[Professorxxx]

I don't have a CBR 250R yet but I am shopping for a small cc commuter. I rode the Ninja, I like what I got out of it. This would not be my first bike, I currently own a GSXR 600 and TE 450 Husky and have owned a RC51. I need a maximum MPG for a 70 mile round trip commute. My biggest question is,

Does the 250R support heated grips/vest? My commute is the the early morning hours.

 

[sendler]

Charging

Does the 250R support heated grips/vest?

I read a report of an endurance rider using a CBR125R with an electric vest. He had to change some of the light bulbs to leds to get enough spare power from his charging system.

 

[furious_blue]

sounds like you're better off with the BMW F650 which gets even better gas mileage than the CBR250 I hear...

 

[Rick]

heated grips

I was talking to my dealer about this yesterday. CBRs are sport/track bikes so Honda does not officially offer OEM heated grips. HOWEVER, the handlebar bar is the same size as all the CB series, so they would fit. Get the stand alone regular ones, not the 'sport' heated grips, which are integrated into the controls.
As for the vest, I heard this 250 puts out more than enough juice; just wire it up.
I intend to also commute in winter; anything except snow/ice; so I'll be doing the grip mod myself

 

[sendler]

F650 vs CBR250R

sounds like you're better off with the BMW F650 which gets even better gas mileage than the CBR250 I hear...

There are 22 BMW F650GS parked at fuelly and seem to get around 60 mpg which would be the lowest number for a CBR250R while canyon racing. Most CBR riders that ride with traffic break 70 mpg and you can buy two Hondas and all of your gear for the price of one BMW. The only other highway ready bike made that can beat the CBR250R on fuel economy is the CBR125R which was never sold in the US but can be imported from Canada or other countries world wide. They can get about 85 mpg. If you don't have highway travel in your commute, a Honda SH150i scooter has a top speed of 65mph and can get 90 mpg.
I have a lifetime average of 86 mpg US over 1600 miles on my CBR250R at 67 mph. The CBR250R is a no brainer for a work horse highway commuter my Ninja250R can't touch it for fuel economy or comfort, and the $4000 price tag is a steal. It is very comfortable and feels like a real motorcycle at highway speed, unlike some of the little cruiser 250s. If your credit is good, you can ride the bike away with nothing down and 1.9% for 3 years. No tax, tags, riding gear, nothing. All rolled into the loan. I expect the pricing to go up next year once the word of this new bike gets out.
.
BMW F650GS Twin MPG Reports | Fuelly
.
Honda CBR250R MPG Reports | Fuelly
.
Honda CBR125R MPG Reports | Fuelly
.
Honda SH 150 MPG Reports | Fuelly

 

[hondafan]

I know from experience that it will handle a 50 watt vest. To install heated grips, I think you would need to replace the throttle tube due to the way the stocker is made. The front signals are a 2 filament bulb with one filament on all the time. You could disconnect the wire to that filament to get more wattage to the grips if necessary.

 

[sendler]

Tuck

If you lay on the tank, your torso and throat are completely out of the wind so you won't need a heated vest. The windscreen makes a loud tearing noise over 60mph if you put your helmet in the boundry layer so you would need ear plugs or in ear headphones. I am able to get my head under the noise and look out through the windscreen which gives me my high fuel economy numbers. Hopefully Zero Gravity will make a better touring wind screen for the CBR250R as they do for my Ninja. The Ninja is dead silent on the highway and doesn't require such an extreme tuck.
Heated gloves might still be nice. I am also thinking of fitting some trimmed down enduro style hand guards to keep the wind off of my hands when the weather gets cold. I did have two mornings that were 45F and was surprised that my 3 layers of Tourmaster Flex jacket and winter bicycling/ cross country ski gloves kept me perfectly warm. No problem with my toes. My knees felt some chill but I hadn't bothered to put on my waterproof/ breathable mountaineering pants.

 

[furious_blue]

About the BMW.

ooops, my mistake !

