How many of you are seriously considering buying the Honda 2011 CBR250R?

[Nemesis]

Just curious, if the bike is priced reasonably around the same as the Ninja250R (which I'm pretty sure it will be), how many of you are more than confident you will switch over?

[kkim]

I might depending on the reviews... but will wait a year or two until they offer a color I can tolerate.

[johnjohn]

Doesn't hold a candle to my ZZR250.

[Boom King]

I voted no as I'm just starting out riding and having too much fun on my Ninja 250r and it is a great bike. Although I'm sure the Honda CBR 250r will be of the typical high quality Honda performance and finish. I rode a CBR 125 during my motorcycle training/safety course and was surprised at how well it rode. You could flick that bike with a blink of an eye and had enough power for city commuting.

I definitely like the fact that the CBR 250 will be fuel injected although it will be interesting to see how the single cylinder engine performs in comparison with the parallel twin in our ninjas. http://www.ultimatemotorcycling.com/...cbr-250-r-into. If it is done in a functional design, the digital instrument panel should be nice as well. I don't really care for the red silver colour scheme, at least from the pics, but the black looks clean. The exhaust design really catches my eye. Hopefully it is competitively priced and the increased competition will force Kawasaki to stop raising the MSRP on the 250r every year.

[addy126]

I vote maybe.... hopefully it will be on display this weekend at the Dallas Int. MCycle Show and I'll have an even better idea of the product. However I never buy the 1st year model of anything anyway.

[thurt88]

Yea, i will get one probably for my daughter. She wants that or an apprilla 250.

[TattootsieRoll]

Will have to see the reviews. I like the styling and fact that it's fuel injected. But again, reviews will tell.

[Yoda]

For back roads riding and teaching my younger ones to ride id seriously consider the bike.

For my commuting which runs mostly highway I dont think so since Ive felt the Ninja was tapped out in a few situations.

[TrueFaith]

Originally Posted by Nemesis

Just curious, if the bike is priced reasonably around the same as the Ninja250R (which I'm pretty sure it will be), how many of you are more than confident you will switch over?

With FI, ABS available, an inch-higher seat and Honda's reputation, it sounds like the bike I would have liked to have bought when the new-gen 2008 Ninja was the only game in town.
As much as I think I'd trade, the addition of FI and ABS will add a few grand to the CBR250R and the Ninja's price starts looking good again. If Honda markets this for 6-7k, a lot of people will just buy a 600 to get more bang for their buck.
Honda's not the greatest at keeping things cheap. I mean have you seen the price of a CBR600R lately?

[Nemesis]

Originally Posted by TrueFaith

As much as I think I'd trade, the addition of FI and ABS will add a few grand to the CBR250R and the Ninja's price starts looking good again. If Honda markets this for 6-7k, a lot of people will just buy a 600 to get more bang for their buck.
Honda's not the greatest at keeping things cheap. I mean have you seen the price of a CBR600R lately?

According to Honda's website: The ABS is optional

http://powersports.honda.com/2011/cbr250r/options.aspx

My sources informed me that the only monetary difference between a carb vs FI is in the hundred dollar range. Hard to believe...I know. But that's not to say that they may charge more. Couple thousands more? I doubt that.

They want to overthrow Kawi's share of the market and to do that they need to stay competitively priced with Kawi's 250.

[Reswob]

Why would I trade one 250 for another (rumored less powerful) 250!? I mean, sure, I would love fuel injection, but not enough to spend another several grand for another 250. I'm not getting rid of the little Ninja 'til I have the cash for a Daytona 675.


EDIT: has anyone looked at the website? Under "Innovations" one of them is "Disc Brakes".

[Snake]

I will be keeping my current Ninja 250R until Kawasaki gives the Noth American market FI on the 250. I hope the Honda model spurs them to do just that.

[bdavison]

Its a no from me.
I dont like that its a thumper...Im betting it will shake like a paint mixer at some rpms. The exhaust is the most hideous looking thing Ive ever seen.

In my opinion the ninja 250R is a FAR better looking bike.

[Flashmonkey]

Originally Posted by bdavison

In my opinion the ninja 250R is a FAR better looking bike.

I'm willing to bet it will be the more refined of the two as well.

