[PatienceWins]

I just booked a CBR with ABS from Dream Honda. It's close to my house. They have 18 bookings as of now, 7 are for ABS. They cannot promise an estimated delivery date. Anyway, I will decide on whether to buy the bike only after a test ride. They are supposed to get a bike for test ride this weekend.

I saw red at Haiku Honda and black at Dream Honda. Both of them look beautiful, but a bit flashy for my taste. So I have booked a silver one without seeing it.

Findings:
The bike looks good. The dimensions suit commuting as well.
The plastic quality looks good. The parts seem to be of good quality.
Saree guard is an eye sore.
The exhaust does not suit the bike.
The seating position and ergonomics are good. I am 6'2" tall, so I was not sure whether my long knees would fit properly in the knee recess - no issues here.
Black alloys would look better on the bike.
The seat cushioning is firm enough, but the seat cover looks cheap.

[gsferrari]

Had a chance to re-test the bike this afternoon and some of the "low-end" torque seemed to appear after they worked on the clutch. This time although the low-end was better, the clutch started to slip after 7000rpm. Thats not enough rpm to make any real progress so my speed was pretty limited. Still I felt enough of the bike's potential during this 20 minute long test-ride and I took the plunge. The bottom-end torque issue was cleared...the baby ceeber will see Ladakh this year

[Shivank]

Originally Posted by gsferrari

Had a chance to re-test the bike this afternoon and some of the "low-end" torque seemed to appear after they worked on the clutch. This time although the low-end was better, the clutch started to slip after 7000rpm. Thats not enough rpm to make any real progress so my speed was pretty limited. Still I felt enough of the bike's potential during this 20 minute long test-ride and I took the plunge. The bottom-end torque issue was cleared...the baby ceeber will see Ladakh this year

Congrats!

Have been following your remarks on the bike at Xbhp as well.Seems you are finally satisfied with the bike because the first day you were really disgusted!
Anyway,would like to hear more on this..

Have you booked one ?

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by gsferrari

Still I felt enough of the bike's potential during this 20 minute long test-ride and I took the plunge.

Did you book the bike?

Thats a big turnaround from your first review! Now i am even more tempted to book one. Going to Honda showroom tomorrow to check the booking status here! I dont think they are allowing test rides though!

[PatienceWins]

Originally Posted by gsferrari

Had a chance to re-test the bike this afternoon and some of the "low-end" torque seemed to appear after they worked on the clutch. This time although the low-end was better, the clutch started to slip after 7000rpm. Thats not enough rpm to make any real progress so my speed was pretty limited. Still I felt enough of the bike's potential during this 20 minute long test-ride and I took the plunge. The bottom-end torque issue was cleared...the baby ceeber will see Ladakh this year

That's good to know. Your review was there at the back of my mind while booking the CBR. I booked the bike without test ride as there is no cancellation charge, test ride would be available only for the people who booked the bike and a bike for test ride would be available next week.

The low end torque is very important for me as I would be primarily using it for commuting. Based on the reviews, it seems CBR would fit my bill perfectly - Tourer cum powerful commuter with smoothness of Honda motor. Looking forward to a satisfying (torquey) test ride!!

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

How many have booked the ABS version? Is C-ABS really worth the extra 25k that Honda is asking for it?

I am a big supporter of ABS in bikes, but just want to know if the system is worth the extra 25k? Looks like most people are going for the standard version.

Also, anyone in Chennai who have booked the bike? Is Tambaram showroom recommended?

[gsferrari]

Yes I booked a Silver Standard...non-ABS. I cannot sleep at night knowing that I paid 30k to have ABS on a bike that costs 1.5L when my 13L MT-01 rides and stops just fine without ABS. Never needed those gadgets all along...don't need them now and certainly not on a low-power ride like this.

Yes a massive shift in my experience the second time around. The dealer had taken the bike off test-ride duties for repairs based on my feedback. I don't think they got the clutch-plates to repair the bike completely because the new clutch was OK at low-revs but once the revs built up it sort of let go. Anyway I got a feel for the bottom-end capability and in the previous ride I got a feel for the top-end capability.

