Re: A Touring Bike for my needs..

I have also done significant touring on that bike plus had one CBR250 riding with me in North East for close to 20 days.

Never mentioned that it is a bad bike but it is overpriced for what it is offering, if it had costed 1.4 on road I wouldn't have said the same. Let's put it this way, its a big Karizma but it doesn't provide me the extra 70k value over Karizma. Doing 100-110 on highways is no rocket science these days and many bike does it with ease

Regarding handling if I compare it with any of the bikes which is 1 lakh or more in the sport category (Not counting the bullets) it is inferior.

One thing which is really good in the bike is the comfort it provides and if you are touring with a pillion then its the best bet. Also from what I understand the product is at the end of its life cycle and soon it will be replaced by a much better CBR300 (Read good reviews about it)

P.S: Would have suggested the older ZMR if it was available

Re: A Touring Bike for my needs..

Depending upon the theory you are putting up i can see the bike is compared to either of the following :

1. Duke/Rc 200, 390
2. Ninja 300
3. Zuma 250.
4. NS/RS 200
5. Upto some extent old zmr.

I dont ninja's price tag is justified. All right we pay for a world class product and almost flawless. But is it easy.on.maintenance ?

Coming to katoom, puny fuel tank, hard suspension and and no room for pillion, is its price tag (usd forks and spares price) justified for what they are offering ?

Coming to NS, it lacks fairing so windblast an issue and it is carburreted as compared to FI in Honda. RS200 too much plasticky and.not to forget the niggles which bajaj is famous for, tough they are VFM bikes. But is it good.to visit svc every weekend ?

Zuma is discontinued so no point in comparison.

Coming to ZMR, it lacks liquid cooling and CBR's engine has been built up from scratch and not just a zmr with liquid cooling.

MG sir, CBR's handling is spoilt due to its soft suspension (best for touring) and bad contigo tyres. Good set of tyres like MRF or Michelin improves the handling a lot.

To justify its price tag, following are the features i see :

1. liquid cooling and heat management at its best when compared to dukes and NS. No offense to other brand owners.

2. Lesser maintenance as compared to other bikes in the same leauge.

3. Honda engine, bullet proof enough.

4. Handling, nobody becomes a rossi or lorenzo while touring.

Cheers,
Sanjay

Sent from my LT28h using xBhp Connect mobile app

Re: A Touring Bike for my needs..

pulsar RS200(ABS) and suzuki gixxer sf all the way!

Re: A Touring Bike for my needs..

Not sure about the upgrade but tyres shouldnt be the reason you turn this bike down. Can always get them changed to the kind you prefer

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I see CBR250R quoted on the discussion. Owner myself and must say, amazing bike. Havent yet gotten down to touring but no problems in the daily commute. Smooth as it gets and gives you the nice big sport bike feel (IMO). Cant comment on what MG said as I lack experience but its an amazing bike as far as I'm concerned. TNT300 from its pictures seems like it could be a good tourer. Seemingly relaxed posture and stats show good power.

Re: A Touring Bike for my needs..

@Jon Niranjan Paul Thank you for your suggestion As i am in no hurry to get a bike i will keep and eye on CBR 300 and Pulsar 400 CS...
Regarding the choices, Yes have lot of options compared to a few years back.. When i bought my 350 TB the only options were karizma pulsar avenger maybe 2 more.. but now you cant count on your fingers... that is a problem but a good problem to have...

Re: A Touring Bike for my needs..

Hi gokul,
I think you should wait for the Yamaha R 25 or R3.. It has got a twin cylinder engine like the ninja300.. Also the pricing would be around 2.75 lakhs

Re: A Touring Bike for my needs..


RE HIMALAYAN would be a perfect tourer.. Spy pic

Re: A Touring Bike for my needs..

With respect,

i would state the following:

* For any touring bike, one of the biggest concerns is with cost Vs kms covered and overall spares cost. A side fibre panel of CBR 250R costs 1500 bucks if one manages to drop or scratch it and is usually easily available even in B-towns, a side fibre panel of a Ninja 300 is 50+k and one may have to wait for it anywhere between a month to 3 months. Yes Zero dep insurance will cover it but then again as the bike ages so will your insurance, one of the things to keep in perspective.

* Chain and sprocket set of CBR 250R is 3400-3500 Approx, Chain and sprocket set of Ninja 300 is 15-17k.

* Though personally, ABS is not a major criteria for me but for someone who intends to slowly upgrade through the CCs and still is in the learners stage, under certain conditions it does help and one gets that option in a CBR. Ninja 300/Z300 doesn't even give you that option to the best of my knowledge.

* Compared to ZMA which loses out ts breath post 120 kmph (engine is very harsh at the top end), a CBR 250R will putter along happily in that speed all day long and can be pushed to higher speeds when needed. The Liquid cooling system is one of the most impressive i have come across. I have never heard of a CBR where the engine temp gauge manages to cross the 3 bars. Can't talk about the same with Ninja when riding in peak traffic. @80-85 kmph @6th Gear, this bike can achieve upto 45 kmpl which translates to 450 kms (45kmpl@10 ltrs). I doubt any other bike in this category can match that!!

* A CBR 250R in abroad costs around 40-50k more, in India the same is available at a competitive price. So with LC, ABS and other stuff (except the crappy CONTIGO tires!!) it has been priced right (Any company would want to make moeny from us so no surprised from Honda!). One should also do an enquiry about the prices of the spares then it would be easy to understand that this is an underated bike but is very much capable.

* Even though Benelli TNT 300 sounds enticing and from the reports it should be good but currently it is an untested product by the masses and until proper ownership report crops up along with stuff like spares and service cost i would advise the OP to wait and watch and see how good or bad the vehicle is as ownership report starts trickling in purely from a touring perspective.

* A well maintained CBR has become popular as a proven tourer and many riders including Dr. Arnob Gupta have made crazy achievements on this bike without this product ever letting them down. It is indeed an overgrown ZMA but does have its advantages. @aargee and many others have achieved milestone on this bike.

I have gone through the same exercise and wasted almost a year hoping that Yamaha will listen to its die hard fans and will end up launching the YZF - R25/R3 or atleast we will get to see the CBR 300 in action... finally gave up, did my research understood my requirements and got meeself a CBR250R. The point is, besides following your heart if it feels and makes sense, one must also look at the cost of ownership before making a purchase decision. It makes no sense to buy an elephant and later not have money to feed it... Just my two cents.

NOTE: The above is just my opinion just like you sirji so would request you to take it with a stride


Cheers,