If I get another small displacement bike, it's gonna be a VFR400

[Ytse Frobozz]

If it were the inline 4 that you could wind up to 20k rpm and make dogs go crazy, I would buy that, but no thanks on the single cylinder. Like others have said, if it had come out in 2008 along with the redesigned Ninja, I might have given it a look, but I don't see how it could be so much better that (for me) it's worth the hassle and money of changing bikes.

[TenaciousD]

I won't get rid of my Ninjette for it, but if we add a second bike for my wife to ride, I'll certainly consider it. Might have to wait a year or two for some used ones to come on the market. My scientific guess is that with FI and the digital dash, the Honda is going to be at least $500 to $1000 more than the Ninja. I could be wrong, though, as it could be that the single cylinder engine is cheaper to produce than the parallel twin in the Kawi.

[bob706]

My guess is this bike fails because of msrp.

[backinthesaddleagain]

Multi brand dealer friend (kawi and hon, among others) says it will sell if within a couple hundred $ of the Ninja, but if Hon prices it 800 or more higher it will fail. A friend with a lot of bikes (including a couple 250 yam) says he will grab one. Looking forward to getting his reaction towards it.

[Daeldren]

One thing that doesn't impress me about the new honda is it uses a similar frame design to the ninja 250r. Give me an aluminum race style frame and I would be interested (what the rs125 uses), overall the cbr250 is probably not much better than the ninja 250r.

[wild-bill]

Originally Posted by bob706

My guess is this bike fails because of msrp.

That's what I'm thinking. Since it's a Honda, my guess is $5300 MSRP and $6100 with ABS. Of course they may surprise me and sell the bike for much less. I got my 250R Saturday. I wasn't even going to consider waiting 'till the price of the CBR250R is revealed. Even is price is comparable, the twin gets my vote over the single.

[backinthesaddleagain]

Originally Posted by Daeldren

One thing that doesn't impress me about the new honda is it uses a similar frame design to the ninja 250r. Give me an aluminum race style frame and I would be interested (what the rs125 uses), overall the cbr250 is probably not much better than the ninja 250r.

very similar looking frame

[hawkeye]

Though I have yet to get mine, I'm pretty sure that only a small percentage will be seduced by the fuel injected system. And if Kawasaki puts out a fuel injected ninjette, I think it's pretty much game over for the Honda CBR250.

[Tastytoast]

When Kawi brings the EFI Ninja 250R to the USA, which will likely be soon, it'll be an easy choice.

But as for now, Honda is smart to put EFI on all 250s and ABS as an option, but without the MSRP, or reviews on how it is on the highways, I don't have a clear picture yet. Maybe after the motorcycle comparo shootouts hit the stands then we'll see. On paper it sounds like a competitive bike, and I do like me some competition in the market.

GOGO EFI Ninja 250R!!

[Daeldren]

By the way Im still waiting on Yamaha's R250 to come out.

[bob706]

Originally Posted by Daeldren

By the way Im still waiting on Yamaha's R250 to come out.

+1 - I would jump ship in a heartbeat for a Yama 250

[Apex]

I put MAYBE.

I say maybe because I may sell off the 250 or I may not. The Honda would have to be insanely awesome for me to ditch my ninjette for it. I won't even ditch the pre-gen for the new one...so that says something.

If I do sell it, it most likely would be for something more comfortable on longer hauls. So I say maybe because you never really know...

[almost40]

The honda is FUGLY, PLUS it will be down on horsepower.
I WANT an updated FZ 400 I-4 Call it the R4. Make mine black please.

[Sailariel]

It will be interesting to see an A B Comparison of those two bikes. It would not be surprising if the major cycle publications are planning a "250cc Shoot Out" There is a huge differance between a single cylinder bike and a twin--especially the way they handle. This is where individual preference comes in. I think that FI and non FI will not be a tipping point--price will. Also it is no longer a question if Kawi will bring the FI model to the US--It is a question of when. My sense is that it will be soon.
For 2011, my prediction is that Kawi will still be carbed. Obviously they will be very interested how the FI Honda fares against the carbed Ninja. My suspicion is that the Ninja will dominate, further reinforcing Kawi's goal of keeping the price down by again offering the carbed version. The savings Kawi has realized since 08 by staying carbed will probably result in a 2012 FI Ninja with options like ABS, possibly HID Lights, LED signals and brake light, maybe even some minor tweaks with the bodywork, priced well below the Honda--further widening the gap. This is strictly my opinion -- To word it better it is a SWAG (Scientific Wild Assed Guess)

[Bueller999]

Not likely that I will buy a slower 250, if it was a twin and close in power I would think about it but not this one.

