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-   -   Baby Ceeber comes home! Honda CBR250R (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorbikes/123335-baby-ceeber-comes-home-honda-cbr250r-4.html)

Thank you S@ndy! I would call the CBR a refined and a versatile performer than a sedate one. The engine is smooth and unobtrusive at lower rpms (4000 or less)- it's to be a different animal at higher revs as revealed in a few flashes where I had inadvertently gone a bit faster than I had intended. At higher revs past 4K rpm, there's a different snarl to the engine and it picks up speed quickly. It can dance both ways though- it's good at riding in a slow and sedate manner, but it can hustle pretty fast if it's required. Depends on the rider, really.

I do not plan on doing many mods as I like the bike pretty much the way it is. The little ones I plan to do are-

- A radiator guard. The radiator is exposed and is in a vulnerable position. Also, the mud and debris would directly go into that area as the front wheel mudguard isn't too effective. So, I think that a guard is a must.
- A tank guard.
- Upgrading to DOT4 brake fluid.
- A paddock stand or a makeshift one (I read about somebody making do with a car jack and some other adjustments... forgot which thread it was).
- Ambivalent about the HID projector headlamp posted by Vandit. Have to see one in action in real life to decide whether it's required or not.

I don't see the need for performance mods. I was thinking about adding a Yoshimura slip-on exhaust later after accumulating some miles, but decided against it. If you're into performance mods, there should be quite a bit of aftermarket parts available for the CBR250R.

I had went for a trip to Cherai beach (not really a long trip- but somewhat of a long trip for a noob like me) yesterday. After some time into the ride, my rear felt sore, but due to the roomy seat, I was able to shift around a bit and make myself comfortable. I didn't experience any more discomfort after finding a good riding position. The bike's a good mile muncher.

The handling isn't razor sharp and the CBR isn't really meant for corner carving like maybe the R15. It's predictable and safe but not really flickable. That's more than good enough for me though- the CBR is more of a softer handler and makes concessions towards comfort.
Riding it in traffic is possible, but the engine can get hot. The radiator fan takes care of cooling it by throwing out hot air through the sides, but it depends on the rider whether he can tolerate the extra heat or not.

I found that the rider comfort to be good. I didn't have much expectations on this front, but the CBR sort of surprised me. The front seat doesn't have too much cushioning, but the generous area means that you can shift around it and find the best position. It has been good enough so far.
I can't say much about pillion comfort- I haven't let anybody ride my bike yet so I haven't rode pillion on the CBR yet!
Apart from a couple of short runs with my brother as a pillion, I had ridden solo till now. From what he said, it wasn't too comfortable. I think that if the pillion rider leans forward, the rider would get more pain on his wrists and elbows. I'm not putting the pillion comfort in a bad light- personally, I think it's better than the new R15 and the old FZ.

Hope that I was of help with my limited knowledge. Do take a long test ride of the CBR to see if it is to your liking.

Congrats on the new bike.
I have pmed you the details about the radiator guard.

Long term distances ?? Just finished a 4000 kms Spiti/Leh region, absolutely wonderful machine, no issues inspite of running through the worst roads.

Woohooo! Good to see you back rk_sans! Have you started writing about the trip? Pics and all up on a separate thread please.

@evilmessiah - we got a paddock stand also done. Again, rk_sans to help!

Thanks rk_sans! I've replied to your msg. Do share your experiences about the trip!

That's excellent! I'll pm him about that too.. I'll be needing one.

Yes, Naveen, pics and travelogue would be out soon on a separate thread.

Evilmessiah,
Message you the details about paddock stand also.

It's time for the first service tomorrow. The manual said 1000 km/ 1 month whichever is earlier. Thanks to the incessant rains here, I was able to clock only 650 km on the odo. I've got a couple of doubts-

- Almost all of my rides were at night on the highway. I stuck to 4K rpm or less for most of the time. After completing 500 km, I touched 4.5K-5K rpm thrice for a few seconds (nice engine note after 4K :D) . I didn't ride the bike at a constant rpm either- I kept varying the revs. Before going for a ride, I idle the bike for a minute or two. Was my run in procedure correct?

