New Competition for the Ninja 250R

Honda has announced they will market a viable alternative to the Ninja 250R.

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2010/Oct/101027cbr250.htm

Competition is a good thing!

After they'd completely pulled out of the 250 market, this is quite a surprise coming from Honda. Very interesting.

Right here, this is me waving money around at honda.

I like it. A lot. It's a thumper!

I hope they offer a naked version though...

Tom Heath wrote: I like it. A lot. It's a thumper!

That also means a parallel twin or V-version could be in the future - potentially tanking sales of Ninja 500's, or GS500S's.

Kawasaki and Suzuki have been coasting for years by just updating their old I2 bikes. It's past time for some new ideas.

oldsaw wrote: Kawasaki and Suzuki have been coasting for years by just updating their old I2 bikes. It's past time for some new ideas.

I am a current Honda motorcycle owner and I have to disagree with the above statement. It is Honda who has been stagnant and boring with their U.S. motorcycle line-up for the past 10 years or so.

Honda, while making very nice motorcycles in the easy, predictable niches it has (600 & 1000 sportbikes, mid-sized cruisers, Goldwings) has had very little in the way of surprising or innovative bikes in their showrooms for several years now.

In that same time, Suzuki brought out the SV650 & VStroms, plus that little factory supermoto. Kawasaki brought out surprising products like the 2000 Vulcan, Ninja 650, new Ninja 250, etc.

While I agree that the motorcycles Honda does make are all pretty good, I really think it is long overdue for them to be the leader/innovator in the industry that they once were.

I like that it will be available with ABS. I love riding, but I am not so great when it comes to advanced handling type skills on two wheels. I don't like it when the front wheel locks up. Not at all.

Cheers for bringing a small displacement bike to the U.S. Jeers for bringing the wrong one...should've just brought over the VTR250.

In reply to MCODave:

We definitely agree that Honda has also rested far too long - on the two and four wheel sides. The EX500 and the GS500 are both very "long in the tooth" designs and that's partly the blame of Honda for not offering competing platforms.

Major kudos go to Kawasaki for re-engineering the 250R; it's success has to have been the catalyst for Honda's new 250.

Now it's time for Suzuki to ante up and for Yamaha to stop playing dead.

Wait just a minute. Honda made the Rune, one of the heaviest and most over-priced and over-styled bikes ever produced, the Fury, a factory chopper with real chrome-plated plastic, the DN01, a $16,000 scooter with no storage, and the NV100, the first production motorcycle with pass-through saddlebags! How are you going to say they are not at the ragged cutting edge?!?!?

(Honda's Race ABS is supposed to be a game changer though)

I'm still waiting for a crf450 street motard with reasonable maintenance intervals

oldsaw wrote: Major kudos go to Kawasaki for re-engineering the 250R; it's success has to have been the catalyst for Honda's new 250. Now it's time for Suzuki to ante up and for Yamaha to stop playing dead.

According to the people that own them, the older ZZR250 (the Ninja's we got in Canada) were a better bike than the new one. The only upgrade was in the looks department. It's still an ancient bike underneath that new body work.

All the Japanese bike manufacturers are selling outdated bikes, some by as much as 30+ years. What other companies can get away with recycling their old stuff at new prices like the bike manufacturers?

None of them are doing a good job.

Oh God, please?

YUMMY. Enough sportbike to look cool, without the 200mph death certificate. I'd rock one of those.

This news really excited me when I saw it on autoblog yesterday. I'm not much of a heavy sport bike fan, but this looks like something light and nimble that would be more fun on the street than my dual sport. I know, I know, looks aren't that important in motorcycles, but I've never been able to get around the styling of the 250 ninja, the new ones are a step in the right direction though. If pricing comes in close to the ninja, I'm going to have to take a closer look at these.

