Honda CBR250R.

[Treadless]

Originally Posted by larryboy

I should put a drive chain on it, I lube it twice a day trying to get more out of it. Seems pretty good once it gets some heat in it, then lumpy and ugly when it cools down.

Have you tried this?

I've heard reports of chain life of 25k and more. I personally haven't put that kind of mileage on my chained bikes but I do like the lack of mess with the product.

[larryboy]

Originally Posted by Bugz

I think you're looking wrong at the graph. The right lines show the shift points, the left lines (which all have the same colours as the right ones)) show where you will get after you shifted up.

Imagine pinning the bike in second (yellow line) thus around 9800 rpm, the rpm will drop to 7300iesh

Im only not sure about the 1st gear. Seems like a really big RPM drop to me.

Doh! I get it now, thanks!! I haven't found any advantage to wringing it to redline in 1st, it's takes so long to get there that it seems better to shift by 8500 in all gears. The stopwatch might say otherwise, but I get impatient waiting for redline and just shift it.

Originally Posted by Treadless

I've heard reports of chain life of 25k and more. I personally haven't put that kind of mileage on my chained bikes but I do like the lack of mess with the product.

Not that one specifically, but various other anti-fling delayed viscosity wax chain lubes. I tried a dry moly by Zep for awhile, but it seemed to get drier over time.

I've never heard of a 25k 520 chain, 530 yes, 520 no.

[sendler]

I use the DuPont chain wax. 15.056 miles and the chain hasn't stretched. Probably time for a new tire I have already sitting in my basement now that the weather is turning really bad. I did shim my cush drive and that helped with some chain noise.

[dlmarquez]

hello all, I am going to be getting back into motorcycling again after a 20 year hiatus.
I had a Yamaha SRX600 for several years..it was my last an favorite of all bikes.
The CBR reminds me in many ways of it although it is obviously much smaller in displacement.
I am 6'1" 200 lbs with size 12 1/2 shoes, 35" inseam and i am wondering how this little thumper will feel after a couple hours in the saddle
any input from similarly sized riders would be appreciated.
I am not going to be carrying a passenger, but I will be doing some loaded traveling
thanks in advance
dave

[sendler]

It's pretty small and low on power for a big guy but has more room around the tank than the Ninja250/ 300. You would be a good candidate for the NC700X if you want fuel economy. Or the Vstrom if you want more power.

[LoJack]

I'm 5' 11" and 170# (though I carry 20#'s of books on my back for 100 miles daily) and feel pretty good, though I sometimes wish I could stretch out a touch. You might benefit from some lower pegs. There are a few aftermarket made for the bike, and I saw on cbr250.net someone put some Buel pegs on for a quarter the price without too much fuss. I'm thinking of doing the same.

Runnin' on empty:

I made it a touch over 38 miles on reserve today, the farthest so far. There seemed to be just a splash left in the tank when I got home. There was even a head wind, so I wonder how far I could take it?

[dlmarquez]

Originally Posted by sendler

It's pretty small and low on power for a big guy but has more room around the tank than the Ninja250/ 300. You would be a good candidate for the NC700X if you want fuel economy. Or the Vstrom if you want more power.

unfortunately, neither appeals to me in the least. my list of appealing bikes is very short: Moto Guzzi V7, Honda CBR 250R, used SR500, used GB500, used SRX600

[larryboy]

Originally Posted by dlmarquez

unfortunately, neither appeals to me in the least. my list of appealing bikes is very short: Moto Guzzi V7, Honda CBR 250R, used SR500, used GB500, used SRX600

Everything else on your list has double the HP of the CBR. I'm about the same size as you and bought this bike for the mpg's and no other reason. You see that the V7 is new for 2013?

On another note, the chain is done, gave it the last adjustment out to the red zone on the gauge.

[rs42sport]

Was it a good chain?? Have about 2 months left of good riding weather til it snows, I wonder how it would handle colder temps like 15f... I test rode both the cbr and that crf 250l and I liked the ds a little better only wished it had a bigger gas tank

[sendler]

My original chain is still good after 15,000 miles. It has never needed an adjustment and I ride through salty melt water two months of the year.

