Re: Honda CBR 250R

Howdy Gents!

Went on a short breakfast run to Kolar Woody's with a couple of friends. This was a speed run through and through, so I was riding at a constant 100-140kmph for the entire 60km stretch of highway. Initially, looking at the way the fuel bars disappeared, I thought I was getting a pathetic mileage. But upon calculating the economy, I was taken aback to see a 37kmpl mileage. I rode a total of 154.6km and drained about 4.2litres of fuel(top up to top up method of calculation). I'm a happy man! Of course, I am being extremely painful about lubing the chain. Maybe what I am saving in terms of fuel, I am spending in terms of lube. I just like the look of a well lubed chain. I spray on a teensy bit after a long ride or a speed run.

I have a doubt regarding oil change. The Duke 390 owner I rode with yesterday told me that I don't need to change the engine oil as early as 3000km(I am at about 2500km) and that any FS oil(Suzaku has the HMSI FS oil) will last at least 5000 km. I have heard here on our forum that it's advisable to do it at about 3000km. Also, he uses the Motul 300v, which is a race spec oil. I was looking at using the Shell Advance Ultra oil. It's cheaper and I've heard good things about this oil. @B7ACKTHORN your expert advice is desirable here.

Another observation I have here is - the MRF rubbers are actually performing better than I expected. I always ensure that the tires are adequately warmed up - which is about 50km of riding - before I even begin attempting any sort of shenanigans. I've taken a lot of fast flowing corners on the rubbers, done some patches of off-roading, ridden over sand and gravel and I've never been disappointed by the grip. I don't consider myself an expert rider. I'm merely an amateur. So for someone who's at my level, the MRFs seem to be a good economical option of rubbers.

I can't begin to explain the kind of confidence Suzaku has inspired in me. Everything from braking and throttle action, right to acknowledging my limits, Suzaku has really helped me begin shaping my personality better. Honda has really made a gem of a bike here. I don't know what I was complaining about before, with the whole Honda-needs-to-update-their-line-up phase. I don't think I even have the skill level to handle an "updated" bike. Of course, I've had Suzaku for only 3 months now, so this may be coming too early. :P

As always, no posts without pics so here is my pic from the breakfast ride.

Re: Honda CBR 250R

You can use HMSI Throttle 10w30 Madhav, it's a better oil in case you have difficulty sourcing other FS or SS oils. The 7100 and the Shell Advance AX7 Ultra. are some of the oil very much liked by the CBR and my personal favorite. Shell Helix are Car engine oils. Do not use car engine oils on a motorcycle. Always look for engine oils that say JASO MA MA1 and MA2. If you see API and or ACEA, it's almost always a car engine oil.

Secondly, MRF Zapper that comes with the CBR is a joy indeed. The tire does need to be heated and once it does, it's really amazing what this tire can do. One draw back, it hates fine sand and especially a non-warmed up tire, loses line pretty much easily..

Cheers!
VJ

Re: Honda CBR 250R

AX7 is readily available to me. There's a Shell bunk not 5km from my house! But what about the oil change interval? 3k or 6k km?

Re: Honda CBR 250R

Drain interval depends on the usage. If your motorcycle is your primary means of transport, then then replacement interval is always sooner. If you go back a few pages, I've reiterated the importance, as to why changing your motorcycle engine oil on a timely basis can be good practice. Primarily the shear, the stress a motorcycle engine oil has to go through is enormous. Frequent B2B conditions coupled with dusty conditions means, FS or SS a max of 3.5k kilometers is a good idea.

If one rides it basically as a weekend bike, with less mileage on the odo and or rides just the hills, the drain interval can be extended by a good margin. But again, your engine is your teller, meaning the engine can itself provide the user with lots of telltale signs, excessive vibrations, harshness, hearing all sorts of ticking noises when the engine is running, all equate to an impending engine oil replacement.

Ultimately be it FS or SS, for a motorcycle a good ballpark would be 3.5 to 4k to the extreme maximum. Important factor is the engine itself, it can clearly indicate the state of tune with the way it performs, which is key.

Cheers!
VJ

Re: Honda CBR 250R

Another question - A lot of people are telling me to stick to HMSI Throttle oil till 5k km. I don't see the point behind that. I've tried to look for a reason for this, but I can't find a logical explanation anywhere. I don't see the harm in moving to Shell oils right away.

Also, I found out that AX7 is a Synth based oil, while the Ultra is FS. What's the difference? Does that mean that AX7 is a SS oil? Ultra is a good 300bucks costlier. What's your view on the Motul 300v oil? It's very pricey, but I have no experience with it.

Re: Honda CBR 250R

300V, Advance Ultra these are top of the line super synthetic products of the respective companies and the engines definately appreciate them, but still they are not meant to be used as long drain period oils. Around 4500kms is good interval for them. Cbr250r needs hardly 1500 ml oil, so if you intend to use semi synthetic oil like AX7 or 5100 I will suggest you to stick with 3000 kms drain interval, 7100 is also very good option,but stick with 10w40 grade in any case.

Re: Honda CBR 250R

Guys, strange thing happened to my 2015 cbr yesterday. (Odo reading 25,000kms)
It was left parked in the sun for the whole day (there is no shaded parking at my college).
In the evening at 7pm. When i started it. Rpm was lower than it usually is. (1500rpm instead of 2200-2300rpm). When i started riding it. Wihtin a few seconds engine lost almost all of its power. Felt exactly like when we hit reserve in carburated bikes. Symptoms of fuel starvation. Turned it off and on again and its running fine since then. What could be the reason?

Re: Honda CBR 250R

Fuel lock maybe.

Re: Honda CBR 250R

Vapor lock you mean? That's all I can think of.

Regards.

Re: Honda CBR 250R

I think it's known problem to most of the owners here. Few time fuel pump open-close(Toggling engine kill switch) should fix it, or at the max crank the engine with throttle opened a bit. There might be some airflow in fuel pump which caused it. If you have searched the thread prior posting, you would have got the explanation. IIRC 2/3 weeks back someone reported similar issue and got answered.

Re: Honda CBR 250R

What's the difference. Semi synthetics are a blend of natural and man made molecules, and fully synthetic is fully man made molecules. Though SS and FS have their advantage and Motul falls in the upper category of FS oils. Kindly go back a few pages, I've reiterated on my views about 300V. You cannot go wrong with the Shell and the 7100.

Cheers!
VJ


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Re: Honda CBR 250R

Changed the spark plug at 39.5k kms. Not much difference to engine response at high rpm, but low rpm pickup has improved from the flat spot I had since the past 1000 kms.


What are the signs of brown spark plug?

Re: Honda CBR 250R

Your plug reads normal (you need to look at the tip i.e. electrode and not the color on the threads)
i do notice a little wear (larger gap) which seems normal for a plug that's worked for 39k km.

Re: Honda CBR 250R

Honda says to replace spark plugs at 48k kms, last weekend on a trip one of my friend's cbr spark plug went kaput on the highway. His bike's odo reading was 40k kms, we had to tow the bike for 70kms.

Re: Honda CBR 250R

yeh 48k km seems a very large interval between replacements. but since it's an IR plug it would probably last that long.
that doesn't mean one doesn't inspect the plug at every service.. keeping an eye on it at every service will let you know the real condition of the plug and might avoid such nasty surprises. But again, it's just a part and might fail.. just your bad luck. Keep a spare plug handy on long rides, doesn't take up much space in your bag or tool kit.
If you want to be very conservative/safe, then change out the IR plugs every 25k km (and keep old one as spare) and around 10k km on regular plugs especially on 200+ cc motorcycles.