i know i am wrong in writing these things here in this forum but i request with folded hands to use their connections,relations,powers,means to all the forum members of all the web-sites to get the custom and excise duty reduced on import of bikes to 40%.govt.of india getting very little income from the duty on bikes.we may use young leaders like mr.rahul gandhi,sindhiya,sachin pilot,jindal.to get our job done.then we will be able to see new powerful bikes on the road and we will not see dreams.when policy could be changed to mr.sanjay gandhi,why not to thousands and thousands bike lovers.thanks

this might be OT...... so sorry....... but there was same discussion regarding this in some different thread in which few members gave very good points against the lowering of the tax...... Ken, Sarbanoxley n Hash** were the members(if I remember correctly)....... if you have time have a look at those points also....... it may change your mind......

Agreed completly. But let me take it a step further. The reality is only a handful of enthusiasts among these enthusiats will actually buy one. The rest will give full thumbs-up and praise in triplicates.

Indian market has yet a long way to go. But surely there is change in consumers attitude, but its slow, very very slow. We are roughly getting maybe a 50cc upgrade in a decade (not to forget the 10/20/30 odd cc in between). So keeping that in mind, perhaps the days of 250cc has arrived.
My comments should NOT be taken on par with Ninja 250. My interpretation of 'advance technology' when it comes to bikes/cars is measured by the engine and chassis suspension system etc. Hence my guess would be a basic technology 250cc engine/chassis with lots of goddies like LED, Digital display etc which I do not consider as advance technology in this case.

The way I see, Our market is not matured enough to appreciate the value of advance engineering like chassis and engine. For one, as long my bike produce more bhp than my neighbour's, I'm happy to claim the bragging rights and Bajaj has played on this mentality to perfection. And secondly, the question of all powerful and mighty kmpl. This is the attitude being expressed even among enthusiats right here in xBhp time and time again. How much more so for the millions of commuters out there.

@Bibhu: That 'plastic wonder' from Yamaha IS THE best 150cc bike to ride around city right now. Unless you personally feel otherwise about it!!!

The discussion here is whether a 250 cc is coming or not. It is nothing to do with HH having an R&D or not.

You should be proud that HH is the largest bike maker in the world without even having an R&D. Just think why it is the largest bike maker. May be you are not a customer of HH, but there are majority of them who are satisfied and that is why it became the largest bike maker in the world. Every company will look to serve larger section of people to get the benefits and profit. They will try to satisfy them. Only after that, they can look into the performance segment, which has smaller number of people.

There is a bike with all the tech you mentioned and it is R-15.

My suggestions to Honda for their 250cc bike:-->

1. Slightly-Torquey engine is a must. Don't forget the practicality. There should be a balance of Low end Torque and High end Power.

2. Good Full faired looks. That doesn't mean Stunner-like... That means CBR-like Styling.

3. Don't miss out on anything modern - Clipons, Rear Sets, Digital Instrumentation, step seats, full fairing, etc.

Remember the older Honda VFR 800? Please take some inspiration from it...

Like you have stated , this is a thread about the Honda 250. Lets leave it at that.

Further, I only take pride in the fact that I am a Biker and not of the fact that some company is lebbled the biggest "Two wheeler" Manufaturer of the world just because they sell mopeds.

The reason I deleted my last post was because I was challenged on my statement over the FZ. I will not be dragged in to a brand war. If people can not give up their presumptions and blind brand loyalty then so be it. I DO NOT support any brand as such. For me the machine matters not the company.

For the record: R 15 does not have DOHC, It has forged piston and liquid cooling though.

@ Samarth: Dont worry dude, If they DO decide to come up with a 250 single then it is bound to be torquey.

^^Unfortunately, all the common men in India are not 'bikers' as us. They just need 'mopeds' and they take pride in it. They cannot afford a DOHC liquid cooled engine with a forged piston, all in a deltabox frame. As a matter of fact, all brands in India sell 'mopeds'. I do not see any brand war here and I never intend to.

Samarth, most probably the product would be in the lines of CBX Twister 250cc. Lets see what is in store for us.

actually it is true ... in India we get 'mopeds' ...

still wont put someone who rides 9bhp 'moped'.... in the same league with someone who has 18+bhp 'hyper moped'

No hard feelings dude, I have just gotten a bit weary of of these brand fanboys. Thats all. But what you say is true. All uncles and their brothers want to buy splendors and splendors alone. Nothing to do about it. Honda Cub lives on I guess.

Or a 21 bhp super/ultra/hyper/tuned/racing spirit/sprint/turbo/extreme MOPED

I ride HH. I consider their the quality of their product to be better than most of the competition. But in all honesty, I don't see much reason to be proud of HH considering they are merely into "copy-paste" business. No argument that they are doing exceptionally well for that matter. On other hand Bajaj, though I consider their products to be inferior in quality, they have their won R&D which they can call their own. I understand, the pulsar family is basically designed by non-bajaj firm, however today, most of what we see on the pulsar is from bajaj themself. So in a way, I would say Bajaj is into business of creating bikes while HH is into business of marketing bikes. So in this context, I have more respect for Bajaj as a 'bike manufacturer' in relation to HH, though I still won't buy their product at this stage as their quality has a lot to be desired.

I have noted earlier that I believe time has come for the era of 250. Now if we look at the current bikes in the market. There is a huuuge gap between 200/220/223cc (Pulsar/Karizma) and 250cc (Ninja) motorcycle, obviously not in term of 'cc' but in 'price'. My guess is that the next 250cc would be to fill up this gap, and perhaps this is where Honda is taking interest.

+1 to that. Though I'm hoping against hope that its fully faired&fits into my 2L budget.

Some respite for the thread.

Topic Closed for the moment