[Sheel]

So, the initial phase is out, the CBR is just over an year old. Brought home on 18-10-'11.

Over the past year, haven't ridden it much and the kms logged in, is the 1/4th of what I usually ride over an year. But still good enough to up-date a bit.

Most say, that CBR's quality is not upto mark and I do defer here. Mine is March '11 manufactured. The earliest batch IIRC. No problems/niggles to report for, zilch.

I was hit from behind as well, pretty hard by a LML CRD 100 rider and nothing broke or fell off. Two marks made their mark (excuse the pun) and that is it. One on the registration plate & the other on the left rear indicator.

The bike has asked for a bit of coolant top-up and a set of front disc brake pads. The later was mostly because of the mechanic's fancy. The pads still have life, but started degenerating from where it is stuck upon the plate. Nothing to worry IMHO, but upon his insistence got it changed. Maybe I shall replace them (the new ones, on now) with the ones which are off.

In all honesty, I felt more connected to the R15 which I had earlier. On this, I sometimes feel nervous and no, not in corners, but while moving through traffic at a decent pace. On this I feel on the bike rather than in it. I really haven't read as to how much difference is between both as far as saddle height goes and this is what I feel. Seat of the pants types. On the positive, it gives a bit of SUV feeling and I really do fly over bad roads. Something which I just could not on the R15. Braking & cornering hasn't worried me.

I don't see myself upgrading from it soon. Third & Fourth gear is enough to trot around. In 6th, you can do 115kmph @ 7,000 revs. Fast enough I believe.

Maybe stickier rubber will sort out some of the issues I face, but with barely 3,000kms on the odo, I got to wait a bit.

The service cost is less expensive than the R15 & Karizma. It is the fuel which it gobbles at a decent rate, but there is more to life than Kilometers to a liter.

You may see the circled/squared (whichever applicable :P) part as to how it has degenerated a bit.

[RX135]

@Sheel, congratulations on completing 1st year with CBR250R. This should be a good time ask you for a comparison between R15 (v2?) and CBR250R.

While there are numerous "journalist" reviews available, I am curious about how they compare in the eyes of a T-BHPian.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by RX135

@Sheel, congratulations on completing 1st year with CBR250R. This should be a good time ask you for a comparison between R15 (v2?) and CBR250R.

While there are numerous "journalist" reviews available, I am curious about how they compare in the eyes of a T-BHPian.

Thanks

As regards to...? I have done a small comparison, you may read here

If you need to know anything specific, please let me know :-)

[RX135]

Originally Posted by Sheel

If you need to know anything specific, please let me know :-)

I had read that, but that comparison is 1 year old when you had just bought the CBR250R. Both likes and dislikes feel stronger at such times, so I was curious to know how they fared against each other over period of time.

Would you still pick up a R15 (with bigger engine) over a CBR250R?

[abhinav.s]

Originally Posted by Sheel

So, the initial phase is out, the CBR is just over an year old. Brought home on 18-10-'11.
Maybe stickier rubber will sort out some of the issues I face, but with barely 3,000kms on the odo, I got to wait a bit...

Congrats on completing 1 year! Am i reading it right? 3000kms in 1 year!!??

I was wondering if it should have been 30k and was a typo. What's up? Riding taken a back seat? Anyways, wishing you many more miles and hope to see you complete some milestones in the next 1 year.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by RX135

Would you still pick up a R15 (with bigger engine) over a CBR250R?

Yes. And for two reasons. Suspension (obvious). Brakes? I have got teflon coated brake lines, so, else it would have been R15 again.

And engine. Not that Honda is bad or unrefined. Yamaha has peaky nature.(And I personally like that) Shoots off like a Diwali Rocket post 7K and seems as if it will destroy the limiter. CBR as things stand isn't very happy peaking near red-line (extremely relative & only in comparison with the R15) Though even the CBR becomes butter smooth near red-line, but R15 is better here.

The CBR completely annihilates everything else on road with its mid-range.

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

Congrats on completing 1 year! Am i reading it right? 3000kms in 1 year!!??

Sheepish admission, Yes!

Next year? Lets see. I am changing my work profile completely and during monsoons shall stay free. But after marriage, biking has taken a back-seat.

Once I come to Bombay & buy gears for my wife, I hope to tour again.

[rki2007]

I really liked this bike and had inquired about the on road price in Bangalore

ABS - 206,785
Non ABS- 176,673

Now i am thinking why shouldn't i consider TBTS 500 which is somewhere close to 1.84L.

[Ricci]

Originally Posted by Sheel

Yes. And for two reasons. Suspension (obvious). Brakes? I have got teflon coated brake lines, so, else it would have been R15 again.

Teflon-coated brake lines ? Is that the latest tech trend or what ?
You mean SS braided brake lines, right ? How much of an improvement is it over stock, and how close to the R-15/Ninja 250 in terms of feel and stopping power after the conversion ? IIRC, it cost ~Rs 2000 ?

