Got to put the CBR250r through its paces around the kari race track. In stock form the bike is a dissapointment on track, this isnt a surprise coz the bike was clearly intended to be used as a tourer. I'm sure it would fare quite well for that purpose.

Handling:

Chassis felt tight enough and on par with what you might expect from any modern motorcycle, however not as precise as the R15's. Suspension was too soft for aggressive corner carving. The rear could probably be jacked up to maximum preload for a slightly better feel however the front is too soft as well and cannot be adjusted, the result is a very pogoish feel on corner entry and that quite destroys your entry speed. Once done with the pogo dance and you steer the bike into the corner another flaw starts to make itself apparent. There is the distinct feeling of sluggishness from the rear. It simply doesnt want to drop to max lean with the speed you would expect it to. Personally i feel this is due the ultra wide 140 section rear tire. The ninja uses a 130 section rear and i simply dont see the need for anything more on a 250 like the CBR. Bottom line the bike isnt sharp enough to be considered a good machine for the twisties. The ninja and r15 score way higher on that scale

Engine:

This is a bit confusing because considering what its built around, the engine is pretty out of place. I'm not sure why honda decided to put a short stroke rev happy motor into a tourer. As with all things honda though the powerband is neat, linear and unexciting. There isnt much uptop and most of the rush is concentrated in the midrange. This ofcourse is ideal for touring but seems to defeat the purpose of putting in a short stroke motor when its obvious strengths lie in the upper rpm range. All said and done though they've done a convincing job of making it feel like a tourer. Engine is fairly smooth, nothing exceptional and well... just does its job. As opposed to the feeling you have when you ride a ninja250r and go 'oh hey thats not a bad powerband' you might take a run on the CBR and not have anything in particular to say about the engine, its not involving enough to engage your attention, you simply enjoy the ride, thats it

Not much else to say about the bike. I personally dont like its looks though fit and finish seem decent enough. Good value for money for the tourer folks? yes...good for anything else? in my opinion...not really

Where is the need for resentment if the CBR250 doesn't turn up trumps in all aspects? .....In fact every review is in essence an 'opinion' of the tester.

Does anybody who test rode face the same knocking issue. One guy who came to TD with me was saying Honda is known for knocking. Is it true??

I did not face any knocking issues as well. I saw the test bike being ripped on those small roads by some one who wasn't wearing a helmet at around 3 30 PM

To all people who says CBR is NOT a track tool and R15 IS, I will bet my ass to say an R15 won't beat CBR on a track..

Got to test ride the bike at Dream Honda, Bangalore. The bike was a non-ABS version. No knocking sound from the Engine.
Power delivery is good, if not excellent. The bike feels/sounds a lot like the Unicorn.

Ride quality and handling is very high, did not feel like it's the first time I was riding that bike. Breaking was very good again.

Engine is smooth, but not the way I was expecting it to be (sounded harsh post 8k rpm). The gears are smooth, I could hit a top speed of 100kmph very quickly on 5th gear with the showroom guy on the pillion seat. Tried 80-100kmph on 6th gear, and the bike pulled smoothly.

Mirrors are good and effective. General quality of the bike is just upto the mark if not the best.

If i am getting it right, it means for a single back view mirror we will have pay twice or more than any xyz 150-250 cc bike?

Good review there Killer. Thanks. Had been wondering what the CBR250 would be like on the limit and now I have a reference. The soft front was expected to create problems but the over-tyred rear creating a certain reluctance to attain extreme lean angles is interesting.

All: This 'track-biased' review by Killer adds to the information quotient about the bike. Where is the need for resentment if the CBR250 doesn't turn up trumps in all aspects? On the contrary, this 'edge of the performance envelope' review helps us better understand the dynamics of the motorcycle. And coming from someone who has almost two decades of serious track racing/testing experience, it needs to be valued instead of being challenged as a mere opinion. Sure it is an opinion but an 'informed' one. So is whatever I have written about the bike. In fact every review is in essence an 'opinion' of the tester.

It is not like that. Ninja parts are very expensive. Morethan the vehicles cost. Rear alloy alone costs 26 k. Single rear view mirror is around 2.8 k. Tank is around 40 k and the exhaust is over 50k. One of my friends ninja crashed (around 50% damage) and he got an estimate of 4.5 lacs.