- After my first night ride, I had noticed a faint burning smell coming from inside the fairing area near the headlamps. My friend had told me that it's probably the insulation tapes getting melted and it happens on all new bikes. I'm not sure about this, could anybody clarify this? Also, the smell disappeared over time- it had been there only for a couple of rides.

- On ringing up a Honda Service Center, I was told that the oil would be changed and so would be the oil filter. I take it that the CBR runs on fully synth oil? I had read that fully synth oil is harmful for new engines and mineral oil should be used (on motoman's webpage to be exact)... does this apply to the CBR too where the factory recommended oil itself is full synth?


- The overall mileage I had observed is 28.72 kmpl. However, the last bar in the fuel gauge wasn't blinking when I had did my last fill up- therefore I think that the actual mileage would be around 30 kmpl. Unless I'm mistaken, this should improve a bit after the first service.
One question- when the low fuel bar blinks, how long would the bike run before the FI system dries up? (that's what happens, is it not?)

- I plan to do chain lubing and maybe some for the clutch and brake levers as well. Is there anything to note before doing that?

I plan to be there the whole time when my bike is being serviced.

Here are my brief impressions so far-

- The ContiGo! tires provide decent grip only after running for sometime and getting heated up. They fail to inspire confidence over-
1) wet roads,
2) uneven roads with a lot of gravel/pebble content,
3) roads where there are two levels/layers- the ones where one lane is freshly tarred and the other is not which results in different levels on both lanes. Especially dangerous is the middle part where one level breaks off to another- the tires lose grip and there's a mild slide after that.
To sum up, I'd say that the tires perform decently over good well surfaced roads. Though they fail to inspire confidence over the type of surfaces I'd mentioned, they do not lose grip entirely- maybe a bit of a slide, but they do not give up entirely.

- Stability is superb. The bike maintains its poise over empty stretches with strong crosswinds. Ride quality is impressive again. I like the relaxed suspension set up. Not too soft, but not aggressively hard either. Potholes are handled well and there are no jarring shocks felt. Cornering can be a bit of a challenge for those used to lighter bikes. Turning in tight areas require a bit of planning.

- Headlight brightness/throw/coverage is good in roads surrounded by a lot of vegetation/ structures. However, it's not too adequate over open roads without any cover. I might upgrade to a better setup after seeing an aftermarket projector setup for the CBR250 in the flesh.

Happy with the bike so far- it's a sweet ride. Time to see whether Honda's ASC is any good.

Your procedure of running in is fine.
Burning smell, are you sure it is coming from the headlight area or it could be just your radiator get a splash of water when it is hot, that's it.
CBR comes with fully synth oil. You can opt for mineral oil now or else you can stick to what Honda recommends. No harm at all.
Appx, when the last fuel bar blinks, it would have 3 ltrs of petrol.
Chain lubing is sufficient, if there is more ply in the clutch lever, than you can get that adjusted.
Do agree on the contigo reviews.
You can upgrade the headlights to Philips Extreme vision, it gives you little bit more light with no modifications to electrical.

Lately my time is usually divided between work and roaming about in the CBR. Riding the Ceeber sure is a great way to unwind!

Anyways, the bill for the first service came to around Rs.1150. The costs were split for the fully synth oil top up and replacing the oil filter mostly. 80 bucks were charged for chain lubing- daylight robbery?

I had remembered that the odo reading when I had given it for servicing was 645 km but when I returned to pick it up, the reading had gone upto 650 km. I inquired about this at the service center and they told me that the mechanic had ridden it for 5 km to ensure proper lubrication. I don't know whether that was for real or not- but it sounded true logically. Fortunately, they followed what I had explicitly said- not to wax the bike and not to use a high pressure jet to clean it (the radiator fins are still intact).

Overall, I was satisfied with the service. The engine sounds more refined and drive train noises have quietened down a lot. The gear shifts were even smoother than before.

It seems that the fuel efficiency has gone up big time:

22/7/2012- 278km, refilled with 4.3 l
04/8/2012- 481km, refilled with 7.07l, mileage-28.76 kmpl
20/8/2012- 785km, refilled with 7.06l, mileage- 43.06 kmpl :Shockked:

That's what the FuelLog app on my phone says. I think that the calculation is a bit off and the real fuel efficiency must be somewhere around 35 kmpl.


