My personal opinion is that HONDA is never going to release a press note or statement saying that they are going to look into the quality issues and rectify them because by saying this HONDA will accept that there are issues with the CBR and may cause a huge dent to their image plus may cause lots of people to go in cancellation mode (although it might still happen because of the ever extending waiting period).

We have not seen any negative comments on the CBR (related to quality, fit and finish) in international market and HONDA will never play around with their image of a top class quality provider by releasing such statements in our country because it can impact their global image as well.

We should be happy enough that HONDA has accepted that there are quality issues (if the news is true) and are working towards resolving them but expecting an official statement in too much in my view.

buy an extended warranty of another 3 years
which will make the total warranty period of 5 years or 30000kms

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 corner carving?...not really

The day Honda announced that they will manufacture CBR's meant for india in india, i knew this would happen. They truly underestimated the pathetic nature and skill of indian automobile manufacturing man-power. If i were a Top Honda official, i would start bringing the CBR's from thailand to india and let the honda's plant in india to concentrate on the low end bikes and scooters. Atleast until they get their acts together. Sure it may result in a partial loss in profit. But IMO a loss in profit is better than a dent in their global image.

Agree with you buddy but then the overall cost of the bike would have gone up if they would have brought it from Thailand, taking the price closer to the NINJA. The edge which CBR is having over others is its price and if it was priced near NINJA (in case brought through CKD route) then I doubt that it would have found many takers.

I think HONDA was carried away by the massive booking and their quality inspection has failed them miserably. They have to be more stringent now onwards otherwise the going seems tough very tough....

Absolutely agree with Firen. As someone said honda took a bite too large to chew. Am sure Thai assembled bikes would be far better in fit & finish; should have started with them and built the image initially.

Its time HONDA got over the "chalta hai" attitude and start thinking world class.

You needn't have gone through all the trouble to know that CBR is not as potent a track tool as R15 or ninja . I am sure majority of the people have booked here knowing that they will not be using it in track every other day. Most of them including me, if i get it before the ninja, will be using it for commuting purpose and weekend long rides.

All Honda's unexciting?

Even though the review is a bit biased, kudos to your effort

Anybody from Kerala?

Hi anybody in Kerala who booked the mechine and waiting for the call??

it was no trouble..overdrive were testing it and i simply took a ride. Yes honda powerbands are unexciting, including the one im riding in my avatar pic..

nothing to be biased about, i dont care for any manufacturer or bike model and neither do i need to please / promote anyone like the mags do. These are just facts...a racers impression, take it or leave it

Cheers

The review is not biased. Its a review of the bike in track perspective. You need not bother about it if you are not one.

Nicely put article.

Good Review Killer.

CBR is not a track tool I know and thats why I went for it
I could go for an R15 if I was a racing maniac but CBR suits my needs.

Hope Honda solves all the problems

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..

CBR will be faster on the track due to power advantage out of corner and on the straights...but it wont be as fast as the r15 in the corners. Its about 2 secs a lap faster than r15 and ninja is around 3 secs a lap faster than cbr

Yes its a bit biased since the person, as told by himself, feels that the powerband of all honda's is uninteresting, which is not being questioned here since it is his opinion and i respect that . Kindly put in an effort to understand what the other people were saying before posting a sarcasm . I have clearly mentioned that the review was good except for his bias for honda(which again is not being questioned or discussed). Oh and BTW should i also write somthing intelligent with "You need not bother"..