19th October 2018, 02:28
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| BHPian  Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Mumbai.
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| My 2018 Honda CBR 250R Welcome Home baby, my new 2018 Honda CBR 250R. Well some of us might have already started wondering, a decade old bike and now you buy it.! The CBR250 R was introduced to the Indian market almost a decade ago since then it has NOT found a large number of takers. But do search for "CBR 250R related issues" and you will find very few, compared to its competitors. Here she is.  Things you might like.
Things you might Not!
Last year Honda had discontinued the production of CBR due to emission norms, re-introduced in 2018 with the BS4 compliant engine and a few more features. Last edited by iamahunter : 2nd November 2018 at 17:58. |
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2nd November 2018, 18:46
| #2 |
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| Re: My 2018 Honda CBR 250R Prelude So, I owned a 2016 Benelli TNT 300i. Here are some numbers about it. Displacement: 300cc Cylinders: 2 Power: 37.73 bhp Torque: 26.5 Nm Brakes: 260mm dual discs up front and 240mm disc are rear Suspension: Inverted front telescopic forks and a mono shock at the rear. And now I brought a bike which has: - Less Displacement (249.6cc) - One less cylinder - Less Power (25.7 bhp) - Less Torque (22.9 Nm) - One less disc up front and a smaller disc at the back (220mm) So was it a downgrade? NO it was not! Benelli was a great bike, but there were a few short comings. First of all at 189 kilograms the bike was very heavy. It was a boon while touring but not in the city. Touring is something that I do twice of thrice in a year and rest of the time I do like to use my bike in the city. I clocked 20,000 kilometers on the Benelli out of which I did almost 10,000 on touring and rest in the city. Those 10k kilometers were not very easy. The bike used to heat up almost immediately in the traffic. A little off balance and you can fall because of the weight and then it’s not even easy to pick it up. It constantly had some or the other minor issues, never was it completely trouble free. Neither was the maintenance pocket friendly, mere labor charges were more than Rs 2,000. The bike required oil change every 4000 kms and it gulped almost 3 liters of synthetic oil, that isn’t cheap either. The bike came with the Pirelli Angels, they lasted throughout the ownership but I am sure the new owner would need to change them, roughly 15,000 for the same. The last but not the least of the issues, Benelli India's future does not look very stable. Owners currently are facing issues with spares availability (these are not cheap either).  Given the above cribbing, after thinking and rethinking I thought of getting a new bike. Hmm, so which bike to get? I noted down the below criteria
I considered below option.
 Source : Google Images This was the first bike I test rode after the final thought of getting the new bike. Went to the showroom in Borivali, and was warmly welcomed by the sales guy. Being morning, there was not much rush in the showroom so I got complete attention. And I had arrived on the TnT300 with the riding gear on, so was taken quite seriously (Uniform for bike shopping). The guy explained me all the features of the duke 390, the TFT screen was something! So attractive and awesome, it’s the best in this segment. They offered me a test ride of the bike, though it was not in a very well maintained condition. Duke ticked most of the criteria boxes. It was light weight, had better mileage, cheaper service and spares, ABS, a longer service interval (<4000 kilometers) and can easily do highway speeds. On the negative side, it would cost me 6 digit amounts after selling my Benelli, it had good amount of vibration and I personally did not like the its exhaust note. Something that made me NOT go for the KTM. The RC has a very aggressive sitting posture and I don’t think it would suite me for either, city or touring. The 250 had similar vibrations which made my hand go numb in sometime. So the KTMs were out of the list now. Royal Enfield Himalayan.  