with the dealer's consent, carry out a small checklist.

It is strongly adviced to take along your Parent's, friend, relative or whom you trust with you during this process. Quite a good chance that what you might miss due to excitement is easily noticed by them.

Q. PDI done now what?
A. Ensure that the bike for which you did the PDI and the one being delivered to you is the same. Match engine no,chassis no etc for the same. Take the delivery as soon as possible after the PDI. If the gap between the PDI and delivery is more than a couple of days repeat the checks once again during delivery just be doubly sure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sheel (Post 2757006)

Mine had 0.0 on the trip and 0 on odo. I saw it being unloaded from the cargo in my presence.

I might be the odd one out ;)

:OTSir,I had test ridden a Pulsar 220 and a Karizma R,a few weeks ago and each of their consoles were powered down/disconnected and neither of them had the "Test Ride Vehicle" sticker on them!
I asked the sales representative about the same and he said that they were to be delivered to the buyer!
IIRC,even a company with a bad reputation for QC such as Royal Enfield tests each of it's bikes on a dyno in the factory itself.

Does HMSI and other brands do the same(dyno testing) in their respective production facilities?
If yes,then shouldn't your bike have some distance on the Odometer?
^^Sorry if I'm being rudeplease:
Royal Enfield Factory - YouTube
I watched the dyno testing in one of the videos listed in the search result(I forgot which one!).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mik (Post 2756990)

cramster saddle bags be comfortably......Do give your thoughts.

Yes, I WAS using Cramster COLT on CBR on my RJ trip & last coastal ride, only thing is, you need to put the saddle bag between the split seats so that its more than safe.

A few people have good experience with Crapster; personally, I'd 3 products MX3, Stallion & Colt; gloves gave away in less than 6 months which is like 4-5K kms; Stallion was burnt by Rx, Colt was burnt by CBR. Needless to say more!!!

So I don't prefer any products from Crapster!!!

I'm contemplating between RYNOX GEARS and what n_aditya suggests, RJay's tail bag; what keeps me to rethink is, I already have Nelson Rigg tail bag. Anyway, I'll confirm what I bought as my purchase time frame is less than 20 days.

Sorry, I don't use tank bags, so I'm unable to provide my experience on it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patriot_Vishwas (Post 2757019)

Does HMSI and other brands do the same(dyno testing) in their respective production facilities?

Saar...you cannot compare CBR 250R with Pulsar or any other vehicle for a very simple reason, CBR's speedo is guaged by sensor unlike cable operated; its a menace to remove those sensor (unlike plug & play with cables). So its simply not worth doing on bikes like CBR 250R.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aargee (Post 2757150)

So its simply not worth doing on bikes like CBR 250R.

I recently taken a test ride of the bike and the entire speedo assembly was not working, on inquiring came the prompt reply that it's a customer bike and is about to be delivered.

I gave a earful to the dealer principal when he tried taking my feedback, I pointed it our that I would be apprehensive of buying from them as there are chance the bike allocated to me have served as TR bike for prospective customers.

Point it might not be easy to disconnect the speedo/odometer but dealers are still doing so.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sheel (Post 2757024)

They can't test all the bikes being dispatched, can they?

I have been to Bajaj Chakan plant and have seen Pulsars of all sizes being rolled off the assembly line. Every single bike was tested on a stationery roller where only the rear wheel was spinning and as the most of the bikes take reading from front wheels, chances of KMs reading on odo is less.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aargee (Post 2757150)

The speedo readings are from the rear wheel indeed. Reason why I suddenly see 67kmph from 45 and then back to 58kmph :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by BANDHAV (Post 2757170)

Mine is a March '10 bike sold in Oct '10.