The
Honda CBR250 series of bikes was produced between 1986 and 1996. It was a lightweight 4-cylinder, 4-stroke, and 6-gear sportbike capable of revving up to 19,000
rpmRevolutions per minute is a unit of frequency of rotation: the number of full rotations completed in one minute around a fixed axis...
. The earlier models (1986-1993) produced 45 ps (34 kW), from then on, the power output was reduced to 40 ps (30 kW) in 1994 after a change in
Japanese lawThe modernization of the Law of Japan was based on the European legal system. At the beginning of Meiji era, the system of Europe – especially the civil law of Germany and France - was the model of the Japanese court system and legal system. However, after the Second World War, the Japanese legal...
.
The chronology of the models is as follows:
These bikes were only ever sold new in
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, and later the CBR250RR was sold new in
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
.
The
Honda CBR250 series of bikes was produced between 1986 and 1996. It was a lightweight 4-cylinder, 4-stroke, and 6-gear sportbike capable of revving up to 19,000
rpmRevolutions per minute is a unit of frequency of rotation: the number of full rotations completed in one minute around a fixed axis...
. The earlier models (1986-1993) produced 45 ps (34 kW), from then on, the power output was reduced to 40 ps (30 kW) in 1994 after a change in
Japanese lawThe modernization of the Law of Japan was based on the European legal system. At the beginning of Meiji era, the system of Europe – especially the civil law of Germany and France - was the model of the Japanese court system and legal system. However, after the Second World War, the Japanese legal...
.
Model history
The chronology of the models is as follows:
| Years | Model | Description |
|---|
| 1986 |
CBR250FG and CBR250FG-YA (MC14). |
Twin front disks, single front headlight, bikini fairings. |
| 1987 |
CBR250R(H) (MC17). |
Twin front disks, still single head light, full fairings. |
| 1988 |
CBR250R(J) (MC19). |
Single larger front disk, smaller chain, twin head lights, fuel pumpA fuel pump is a frequently essential component on a car or other internal combustion engined device. Many engines do not require any fuel pump at all, requiring only gravity to feed fuel from the fuel tank through a line or hose to the engine...
. |
| 1989 |
CBR250R(K) (MC19). |
Essentially identical to the R(J), except now had a speed limiter which was set at 185 km/h. |
| 1990-1991 |
CBR250RR(L) (MC22). |
A completely new redesigned bike that features a new cast/pressed aluminium frame that gives a more aggressive riding position, gull shaped swing arm that was adopted from the NSR250, higher rising tail, six spoke cast aluminium wheels and dual front Ø276 mm floating disk brakes. These changes resulted in a dry weight of 142 kg.
The only feature that was adopted from the previous model CBR250s was the original MC14E engine. This too was slightly modified with a crankshaft that featured Ø27.5 mm small-end journals, up Ø0.5 mm from the previous Ø27 mm journals. The engine also uses a completely new set of VP carburetors that feature smaller throats reduced from Ø32 mm to Ø30.5 mm. These carburetors are now fed by a vacuum operated pump for fuel delivery. |
| 1992-1993 |
CBR250RR(N) (MC22). |
Essentially the same as the RR(L) except for new paint jobs. |
| 1994-1996 |
CBR250RR(R) (MC22). |
Still very similar to the RR(L/N) but now restricted to producing 40 ps (30 kW) due to changes in Japanese law. The restrictions are in the cylinder head, head gasket and ignition unit, and all need to be replaced if 45 ps (34 kW) is desired. Redline reduced to 18,500rpm. |
| 1997-1999 |
CBR250RR(RII) (MC22). |
These are identical to the RR(R), and are leftover bikes that were built in the 1994 to 1996 era, but sold in 1997 and 1998. |
Bike Details
These bikes were only ever sold new in
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, and later the CBR250RR was sold new in
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
. They however can be found in almost any country of the world, and in a number is the most powerful
4-strokeToday, internal combustion engines in cars, trucks, motorcycles, aircraft, construction machinery and many others, most commonly use a four-stroke cycle...
bike a learner is allowed to ride, and hence their popularity. The CBR250RR has six gears, and revs just under 9,000 rpm at 100 km/h. Despite the high revs, the bike requires little maintenance, and should easily last 100,000 km with regular oil changes (over 1/2 a billion revolutions). The engine is somewhat unusual in that it uses gear driven cams, further reducing maintenance requirements.
The models most commonly grey-imported into Australia were the MC22 and MC19 models. The earlier MC14 and MC17 are quite rare. During the mid 90's there was a collapse in the Japanese 250cc bike market due to a sudden change in licensing regulations allowing riders on the previous 250cc license class to ride bigger bikes. The excess new bikes (MC22 CBR250RR (R) and (R-II) models) were shipped to Australia by Honda MPE where they were sold as part of the company's official lineup. This has proven quite useful to owners of grey-market imported CBR250RR's seeking spare parts.
The CBR250RR(R) is frequently known as the 'tri-colour' due to the fact that most (but not all) of the official bikes came in that particular colour scheme. Other than the engine restrictions, this model had several additional differences to its predecessors (L & N models). The bike featured more powerful low-beam headlights coupled to a new relay which was automatically deactivated by the start/crank button on the handlebar. This changed the pinout of the switchgear and kill-switch. The carburettor rubber boots were smaller on the CBR250RR(R) than the imports.
Sources
- Official English Honda Service Manual for CBR250 series
- http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/motorcyclespecshandbook/honda/1991-honda-CBR250RR.htm
- http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/motorcyclespecshandbook/honda/1998-honda-CBR250RR.htm
- Maintenance guide by DOS-boy contains many specifications and official photos
Similar machines
All four of the major Japanese motorcycle manufacturers produced a high-revving, 4-cylinder, 4-stroke motorcycle capable of producing up to 45 hp (34 kW). They are the Honda CBR250, Kawasaki ZXR250, Suzuki
GSX-R250The Suzuki GSX-R250 is a motorcycle that was manufactured from 1987–1990 by Suzuki. A couple of years after the presentation of the GSX-R750 the 250 cc GSX-R250 was released. Like the larger bike, the GSX-R250 had a box-frame , full fairing, Full-floater rear swing and a four-cylinder...
and the Yamaha FZR250. With limited exceptions, these bikes were generally only officially available in Japan.
However they (particularly the CBR250 and ZXR250) were available in the rest of the world as grey market imports.
Honda also made an unfaired bike using a detuned version of the same engine - the
Honda 'Hornet' CB250FThe Honda CB250F is a series of unfaired motorcycles which was launched in 1996. Also known as the Honda 250 Hornet. Powered by a slightly detuned version of the inline 4 cylinder, 4 stroke engine originally found in the Honda CBR250 , it produces around 41 hp at 14,000 RPM to its redline of...
.