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So I got the bike almost a whole month ago (used with about 500 miles on it) and I have road it many times (more recently than initially). I still don't have a license or insurance so I've been limiting my rides so not to push my luck with legal issues. I also have no riding experience prior to riding it away from the dealership and am hoping I'll be able to take the riders courses this coming weekend so I can finally go for my license and insurance. Texas requires that you take the courses before you can even take the written test which makes legally starting on a bike more expensive than a car.
But anyway. At first riding was slightly scary because I always worried I would push the bike too hard while turning at slow speeds or would shift up improperly, but now I'm almost completely confident while riding it as after some practice, I realized the bike is much easier to handle than I thought and have manage to figure how to shift smoothly and quickly.
I also realized one night while riding that at least on the bike, that MPG ratings for motor vehicles are determined using a poor method. They base it on distance of highways and streets, when its really about how long the gas lasts at lowest appropriate RPMs. I realized this when I compared my first time riding to when I was more experienced, as when I started out, I would always shift up when I was at high rpms and at the end of about two hours of low speed riding my bike at lost about half its tank (according to the digital meter). Although now that I know the lowest rpms I can smoothly ride at in the gears, my gas lasts MUCH longer. It really has NOTHING to do with distance, just how much work your making your engine do. So I have no idea why they base MPGs on distance.
I also learned quickly that I didn't need to hold the clutch slightly in at all after I got the bike going, lol. I did that at first because I thought the bike would stall if I didn't have it slightly pulled in while riding. My left hand was killing me for holding it so long. lol
I have yet to pop the clutch and have no intention of mistreating the bike in such a way as it sounds and feels painful to the bike when I've misjudged to smoothly shift up and end up over revving and the bike slightly jerks and makes a popping sound when it gets into gear, so I've gotten better on smooth shifts.
My least favorite part about riding is engine braking. At first I didn't even attempt it because I didn't want to risk stalling the bike, so I would pull the clutch in and use just the brakes to slow down, but when I found out how it actually works, I was introduced to a new more forceful method to slowing down, and I honestly DO NOT like it. The lower the rpm, the slower and gently the bike will slow down, whereas the higher the rpm, the more quickly the bike will slow down resulting in stronger negative force, which to me gives the feeling that the bike is trying to throw me forward, which is a scary feeling if not prepared for it.
I also think that for those who don't know how to properly engine brake, it would be a dangerous affair as the other night I was coming to a stop at a light, I was engine braking, and as I shifted into first gear I didn't think about my speed, so as I released the clutch I was doing close to 20 MPH and the bike forcefully slowed down, pushing me forward and I swear my rear tire locked up and skidded for about half a second until I pulled in the clutch again to brake on my own. So yeah, I'm getting the hang of it, but it just doesn't feel like I'm the one controlling how I stop.
As for performance, its more than I need. I may even prefer to have less power if it saved more gas. I like the sport bike look, but I don't want the sport bike performance, but that's not to say I haven't tried pushing the bike on the highway and I certainly have when there are big gaps between traffic. My max speed on a short but steady leveled road was 91MPH and there was definitely room for more speed to be had, but my max overall is 95 MPH on a short decline, which could have easily reach 100 at redline.
As for maintaining, its more of a pain that I originally thought, mostly because I didn't realize a mile was so short, so the gaps between when I need to maintain it are going to be shorter than I originally thought. I've just put over 400 miles on top of the original 500 and it makes me sad because its happened so fast and don't feel like I've been riding it THAT much.
I've managed to clean and lube the chain on my own and that was a real pain because I didn't have the tools to make the process easier and I decided NOT to try to change the oil myself so I took it to the only Honda Bike dealer closest to Austin which is about 20 miles south of downtown into the next town. My only regret in getting it serviced there was that I didn't watch them do it to make sure they actually did anything that I asked, but I'm sure they did, otherwise my bike will let me know soon.
Lesson learned.
So at the moment my experience has been a learning process, but after just getting the bike, I'm really not all that excited about it at all. Its cool to ride and I really enjoy just cruising around town with no real destination to get to. I think my lack of enjoyment has much to do with the fact that I don't know any other riders, the fact that I feel more of a loner with the bike than I did without it (but I was expecting it to happen), and the fact that I DO NOT like the black version of this bike. Its just horribly bland to me. I wanted the red and silver, but they didn't have one available and used, so I will have to settle with it unless I decide to have it painted white and black, which I'll have to be careful about doing.
So that is my experience with the Honda CBR250R so far that I wanted to share. I certainly am not going to get rid of it. Its an investment and I will do my darndest to put my hard earned $4000 plus machine to good use!
If anyone has a comment to share or would like to give some advice it'd be welcomed!
