Just a few days back Nitin shared an article with you about the Honda CBR250R in dire need of upgradation. The bike has been a staple of performance touring enthusiasts from quite some time, with numerous records been set astride this very machine. However, with no upgrades, visually or performance wise, since quite a long time, the baby CBR was definitely losing its charm.
Now news has come to light that the Honda CBR250R sold just 79 units last month, yes you read that correct! The erstwhile king of the performance biking section in India is now a lonely lagger at the back of the fight, who no on remembers or cares about. A sale of 79 units at a time when high performance bikes in India are steadily becoming more and more popular is shocking to say the least.
Take a look at our comparison of the Honda CBR250R against the Duke 390, and you would know why no one is buying this bike nowadays. The CBR250R lags in both performance and looks, so no one with half a wit is even looking in its direction anymore. Even its smaller sibling, the CBR150R, sold close to a 1000 units last month! The much slower Yamaha R15 is still selling like hot cakes!
Rumors are rife of Honda bringing in the CBR300R to our shores soon, which will give some performance boost and change the looks as well of this aging platform. However, the 300 launch has been delayed many times, and there is no telling when we’ll get to see one on road. Even when it does, pricing would be the biggest factor in determining if it becomes a success, or just another sad story in our increasingly competitive market.
The Honda CBR250R comes in snazzy color schemes, and also offers ABS as an option. But a price tag of over 2 lacs and sever performance gap over the competitors has left it in the lurch. Hope that Honda will rescue this beauty from falling down the abyss soon! It will be shame, since I still remember the time when the 250 used to be the bike to die for.