[naveenroy]

This happened today! After 13 months. Too long I say!!

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by Ricci

Teflon-coated brake lines ? Is that the latest tech trend or what ?
You mean SS braided brake lines, right ? How much of an improvement is it over stock, and how close to the R-15/Ninja 250 in terms of feel and stopping power after the conversion ? IIRC, it cost ~Rs 2000 ?

Yup yup, the other one. That is the SS braided lines. Forgive my enthusiasm

Compared to the R15? R15 still has an edge as far as progressive braking goes, but stopping power is almost the same (after the lines). Ninja 250R? Haven't ridden one, hence can't comment upon.

Congratulations Naveen

[sasikiran_bs]

Congos on a year of ownership. I have had different experiences with the bike, having completed 15000 kms way back in Feb this year, bike being crashed and totalled and all. But whatever touring I had done, the bike was a dream, being one of the best Sports Tourers available in the country right now

[Sheel]

The left bar-end weight of my bike's handle has fallen off!!! On its own, neither was it provoked nor showed any intention of it getting loose.

Isn't available at ASC as well. Have to source it from someplace else.

Some rubber covering flap (under the tank) has gone loose as well. Have to get it attended as well.

Maybe time has come to give it an extended service in about a month time. Regular service, pump, injector & tank cleaning as well as tappet tightening (the shim thing) needs to be looked into.

Shall update post this service.

[n_aditya]

Originally Posted by Sheel

The left bar-end weight of my bike's handle has fallen off!!! On its own, neither was it provoked nor showed any intention of it getting loose.

Isn't available at ASC as well. Have to source it from someplace else.

Here are a couple of options ():

1

2

3

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by n_aditya

Here are a couple of options ():

1

2

3

Thanks, but they seem pricey (maybe because I am unemployed at the moment) Have to get the Yeti tinted & add 3D mats @ Siliguri. I believe bar-ends should be available there. Shall check-out.

Any other options , anyone?

Thanks

[sasen]

Hi Sheel.. Good to read your post. I am using a CBR250 ABS version since April 2012, though I could only do about 1800 KMs on it (Same problem as yours :-). However I need some understanding from you on this Bike. May be there is something to blame on my riding srtyle but nevertheless I wanted some clarification.

As rightly mentioned somewhere, I find the engine not at all responsive upto 3000rpm and even till 5000 RPM I don't feel that I am actually astride a 250CC, 25BHP, 23NM torque machine.

I had taken this bike on a 160 KM round trip from Kolkata to Bongaon which is a border town adjacent to Bangladesh. The road is single lane, with fairly well surface barring few potholes popping up here an there. The traffic is thick, crammed with people and overwhelming no of slow moving vehicles like motorized rickshaw vans, tempos etc. and there are always Jaywalkers and Cyclists.

I found the ride on the CBR quite challenging and physically demanding. I was absolutely disappointed with the response from the engine, the riding requires fast cut in and quick acceleration very frequently but space you get for such manoeuvres is extremely limited so your accelerations, breaking all need to be done between 30 and 50kmph. This is where the CBR disappointed. The bike was lacking power in this range as RPM was varying between 2000 - 5000 level. I could see smaller bikes in the 125CC to 150CC range doing a far better job in darting in and out and maintaining a much better average speed than my CBR 250. I never ever race and it's not about race but smaller capacity bikes, probably due to their strong low and mid range just stayed ahead and I huffed and puffed to keep pace with my friend who was riding a GS150 with his wife as pillion. Also I have noticed that tolerance of the engine in correlation to speed and gear ratio is poor. The bike starts knocking in sixth gear the moment the speed drops below 50kmph in sixth and 40kmph in fourth gear. This was happening in abundance on this road and constantly shifting gears up and down proved to be quite a pain. In fact it requires so much involvement just to keep this moving to keep pace with the traffic around it got on my nerves.

Also the manoeuvring was bad, negotiating potholes in speed was bad and none of the bikes which I have used before (this is my 14th bike) including the Karizma had such bad flickability.

I am a sedate rider by nature and love to cruise along revelling into the torque flow rather than throttle ringing style of riding to whip out the power from the bike. I liked bikes where power comes in easy flow. Honestly I think next time I travel the same route I will take my Jive which is quite capable of cruising at 70 - 75KMPH and capacity to roll on in top gear at 30kmph with a nary a power loss and still can accelerate to 60KMPH within respectable time.
Now that the bike is with me I wanted to know if you face the same experience which I have. Is this normal or I have wrong expectations from the bike?
Also need some riding tips for such situations to make the experience better. I have ridden the bike on expressways and it is perfectly at home there, happily cruising at around 100KMPH. Nothing to complain about on expressways.