[TrueFaith]

I gotta say it was SO weird to go onto the Honda USA website the other day and actually SEE a bike that's been rumored to be coming to the US for years. I had given up on any other 250s for the US market. To actually see the CBR250R being readied for sale here is awesome.
The only downside was "Price: TBD".
I hope they don't discourage Yamaha from testing the waters in 2012 or 2013 by asking too much for a single-cylinder bike. I'm really pumped to see one of these CBR250Rs when they hit the dealers, but I'm still waiting for a Yami 250 or 400. With the new FZ8 they seem to be going in the opposite direction for the US market and I can only pray this Honda hits big and convinces them to downsize their US line to include at least ONE sub-600cc bike.

[Sailariel]

Wayne, It is a fickle market with tastes changing rapidly and for no apparent reason. Just in this thread, there were quite a few who said that they would not like a "Thumper". Single cylinder machines can go like the bejeezus, and , yes, they act completely different in the twistys. So far there are two single cylinder sport bikes out there trying to compete with the Ninja--Hyosung from Korea, and Honda. I would suspect that Yamaha would be next--although , were I Yamaha, I would let Honda, Hyosung, and Kawasaki do battle, and then come out with something to take on the winner.

[Nemesis]

I'm hoping Honda does well so that it'll influence Yamaha to jump in & try to get a piece of the pie as well.

This way I'll own all 250 one/two cyl. 4-strokes. LOL!

I love these bikes! For those who's aim is to eventually move up to a bigger bike (600/1000) I've already own a few of them. In fact, I have a 600cc race bike but a 600/liter bike is all business on the track but the 250 different...they're fun to ride/race.

There's only a few of us 250 riders that understand what I'm talking about.

[Sailariel]

Nemesis, A 250 0n the track is a blast. You can grab a handful of throttle in a turn and the bike kind of tells you "been hoping you would get around to that" 250s are also more forgiving. A single cylinder 250 on a track is even more forgiving--almost feels like a dirt bike without the skidding. On a single, you can really grab throttle in the turns.

[Nemesis]

Originally Posted by Sailariel

Nemesis, A 250 0n the track is a blast. You can grab a handful of throttle in a turn and the bike kind of tells you "been hoping you would get around to that" 250s are also more forgiving. A single cylinder 250 on a track is even more forgiving--almost feels like a dirt bike without the skidding. On a single, you can really grab throttle in the turns.

This is why I want to buy the CBR250R so I can find out for myself what the differences are. But I'm not too keen on buying new anymore. I'm so tired of dropping tons of money on new bikes but then again I'm itching to buy. I'm torn. LOL!

[Sailariel]

Shaun, I have ridden quite a few singles, and I agree that on the high end they seem to run out of breath. I have, however, never tried an FI single. FI may have solved that problem. We'll see what the road tests show.

[Nemesis]

I don't understand how you guys can say that Honda will overprice this bike considering the CBR600RR is reasonably price among other 600cc bikes.

The same for their liter bikes.

What are you basing your thoughts on?

[Sailariel]

I am currently negotiating with a Honda dealer on his demo NT-700V. He seems quite reasonable (and hungry for the sale) At this time of the year, it is last year's model and a demo. I suspect that I will get the bike for a fair price in the next several weeks.

[Nemesis]

Originally Posted by kawboyCAFE

i am basing my thoughts on the dealers prices around my area. they always overprice hondas for some reason. maybe its just the dealers. dont know.

Ah, I see. Thx.

But is it thousands more or just a couple hundreds more? Even if it's a couple hundreds more it's still within price range contrary to what others may be thinking/saying.

And I do have to admit Honda quality is better than Kawi's.

[Dano]

anyone see the new KTM 125 looks like the superduke and plenty of room for the 250 engine, that would be on my wishlist.

If Yamaha would bring a 250 to the U.S. I would jump on it in a second. If not, I am seriously considering the Megelli 250R. I just spoke to the manufacturer and the 2011 model which arrives next spring is supposed to have 32 hp and fuel injection. It has a digital koso dash, rear sets, led tail light & signals, and it looks better than both the Ninja and the CBR. It looks like a Ducati. The 2010 model had some problems with the kick stand design, but that is supposed to have been redesigned along with the suspension I believe.