Hello knowledgeable CBR Owners, need a suggestion. I own a Karizma ZMR and have clocked 60k kms in 4yrs and have toured extensively across South India, must say i am a very satisfied owner till date. But, I am planning to upgrade my ride as the old work horse is showing signs of wear. I was patiently waiting for HX250R for 1.5yrs but Hero doesn't seem to be launching it anytime soon.

Then i zeroed in on TNT 300 and even booked the bike after taking a TD, but i was skeptical about the ASS and availability of spare parts and after regularly following the TNT Ownership Thread cancelled the booking as it seemed like a white horse to maintain with many owners reporting breakdowns and niggles with electricals.

I am more of a tourer so the KTM's never made it to my list, the Yamaha R3 made it to my list only to be striked off later seeing its hefty price tag of 4.1L OTR. I was left with the new ZMR 2014, TB350, Pulsar AS 200 and RS 200 which were well with in my budget and suited my needs but none of them would be called an upgrade to my current ZMR in any way. I was not very keen on buying a CBR250 as the difference was just 25cc and it is already 4yrs old in the market, I was anticipating CBR300r to be released shortly, but was disappointed with just a non-sense sticker job showcased at the honda revfest.

I have now decided to buy a used CBR250 which would serve my commuting/touring needs for at least 2 yrs with 7 more horses and a healthy torque compared to ZMR and then upgrade to a proper adventure tourer (triumph tiger, TNT GT....etc)

I took a TD of a 2012 STD CBR 250r with red-silver combo which has 10+ change Kms on its ODO, it is completely scratch less (even on its silencer guard), with OE ContiGo tyres which can last another 15k easily (looks brand new). I couldn't to a proper TD but the bike seems to be in good condition(fingers crossed), no vibrations from the fairing except lil rattle from the visor above 7k rpm. I am keeping my budget low for this buy as I may upgrade to a bigger bike after 2-3yrs.... any suggestions or precautions before buying a used bike? What would be the best buy price for this bike?

I myself being a CBR owner would say..If you ain't mad about ABS then go for TNT300. Going for adventure tourer which will be close to 10L+ is a big game all together. So TNT 300 is really a charm and practical daily ride as well. CBR is also good for daily ride by I felt TNT300 ride position more comfortable than CBR250.

rest is upto you.

I took a TD of a 2012 STD CBR 250r with red-silver combo which has 10+ change Kms on its ODO, it is completely scratch less (even on its silencer guard), with OE ContiGo tyres which can last another 15k easily (looks brand new).

As i said before i had booked a Green TNT 300 but then realized its a very good bike to ride than to maintain. The cost of the spares were too high and also they are not readily available athey need to be imported, ridiculous Insurance premium of 9k a year( my car premium is just 5k ), lack of proper ASS network, quality issues (electricals), bad reputation of DSK they all just drove me away from TNT 300 which is otherwise a perfect bike for my need. I must say I settled for a used CBR250 for now which i presume will give at least 70% performance of TNT 300 at 1/3rd of its cost. I had to save money for my next upgrade so I chose used CBR250 which will be easy on my pocket to maintain.

I know many Honda owners would under rate their machines comparing it with their counter part as they look bland, are under powered, doesn't have a compelling exhaust note, not a dynamic handler etc etc etc but where it scores is in sheer practicality where it scores 80% in every dept unlike track focused KTM's, Race Derived Yamahas, I would opt for a jack of all than a master

Price seems a bit high. I recently bought a 2012 ABS with 12.5k Kms for 1.2 lakhs. Also, in my opinion the contigos are the worst things to happen to the CBR250R, budget for throwing them away the minute you get it.

If you are ain't a corner junking then CONTIGO does its work preety well.
Now many FZ riders are changing their MRF to Contigo cbr spec

Can't comment on that. My preworshipped CBR came with 12.5k run contigos which had every problem I could think of including a serious case of tramlining. Got them replaced on the second day of ownership and difference was quite significant. I don't do corner carving and also tend to be a rather sedate driver but felt uncomfortable taking turns at speeds more than 40 kmph on the contis. Again, it could be that the tyres were at the end of their life.

Price seems a bit high. I recently bought a 2012 ABS with 12.5k Kms for 1.2 lakhs. Also, in my opinion the contigos are the worst things to happen to the CBR250R, budget for throwing them away the minute you get it.

Wow that's a steal, I could neither find a bike lesser than 1.4L online nor in used bikes market. Infact the owner was quoting 1.42 as it has run very less and is in pretty good condition, I think I need to negotiate further before purchasing it.

For this I am can bet Contigos are not that bad.
I rode my bike for 10k on stock Contigos
went through monsoon rides of almost 4k

Winter Rann of Kutch ride and many more.

You see Contigo worthless at certain speed +, what I felt was turning at 100kmph+, Braking I din't see any bad.

I din't had any issue with contigos in wet braking as well, Might be because I am using ABSmodel.

But yes for Touring Contigos are good, NO frequent Punctures.
I changed by Contigos to Michelin Street Radial only due to a big hole in contigo and getting it reopen again and again.

Either there is a huge variability in the contigos or you got the immported version.
Maybe I got a lemon with the contigos I got. I have the ABS model as well.

So I screwed up my bike's speedometer while trying to change the LED's the board got fried.
I went to SVC to get it changed and finally paid biggest bill ever in 4 years of ownership a whopping 13k.
6.5k for speedometer and around 4k for front ABS sensor strip(this was a different problem altogether) and rest usual maintenance stuff.
First time I felt the pinch of owning big bike.

Wow that's a steal, I could neither find a bike lesser than 1.4L online nor in used bikes market. Infact the owner was quoting 1.42 as it has run very less and is in pretty good condition, I think I need to negotiate further before purchasing it.

That is cringeworthy. Did you check with used parts dealers, i.e stolen parts resellers, there is a place in Chennai right I don't remember the name that is so notorious for stealing cars and bikes and/or parts.

Cheers!
VJ

I checked couple options but finally decided to go with SVC and that "area" even I don't remember the name I kind of stay away from that area because if you park your bike you might loose rest of parts while searching for one part.
Best thing about new speedometer is that it says 300 kms only so that's a plus.
Regards,
Mohan