Source : Google Images I had been to the Kandivali showroom wearing the uniform as mentioned before, straight away got attention. I was soon briefed about the Himalayan and its features. I liked the stance of the bike, it’s tall and intimidating; but once you swing your leg onto it, it feels so much more comfortable. You sit straight on the bike, that’s really great for touring. The bike did not feel heavy in the test ride, but it does weight a little more than 180 kilograms. I thought to myself, I might face the weight issue later in the city traffic. Himalayan was ticked the boxes of cost, mileage, spares and service, ABS & service interval. On top of it, the seat of this bike is like a sofa, it felt so much comfortable. However, there are vibrations, highway speeds is something that the Himalayan would struggle to do(maintaining an average speed of 80kmph while travelling 700+ kilometers in a day would be difficult, considering the refreshment brakes). Also, the weight would probably hinder in the city traffic (with family on board). So, the mighty Himalayan ticked off. BMW 310 siblings   Source : Google Images These are the most premium offering in this segment, the brand itself speaks a lot. I was so much inclined towards the baby GS, but the brand itself push me away from it. Why? The initial cost itself was way more than my criteria. Next would be the service costs as the premium would be charged on the spares and the service as well. Over all I am also looking at more of city driving, these babies would not be worth for the city rides. Also, the vibration were a turn off. BMWs ticked off the list. Apache 310 RR  Source : Google Images This Indian cousin of the BMW bears the same engine. The power figures aren't very different as well. Moreover, the RR looks absolutely stunning in RED. The bike is light, has ABS, a little longer service interval, can easily do highway speeds and probably would do a fair job in the city. This is a very new bike in the market in this segment. It has not been tried and tested over time, which gives me a sense of insecurity. The spares also aren't what you would call budget, and has a ton of vibration around highway speeds. So it was a no-no for the Apache. Dominor 400  Source : Google Images This is an Indian cousin of the greater Austrian Duke 390 which comes in with 2 extra spark plugs. The bike does look impressive and the sitting posture is made for touring. It does tick most of the boxes. It’s a little on the heavier side and in traffic will be a task to handle with family onboard. Also, a friend who owns one is not very happy with it. This played a lot of mind game with me for the Dominor. Also there are a lot of mixed reviews about the bike. Eventually I did not wish to own a bike having so much of confused thoughts, so better stay away and ticked off the Dominor. Honda CBR 250R  Initially I did not even bother to visit the showroom, instead I just placed and inquiry online. Within an hour, I got a call from the nearest showroom and I was speaking to a sales person dedicated for the CBR. He patiently answered all my questions on the phone and in the end requested me to visit the showroom. I was surprised at the hospitality when I visited the showroom, though not sure if I was a potential customer I was entertained very well. May be because 90% of Honda's customers are for the Activa and I here was for the slow selling CBR. At the showroom, I was very impressed with the new color scheme. I especially liked the Matt grey and orange, it looked very decent and attractive at the same time. I was offered a test ride of the newly arrived test ride bike; it only had some 250 odd kilometers on the odometer. The bike was butter smooth, and made almost zero sound. The vibrations were the least of all the single cylinder bikes that I had ridden. It was light weight and I could comfortably place both my legs flat on the ground. The CBR ticked all the boxes of my criteria; I got a good buy back cost for the Benelli due to which I had to put considerably less amount for the CBR. It weighs only 167 kilograms, and feels even lighter. The mileage rating is around 35 kmpl and it does not need premium fuel. The spares and services costs are in budget too, a normal service would cost somewhere between 1,500 - 3,500 rupees max. The engine is the smoothest amongst all the single cylinder bikes and there is very less engine noise. The service interval is 6000 kms and oil change is required on 12,000 kms. This bike is known for its touring capabilities and it sure is, it can easily do highway speeds. Being light weight, less vibrations and the ability to keep both my feet on the ground makes it’s a very good city bike as well. Also, the ABS variant comes in with NISSIN calipers (one of the best in the market, even Kawasaki uses NISSIN in its 650 segment bikes).This is an all-rounder, I thought to myself. With no more delay, I book the CBR 250R. I was promised delivery on the auspicious day of Dusshera. Costs and Discounts Honda is absolutely in no favor of giving any sort of discounts. They know their products very well and they know that the products sell easily. So there was absolutely no discount offered, but on hard bargain, I got some Rs 2,500 discount. On a 2,30,000 price tag, that minuscule. The new Insurance rule makes it mandatory to get a 5 year third-party insurance. On top of that I decided to go for a zero-dep insurance for the 1st year. Price Breakdown  Yes there is a difference, yet to be resolved. Delivery Experience. On the D-Day, I had to leave my Benelli with the