Honda Motorcycles seems to be on a product offensive the world over. Fans in India got their first taste of a sports touring motorcycle – CBR650F this year. And the Hornet 160R, a sporty commuter, is scheduled for an India-debut later this year.From across the continent, Honda has unveiled a refreshed CBR500R at the AIMExpo 2015, Orlando, Florida. The CBR500R has been on sale since 2013 and most of the basic underpinning stays intact. The 471cc twin pot motor making 47bhp is mated to a six-speed transmission. The only significant change being the preload adjustment to the front forks, which will help riders to, set things up to best suit their riding style.
Though mechanicals remain the same, the styling has changed dramatically. The CBR500R now follows the company’s edgy design theme that Honda calls “Aggressive Speed Shape.” The CBR500R sports a sharp front face with angled dual LED lights and a shortened, upswept tail. Styling cues from Honda’s bigger bike have seems to influence the CBR500R.
Honda also unveiled the small capacity CBR300R at the same event. Even though the working mechanicals of the 250R and 300R are identical, Honda has decided to stick with the 250R in India for the time being.
As far as the CBR300R goes, it ditches the CBR250R’s Y-shaped headlight design for an aggressive twin headlight cluster of the CBR family. The other noticeable difference is the cylindrical exhaust that replaces the bulky triangular-shaped exhaust of the 250R. The 286cc engine will make 30bhp and 27Nm of torque, that’s a jump of 4bhp and 4Nm of torque compared to the old motor.
While we do have the CBR650F in India, Honda will focus on the budget-end of the spectrum. And that’s one of the reasons why we aren’t expecting the CBR500R or the 300R to make it to India anytime soon.
[“source-topgear”]