After Bajaj-KTM got Honda very worried with the launch of the Duke 390 yesterday, the Japanese automaker has responded by launching the Repsol edition of their flagship motorcycle, the Honda CBR250R. The company circulated an email to dealers last evening about the Repsol edition, a move which seems to be done hurriedly. We say so because dealers tell us that the CBR250R Repsol edition won’t be arriving at showrooms anytime soon and could take more than a month to reach them.
Honda is now becoming famous for launching products much before they can ship them. The company has done the same thing with the CB Trigger, Dream Neo and Activai. Honda has also updated other colours of the CBR250R, discontinuing the old colours in the process. The new colours are Sports Red, Sports Black and Pearl Sunbeam White. All these colours are offered on both varaints of the CBR250R, STD and ABS. These new colours debuted on the CBR250R last September, when they were launched in the US.
The CBR250R Repsol gets Honda’s MotoGP livery and is a limited edition offering available till October 2013. The Repsol edition is offered in ABS trim only and is priced at Rs. 1.93 lakhs (ex-showroom, Delhi) which translates to Rs. 2.12 lakhs (on-road, Delhi). The CBR250R range starts at Rs. 1.57 lakhs for the STD variant while the ABS variant is priced at Rs. 1.87 lakhs (ex-showroom, Delhi). The alloy wheels and exhaust of the CBR250R are now finished in black. The bike looks better than before but will this be enough to challenge KTM? We don’t think so.