buyer. The buyer was an agent who had a tie-up with the showroom making the exchange process a breeze. I went to the showroom on the Benelli, completed the formality and handed over the papers. The buyer immediately made the transfer of the balance amount to the showroom and within no time the delivery gate pass for the CBR was ready. It was like give and take process, until; the "MAHURAT" struck! The Honda delivery center is 5 mins walk from the showroom; I was on the way when my better half suggested that we take the delivery on the "MAHURAT" time. There were still some 4 hours to go, so I informed the sales person to keep the bike ready and headed back home. Now the excitement was hard to control. This time we all reached the delivery center and were under impression that the bike will be ready to go. And there it was, my shiny new beauty all covered in dust, unwashed and not ready. The delivery guys were not even aware of the delivery of this bike. This was the first time I was disappointed. It took them 2.5 hours to get the bike ready, from attaching the mirrors to polishing the bike. Any freebies? None..! But finally it was ready to go, performed a customary pooja of the bike and off we set.   Finally she's at home now. She has a nice and cozy place which will be shared with her bigger Japanese sibling, the Suzuki Swift.  Last edited by Aditya : 11th November 2018 at 16:51. Reason: Typos |
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6th November 2018, 19:08
| #3 |
| BHPian Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Mumbai.
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| Re: My 2018 Honda CBR 250R So what's new in the 'new' 2018 CBR 250R? New graphics and paint scheme Apart from the fact that the engine is now BS4 compliant, the rest remains the same. The overall silhouette of the bike is exactly same, there is addition of new graphics and paint scheme. Mine's a Lava Orange, it has a matte grey base color and Orange graphics. Looks decent overall.  New Headlamps The Headlamps is now all LEDs there are total of 10 LEDs in there.  The dipper is always on by default, AHO(Auto Headlamp ON) is what its called. The LEDs are placed in the below manner.  The new LED are bright and do a good job of illuminating the road as the spread and brightness is quite sufficient. When switched to upper, the dipper stays on; this provides a very good illumination at nights. The only issue with this as noted by a fellow bhpian is that as the lights have a sharp cutout, its difficult to judge the turns in the night. Only Dipper  With Upper  Redesigned Odometer They have only changed the graphics on the Odometer. Overall it stays the same as the previous one. The new colors on the Instrument cluster.  The Brakes CBR now comes with dual channel ABS with NISSIN calipers as optional. Honda is charging quite a premium for the ABS varient but I would still press to go for the ABS varient as its actully worth. The non abs varient comes in with BYBRE calipers where as the ABS comes with NISSIN calipers. I personally have ridden both and have found the braking on the ABS with NISSIN to be much much better. Front Brakes  Rear Brakes  The small inner plate with the hollow lines is the sensor for ABS. Smaller but important things. Mirrors The mirrors are on the cowl and stay straight while on the turns, however while driving normally on the straights they do provide a fantastic rear view. The mirrors are actually a little further than normal bikes which have them on the handle bars, this gives an advantage which is being able to keep an eye on the rear without taking an eye of the front. Mirrors  Seats The CBR comes with a split seat setup. The rear seat opens with a key where-as you would need a Alan key to remove the front seat (The Alan key is provided with the tool-kit). The tool box and a small med-kit goes below the rear seat, where as the battery and access to air filter is below the front seat. Under the rear seat  The seats are well countered and provide good cushioning, however on the longer highway runs you would need an additional support. The front seat is a longer, this gives you an option to slide back and crouch on those high speed runs; or you can slide ahead and and enjoy a near straight riding posture. The rear seat is wider and also has decent amount of cushioning, my trusted partner has been happy with it. So I believe, that its a good seat. Riding posture The riding posture on the CBR is something that I had to get used to ,as I come from bikes which have a by-default straight sitting posture( Bajaj Caliber, Hero Hunk, Benelli TnT300i). Initially I had a slight pain in my wrists, but after learning the correct way to sit on such bike, has made my life easier. Here's a quick link to the article which helped me learn the correct posture. How to ride a Sports Bike. Points that I feel important for comfortable riding on sports bike(or sports tourers)
