“Sportbikes are dead,” we keep hearing that so many times, continued by, “People want nakeds and adventure bikes.” If so, why do see the Honda CBR250RR and its smaller CBR150RR sibling, plus those of other brands everywhere?
Truth is, there are many sportbike fans out there but midrange and full-on superbikes are just too expensive for many, this writer included. It is such that smaller capacity and quarter-litre sportbikes are still selling so well. Apart from the Honda, there are the Kawasaki Ninja 250R, Ninja ZX-25R, Yamaha YZF-R25, Suzuki Gixxer SF250, KTM RC 250 – all fighting for this popular segment.
These bikes are also a wonderful step for new riders to experience the intricacies of riding a sportbike before embarking on bigger cc ones. It is much safer, too.
However, technological updates in this segment is quite limited compared to models of higher capacities in order to keep them affordable to the buying public.
But, the 2025 Honda CBR250RR seeks to edge ahead.
What is it?
As we mentioned earlier, it is a lightweight, quarter-litre sportbike. Honda has heavily revised the model and was actually launched in mid-2024. Outwardly, it looks much sharper despite retaining the overall silhouette of its predecessor. The revisions are:
- The engine remains the same 249.7cc, DOHC, 8-valve, parallel-twin.
- The engine’s compression ratio is raised to 12.5:1 from 12.1:1 by reducing the combustion chamber volume from 7.55 cm3 to 70.0 cm3.
- The inlet port throat diameter was enlarged from 21.4 mm to 21.6 mm.
- Updated valve timing and lift.
- Optimised piston and oil ring tension to reduce friction.
- These updates produce a 1 kW (1.34 hp) increase of maximum power over the previous model, and bringing it to 31 kW (41.6 hp) at 13,000 RPM and 25 Nm of torque at 11,000 RPM.
- The Assist and Slipper Clutch feature stays, but is now complimented with a quickshifter.
- The front suspension is upgraded with 37mm Showa Separate Function Fork – Big Piston (SFF-BP) upside-down forks.
- On the electronic front, the 2024 Honda CBR250RR has a ride-by-wire throttle which in turn offers three ride modes, namely Sport+, Sport, and Comfort.
- The bodywork has been reworked for what Honda calls “aggressive speedy shape” concept, leading to a 6% reduction in air resistance.
- Curb weight of 169 kg.
So, it is not the case of “kejuruteraan coverset” (fairing engineering), as netizens like to say.
By comparison, this new CBR250RR’s engine is the most powerful in the segment and bested by the Ninja ZX-25R’s four-cylinder engine. However, the Honda’s engine sees its peak torque arrive much earlier at 11,000 RPM, while the Ninja hits peak torque much later at 14,500 RPM.
Riding the 2025 Honda CBR250RR
For the sportbike fan in this writer, The feel of climbing aboard a lightweight sportbike is pure pleasure: Low front end, tall rear, and long reach to the handlebars put you in a sporting crouch. Remember to support your weight with your core muscles (those around the tummy and back) rather than your arms and shoulders.
Starting the engine released a much rawer sound from the engine this time. It sounded more er… European, for want of a better word instead of the usually quiet Japanese engine. Blip the throttle and the revs jump instantly, almost as quickly as a two-stroke engine’s. Interesting.
As we mentioned earlier, there are three power modes now, but the bike will always begin in SPORT regardless if you had set it to COMFORT or SPORT+ before shutting turning it off.
Having just swapped it with the CB650R, I thought I could use a little more power so I immediately switched to SPORT+, and gave it a lot – as in LOTS – of throttle. The engine roared instantaneously and bike and rider flew down the street outside the Boon Siew Honda Service Centre in Kepong. It surely snapped my head back! WHOA! Calm down! And get this: It did not even run into the rev limited in 1st gear.
Thankfully, the Nissin brakes were pretty strong (for a single front disc), bringing things to a control.
So I switched the power mode back to SPORT. The engine sounded calmer and throttle response was distinctly smoother.
Further down the road…
Okay, time for traffic light GP. Not that we wanted it but that guy next to us on an ahem… “Quarter Bike” had a sport pipe on kept revving his engine – BROOOAR BROOOOAR. It sounded modified as his engine has that characteristic piston slap sound.
So okay, SPORT+ mode selected, 1st gear in, wait for the light, revs up slightly… Then full throttle as we slipped the clutch. The CBR250RR’s engine howled (yes, howled) as we blasted off the line almost as quickly as that CB650R and CBR650R we tested earlier. I kid you not, the CBR250RR has such a hard acceleration that I kept wondering if Honda had slipped in a 400cc engine. Into 2nd with the quickshifter… smoooth, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th. No one in the mirrors. Bye!
In traffic
The bike did not exhibit the kind of front-heavy behaviour despite the crouched riding position like heavier bikes do when proceedings got slower. Instead, it just flowed beautifully with a minimal amount of countersteering pressure. Remember what we said about the pleasures of riding a lightweight sportbike? This is one.
The engine came through beautifully as we could ride in 3rd and 4th gears while lane-splitting down Jalan Tuanku Halim. It had enough torque allowing us to modulate the throttle without the clutch without fear of it stalling. You just need to open the throttle to speed things up quickly.
In the rain…
That is what the COMFORT mode was for. The thunderstorm came out of nowhere, and since the SPORT+ mode was a bit too frisky, we switched to COMFORT. The throttle response became much, much softer, and there was a slight lag before the power came on, compared to the other two modes.
Being a lightweight bike, there was not much concern when riding through wet corners as the tyres are less stressed. Plus with the smooth throttle, we could open up sooner in corners than we would normally dared to.
Corner blasting…
Unfortunately I rained and rained in the few days we had the bike, so there was no chance of testing the bike up Genting Highlands. Still, there were plenty of corners in around the city, namely the SUKE Highway and the DUKE Highway from Hospital Kuala Lumpur leading to Gombak.
While we needed more countersteering forces to get bigger bikes to turn, the CBR2500RR hit corners at almost heart attack-inducing entry speeds. Lighter weight means you can carry more entry and mid-corner speeds by letting the bike roll into corners, rather than downshifting for engine braking. All you needed to do is look through a corner, line it up, steer and the bike flies through. Nope, it did not even need lots of hanging off to achieve it.
Another advantage of this bike is its low seat height. Despite looking tall in pictures, we could plant both feet comfortably on the ground when we stopped. So, a low seat entails a lower centre of gravity, which translates to a bike that favours cornering speed – the turn and burn approach – rather than a brake-turn-burn technique.
The suspension has also improved dramatically as the front and absorbed bumps well, but it was the forks that impressed the most. It had the bike holding our chosen lines regardless of road surface.
Lest we forget, the swingarm is aluminium, not steel like on most 250cc sportbikes (apart from the KTM RC250).
The stock tyres were alright, but we were thinking how much better the bike will be if fitted with ultra-sticky rubber!
The conclusion
The 2025 Honda CBR250RR has really got it going: super punchy engine, smooth quickshifter, distinct ride modes, nice suspension, great handling, and… did we mention the engine already…? And oh yeah, it still looks great after all these years.
The only complaint we had was the clutch engagement zone which was waaay at the end of the clutch lever’s movement. But this can be easily rectified and it did not impede on the overall experience of riding the bike.
The 2025 Honda CBR250RR retails for RM27,999 (not on-the-road). Worth it.
Photo gallery
