The Yamaha R25 is surely making waves in Indonesia just days after its launch. The much awaited quarter-litre sports bike clocked in 2800 bookings within 25 hours of its launch. The competition too is surely feeling the heat as well, as Honda Indonesia reduced the prices of the 2015 CBR250R in the country just days after launching the new and updated model with increase in power and a new exterior design.
The updated 2014 Honda CBR250R comes with a significant rise in power by 3 PS and now produces 29 PS and 23 Nm of torque from the 249cc single-cylinder engine. The quarter-litre sports bike gets CBR inspired dual headlamps along with a tweaked fairing. The 2015 CBR250R was launched at a price of 48.95 million Indonesian Rupiah (Rs. 2.48 lakhs); however just days after the launch, Honda chose to cut the price by 2.15 million Indonesian Rupiah (Rs. 11,000/-).
As much as Honda may want to deny, the move does seem suspicious. However Honda maintains that the change in pricing is primarily dependent on the exchange rate as the CBR250R is imported as a CBU from Thailand and minor consideration is given to competition. Nonetheless, the arrival of Yamaha in the 250cc segment has surely made the competition uncomfortable. The Yamaha R25 is powered by a 249cc twin-cylinder, liquid-cooled engine that produces 36 PS and 22.9 Nm of torque. The Yamaha R25 has been priced at 53 million Indonesian Rupiah (Rs. 2.78 lakhs).
As Honda tries to stay competitive in the quarter-litre segment, Yamaha seems to be catching up effortlessly and will surely give strong competition to the current segment leader in sales, the Kawasaki Ninja 250. The CBR250R range starts at 46.8 million Indonesian Rupiah (Rs. 2.48 lakhs) for the base version, going up to 55.2 million Indonesian Rupiah (Rs. 2.80 lakhs) for the top end ABS variant with Repsol livery.