Since delivery, I've ridden this bike for a little over 800 kms now, some 200 kms in the city and 600 kms on the highways. This is a very smooth bike for a single cylinder, there are almost not vibrations at any RPM. I did some initial 3 digit highway speed and on the top gear I could not hear the engine noise atall, the bike just glides smoothly. The bike did get a tiny bit rough on completion of 800 kms, but the oil change solved it. I took the first service appoint on completion of 850 kms and boy did it make difference after the first service. The bike now is way more smoother in every gear, the shifting has become a little more buttery. Below are the details of the 1st service.  I opted for a extended warranty during the first service, which costed me 1455/- with taxes. Below is the advantage of the extended warranty.  Mileage was an important factor for me while purchasing this bike, I am happy to report my first tank full to tank full mileage of the CBR.  This is way better than that of my previous bike. The lower figure was obtained in the city traffic and over a short distance which had more of waiting; the larger is what the bike returned on the 600 km ride. What could have been better? All LED Indicators and Tail Lamp The tail light and blinker remain conventional bulbs. The could have made these LEDs as well.  The Decade Old Design Honda could have also remapped the design as the shape is almost a decade old now and has starting to show age. For example: look at the cutting edge design of the Yamaha R15, there is V3.0 now, and all Honda has done is made new stickers and colors. Slipper clutch Now I know this is a touring bike, but a slipper clutch would have been so much better on those twisties of the ghta sections. Better tires I got the bike with average Continental ContiGo tires, it also comes with MRF zappers, but either do not provide the essential grip. An option between Michelin and Pirelli would have been much more better. Front tyre specifications.  Rear tyre specifications.  Tyre Pressure chart.  Informative Instrument cluster A decade old instrument cluster screams for a change. I don't expect an ultra modern Duke cluster, but more informative and modern cluster would have been appreciated. Steel Braided Lines Now am I asking too much? But this would have definitely been so much better. Modifications Planned None. I intend to keep the bike bare stock as that's how I like it. However I am putting on some accessories which I require while on touring.
 Last edited by iamahunter : 6th November 2018 at 20:06. |
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9th November 2018, 18:32
| #4 |
| BHPian Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Mumbai.
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| Re: My 2018 Honda CBR 250R The first long journey with the Ceeber... I was getting impatient with the small city runs and wanted to get out of the daily routine and head out on the Open highway. I wanted to get out and truly experience this magnificent machine. I have long heard about the great touring capabilities of this bike and now I was eager to experience it. As the bike was just 200kms old, I still had to maintain the limits and not to stretch the bike on a very long route. So I thought of paying a visit to our family deity. The destination was approximately 330 kms from Mumbai and the entire stretch was a combination of good long highway stretches, ghat sections, some bad roads and a little part of almost no roads. This would also give me an opportunity to test the bike's limits and its capacity over different terrains. My usual way to visit here is, start early morning before the sunrises, this gives a chance to cover a good part of the distance as there is very less traffic on the roads, the morning's cool climate also helps in riding comfort. I cross Nashik before the start of working hours avoiding any chance of any traffic. Some 60 kms after Nashik, I have to take a diversion leaving behind the National highway. Here begins the 'not so good' road, now the average speed starts to drop down. Also, this is single lane road, there is no partition between the opposite lanes making it more riskier to travel on. After all this there is a small patch of approximately 10 kms which has almost no roads, itself taking some 40 mins to cover. This entire journey and return to Mumbai can be done in a single day itself and that's how we usually do it. But not this time, this time entire journey would be covered over a period of 3 days. I plan to ride for short stretches rather than one go taking time to adjust to the bike. Day 1 : Ride Mumbai to Nashik, stay in Nashik. Day 2 : Visit the deity and return to Nashik, again stay in Nashik Day 3: Ride back to Mumbai. Day 01 : Mumbai to Nashik So I start on a Friday at 9:30 am rather than usual 4:30 AM taking