Someone from Honda said: So on the first subject - CBR250R pricing in Canada. It has not been announced. So it is absurd for anyone to be making assumptions such as "it will definitely be more than the Ninja 250" etc. There is no way that anyone should make such a statement when there is no price announced. So then - "How much WILL it be?" It is very obvious the CBR250R will compete in showrooms with the Ninja 250. The CBR250R has some specifications that are superior to the Ninja 250 such as EFI, lighter wet weight, superior seating position, under seat storage, digital instruments, lower maintenance requirements, and more. But it also has one cylinder vs. two. In order to sell well, it will need to compete on features & benefits and price. MSRP will be announced at the best possible timing considering: a) Providing an MSRP sooner will allow potential customers to make their purchase decision sooner. (and end erroneous speculation).It should take sales away from other makes or get customers to delay their purchase until the new model arrives in showrooms. b) BUT announcing too soon would allow competitors to possibly react and make sales of their MCs before the CBR250R is actually on the showroom floor and available to sell and deliver to customers. c) Final building/importing cost has not been determined - of course there is an estimate but not ONE Canadian spec CBR250R has been mass produced yet and won't be for a few months.Costs and exchange rates will change between now and the on sale date in the spring. But saying that, it is not the plan to wait until Spring to provide a price. All that said - Honda understands the market (better than may of you think) and understands that for entry -level motorcycles, pricing is far more important than on limited quantity special interest models. We expect that customers (most customers) will be satisfied with the MSRP when announced. I know these replis won't end the speculation and cries of "Honda will..." but I can tell you these are facts not speculation

http://www.usedottawa.com/classified-ad/PUT-YOUR-DEPOSIT-ON-THE-NEW-2011-HONDA-CBR250R-FOR-SPRING-2011_13443702

At least $1000 too much, IMO

Honda DN-01 Honda Hawk GT, beat the SV650 by almost 20 years. Kawasaki ER-6n

The habitual offender Harley even paid Porsche to develop a "new" bike for them.

There are new bikes out there, but if you go too far from what always has been, you get ahead of the curve and then they don't sell.

I can honestly say I like every bike I posted a pic of.

And for the CBR250R, I remember Honda's first dip into the 250 entry level sporty style category. I won't post the hideous pink and teal stickers it came with in 1988.

There are definitely som cool bikes out there, and I really like the ER6n, but IMO, there's no excuse to keep flogging the GS, or EN 500's. They're 40 year old tech, at new price.

Zomby woof wrote: There are definitely som cool bikes out there, and I really like the ER6n, but IMO, there's no excuse to keep flogging the GS, or EN 500's. They're 40 year old tech, at new price.

They are following the HD business plan. Keep building out of date tech and eventually the retro bug will hit it and you can charge order of magnitudes more for it.

Remember the Triumph Thunderbird and the Kawasaki W650 knock off?

Ducati even copied themselves for a while, till the guys family whose race bike it was a tribute too sued them for not paying royalties.

To be fair, I'd love to have a product that's based on a 30 year old design that still satisfies customers. It must be like printing money.

Zomby woof wrote: http://www.usedottawa.com/classified-ad/PUT-YOUR-DEPOSIT-ON-THE-NEW-2011-HONDA-CBR250R-FOR-SPRING-2011_13443702 At least $1000 too much, IMO

Current pricing for the 2011 Ninja 250R is $3999 (USD), so you might be right.

The CBR250R needs to be significanly better or won't make much of a dent in Kawasaki's sales figures.

Osterkraut wrote: To be fair, I'd love to have a product that's based on a 30 year old design that still satisfies customers. It must be like printing money.

True enough in the dual sport world. I give you the KLR650. Aside from a restyle and minor upgrade in 2008 it's essentially the same Swiss army knife they've been selling since 1987 or so. Now, that may work for guys who ride the way DS's typically get used, but when it comes to road bikes, I think technology does need to be brought up to date. I mean, the KLR still has a carb. Fuel injection and ABS are almost considered standard nowadays. But then, KLRs don't cost 10 grand new, either.

Why do we not get the 4cyl. 250cc Fireblade that has been a staple in Japan and Australia for years. If I'm not mistaken the CBR250 Fireblade had a redline at 19,000 rpm. 45PS or 33kW, what is that in HP? What's the HP of the new thumper CBR250?

In reply to 4eyes:

45 ps for all intensive purposes is 45 hp.

FlightService wrote: for all intensive purposes...