This Honda CBR250R was built for Ride for Kids by Gregg’s Customs. It’s difficult to pigeonhole the bike since it combines clip-ons with 19-inch flat track wheels and tires, but what it really demonstrates is how nice the little Honda can look shorn of its fairings and complete with a little cosmetic cut and paste. The best part? You could own this for just $5.
Photos: Sean Smith :continue:
What a difference a little color can make. The 2012 Honda CBR250R now comes in traditional red/white/blue tri-color while Shamu is utterly transformed by the addition of some candy blue paint. Its V4 has also been massaged for a fuller torque curve between 2,000 and 4,000rpm and it gains switchable traction control (on/off only). DCT models receive “intelligent” mapping, but don’t adopt the Integra’s 2nd gen system.
Back in March, Ducati boss Claudio Domenicali announced aggressive expansion plans that would increase the brand’s worldwide sales from 40 to 60,000 unit a year. To achieve that goal, Ducati planned to open up developing markets with two new factories. One in Thailand and one in Brazil. This Ducati Monster 795 is the first physical sign of that expansion. Not because its 796 engine in a 696 chassis makes it cheap enough ($10-12,000, with import duties, est) to sell in India, but because it’s the first modern Ducati to be made, or at least assembled, outside Italy. This Ducati was put together in Thailand. :continue:
![M-795_2012_Amb_R_02_[1600x1067]](http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6095/6283641967_94c954244a_s.jpg "M-795_2012_Amb_R_02_[1600x1067]")
![M-795_2012_Amb_R_03_[1600x1067]](http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6056/6283641843_343553c91d_s.jpg "M-795_2012_Amb_R_03_[1600x1067]")
![M-795_2012_Amb_R_04_[1600x1067]](http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6117/6283641743_602d313c70_s.jpg "M-795_2012_Amb_R_04_[1600x1067]")
![M-795_2012_Amb_R_05_[1600x1067]](http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6059/6284160328_b19f2e99d4_s.jpg "M-795_2012_Amb_R_05_[1600x1067]")
The first surprise came not on the little CBR, but on a Daytona 675R. Chasing Sean from my place in Hollywood to his in Inglewood, it was Sean on the Honda that kept leaving me behind in traffic. The 675 makes 124bhp, the 250 18. The second surprise came in the Santa Monica Mountains. In tighter corners it was again Sean (this time with Ashlee on the back) that would pull ahead in the tighter corners. Maybe it was time I kept making him ride the smaller bike. The third surprise was riding the Honda CBR250R. It’s amazing.
Photos: Sean Smith
So you want to go fast on a motorcycle, huh? Well, you could do what all your peers did and buy a brand new liter bike, crash it and either hurt yourself badly or never ride again. It’ll probably end up being both. But what if we told you there was a third way? Instead of looking for the bike to do the speed for you, learn to speed yourself. Do that and a whole new world will open up to you, you’ll be faster, safer and have more fun. You’ll probably even end up riding your whole life. Sound good? In that case, start right here with a Honda CBR250R.
Photos: Ashlee Goodwin
“The goal will be churning out more than 60,000 bikes a year,” Ducati boss Claudio Domenicali said in an interview with MotoSprint yesterday. “To do this we need to increase our sales in Brazil and India, therefore we will build two factories, one in Brazil and one in Thailand.”
Sound familiar? It should. KTM is doing something similar with the 125 Duke and other future models and that’s exactly what Honda’s doing with the CBR250R too. You’re witnessing the future of motorcycle production — smaller capacities, products targeted at developing markets and manufacturing in countries with cheap labor.
Art: KTM
I am not a motorcycle journalist. I have many years of experience designing and developing them and nowhere near the experience of professional road testers who typically write new motorcycle reviews. But, owing to the fact that I have been a loud proponent of small, modern bikes and the industry’s need to stop ignoring young and beginner riders, the people at Honda invited me down to Los Angeles to try out the new Honda CBR250R. Here is my story about what I believe is the best thing to happen to motorcycling in North America in a decade. :continue:
The Honda CBR250R isn’t just a bunch of existing parts cobbled together to create an affordable package, it’s an all-new motorcycle specifically designed to combine low-cost Thai manufacture with a product that fits into Western ideas of quality and performance. All that and it has to meet global emissions standards that, in 2011, are tougher than ever. Here’s a look inside the technical solutions that made the CBR250R possible. :continue:
We’ve been reading a lot about offset, or désaxé, cylinders this year, they seem to be the flavor-of-the-month for motorcycle engine technology, helping to explain the unprecedentedly high outputs from bikes like the 2011 Kawasaki ZX-10R. But, we’ve been unable to translate the relatively simple concept into anything less than very complicated words. This drawing does that for us. As you can see, the design locates the piston to the side of the crank centerline, creating a straighter path for the connecting rod during the power stroke and reducing its sideways force on the piston as it slides up and down in the cylinder. This means less frictional losses and an easier life for the pistons and rods, which can be made lighter, thereby reducing reciprocating mass. That helps the Ninja make a record 197bhp, but bikes like the Honda CBR250R and even the Horex VR6 benefit too. :continue:
The Honda CBR250R promises to be the most significant bike of 2011, representing not only Honda taking the American youth market seriously for the first time in decades, but the product of low-cost, Far East manufacturing being imported to the US by a major manufacturer too. If it can prove as big a sales success here as the Ninja 250 (fifth best selling bike in the US in 2009), then it should also be the beginning of more manufacturers bringing over small and mid-capacity bikes or even designing them specifically to cater to US tastes. We’ll be publishing a review next week, until then, here’s 110 high-res images of affordable small bike hotness.