time to catch up on my sleep. The destination is just 160 kms for today, the usual time taken for this journey on 2 wheels is anywhere between 3-4 hours depending on the breaks you take. When every I ride solo, I rarely take any breaks to eat, only breaks I take is pee and fuel break, and this is a fairly small distance for a break. I had lubed the chain(extra precaution and learning form the previous bike) and set of. The average speed I maintain is between 60-80 kmph. On the highway now and this bike is truly enjoyable. Due to the light weight, its very flick-able and easy to filter through moving traffic. The mirrors are awesome and provide a fairly good view of the rear, its very useful especially while overtaking. There are very less vibration and the bike is very very smooth at the speeds of 70 - 80 kmph. The engine is silent and there is no audible engine noise atall, the only sound I hear is the wind noise filtering through my helmet. I think to my self, this is the true tourer, no vibes, no noise, so comfortable and yet had enough power on tap. By 12:30pm I am just a few kilometers away from the destination and BAMM!! The highway is closed, there is a huge traffic jam as the cops have stopped the traffic from moving ahead. Like every other biker, I jump cross the divider and ride form the opposite side till the point where the cops have stopped the traffic. Apparently, a gas taker had crashed near Vilholi and there were chances that the gas had leaked. There was no way to go through it, the only way was a diversion that would take me to the destination, but in process would take a lot more time. So decided to take that route as below. It took me almost 2 hours to reach the destination after that U-turn, the usual time taken if we continue on the highway is 15 minutes. However, I reached safely and that's whats more important. Day 02: Nashik to Zirani Today I start in the morning at 7:30 AM, the distance to be covered today is approximately 320 kms, I plan to do this entire journey in the day light. After some 60 kms I leave the highway and start on the single lane road. Thankfully the roads have been developed and are now much better than what they used to be earlier. The bike handled here like a charm, some notable points The Agility CBR is a very agile bike, trying to dodge potholes at some good speeds was not a very difficult task. However some more grippy tires would have made a slight difference for good. Suspension The road had some sudden bad patches and potholes, neither were the roads leveled. There were those tiny speed brakes every very frequently. All this was very nicely handled by the CBR. The suspension is very balanced and keep the bike planted and smooth at all times. Brakes Brakes were the most which got tested here for there were kids and even adults just popping up from the road sides. Not to forget the unmarked speed brakes which you see only where you arrive very close to them. There were a lot of incidents where I had to brake quickly and a couple of time where I had to brake urgently. Neither did the CBR disappoint me. The brakes are very effective and ABS is such a must have feature(wonder why is it not mandate on every bike). The ABS saved me from hitting a cow, a man on the bike and few potholes. Comfort The bike's seat is wide enough to take you long, but its always better to have a little more. I had my Fego Float with me, so my butt was is a very comfortable place; however, I was not completely used to the riding posture. During my return journey, I was a little tired due to the heat and unknowingly started putting weight on my wrist. After a while I realized this due to the pain, I corrected my posture and continued. This happened a couple of times, but now I believe that I am getting along the sitting posture as required. Honestly, its not as comfortable as the cruisers, but neither is it supposed to be. Day 03: Nashik to Mumbai I was now more or less adjusted to the bike and its sitting posture and was ready to the journey. I am happy to say that I did this journey without a halt as I am used to. Over all I was very happy and satisfied with the performance of the bike. Now I will let the pictures do the talking.       Hope you enjoyed the images, I will be updating this thread with all my experiences with the bike.  Last edited by Aditya : 11th November 2018 at 16:51. Reason: Typos |
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11th November 2018, 12:07
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| Team-BHP Support  | |
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11th November 2018, 20:54
| #6 |
