Honda CBR250R review

After riding Honda’s CBR250R at the press presentation earlier this year, I wondered if it had the makings of an all-rounder. I’d been considering which was the smallest and most economical motorcycle you could buy to do everything, from commuting to covering long distances, even touring, with some more interesting, sportier stuff thrown in now and then. So I borrowed one from Honda for a couple of months to see.

It looks like a bigger bike, with bodywork following Honda’s new “layered” look, and it has a fresh, sleek appeal. And why not? Just because your bike is primarily a day-to-day workhorse doesn’t mean it has to look dull.

Beneath the skin lives a low-tech, single-cylinder motorcycle designed to be built in low labour-cost countries: British models are made in Honda’s Thailand factory, others are produced in India, so its credentials as a workhorse are in place.

The engine does the job in urban environments, if in a rather unexciting manner. It chugs into life very quietly and as long as you use its middle rev range and accept the modest performance, it becomes reasonably enjoyable, feeling willing and crisp enough to bowl you along at a good pace.

At higher revs the engine gets buzzy and breathless, however, and while it’s capable of propelling you to an indicated 85mph and sometimes more, conditions have to be just right. A recent 500-mile motorway round trip was very hard work as much of it was into a headwind. Throw in a hill and the gearbox had to be worked, too, with the top speed dropping to little more than HGV pace.