Honda Thailand have announced a couple of new models that may shortly see their way into Canada.
The CBR150R is an update with reworked styling (headlight looks like it’s been taken off the VFR1200) and body panels similar to the CBR1000RR. The pipe too has been redesigned otherwise it’s relatively unchanged.
Now of course, we’re talking about the 150 here which is only sold in Asian markets due to emissions regulations, but the CBR125R is essentially the same motorcycle with a 25cc smaller capacity so we can expect to see the redesign hit our shores in the smaller capacity next year.
According to Honda Canada there will be three new models coming to Canada in 2011 but they won’t tell us until they have been officially announced at the Milan show in early November. We expect an updated CBR125R to be one of them.
The other interesting snippet is a new CBR250R that is also being built in Thailand and fits the bill for hints by Honda Canada a few months ago that they may be importing a bike to compete directly with Kawasaki’s Ninja 250.
Unfortunately, the Honda is only a single compared with Kawi’s twin, so it’s unlikely to be able to compete on power but another small capacity sporty bike can only be a good thing. You’ll have to wait until Milan to find out for sure though.
Oh, and one last news piece, apparently any 800/1200 VFR based Adventurer Tourer that may be announced in Milan will not be coming to Canada as a 2011 model …
Isn’t the current 150cc a 4 valve twin cam ?
[quote]How can CMG online suggest that the CBR250R would not be competitive power-wise with the Ninja 250R?[/quote]
Quite easily. Of course, we could be wrong ….
How can CMG online suggest that the CBR250R would not be competitive power-wise with the Ninja 250R? The CBR250R is reported to have a power output and weight that is similar to the WR250X.
Here is test data from the single-cylinder Yamaha WR250X and the 2-cylinder Kawasaki Ninja 250R conducted by http://www.motorcycle.com.
Ninja 250R
Wet Weight 374 lbs
HP* 25.4 @ 10250RPM
Torque 13.2 ft-lbs @ 9500 RPM
Redline 13000 RPM
WR 250X
Wet Weight 299 lbs
HP* 27.7 @ 9000 RPM
Torque 16.9 ft-lbs @ 8200 RPM
Redline 11500 RPM
* – rear wheel, measured on Area P dyno.
Beg to differ George … a local Motorcycle Training Program here in St. John’s has a fleet of Thai-built CBR125R’s that have taken everything a Riding Student can throw at ’em … for three seasons now and other than cosmetic issues, not a SINGLE mechanical problem, not one! Those Bikes are dead reliable; truly Mighty-Mites!
No thanks, I will never buy another Honda product coming from Thailand. Worst reliable piece of crap. You can ride it yourself Honda.
YES!!! Bring on the CBR250R … better yet, the VTR250; that’s the one I’d really like to see over here!!