I meant the BMW G650S Single not the F650 Twin.

The fuel consumption numbers that I was referring to were from the recent June 2011 Bike magazine fuel economy test involving:
BMW G650S, Kawasaki W800, Triumph Tiger800, Suzuki GSX-R600.

The BMW G650S Single returned a whopping 84.5 mpg over a road course involving a mix of freeway and backroads. Admittedly, it doesn't look like there was a lot of stop and go but 84.5 mpg is pretty good !

There are 22 BMW F650GS parked at fuelly and seem to get around 60 mpg which would be the lowest number for a CBR250R while canyon racing. Most CBR riders that ride with traffic break 70 mpg and you can buy two Hondas and all of your gear for the price of one BMW. The only other highway ready bike made that can beat the CBR250R on fuel economy is the CBR125R which was never sold in the US but can be imported from Canada or other countries world wide. They can get about 85 mpg. If you don't have highway travel in your commute, a Honda SH150i scooter has a top speed of 65mph and can get 90 mpg.
I have a lifetime average of 86 mpg US over 1600 miles on my CBR250R at 67 mph. The CBR250R is a no brainer for a work horse highway commuter my Ninja250R can't touch it for fuel economy or comfort, and the $4000 price tag is a steal. It is very comfortable and feels like a real motorcycle at highway speed, unlike some of the little cruiser 250s. If your credit is good, you can ride the bike away with nothing down and 1.9% for 3 years. No tax, tags, riding gear, nothing. All rolled into the loan. I expect the pricing to go up next year once the word of this new bike gets out.
.
BMW F650GS Twin MPG Reports | Fuelly
.
Honda CBR250R MPG Reports | Fuelly
.
Honda CBR125R MPG Reports | Fuelly
.
Honda SH 150 MPG Reports | Fuelly

 

[sendler]

G650

Might make it to 70mpg. Very good for a larger bike.
.
BMW G650 GS MPG Reports | Fuelly

About the BMW.

ooops, my mistake !

I meant the BMW G650S Single not the F650 Twin.

The fuel consumption numbers that I was referring to were from the recent June 2011 Bike magazine fuel economy test involving:
BMW G650S, Kawasaki W800, Triumph Tiger800, Suzuki GSX-R600.

The BMW G650S Single returned a whopping 84.5 mpg over a road course involving a mix of freeway and backroads. Admittedly, it doesn't look like there was a lot of stop and go but 84.5 mpg is pretty good !

 

[sendler]

F650 at 80mpg

Here is a hypermiler doing great numbers on an F650 at 80mpg US. These BMW bikes are over achievers on fuel economy.
.
Details: Teresa - 2004 BMW F650CS Fuel Economy - EcoModder.com
.

 

[qlred]

I saw someone post that the output is .337Kw @5000 rpm. That's 337 watts, seems massive. Can that be right? Plenty for just about everything if it is.

 

[OneTrack]

If you lay on the tank, your torso and throat are completely out of the wind so you won't need a heated vest. The windscreen makes a loud tearing noise over 60mph if you put your helmet in the boundry layer so you would need ear plugs or in ear headphones. I am able to get my head under the noise and look out through the windscreen which gives me my high fuel economy numbers. Hopefully Zero Gravity will make a better touring wind screen for the CBR250R as they do for my Ninja. The Ninja is dead silent on the highway and doesn't require such an extreme tuck.
Heated gloves might still be nice. I am also thinking of fitting some trimmed down enduro style hand guards to keep the wind off of my hands when the weather gets cold. I did have two mornings that were 45F and was surprised that my 3 layers of Tourmaster Flex jacket and winter bicycling/ cross country ski gloves kept me perfectly warm. No problem with my toes. My knees felt some chill but I hadn't bothered to put on my waterproof/ breathable mountaineering pants.

New to the site here. Just bought a 2012 red CBR250 and loving it. You mentioned you were thinking of trimming down enduro type handguards, just wondering if you ever did this?

