[vinit.merchant]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

In Gurgaon, the C-ABS CBR250R is just about 1.9L or so, if I recall correctly.

The D200 is also in that budget, while the D390 is just a sliver above it, right?

My Bad on not noticing Delhi as your hometown, which has the lowest prices pan India.

D200/390 I did not include since you already rejected them earlier. But yes, these can be considered. CBR looks the best of the lot.

[Ironhide]

If you aren't averse to buying used, you can find a fair number of low mileage, reasonably recent CBRs (ABS) on OLX for as low as 1- 1.3L in Delhi though you may have to plonk in some cash for new tyres & a detailed service and mods for stowing luggage etc.

Honda CBR 250R is quite a reliable bike and tends to age gracefully. It should not be too difficult to find a well maintained example if you look around. In the bargain, the 60-70K that you save may be used to pick up better riding gear, making mods like hard luggage stowage for touring etc.

Just a thought.

Cheers!

[sidhu_hs]

Originally Posted by Engine_Roars

Aptly put, as mentioned earlier CBR indeed looks like the best fit, but will I just have to force myself to fall in love with it. I wanted a not so common and not so older model but looks like I will end up with one.

From the horse's mouth: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorb...ml#post3765699

As a CBR owner myself, I can say you can't go wrong with the bike. But I would highly recommend test riding Thunderbird 500 before putting your money on CBR. Graduating from Avenger to Thunderbird would be more natural as far as seating position and character of the bikes go. Reliability concerns remain with Thunderbird but you won't have any ageing issues with an Enfield! They age like fine wine!

[Urban_Nomad]

Originally Posted by Engine_Roars

Looking forward for all the inputs. Thanks in advance��

Originally Posted by phamilyman

The use case is:

At around the 2 lakh mark; I cannot see beyond the Duke 390. Nothing comes close to it in any department that really matters:

- Power
- Dynamics
- Purchase price
- Cost of spares / upkeep (I spend more on my 11 year old enfield)
- Good service network (average workmanship though)

If you do come across niggles, parts are replaced without many questions. So your bike wont be spending days together at the workshop with clueless techies trying to figure out how they can "resolve" issues

That said, if you are someone who obsesses about every minute detail of the motorcycle, you will come across a few rough edges. If that is indeed the case; this is definitely not a bike you should buy

Pillion seat on the Duke is a cruel joke. CBR is of course much better in that respect but frankly, its stil not a place I would want to park my bum for more than an hour MAX. This however is easily remedied with the help of strap on gel seats (Rs. 2.5 - 4 k). I own a 390 & have taken trips with the Mrs in excess of 250 kms one way. Not a hint of complain; ever

My recommendation - buy a used 390, plenty of examples available. The money saved can go towards buying quality riding gear for both you and the Mrs.

All the best. And @Phamilyman - Hope to see you on a ride real soon!

Happy hunting

[VW2010]

I would have adviced the enfield too but that was before the 390 was in the scene. With the R3 coming into picutre, i do not see any reason to go for a Royal Enfield.

And for that matter i own two of them so its not like i am against RE. But with better bike for the money that can actually ride almost all terrains you may use with that RE and is far more reliable and on an average faster and easier to maintain, it makes no sense to go after a RE where their 500 are still producing average torque and power in comparison.

At 2-2.5L my no 1 is 390. If i can stretch by a L my bet would be the R3 simply for the joy of riding. Riding a sports position is not something that is easy. But if you start enjoying taking corners and trying to spread that chicken wings, the racing position will be such a pleasure.

At the end i am with Urban Nomad that for the price point KTM 390 makes more practical sense and knowing that worst case your expense cannot be more than 2L

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by vinit.merchant

My Bad on not noticing Delhi as your hometown, which has the lowest prices pan India.

D200/390 I did not include since you already rejected them earlier. But yes, these can be considered. CBR looks the best of the lot.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Ironhide

If you aren't averse to buying used, you can find a fair number of low mileage, reasonably recent CBRs (ABS) on OLX for as low as 1- 1.3L in Delhi though you may have to plonk in some cash for new tyres & a detailed service and mods for stowing luggage etc.

Honda CBR 250R is quite a reliable bike and tends to age gracefully. It should not be too difficult to find a well maintained example if you look around. In the bargain, the 60-70K that you save may be used to pick up better riding gear, making mods like hard luggage stowage for touring etc.

Just a thought.

Cheers!

Agreed. But when I can afford new, why not get the peace of mind? My Pulsar (2005) was bought one year used from a close friend. It had some weird issues that I never completely figured out initially and it had a change of heart at ~50k km. Hence the desire for something fresh!

Originally Posted by sidhu_hs

From the horse's mouth: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorb...ml#post3765699

As a CBR owner myself, I can say you can't go wrong with the bike. But I would highly recommend test riding Thunderbird 500 before putting your money on CBR. Graduating from Avenger to Thunderbird would be more natural as far as seating position and character of the bikes go. Reliability concerns remain with Thunderbird but you won't have any ageing issues with an Enfield! They age like fine wine!