My reservations about the handling still remain...it still steers too quickly for my taste especially at slow speeds. But this is something I can commit myself to deal with with time. Given the fuel prices I may be forced to switch to bikes for commuting...perhaps with the MT01 and the CBR250R in tandem I may be able to commute with a bit more style now.

But the ultimate goal and purpose behind this purchase of course is my Ladakh trip...nothing else matters!

[pranavt]

Any word on deliveries?

[-NUT-case]

A couple of new videos .

Wait for the end of this one and have a look at the speedo

YouTube - CBR250

This is a review from Zigwheels

Honda CBR250R Launch in Thailand Video

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by -NUT-case

Wait for the end of this one and have a look at the speedo

On the road, it should be a different game! What i really loved from the video is that 100kmph is almost 6k rpm!

And it looks like it shoots very fast from 90 kmph to 120 kmph. Should be particularly suited for cruising on our highways.

Was just thinking of getting this theme for my bike, if i get one soon.

[redrage]

Booked a Standard Non ABS Black today. Now that painful wait starts.

[mantrig]

Originally Posted by veyron1

@mantrig: If you booked on the 5th of Jan, your bike would be in the first lot, and you can pick up the bike from the Malad showroom in the next week itself. Although you might have made the booking at Mahim, you have the option of producing the booking slip at Malad and picking your bike up from there (minus the 5K for the booking of course). Should save you a lot of hassle...

@ Veyron1 - Thank you so much for your advice. I added a note stating I would not mind taking delivery from another showroom to the folks I had reported my concerns to. I received a call from the Malad showroom guys saying I need to come make the payment and have a test ride of the bike.

I will get my ride before May 15 after registrations from their Borivali/Malad warehouse/showroom. I am glad I decided to shoot an email about the jugaad going on, else I would be waiting for a good 2 months for my ride.

Thanks again for your help/inputs. I will be going on Saturday afternoon for a test ride and after taking a test ride will hopefully give them a cheque for balance amount.

[CARDEEP]

I went to see the bike yesterday at 2 dealerships in my vicinity, & came out disappointed, not because the bike was not good, but the attitude of the first dealer in particular. Though the second one was far better but, due to non availability of the test ride my overall experience would get a thumbs down.
In fact the first dealer was so arrogant to say that if you want the bike buy without test ride. As compared to this the BMW dealership in Ambience Mall GGN, where the dealership manager was courteous enough to let me get close to car & even sit in one, & also attended me promptly, despite me telling him that I cannot own in near future.

Few, bits about the bike as I could see one in dealer courtyard, & was ready to be delivered:
1. The fit & finish of plastic parts & paint quality was top notch.
2. But, plastics felt too brittle (similar to ZMA) as compared to my Fiero F2, P150 & rugged RETB.
3. The riding position felt better as compared to P220 (which I test rode few days back), as I could place my feet on the foot pegs, balancing with the help of a steel pole, by the side of which this bike was parked in side stand.
4. 140 section rear wheel adds character to the bike. Fortunately, it did not had any saree guard.
5. Not sure, whether this bike would rattle in long term, but, guess good ownership can help avoid these issues. Only hitch would be, with an experienced owner who has bought the same to impress girls won't be in a position to prevent the bike's plastics from damage in long term.
6. It is no doubt a VFM, but, you cannot underestimate the Baby Ninja, which is faster by a second (almost), which will loose out because of the price gap.

Also got chance to get up close to a poser (got lots of money by selling family agricultural land to builder), who commented that the bike will blow away R15 from market.
Come on when will Mango People stop comparing apples to oranges?

[Furebo]

Originally Posted by CARDEEP

Only hitch would be, with an experienced owner who has bought the same to impress girls won't be in a position to prevent the bike's plastics from damage in long term.

I did not quite understand this point, do you mean jealous guys would damage the bike?

[akshay4587]

Is Honda offering finance facilities on the Baby Ceeber?
What is the waiting period like,if one were to book one now?