Honda CBR250RR

Honda CBR250RR 1986-1996

Honda CBR 250RR –Produced between 1986 and 1996, the Babyblade is considered a favorite amongst enthusiasts who prefer smaller but aggressive looking bikes. The CBR250RR is also a good starting point for up-and-coming riders, due to its exceptional stability, decent road performance and low maintenance.

 CBR250RR 1986-1990 (NC 19)

CBR250RR 1990-1996 (NC 22)

Initially these bikes were only sold new in Japan, and later the CBR250RR was sold new in Australia. But they can be found in almost any country of the world. In countries which have a 250cc learner capacity limit, the CBR250RR is one of the most powerful 4-stroke bikes a learner is allowed to ride, hence their popularity. The CBR250RR has six gears, and revs just under 9,000 rpm at 100 km/h. Despite the high revs, the bike requires little maintenance, and should easily last 100,000 km with regular oil changes (over 1/2 a billion revolutions). The engine is somewhat unusual in that it uses gear driven cams, further reducing maintenance requirements.

The suspension on the bike was reasonably basic with non-adjustable front forks and a rear monoshock with adjustment for preload only.

The models most commonly grey-imported into Australia were the MC22 and MC19. The earlier MC14 and MC17 are rare. During the mid 90s there was a collapse in the Japanese 250 cc bike market due to a sudden change in licensing regulations allowing riders on the previous 250 cc license class to ride bigger bikes. The excess new bikes (MC22 CBR250RR (R) and (R-II) models) were shipped to Australia by Honda MPE where they were sold as part of the company's official lineup. This has proven useful to owners of grey-market imported CBR250RR's seeking spare parts.

The CBR250RR(R) is known as the 'tri-colour' due to the fact that most (but not all) of the official bikes came in that particular colour scheme. Other than the engine restrictions, this model had several additional differences to its predecessors (L & N models). The bike featured more powerful low-beam headlights coupled to a new relay which was automatically deactivated by the start/crank button on the handlebar. This changed the pinout of the switchgear and kill-switch. The carburettor rubber boots were smaller on the CBR250RR(R) than the imports.