Re: Which bike around 2L?

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Re: Which bike around 2L?

Here are some of things I could think of..
CBR 250 - Awesome bike, great pillion comfort when you compare with any other sport bike in that range (Duke, R15, RC etc.). Good avg 30+ mostly. Excellent low and mid range torque so no need to change gears frequently. Has 6th gear (unlike in Avenger), which helps great in touring on straights. Can easily do 100+ all day without any stress on engine. Honda, so refined engine. Overall, totally no nonsense bike. Only downside is that its almost on the verge of getting considered as outdated, given that Honda's do not promote them much now, sells is very limited quantity and its been there for a while and this segment is now craving for 300 cc bike with all the news of Yamaha R3 coming in soon and availability of Duke 390.
There is whole thread on this site dedicated to this awesome machine - http://www.xbhp.com/talkies/motorcyc...-cbr-250r.html

Duke 200/390 - This is riders bike, so do not expect much of pillion comfort. But bike is great tourer too. Being naked, less issues of cross winds. 390 has metzellers and cuts corners like anything. People in my group have done 165 top on this. 100+ speed is its home run. If you are going to do most of the city riding, then 200 will be just enough. 390 is just betterment of something that is already great. Quality might be little issue considering association of bajaj but not a show stopper, so no need to worry about it much.

Avenger - Would like to correct one of your points. Avenger can do 100-110 whole day. Engine might feel a little stressed but no issues to the bike as it has oil cooling system. I have done 3 consecutive days riding in Gujrat in burning summer without any issues. Beyond 110 to 120/130, you need to either have windshield installed or lower your head forwards to avoid winds, only then bike will go beyond especially 120. But, point is that, avvy is touring machine and NOT speedo gun, adding to that the straight posture creates lot of resistance at high speeds. And technically, the bike has been given great low/mid range torque at the cost of top range torques (like duke), This means you can go from 0-60 in no time, with 60-100 some sluggishness and beyond 100 - you just get help from rolling on. And in 5th gear, I have done from 45 to 115 without any struggle.

(Sorry if any of the points I mentioned are repetition of the things you already knew off, but I love all these 3 bikes, so went on..)C

Cheers,
Prasad M

Re: Which bike around 2L?

I felt that the torque was a bit low in the low/mid range for a cruiser. But then I have only ridden the avenger once. Used to ride the Honda Phantom TA200 just before landing back in India, so might have been spoilt due to that as well.
Do you think it was the specific bike?

Re: Which bike around 2L?

Thanks for the insight. I knew most of it (been lurking here for quite some time) but while the Avenger may be able to do 100 all day, it does stress the engine. Found this happening on multiple trips, but when I would go to office, it would have no problem doing such speeds on the highway, even if it was just for a few minutes.

Either way, it looks like I'm settling for the CBR250R ABS as opposed to the Duke. I just found the on-road prices which are seriously varied in Bangalore and there's a good 8-10k difference between the prices, which I found odd, considering that the ex-showroom prices are really close to each other ( where the difference lies in the insurance, and registration ). Either way, it seems like it's also dependent on which bike is available for immediate delivery.

Let's see if anyone else has any compelling reasons or other choices.

Re: Which bike around 2L?

You can add suzuki inazuma to your list but should be lucky to find one in showroom since the model has been withdrawn. Twin cylinder smoothness n suzuki reliability. Does all you need. Even I had considered cbr once, but opted out after listening to horror stories of honda ass. There is a waiting period for cbr and the model you get is from old stock( I was informed so by honda guys last time when I had been there along with my friend to book honda shine, kindly verify yourself ) Also riding cbr is like riding an upgraded karizma which is not bad but not exhilarating as well. Cbr is slowly fading away and has low resale value, between zuma n cbr I would go for the zuma. I own d390 currently and yeah pillion comfort is a known suspect, build quality is acceptable, pretty good hardware and it is being continuously upgraded. Ride quality is harsh due to suspension settings but into a corner, you lean in as johnny lever and come out as johnny blaze City mileage is around 24kmpl, highways-35kmpl. You get abs, metzelers, usd forks and one helluva hooligan as std Go through the ownership reports of both your options, weigh in the pros n cons, then make a decision.