 

[sendler]

New to the site here. Just bought a 2012 red CBR250 and loving it. You mentioned you were thinking of trimming down enduro type handguards, just wondering if you ever did this?

I ended up using grip muffs when it is below 40F. They make my 50 minute commute at 67 mph bearable down to 30F. I accidentally rode one morning not knowing it was 16F and still got my fingers dangerously cold even with the muffs and Rev'it Kelvin gloves.
.
http://www.cbr250.net/forum/22073-post6.html

 

[live_to_ride]

I got my bike wired for a heated vest when I bought it last year. No problems at all with it and I heat up quite nicely

 

[etiainen]

I went for the heated gloves route over heated grips.

I've gone out on a 18F day with them. And a lot of layers.

 

[live_to_ride]

If you lay on the tank, your torso and throat are completely out of the wind so you won't need a heated vest. The windscreen makes a loud tearing noise over 60mph if you put your helmet in the boundry layer so you would need ear plugs or in ear headphones. I am able to get my head under the noise and look out through the windscreen which gives me my high fuel economy numbers. Hopefully Zero Gravity will make a better touring wind screen for the CBR250R as they do for my Ninja. The Ninja is dead silent on the highway and doesn't require such an extreme tuck.
Heated gloves might still be nice. I am also thinking of fitting some trimmed down enduro style hand guards to keep the wind off of my hands when the weather gets cold. I did have two mornings that were 45F and was surprised that my 3 layers of Tourmaster Flex jacket and winter bicycling/ cross country ski gloves kept me perfectly warm. No problem with my toes. My knees felt some chill but I hadn't bothered to put on my waterproof/ breathable mountaineering pants.

I love my vest as it eliminates having to wear several layers of clothes to keep warm. If the core is warm then riding is more enjoyable. I find too many layers decreases the flexibility I like in riding. I wld love heated grips, for the same reason as a vest, keeps the rider comfortable and flexible. Maybe I'm a baby (but, waaaahhhhhh, listen to me cry if I'm cold lol )(oh....and I'm not a huge *ucker, so laying on my tank is not an option in keeping warm, j/k Sendler)

 

[live_to_ride]

I went for the heated gloves route over heated grips.

I've gone out on a 18F day with them. And a lot of layers.

How do you find the heated gloves?? I've not looked into them seriously but I wld imagine there is less to go wrong/maintenance wise should issues arise than heated grips.

 

[LD CBR]

I used to be against heated clothing for years. Not anymore. I've got heated gloves and a heated jacket liner. They're awesome. Less bulkiness/layers and actual warmth instead of "not freezing." They work in a broad temperature range and I can adjust the temperature on the fly without having to pull over and add/remove layers. For example, in the morning I can have heat on and as the day warms up I just turn the heat down or off. I would recommend gloves over grips as they heat the whole hand instead of just the palms.

 

[LD CBR]

How do you find the heated gloves?? I've not looked into them seriously but I wld imagine there is less to go wrong/maintenance wise should issues arise than heated grips.

There's a lot of heated gloves. I use these:

Firstgear Heated Rider Gloves

I wouldn't say less to go wrong, but they heat the entire hand instead of just the palm. And if you have multiple bikes you can bring the gloves with you.

 

[OneTrack]

I ended up using grip muffs when it is below 40F. They make my 50 minute commute at 67 mph bearable down to 30F. I accidentally rode one morning not knowing it was 16F and still got my fingers dangerously cold even with the muffs and Rev'it Kelvin gloves.
.
http://www.cbr250.net/forum/22073-post6.html

Looks like a good solution. Thanks for the tip. I'm going to order a pair and try them out. I have heated gloves and jacket liner but have not installed power to them yet. Sounds like from all the posts that the charging system will handle them fine. I still want to monitor my battery voltage for a while though. I still like the idea of the handguards but doesn't look to be enough room for them to clear the fairing.