[Bugz]

Originally Posted by larryboy

Everything else on your list has double the HP of the CBR. I'm about the same size as you and bought this bike for the mpg's and no other reason. You see that the V7 is new for 2013?

On another note, the chain is done, gave it the last adjustment out to the red zone on the gauge.

So you're not only burning a shitload of fuel but also chaines huh How are your tires holding up?

15k miles out of a chain is not exceptionally good but pretty reasonable for a bike. I think you can get quite a bit more out of them. Heard of people getting 25-30K miles out of their chaines with scotoilers and stuff.

J/K. Just out of curiousity which intervals you use to lubricate the chain? I'm nowhere near your milage yet. 7500 km for me (Use CBR only for fun, not commuting).

~Bugz

[dlmarquez]

Originally Posted by larryboy

Everything else on your list has double the HP of the CBR. I'm about the same size as you and bought this bike for the mpg's and no other reason. You see that the V7 is new for 2013?

On another note, the chain is done, gave it the last adjustment out to the red zone on the gauge.

Yes, I realize all the other bikes I like are larger, but that is simply due to the fact that there simply are no other bikes in the 250-500cc range.
I would really like the Suzuki TU250 if it was a TU350.
The CBR has enough zip to satisfy me I think, and I love the idea of averaging over 65mpg.
I manage to get over 25mpg in my company van, and that is an accomplishment

[scooterspirit]

My chain is toast, a while ago, now at 13K miles. I could have used wd40 at that rate, thinking about trying ATF for chain lube. The recommended adjustment seems too tight for my weight, every time I adjust it, it just gets longer again. Tires only last about 6.5k miles with sport demons.

[larryboy]

Originally Posted by Bugz

Just out of curiousity which intervals you use to lubricate the chain?
~Bugz

Twice daily, I wanted to try maintaining a chain really good to see if it would last longer. It didn't.

It was the stock chain, DID O-ring. It completely fell apart, 1/4" slop in some of the pins. I actually didn't trust it to get me home last night, luckily there is a Honda shop down the street from work. They had a better DID v-ring, I don't really like DID chains, but it's all they carry.

Funny story..I asked for a discount on the chain, he asked if it was because I was a nice guy or something, I said it was because I was sitting on a stool in his store instead of ordering from somebody else online for a good deal...he laughed and took ten bucks off.

I'm not gonna lube this chain, wear it out, then new sprockets and a Regina Z-ring.

Oh yeah, back tire is about done. New tires get here today, spoon 'em on Saturday and give those ugly silver rims a coat of black.

[Bugz]

Originally Posted by larryboy

Twice daily, I wanted to try maintaining a chain really good to see if it would last longer. It didn't.

It was the stock chain, DID O-ring. It completely fell apart, 1/4" slop in some of the pins. I actually didn't trust it to get me home last night, luckily there is a Honda shop down the street from work. They had a better DID v-ring, I don't really like DID chains, but it's all they carry.

Funny story..I asked for a discount on the chain, he asked if it was because I was a nice guy or something, I said it was because I was sitting on a stool in his store instead of ordering from somebody else online for a good deal...he laughed and took ten bucks off.

I'm not gonna lube this chain, wear it out, then new sprockets and a Regina Z-ring.

Oh yeah, back tire is about done. New tires get here today, spoon 'em on Saturday and give those ugly silver rims a coat of black.

I can imagine overlubricating isn't good either since it will attract more dust then. In dry weather I do it about every 500-600 km. Not because there isn't grease on it anymore then but because I feel I should put it on.....Honda recommends 800 km in dry weather I think oO. I'm using Forte (red?) grease I think. Seems to lubricate really well. Takes a bit more time to put it on though

I've heard that changing the front sprocket every 4000 miles will make your chain live quite a bit longer though I'm not really sure why it should since mine still looks pretty new. New front sprocket is cheap anyway so I guess it wouldn't hurt. Nice story on the discount ,



@Scooterspirit
6.5k miles with sportdemons That makes the CBR suddenly a lot more expensive to run lol....I hope to get at least 15 000 miles out of the stock tyres.

I guess they stick pretty good though? How do they peform in the wet?