So I got the bike almost a whole month ago (used with about 500 miles on it) and I have road it many times (more recently than initially). I still don't have a license or insurance so I've been limiting my rides so not to push my luck with legal issues. I also have no riding experience prior to riding it away from the dealership and am hoping I'll be able to take the riders courses this coming weekend so I can finally go for my license and insurance. Texas requires that you take the courses before you can even take the written test which makes legally starting on a bike more expensive than a car.
But anyway. At first riding was slightly scary because I always worried I would push the bike too hard while turning at slow speeds or would shift up improperly, but now I'm almost completely confident while riding it as after some practice, I realized the bike is much easier to handle than I thought and have manage to figure how to shift smoothly and quickly.
I also realized one night while riding that at least on the bike, that MPG ratings for motor vehicles are determined using a poor method. They base it on distance of highways and streets, when its really about how long the gas lasts at lowest appropriate RPMs. I realized this when I compared my first time riding to when I was more experienced, as when I started out, I would always shift up when I was at high rpms and at the end of about two hours of low speed riding my bike at lost about half its tank (according to the digital meter). Although now that I know the lowest rpms I can smoothly ride at in the gears, my gas lasts MUCH longer. It really has NOTHING to do with distance, just how much work your making your engine do. So I have no idea why they base MPGs on distance.
I also learned quickly that I didn't need to hold the clutch slightly in at all after I got the bike going, lol. I did that at first because I thought the bike would stall if I didn't have it slightly pulled in while riding. My left hand was killing me for holding it so long. lol
I have yet to pop the clutch and have no intention of mistreating the bike in such a way as it sounds and feels painful to the bike when I've misjudged to smoothly shift up and end up over revving and the bike slightly jerks and makes a popping sound when it gets into gear, so I've gotten better on smooth shifts.
My least favorite part about riding is engine braking. At first I didn't even attempt it because I didn't want to risk stalling the bike, so I would pull the clutch in and use just the brakes to slow down, but when I found out how it actually works, I was introduced to a new more forceful method to slowing down, and I honestly DO NOT like it. The lower the rpm, the slower and gently the bike will slow down, whereas the higher the rpm, the more quickly the bike will slow down resulting in stronger negative force, which to me gives the feeling that the bike is trying to throw me forward, which is a scary feeling if not prepared for it.
I also think that for those who don't know how to properly engine brake, it would be a dangerous affair as the other night I was coming to a stop at a light, I was engine braking, and as I shifted into first gear I didn't think about my speed, so as I released the clutch I was doing close to 20 MPH and the bike forcefully slowed down, pushing me forward and I swear my rear tire locked up and skidded for about half a second until I pulled in the clutch again to brake on my own. So yeah, I'm getting the hang of it, but it just doesn't feel like I'm the one controlling how I stop.
As for performance, its more than I need. I may even prefer to have less power if it saved more gas. I like the sport bike look, but I don't want the sport bike performance, but that's not to say I haven't tried pushing the bike on the highway and I certainly have when there are big gaps between traffic. My max speed on a short but steady leveled road was 91MPH and there was definitely room for more speed to be had, but my max overall is 95 MPH on a short decline, which could have easily reach 100 at redline.
As for maintaining, its more of a pain that I originally thought, mostly because I didn't realize a mile was so short, so the gaps between when I need to maintain it are going to be shorter than I originally thought. I've just put over 400 miles on top of the original 500 and it makes me sad because its happened so fast and don't feel like I've been riding it THAT much.
I've managed to clean and lube the chain on my own and that was a real pain because I didn't have the tools to make the process easier and I decided NOT to try to change the oil myself so I took it to the only Honda Bike dealer closest to Austin which is about 20 miles south of downtown into the next town. My only regret in getting it serviced there was that I didn't watch them do it to make sure they actually did anything that I asked, but I'm sure they did, otherwise my bike will let me know soon.
So at the moment my experience has been a learning process, but after just getting the bike, I'm really not all that excited about it at all. Its cool to ride and I really enjoy just cruising around town with no real destination to get to. I think my lack of enjoyment has much to do with the fact that I don't know any other riders, the fact that I feel more of a loner with the bike than I did without it (but I was expecting it to happen), and the fact that I DO NOT like the black version of this bike. Its just horribly bland to me. I wanted the red and silver, but they didn't have one available and used, so I will have to settle with it unless I decide to have it painted white and black, which I'll have to be careful about doing.
So that is my experience with the Honda CBR250R so far that I wanted to share. I certainly am not going to get rid of it. Its an investment and I will do my darndest to put my hard earned $4000 plus machine to good use!
If anyone has a comment to share or would like to give some advice it'd be welcomed!