Could you tell me about the CBR issue with old fuel posted by aravind.anand? I'll get a TR for sure - TRs are free!!

Originally Posted by Urban_Nomad

At around the 2 lakh mark; I cannot see beyond the Duke 390. Nothing comes close to it in any department that really matters:

- Power
- Dynamics
- Purchase price
- Cost of spares / upkeep (I spend more on my 11 year old enfield)
- Good service network (average workmanship though)

If you do come across niggles, parts are replaced without many questions. So your bike wont be spending days together at the workshop with clueless techies trying to figure out how they can "resolve" issues

That said, if you are someone who obsesses about every minute detail of the motorcycle, you will come across a few rough edges. If that is indeed the case; this is definitely not a bike you should buy

Pillion seat on the Duke is a cruel joke. CBR is of course much better in that respect but frankly, its stil not a place I would want to park my bum for more than an hour MAX. This however is easily remedied with the help of strap on gel seats (Rs. 2.5 - 4 k). I own a 390 & have taken trips with the Mrs in excess of 250 kms one way. Not a hint of complain; ever

My recommendation - buy a used 390, plenty of examples available. The money saved can go towards buying quality riding gear for both you and the Mrs.

All the best. And @Phamilyman - Hope to see you on a ride real soon!

Happy hunting

Yes - thanks for the wishes. We already have good riding gear except knee pads and helmet which need to be refreshed.

Can you tell me about the hard Clutch and heating and engine shut off issues? http://riderzone.in/negatives-of-duke-390/ I will keep the bike for 7-10 years and there's a good chance that I may commute by bike itself for certain periods. Once my son is a bit older (~in 2-3 years), I may pick him up from the daycare myself (1.5km from home) - currently he's too small to sit safely, else I'd stop driving in Gurgaon like tomorrow itself!

Originally Posted by VW2010

I would have adviced the enfield too but that was before the 390 was in the scene. With the R3 coming into picutre, i do not see any reason to go for a Royal Enfield.

And for that matter i own two of them so its not like i am against RE. But with better bike for the money that can actually ride almost all terrains you may use with that RE and is far more reliable and on an average faster and easier to maintain, it makes no sense to go after a RE where their 500 are still producing average torque and power in comparison.

At 2-2.5L my no 1 is 390. If i can stretch by a L my bet would be the R3 simply for the joy of riding. Riding a sports position is not something that is easy. But if you start enjoying taking corners and trying to spread that chicken wings, the racing position will be such a pleasure.

At the end i am with Urban Nomad that for the price point KTM 390 makes more practical sense and knowing that worst case your expense cannot be more than 2L

Hi VW,

Any specific reason for ruling out the CBR? Any feedback on the 390 issues listed above?

[VW2010]

Any specific reason for ruling out the CBR? Any feedback on the 390 issues listed above?

Hey Phamilyman,

I didnt rule out CBR. For VFM when the budget is 2L a 390 is way better than the 250. CBR650 is completely difference class and even there the Z800 makes it a difficult choice because of pricing.

For the 2L budget i would not choose the CBR250. I would always pick the 390.

Everybike has niggles. I had a 390 for around 6 months and covered close to 6000-7000 kms thrashing the bike and hardly faced any issue. But i have to say i have two RE's so i am mostly self capable to work on minor issues most of the time and unless it requires complete rework of engine mostly my saturday is spent dirtying my elbow.

So some of the issues stated here may be i faced them but i never cared. Even the engine stopping, i would have simply restarted and moved on. I understood the KTM390 to be different and i always rode at high RPM at the power band and enjoyed every throttle of it. Modified the throttle play, modified windshields and what not and the cost of all these were simply cheap and affordable.

Ninja or CBR would have made me think twice about screwing anything with the bike fo rthe cost.

Hence i didnt bring CBR as my option. To me 390 is the best bike in the market for the price and if i have the money i would go for the CBR 650 or the z800. In fact i am currently in US and when i return back i want to see how much would it take to import an old R6 or Fz6R or even a 690 KTM

[sidhu_hs]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Could you tell me about the CBR issue with old fuel posted by aravind.anand?

I have faced this issue just once in my three years of ownership, even though usage of the bike is pretty much the same after that as well, i.e., fuel up once in a couple of months. I don't know if it was bad fuel quality, old fuel or the battery was dead as I had to change battery just after that and no problem since then.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by sidhu_hs

I have faced this issue just once in my three years of ownership, even though usage of the bike is pretty much the same after that as well, i.e., fuel up once in a couple of months. I don't know if it was bad fuel quality, old fuel or the battery was dead as I had to change battery just after that and no problem since then.

Have you posted this anywhere? What exactly happened?

Its good to know old fuel doesn't damage the bike/fuel pump!

[Added_flavor]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Have you posted this anywhere? What exactly happened?

Its good to know old fuel doesn't damage the bike/fuel pump!

Not sure what issue this is. Might be a one-off case. Haven't heard anything of this nature before and we have Ceeber's going strong at close to a lakh on the odo!

Coming to your decision-making process @phamilyman, from your posts, it is quite clear that you like to keep your machines running tight and nice for a long time. With that in mind, I suggest don't look at anything but the CBR250. It ages well and in spite of the fact that it has received only stickers in the name of upgrades, it still turns heads for it's charm.

