Turns out we didn't have to wait long after last week's teaser; Honda has officially released photos and details about its new lightweight sportsbike, the CBR250RR. With an all-new high performance parallel twin engine, fly-by-wire throttle control and pretty mean looks, the new RR is set to launch in Indonesia this year, and there's certainly plans to ship it elsewhere as well.
The Arr Arr Pirate Bike is back, and it looks like a hoot. Honda is set to reinvigorate the tiny sportsbike market with a brand new 250 that's arguably more badass to look at than the flagship CBR1000RR Fireblade.
The new bike's eye-catching styling is sharp and angular, with a nice-looking frame and a double-barrel exhaust that's about the best looking standard pipe I can remember seeing on a Honda.
Slated for manufacturing in Indonesia, the new bike has been designed from scratch with light weight, compact dimensions and high performance in mind.
Thus a freshly designed parallel twin engine, which Honda says it's managed to engineer into the width of a typical 250 cc single cylinder engine. The team has taken a bunch of measures to keep things compact, hiding primary gears inside the cam chain, pulling the water and oil pumps into the design as integrated parts, and placing the engine breather chamber in behind the cylinder.
That engine is operated by the first fly-by-wire throttle in the 250 cc class, which gives the RR a set of selectable riding modes. I'm not sure why you'd need to tame the brutal power of a quarter-liter engine with a softer throttle map, but … you can.
Suspension in not by Öhlins, as previous reports suggested – instead it's a cheaper and more cheerful Pro-Link shock and Showa forks.
That's about as much detail as Honda has released at this stage. We'll have to wait to find out the horsepower, torque and weight figures that will tell us what this thing's really going to be like to ride.
But it's a fun-looking machine that, given Honda's reputation, will certainly do well in markets that appreciate smaller capacity machines.
Source: Honda Asia
