2018 Honda CBR250R Unveiled At Auto Expo 2018

Changes include an LED headlamp, new colours and new graphics

Honda had a lot of unveils at this year’s Auto Expo, chief among which were the Honda Activa 5G and the XBlade. This year also marked the resurrection of one of Honda’s popular models, the CBR250R. The quarter-litre sports tourer was discontinued last year owing to BSIV norms. But, it seems to be back now in a new avatar with a BSIV heart.

The most prominent change on the CBR250R is a new LED headlamp, which most of Honda’s lineup will be getting as part of the 2018 update. It will also be getting new colours, as suggested by the show bike which had a matte black paint with new fluorescent green livery. Other minor updates include the all-black treatment to the wheels, exhaust and instrument cluster bezel. These changes make the CBR250R look sharp and helps it shed some of the visual mass. Body panels remain unchanged as it carries on with the VFR1200F inspired design.

Despite the switch to BSIV, power output remains unchanged. The updated 249.6cc, liquid-cooled single continues to make 26.3PS of power at 8,500rpm and 22.9Nm of torque at 7,000rpm, mated to a 6-speed gearbox. As far as chassis and suspension components are concerned, it still employs the same diamond type frame with front telescopic forks and a rear monoshock damper. Braking is via a single 296mm front disc and 220mm rear disc. A major chink in the CBR250R’s armour was the expensive ABS variant. We hope Honda addresses the same with the upcoming one and offers it as standard fitment.

While the launch date has not been announced yet, we expect the 2018 CBR250R to be launched in the next couple of months. Expect a marginal price hike of Rs 2,500 to Rs 5,000 over the discontinued model. When launched, the new CBR250R will rival the Apache RR 310 and the KTM RC 390.