But keeping this 'snob' factor aside, it is the most practical bike you can buy today - commute, tour, tour with a pillion, you name it, this bike can do it. It is frugal and easy on maintenance. Part availability and the general quality of workmanship is on par with other manufacturers. I'm sure, with your experience you'll know that finding and building a good rapport with the right people is directly proportional to the quality of service. The same holds here too.

I am somebody who sold my Duke 390 after an year and 11k Kms and bought the CBR250. Whether it's an upgrade or downgrade depends on what you expect from a motorbike.

In a nutshell, my suggestion is, go for the Duke390 if you are looking for pure unadulterated brute performance, don't mind the odd issue/niggle or any part failure or random rattles and noises, don't mind visiting the SVC between scheduled services.

OTOH if you are looking for fill-shut-forget riding, practicality, headache free owneship, refinement and modest performance, you have already decided on the right bike.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by Added_flavor

Not sure what issue this is. Might be a one-off case. Haven't heard anything of this nature before and we have Ceeber's going strong at close to a lakh on the odo!

Coming to your decision-making process @phamilyman, from your posts, it is quite clear that you like to keep your machines running tight and nice for a long time. With that in mind, I suggest don't look at anything but the CBR250. It ages well and in spite of the fact that it has received only stickers in the name of upgrades, it still turns heads for it's charm.

But keeping this 'snob' factor aside, it is the most practical bike you can buy today - commute, tour, tour with a pillion, you name it, this bike can do it. It is frugal and easy on maintenance. Part availability and the general quality of workmanship is on par with other manufacturers. I'm sure, with your experience you'll know that finding and building a good rapport with the right people is directly proportional to the quality of service. The same holds here too.

I am somebody who sold my Duke 390 after an year and 11k Kms and bought the CBR250. Whether it's an upgrade or downgrade depends on what you expect from a motorbike.

In a nutshell, my suggestion is, go for the Duke390 if you are looking for pure unadulterated brute performance, don't mind the odd issue/niggle or any part failure or random rattles and noises, don't mind visiting the SVC between scheduled services.

OTOH if you are looking for fill-shut-forget riding, practicality, headache free owneship, refinement and modest performance, you have already decided on the right bike.

Thanks. That sums up where I am.

Silly question - HMSI website quotes two color schemes besides Repsol:

• CBR 250RAD ABS
• CBR 250RAD ABS TRICOLOR - does this mean like the Indian flag or just a fancy three color scheme?

What does it really mean?

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

[*]CBR 250RAD ABS[*]CBR 250RAD ABS TRICOLOR - does this mean like the Indian flag or just a fancy three color scheme?[/list]What does it really mean?

I think it's the latter - the Pearl Sunbeam White has a tricolour theme & maybe that's why they charge more for it.



Haven't seen many of them on the road, though. Most common are Red and Black (which is the most yummy, IMO )

Cheers,
Vikram

[sidhu_hs]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Have you posted this anywhere? What exactly happened?

What happened is while coming back from a 150 km odd trip, bike suddenly switched off while riding in stop go traffic. Mind you, I was riding bike after almost two weeks of idleness. I had to pull in the clutch, get to the roadside and repeatedly thumbing the starter didn't start the engine (instrumentation lights and headlights worked). Thankfully I was back in the city after the trip. I called the local dealer who sent a mechanic with fresh battery. The mechanic inspected/cleaned fuel lines, started with fresh battery and took the old battery for charging. After a couple of weeks, old battery gave in. Put in a new battery and no problem since it happened last summer. Now, as running is very low and bike is used once or twice a month and fuelled up only once a couple of months, it could be anything: old fuel, bad fuel quality, or dead battery. Your guess is as good as mine!

You can find two detailed ownership posts written by me here and here for experience and costs associated.

[Shanenanigans]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Thanks. That sums up where I am.

Silly question - HMSI website quotes two color schemes besides Repsol:

• CBR 250RAD ABS
• CBR 250RAD ABS TRICOLOR - does this mean like the Indian flag or just a fancy three color scheme?

What does it really mean?

The first colour scheme actually represents two SKUs for red and black, the Tricolor represents red, white and blue. I don't think the Repsol edition is available anymore.

[sriramv.iyer]

As a person who owned the CBR250R and also currently owns a D390/RC390 , I have very very high respect for the CBR


Pros:
1. Size - It looks like a proper 'big' bike (in its class)
2. Butter smooth engine
3. Amazingly linear acceleration
4. Good ride quality

Cons:
1. Soft front suspension (not the best bike in the corners)
2. Front sprocket issue - Honda CBR250R was recalled for this issue. My bike had a terrible braking issues because of this, which cased a few falls - The problem completely left after the part was replaced after a (unofficial) recall, but this left some bad memories. I did sell off the bike eventually

I had some very good times with the Honda, and if smoothness and touring is a priority, you can buy this with eyes closed - Nothing equivalent at this price point.

If you want a hooligan of a bike on highway, go for 390s - For city, D200.