Motorcycle Ratings and Reviews
Honda’s CBR250R may be the favored staff errand-runner, but since our last update, it’s also been to another rev-limiter-bumping track day, as well as serving on several long road trips. We added a few items to help it perform better in these varied uses. No secret its 250cc Single, while tractable and snappy, isn’t a [...]
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One of the primary appeals of owning a small-displacement motorcycle is the savings such machines typically offer at the gas pump. To determine optimal mpg figures and see how these bikes compare in the real world, we laid out a 60-mile test loop comprised of equal parts freeway, rural and city riding. We weren’t seeking [...]
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The U.S. motorcycle market peaked in 2005-6, when high home values and easy credit conspired to help drive sales of 1.1 million new bikes. But following the banking crisis and economic meltdown of 2008, that number has fallen precipitously, to 450,000 total sales in 2011—a drop of nearly 60 percent. It hurts, but there’s light [...]
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A small-arms race! What fun! (Not to be confused with a small arms race; behold the power of the hyphen!) The Kawasaki Ninja 250 had been the best-selling sportbike in the U.S. and pretty much ruled the 250cc sportbike class until the Honda CBR250R got here two seasons ago and dethroned it in a thrilling [...]
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It was Ernest Hemingway’s pal Gertrude Stein, according to Wikipedia, who took her car to a Parisian shop to have some work done. Unimpressed by the repair, she complained to the shop owner, who then yelled at his young mechanic: “You are all a génération perdue!”— a lost generation. Those in their 20s and 30s [...]
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Extravagance has its place…if you’re a one-percenter. But for the rest of the population, $28,000-a-pop Panigale Tricolores, $10,000 European enduros and just-shy-of-$40K factory-custom H-D CVOs just don’t jibe with economic realities. Thankfully, the motorcycle industry has listened. In particular, the Japanese, who have taken quite a beating in the press the past four years for [...]
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We’ve had so much fun every time we’ve ridden Honda’s quarter-liter machine that we decided to add one to our long-term fleet. Over the first three months of “ownership,” we’ve piled on a lot of fuel-sipping commuter miles, and staffers always return from a ride grinning. The biggest smiles came at a Streets of Willow [...]
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Welcome to the brave new world. “New” because the motorcycle you see here, Honda’s innovative NC700X, is a distinct, almost 180-degree change in direction from where motorcycles have been heading for many years. And “brave” because Honda has rolled the dice with this all-new-from-the-ground-up machine, gambling that there are legions of current, past and would-be [...]
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You can’t blame people for asking what the Versys is all about. At first glance—or even the second or third— it doesn’t announce its identity in the same way plastic-clad sportbikes or chrome-adorned cruisers do. To get to the root of this 650 Twin’s true being, you have to ride it, and then its purpose hits [...]
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All of you who put crayon to paper over the last few years to tell Honda to go back to building simple, inexpensive little bikes like the ones that helped make the company what it is today have gotten your wish. The CBR250R has been a big success. Honda’s spokespeople say NC700X sales are “blowing [...]
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