Two strokes? Maybe, but for 250cc single cylinder liquid cooled four stroke engines, the CBR250R is as good as it has ever been 
Let's nip this sportsbike nonsense in the bud
OK, I love my CBR 250R, it's a brilliant little agile and econonomical COMMUTER, which is just why I bought it, but it is still MUCH SLOWER than most 250 cc SPORTS bikes from 30 years ago. Your comments please.
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The CBR250"RR" was a 4 cylinder, "RR" models are generally sportier then "R" models in Honda's line up.
But I digress. MotoGP3 how has a 250cc four stroke class and those bikes make under 50HP. I guess I'm too new to riding but I'm not so jaded to not be amazed every time I'm on the highway going 80 MPH with only a single hard working cylinder pulsating underneath me.
This is an amazing machine, and while it might be slower then two stroke screamers and four cylinder 250 engines of the same class, it has it's own sports character and on any back road it can hang with the big boys.
Unlike cruisers and adventure bike - it's a bike designed to be ridden enthusiastically - I still consider it a sports bike in every sense of the word.
But I digress. MotoGP3 how has a 250cc four stroke class and those bikes make under 50HP. I guess I'm too new to riding but I'm not so jaded to not be amazed every time I'm on the highway going 80 MPH with only a single hard working cylinder pulsating underneath me.
This is an amazing machine, and while it might be slower then two stroke screamers and four cylinder 250 engines of the same class, it has it's own sports character and on any back road it can hang with the big boys.
Unlike cruisers and adventure bike - it's a bike designed to be ridden enthusiastically - I still consider it a sports bike in every sense of the word.
I think a better question might be why isn't the CBR250R a sport bike? Just because there exists a bike which is faster doesn't mean all other bikes are no longer sport bikes.
It has clip on handle bars, a short wheel base, aggressive steering geometry, and an agile light weight chassis. The sum of it's parts all point more to purpose built machine sports machine.
People race 50cc motorcycles, are they not racing sports bikes just because they have less then 25 horsepower? Are 600CC supersports not sports bikes because they aren't as fast as the 1000CC sports bikes of the same era?
If you read the definition of sports bike from wikipedia, it's a bike designed for speed, acceleration, braking, and cornering on paved roads. Extracting the performance that Honda did out of the tiny single cylinder engine, I think it meets all points.
Sport bike - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It has clip on handle bars, a short wheel base, aggressive steering geometry, and an agile light weight chassis. The sum of it's parts all point more to purpose built machine sports machine.
People race 50cc motorcycles, are they not racing sports bikes just because they have less then 25 horsepower? Are 600CC supersports not sports bikes because they aren't as fast as the 1000CC sports bikes of the same era?
If you read the definition of sports bike from wikipedia, it's a bike designed for speed, acceleration, braking, and cornering on paved roads. Extracting the performance that Honda did out of the tiny single cylinder engine, I think it meets all points.
Sport bike - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Agree with you there, the supersports class is pretty well defined as the 600CC race replica class of bikes with some minor exceptions usually given for things like the GSXR750, Ninja 636, and the Ducati 848 superbike.Honda actually market this bike as a "Super Sports" bike, which it most definitely isn't in my opinion.
That said I've never seen Honda call the CBR250R a "supersports" bike in any of their marketing material. I searched Google for "supersports cbr250r" and the only place Honda references it as that on the Austrailian web site where the CBR250R is in the Supersport section (along with the CBR125R):
http://motorcycles.honda.com.au/Supersports/CBR250R
I think that's just because the bike doesn't really fit into any of the other website categories so they put it there. Just like Yamaha puts their "FZ6R" in the "Supersport" category on their website even though it doesn't really fit with the high handlebar ergonomics and comfortable riding position.
Other then that which I don't consider marketing - I don't see the "supersports" term appearing in any of Honda's marketing for the CBR250R.
In the case of "super"sport, the term comes from racing. There are two main classes of motorcycle racing, supersport and superbike. Supersport rules dictate the bike must have less then 600cc for 4 cylinder engines and a little higher cc for twins. Superbike rules are generally less then 1000cc for 4 cylinders and a little higher for twins again. That's where the terms originated from.
Supersport World Championship - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Superbike racing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Supersport World Championship - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Superbike racing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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