Funny how things worked out. It was as if Big Red – which last year lost sales ground to Team Green – decided to throw together its own quarter-liter recipe, if not in response to us, at least to the mighty little Ninja which has enjoyed an exclusive 22-plus-year run as a top seller.
Honda never mentioned the Ninja by name at the recent CBR250R tech briefing, but it is certain that the still proud company has the smallest Ninja in its crosshairs. Honda says it has long wanted to build a 250-class sportbike, but it had to wait until a confluence of events made it feasible.
Specifically, even as U.S. and European demand continue – but with massive economic question marks hovering over their collective heads – other emerging markets now represent enough buying power for Honda to justify an all-new motorcycle.
According to American Honda’s Senior Product Planning Specialist Tony De Franze, the CBR250R will be seen as an especially cool ride in the 10 ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries, as well as Japan, Europe, North America and Australia.
Its manufacture in Thailand will be close to its growing eastern markets, and that’s probably good for westerners too. In an era when new Hondas like the VFR1200F are busting the limit of expensiveness, the CBR250R was positioned equal to the bargain-priced Ninja 250R, due in part, De Franze says, to the favorable exchange rate from Thailand.
Honda has factories in 20 countries, and the Thai plant has been in operation since 1967. The 5400-employee facility also makes the PCX 125cc scooter, can manufacture 1.5 million motorcycles and scooters annually, and since opening has produced 18 million units. The CBR250R should therefore be as well made as anything with the – love it or hate it – mighty Honda name stamped on it.
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