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Honda CBR250 R or RE Classic 500 Desert Storm
Friends.. I know that I am trying to choose between Chalk & Cheese but need feedback here and really it’s not about comparison between two bikes.
I have been riding various motorcycles and scooters since the age of 20 and most of them have been low capacity motorcycles. The closest I came to performance by Indian standard was when I owned a Karizma for some two and half years. This was satisfying experience for me as Karizma was virtually unchallenged till P220 came in. After that I had to sell the bike for certain constraints. Currently I am riding a Suzuki GS 150.
Now I am again planning to shift to a bigger bike and although a slew of options available now I could only afford a Honda CBR250. I had almost zeroed in on the bike but then I saw the recently launched RE Classic 500 Desert Storm version on RE website.
Now I never ever had ridden a Bullet in my life. In my mind Bullets were huge slow moving lump of metal which leaks all over and you have to get grease on your hand often to keep the Bike in shape. But then I understand the UCE units are supposed to be better and more forgiving on the rider. I liked the looks of the Desert Storm and I was impressed with the power output which is 27.20 bhp @5250rpm and whopping 41.30Nm of torque @ 4000rpm. This made my chain of thought moving. It’s also fitting my Honda CBR 250’s budget. But here comes the doubts.
I have ridden a Karizma so that I can imagine the performance and handling the CBR 250 will offer even without a test ride. The fat rear tyre, the sporty look, EFI, Disc on both wheels, Full fairing, pose value everything indicates that I should be riding this baby. However I wanted to evaluate and clear few doubts about the RE Classic500 to arrive at a fair decision and ensure I have not made a costly mistake worth 1.6 lacs.
First question is on the infamous issue of the EFI unit. In lot of forums I keep reading issues on this unit and lack of O2 sensor etc. But I never could understand how this impacted the bike or it’s performance? So what exactly is this? Does this mean there is a possibility that I get stranded with the bike due to a EFI malfunction or I experience a loss on performance. Has this been sorted out by RE?
The second question is about the performance. To be precise I would like to know what is the speed range for RE Classic 500 is capable of for sustainable & safe cruising on expressway? Here CBR 250 users can also give me feedback on their machines against the same parameters.
The third is about the maintenance requirements of RE 500. I know this can not be compared with Honda CBR 250 but do I need to be a kind of techno geek and DIY guy to maintain this bike? I am a guy who does not like getting my hands dirty. Thankfully apart form periodic servicing none of my previous bikes gave me any headache.
Other relevant information, I am 42, height 5’.11”, weights 82 Kgs. My biking requirements are mainly weekend rides and occational long trips on highways. This is not going to be used for daily commute.
Probably I would be able to settle my mind once these are answered.
I have been riding various motorcycles and scooters since the age of 20 and most of them have been low capacity motorcycles. The closest I came to performance by Indian standard was when I owned a Karizma for some two and half years. This was satisfying experience for me as Karizma was virtually unchallenged till P220 came in. After that I had to sell the bike for certain constraints. Currently I am riding a Suzuki GS 150.
Now I am again planning to shift to a bigger bike and although a slew of options available now I could only afford a Honda CBR250. I had almost zeroed in on the bike but then I saw the recently launched RE Classic 500 Desert Storm version on RE website.
Now I never ever had ridden a Bullet in my life. In my mind Bullets were huge slow moving lump of metal which leaks all over and you have to get grease on your hand often to keep the Bike in shape. But then I understand the UCE units are supposed to be better and more forgiving on the rider. I liked the looks of the Desert Storm and I was impressed with the power output which is 27.20 bhp @5250rpm and whopping 41.30Nm of torque @ 4000rpm. This made my chain of thought moving. It’s also fitting my Honda CBR 250’s budget. But here comes the doubts.
I have ridden a Karizma so that I can imagine the performance and handling the CBR 250 will offer even without a test ride. The fat rear tyre, the sporty look, EFI, Disc on both wheels, Full fairing, pose value everything indicates that I should be riding this baby. However I wanted to evaluate and clear few doubts about the RE Classic500 to arrive at a fair decision and ensure I have not made a costly mistake worth 1.6 lacs.
First question is on the infamous issue of the EFI unit. In lot of forums I keep reading issues on this unit and lack of O2 sensor etc. But I never could understand how this impacted the bike or it’s performance? So what exactly is this? Does this mean there is a possibility that I get stranded with the bike due to a EFI malfunction or I experience a loss on performance. Has this been sorted out by RE?
The second question is about the performance. To be precise I would like to know what is the speed range for RE Classic 500 is capable of for sustainable & safe cruising on expressway? Here CBR 250 users can also give me feedback on their machines against the same parameters.
The third is about the maintenance requirements of RE 500. I know this can not be compared with Honda CBR 250 but do I need to be a kind of techno geek and DIY guy to maintain this bike? I am a guy who does not like getting my hands dirty. Thankfully apart form periodic servicing none of my previous bikes gave me any headache.
Other relevant information, I am 42, height 5’.11”, weights 82 Kgs. My biking requirements are mainly weekend rides and occational long trips on highways. This is not going to be used for daily commute.
Probably I would be able to settle my mind once these are answered.
. Had I been younger now by 10 years I would have probably made a swift decision and go for the CBR. Age is making me think twice.
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hence have to settle for either one of them. So far from various feedbacks it has emerged that CBR 250 offers hassle free performance and faster than the RE500 despite having lower engine capacity, Bhp & torque figures. The RE500 is a niche product but being old school comes with some maintenance issues though compared to older models is much better. Trooper has mentioned that he did not face any issue with the EFI unit. May be if some other RE 500 users can enlighten me more on this I will feel more secure .
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