| Distinguished - BHPian   | Re: My 2018 Honda CBR 250R Congrats on your new purchase. Great review. Wish you 1,000's of safe and trouble free happy miles. If I'm at your place I would have picked up the CBR250 too.  People might say its outdated but still, the value this bike offers is second to none. Overall its a very composed, comfortable and reliable bike. The apt line for this bike will be- 'Old is gold!' Can you please elaborate a bit more on the new led headlamps? Am not much satisfied with the led headlamps in my Fz25. In bad road the light vibrates a lot. Plus the illumination is also not very bright for a comfortable night ride. Do you face the same problem in the CBR? Last edited by Rudra Sen : 12th November 2018 at 14:32. Reason: Typo corrected |
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11th November 2018, 23:59
| #7 |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: India
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| Re: My 2018 Honda CBR 250R Congratulations on the purchase and thanks for sharing the details  I have a doubt/question regarding the exchange part: When you traded the Benelli, what all papers did you have to sign? The reason I ask is, am unclear on how does the ownership transfer works in such cases. Do you get sufficient proof of ownership surrender in order to stay away from the headache if there's some trouble with the bike later on(eg: accidents)? As it's not necessary the agent gets a new buyer immediately and hence the bike might be lying around with them for sometime. Thanks in advance & wish you lots of memorable rides with the wonderful steed. Last edited by SoumenD : 12th November 2018 at 00:02. |
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12th November 2018, 02:29
| #8 | ||||
| BHPian Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Mumbai.
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| Re: My 2018 Honda CBR 250R Quote:
Quote:
Even with a pillion, the bike is somehow very easy to handle in the traffic. Quote:
Compared to the FZ, which I believe is a one LED unit(correct me if I am wrong), there is no vibration in the CBR. Also if you see this image, there are 10 different LEDs further leading to no overall vibration. Quote:
A very good question. Basically there are 4 forms that you have to sign.
In case you need more information, See this. Hope this helps. A Small Update. Due to the vibration on the rear mudguard, the screws on the number plate became loose. Eventually I lost the rear number plate. Fixed a new one immediately. Also, the bike has completed its first milestone of 1000 kms today.   | ||||
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12th November 2018, 09:18
| #9 |
| BHPian Join Date: May 2012 Location: Mandi
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12th November 2018, 09:29
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| BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Pune
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12th November 2018, 09:41
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| Team-BHP Support  | Re: My 2018 Honda CBR 250R Must say - the new headlamp and graphics have really refreshed the looks to an extent! CBR250R is a reliable choice no doubt, and an excellent alternative after having all those concerns about your Benelli. Wishing you a long, safe and troublefree ownership ahead! |
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12th November 2018, 10:45
| #12 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: Chicagoland
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| Re: My 2018 Honda CBR 250R Congratulations on the CBR 250R. It's a golden standard <300cc. Wishing you the very best. I always compared the bike to the old Duke 200- the Duke 200 was like an angry teenager whereas the CBR 250R was like a seasoned pro. I hated the cruising ability of my friends' KTM Duke 200, but loved the CBR 250R. Never knew that a 300cc motorcycle could have so many heating issues. |
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12th November 2018, 11:18
| #13 |
| BHPian Join Date: Jul 2017 Location: Bangalore
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12th November 2018, 12:24
| #14 | |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Pune
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| Re: My 2018 Honda CBR 250R Quote:
Last edited by rakesh_r : 12th November 2018 at 12:26. | |
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12th November 2018, 13:09
| #15 |
| Distinguished - BHPian  | Re: My 2018 Honda CBR 250R Congratulations!! CBR was launched here in 2011, so not a decade old model. I still find 2.3 lakhs OTR for a CBR250R a bit too high. But then, coming from a Benelli 300, it won't feel like a downgrade(performance & handling) either. Positive thing about the CBR is it will last longer than you , provided you find spares easily. A proper entry level motorcycle, I don't think any other motorcycle in that price range can match it's reliability, comfort, ease of use and quality. Wishing you thousands of safe and joyful km of riding! |
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