I'm not really sure where the smell is coming from- it's from inside the fairing somewhere... Last few days, I had explored the 5000-5500 rpm range. Day before yesterday I had touched 80 kmph and when I returned home and parked the bike in the shed, my mom remarked about the burning smell again. The smell is like plastic or wires burning and it seems to occur mostly when I ride at higher speeds above 60 kmph.. Is it because some insulation is touching the radiator by any chance?


Thanks for that info... I had been wondering about that for sometime. So, one has to refuel as soon as the fuel bar blinks or should it be done within 20 kms or so after the bar blinks?
I refuel when I get to the last bar and after I've gone for some 5-6 kms on the last bar and the reading doesn't vary.

Get this checked.

As soon as you see the blink, refuel, it is just a safety marker that's it. Its not that your FI goes kaput immediately, if you do not refuel.

I phoned up a couple of service centers and the replies I'd got were varied. The chap from the one where I had serviced my bike told me that the burning smell is because of the low viscosity oil used and the engine oil is getting boiled! :Shockked: Sounds like a load of wind to me. Engine oil- boiling? That's against all logic- what else is the radiator and the fan there for?

I tried another service center near my home and the guy who answered told me maybe it's because some wires had shorted and continued to speak more on the lines. While the scenario of a shorting is ruled out as all the electricals are working fine, a situation where the insulation is being fried is quite probable.

Anyways, I'm taking out my ride to get it checked up at the second place.


Thanks for clearing that up.

A short update:

I had gotten the burning smell issue checked in August itself. The smell was due to a small patch of dried up oil near the oil fill cap in the engine. When the whole thing was cleaned up, the smell is gone. Now even after a high speed run or a long traffic crawl, there is no smell if the engine heats up.

There was an incident when a screw went missing from the RHS mirror while I was commuting to the office. The mirror dangled like a bat's wing and nicked a little paint near the headlight. Got a replacement screw bolted in from a Honda Service Center after work. The screw wasn't of the black painted variety that is standard to the bike, but a plain vanilla unpainted one. It does the job though and I plan to replace it with a standard one next time I give the bike for servicing.

The headlamp fogs up after a good wash. They don't clear up even after a week or two after the wash. I don't do much night rides either these days. Maybe that's why it hasn't cleared yet. Is the headlamp fogging a normal issue with all bikes?

Thanks to Santosh for sending me the radiator guard- it's doing a great job of protecting the radiator. That gives me a lot of peace of mind.

Not much riding these days- only about 2300km on the clock. Fuel efficiency is quite surprising again- check out the stats as per a logging app on my phone:

22/7/2012- 278km, refilled with 4.3 l
04/8/2012- 481km, refilled with 7.07l, mileage-28.76 kmpl
20/8/2012- 785km, refilled with 7.06l, mileage- 43.06 kmpl
25/9/2012- 1009km, refilled with 7.07l, mileage- 31.68 kmpl
06/10/2012- 1296km, refilled with 7.07l, mileage- 40.59 kmpl
16/10/2012- 1557km, refilled with 7.13l, mileage- 36.61 kmpl
29/10/2012- 1848km, refilled with 7.10l, mileage- 40.99 kmpl
08/11/2012- 2147km, refilled with 7.10l, mileage- 42.11 kmpl

Average Fuel Consumption- 37.69 kmpl.

Not bad at all. Considering the errors and differences in the refilling quantities, the realistic mileage would be around 35 kmpl which is more than I had expected ( I thought that the bike would give 30 kmpl tops). No additional costs incurred so far.

Got the second service done- nearly 5000 kms on the odo and after 6 months from purchase. Changed the oil, checked the chain for play-lubed and cleaned it. Those were the main things listed in the manual and I made sure that they followed the complete list. So far, the guys at Muthoot Honda seems to be okay and the CBR technician seems to know his stuff. Total cost was around 900 bucks (they're charging 120 bucks for the chain lube. Gotta learn to do it by myself).