Sent from my SM-N750 using xBhp Connect mobile app

Re: Which bike around 2L?

Inazuma though taken off the website is still available from showroom. Showroom guys are still taking the bookings. Atleast thats the case in Mumbai.

Re: Which bike around 2L?

Yes, might have been case with the particular bike. Otherwise, with pillion I am able to pull off from 30 to 70 on 4th and like I mentioned earlier from around 40-45 till 110 with still some juice left on the throttle. In city, I have been running bike on 3rd with speed as low as 15 and still pulling it easily without thud sound from engine. For high revving bikes like Duke, you've got to bring it down till 2nd (or sometimes 1st) on such low speeds to get enough torque.

Sorry for being little technical, but both CBR and Avenger release their full torque @ 7000 rpms, whereas any other bikes (especially in sportsbike category) will release full torque only @ 8000 (best case) or @ 10000/11000 (in few cases).

Hope this explains my point well.. ;-)

Re: Which bike around 2L?

Thanks. That does explain it. The phantom lets loose at around 4000 rpm. How I miss her.
Will take a test drive on another avenger to better compare with the ceeber.

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That's one seriously beautiful bike that suzuki never marketed properly.
I was asked to plonk down 50k for booking fee with the promise of delivery hopefully within 2 months. I walked away as I needed the bike sooner.

Re: Which bike around 2L?

Ah I thought of the Inazuma, last year, before I moved to Bangalore. But now that the bike is discontinued, I don't have the finances to risk it.

There's no denying that the Avenger is great for puttering about in the city. I've never had any issues with it except on the highways.

You should, ideally. It'll help with my perception as well, considering I'm going to buy the Tricolor ABS by Thursday or Friday.

Re: Which bike around 2L?

You're welcome to have a ride on my CBR250R ABS if you want to try it out. I live in yelahanka.
Will take a test ride tmrw/thursday and let you know.

Re: Which bike around 2L?

Oh that's pretty close! I live in Jakkur but I'm starting work tomorrow, so chances are, I won't be able to take a test ride of your bike until Friday, if that's alright. To be honest, I'm not too worried about the test ride since I'm pretty set on the bike and I know it's going to be radically different from the Avenger I used to have. But since you do own the vehicle, I thought I might just ask, do you have the Contigo tyres or the MRFs?

Btw, I'm planning on getting my vehicle from Dhruvdesh Motors in Yelahanka.

PS. I spoke to them earlier today about the manufacture and they said the CBR250Rs they have in stock will be April/May 2015 manufactured. Which isn't bad considering people are assuming that the bike is out of production.

Re: Which bike around 2L?

Hahahaha. That's awesome. I'm headed into town tomorrow evening, but can meet up with you thursday evening if you want to see the bike.
My bike is 2011 manufactured and 2012 registered. I'm switched to Michelin Pilot Streets as I was very unhappy with the levels of grip of the Contigos. These are very nice and sticky. Felt very comfortable and grippy riding back from the airport after heavy rains at 80+ kmph. I had to do an emergency stop and she stopped with zero drama.


The bike is very much in production. There was someone in the forum who had got an April 2015 manufactured bike delivered last month in Chennai. I guess they are just going very slow on production as the demand is very low.
Be very careful about service from Dhruvdesh motors. They try to hard sell unnecessary things like battery charging and their AMC. Also make sure they don't use high pressure water on the radiator.

Re: Which bike around 2L?

Ah, I have no idea how much work I'm going to have so I'm not entirely sure about Thursday. If you're not available on Friday, that's not an issue.

I think as long as they don't wash the bike before I get there, I won't be worrying about it too much. The free services, can I go to another Honda service center to get them done? That way I can avoid Dhruvdesh altogether.

Re: Which bike around 2L?

I'm actually in Delhi this Friday to Monday. Catch you some other time then.

The best Honda service center in bangalore for the CBR is saphire honda all the way south in JP nagar.