I felt that the bike became a lot more smoother and much more eager to fly off the throttle after the service. Did a highway run yesterday late at night just for the kicks and it was exhilarating. This thing sure can gobble up the miles with ease and it doesn't feel like it's breaking a sweat while doing it at near triple digit speeds.

The tires continue to be a mixed bag. They need about 8-10 kms to warm up and grip well and they do hold on to the road but only if the surface is uniform dry porous tarmac. On concrete roads they are a bit skittish and on poor roads with a lot of rubble and small debris, the performance is a lot less confidence inspiring. On poor roads, I felt the rear end slide out on multiple occasions. It's never serious and there is a lot of time to make correctional moves, but still, it doesn't inspire confidence.

I had the updated brakes installed as per the recall program before the service. IIRC, they replaced the front master cylinder and something else I can't remember; but not the brake pads. The braking performance feels the same as before- spongy but stops nonetheless. Needs getting used to for experienced riders but the sponginess is a plus for a noob like me as it never gets scary. Brakes have never locked up- even under a panic braking situation I had once.

The headlight still fogs up after a good wash. I had told the service center guys a couple of times about this but no explanation has been made as to why it occurs. I'm just being an OCD here- the lights still function great..

The ride quality is great for me. I like the way the suspension is set up-a bit on the softer side and not so hard like a track bike. The pillion rider doesn't seem to share this opinion though. My mom rode pillion with me once again and it was an hour long journey. She's not used to bikes at all and complained of the sky high seating position and that the ride quality was very rough and that her back hurt like hell. Hmm.. I wonder what she's gonna say if she sees the Yamaha R15 v.20's pillion seat! LOL. Good thing that she finds my bro's Avenger's pillion seat more comfortable.

Fuel consumption is along the same lines as before- the average mileage I'm getting is now 37.79 kmpl. No additional costs incurred so far apart from the regular charges for the oil.

Is it advisable to go for the extended warranty on the engine components? Haven't got around to buying that one yet.

So far, the bike's been running like a dream. Never fails to bring a smile to my face every time I take her out for a ride. Glad I listened to you guys at team-bhp and chose this baby over the RE Classic. And I must say, it's worth every penny spent over it.

Easy as piece of cake; use Motul C1 to clean the chain & C2 to lube; easy peasy work

I'm sure you have standard then; use DOT4 & you'll notice an improvement. Did you go through the CBR FAQ's? This is all covered there

Set the suspension to 3 (mid); the ride will be good for both solo & 1 up

This is possible with speeds around 80 Kmph & only on highway; is that the case or...

Choice is yours; if you don't mind additional money for peace of mind, then yes; again, go through the extended warranty clause word by word, line by line & understand what is covered & what is not.

Haha...even after 42K+ Km, I share the same feeling as you do :)

Yes, mine's a standard. I forgot about that- I'd gone through your thread (and still do) and it had been mentioned there. In fact, you had told me about this in my thread too. I had been planning to switch over to DOT4 when I gave it for second service, but I forgot about it in the last minute. I'll make the switch this weekend.

Yep, most of my commute is through the highway but I pass through the city too. I get caught in the evening rush in the city, but I think it's nothing compared to the rush hours of the metros. The traffic does not slow down so much as to make me crawl in the first two gears usually, but it does happen at times. However, I don't ride at 80 kmph often on the highways- it's more like 65-70 kmph.

hi evilmessiah, I'm planning to buy myself a bike (RE classic 500/RE thunderbird 500 or the CBR250R). to be honest was inclined towards the bulls initially(Aged 30 wanted to graduate to the bulls to slow things down) but after going through your thread fell for the charm of this bike(30's not that old eh?Should get one more fast one before the ROYALs). Am graduating from a 04'pulsar 180 classic which has served me well.if you could throw some light on the fwg would be grateful:
1. How good is the ceeber for touring?
2. Maintainence with reference to availability of spare parts at cities like siliguri and costs?
3. Is owning a cbr worth the cost as I would be stretching my budget for her (defence personnel)?
4. Any news of a model update in the time to come, want to buy one at around September/October 2013?
5. Am generally posted to places with bad roads, so is the ceeber ideal choice?