28/07/2012
And finally, we come to the Honda. Honda is synonymous with smoothest of all powerplants but the CBR’s engine takes a slightly different trail to Honda’s philosophy in refinement. I don’t say it’s not smooth, but it’ll make you know that it is working hard. I recollect that during my first test ride of the CBR, I was expecting it to behave like a Unicorn engine with more displacement. However, unlike the “Silent Killer” (that is what I generally refer to the Unicorn as), this one sounded brash and loud in comparison. But compared with the baby Duke the CBR sounds tacit. The engine is buzzy and the needle precision FI system can be felt working, be it at idle or on the move. Gear shifts are typically Honda in shift quality. One cannot exactly call the buzz on grips below 3000 revs as vibes but again, this is something very unexpected from a Honda. Its back to being a Honda motor once you head north of 3k mark on the tacho though. On one hand where the screaming Duke would loudly announce the numbers building up on the speedo, the CBR would do the same in typical Honda style. The surge that you get on the Duke post 8000, would be felt at a full 3000 revs less in comparison. The fun and play factor lies between the 5000 – 8000 rpm range where the torque reserve lies in slumber to be awakened. Even in top gear it’ll start pulling away with no fuss- and with the numbers building up, it’s only the engine that’ll be talking about the speed and not the vibes. Similar to the Duke, the vibes don’t get on the high with rise in speed. Though the CBR’s engine betters the Duke’s composure character even at speeds where the Duke seems running out of breath. The mid-range you experience on the CBR is something neither the NS nor the Duke can match. I’d say the engine is the biggest USP of this motorcycle and I would give it an extra point over both the NS and the Duke.
HANDLING impressions.
PULSAR 200 NS
Another aspect that carries the reincarnated Pulsar legacy into the Kaizen orbit is the handling. Regulars on Motoroids might remember how mighty pleased our bike testers were the first time they sampled the NS. Nervous and twitchy characters associated with Pulsars are tales of the past. The 200 NS is a light but surefooted athlete aided with decent soft compound shoes that can change directions at speed of thought. I was surprised to see the not so popular Europgrip rubber turned out to be a good gripper well in both dry and on wet tarmac. Being a Pulsar owner once upon a time, I was curious as to how the rear holds up. Traditionally Pulsars being forward weight biased had their tails shedding weight during cornering and that creepy feeling of the rear tyre trying to overtake the front was afresh in my mind. The 200NS though, turned out to be a total surprise package as the NS can corner and how! We never had a knee down in our mind but on an occasion of trailing Glen’s NS with my CBR, the NS just shot ahead from a corner where I had to slow down. The only place where CBR scores above NS in this department is the straight-line confidence at 100 kmph and above. Mid corner braking too is a no brainer, the suspension being on the stiffer side holds up well and doesn’t waiver from its determined track. Braking in the straight-line is good and sharp and brakes provide ample stopping feedback. A few of the many instances that this bloke can keep up or leave behind the best of bikes available in the similar bracket at present. It handles like a fine tipped pen moving around in a stencil. So finally, we have a Pulsar that handles well too.
KTM DUKE 200
If the NS is fine tipped pen, then I’d say the Duke is a gramophone stylus. Want to play a track, show it the line and it won’t budge an inch. The aggressive riding position makes cornering extremely fun and impulses you to stick your knee out and literally hang off the bike (nope, we didn’t do that). It feels so light and planted- with each passing corner you feel you can go faster than the previous one. Similar as the NS, the Duke holds up well during mid corner braking and correction. If I had the guts, and happened to correct my line mid way into a corner, I’d straighten up the bike, tap one or maybe 2 gears down, whack the throttle- let the rear overspin, a fishtail, the rubber trying to bite into the tarmac once again and back onto the line- all in a flash…. talk about having fun! It feels more planted than the NS in straight-line at higher speeds, but still not as stable as the CBR. The braking is fantastic- better than the other two. No doubt that with a punchy engine, the handling of the Duke doubles the thrill factor on every occasion you swing your leg across. Once in momentum, you cannot help treating this bike as a toy- a big one, that you can play with, throw around, go sweeping the ‘S’ curves, drift, skid, just anything! It has the ability to make a boring day an exciting one in a matter of 5 minutes. The tyres are great in dry and the low profile makes for extreme cornering. Won’t be wrong to call the Duke an Ice-Skate- the heaviest skate in the world to call, but it’ll reciprocate with more grins every time you head out on a run.
HONDA CBR250R
Imagine a nice stretch of tarmac, devoid of any bumps or pits and some lovely wide twisties- the CBR is bliss to ride. With great midrange in hand, you will be flowing like a river….till you see an uneven patch mid corner. The bike will twitch, shiver a bit and even run wide of your desired line and you’d be putting in all your might to bring your baby back to normal. The paradise that you were floating on like a cloud some moments back has suddenly transformed into a scary experience. Well that’s the CBR for you- the extra weight and the longer wheelbase makes for terrific straight-line stability but the soft suspension setup (particularly the front) and average compound tyres kill the fun factor into the corners. Unlike the Duke or the NS, it’s not a bike that you can sit for the first time and go wedging the corners. You will be all at sea than home. The rear monoshock at a softer setting on a bump during a lean will give you a camel ride experience. The CBR doesn’t like tight cornering at higher speeds and moreover has a disliking for certain kind of surfaces, for example layered asphalt. You have to be cautious even in dry on such surfaces, when wet make sure you cut down by 50% of your speed that you would generally go dry. Though surprisingly the braking system on all the three are from the ByBre stable, all provide different degrees of performance and feedback. On the CBR, the brakes are typically Honda - spongy and gradual. Also to add, the front suspension being on the softer side dives on hard braking resulting in a lighter end and what you get is a staggered feedback from the rear as you try to calibrate and balance the braking input. The braking is decent when applied gradually, but sudden and panic braking is something that’ll make your hair stand up. Have the money? Go C-ABS! As mentioned earlier on the straight-line ability- you won’t feel a nudge even at 140, it’s that assuring, though you would be ducking in to avoid the wind chopping of your head. If a multiple laned highway and you had to switch lanes in a hurry at that speed, the CBR shows amazing poise. In the end you win some, you lose some.
A QUICK AND COLLECTIVE TAKE ON THE COSMETIC FRONT
In the order of superiority, it’s the Duke that takes the honours on the build quality. It’s a fantastically well put together motorcycle that, even on close scrutiny, won’t give you an opportunity to crib about quality (we’re disregarding the mirrors and the switchgear here). The Orange shade looks deep finished and is a delight to look irrespective of the background it’s placed at. Everything is just perfect about the Duke and it looks worth every penny that you have shed on this classy motorcycle.
The Pulsar looks great from a few metres. Get close and the painted surfaces look good, but the plastics which have been polished to look good and upmarket still don’t look like one. Have a closer look on the inner side of the tank extensions, even the small bikini fairing over the headlamp- it’s just not upto the mark and the cost cutting evidently shows up. In the end, what you get is a PLASTIC OVERDOSE. No one should not be complaining in the end, after all its still a hell lot of bike for the money.
The CBR disappoints on this front- though not much. However, if you have something like a flawless Duke in the lineup and moreover that is nearly 30 grands (big money that) cheaper than the CBR- it should have been an obligation on part of Honda to justify the retail price. The plastic of the CBR is of good quality, unfortunately the finishing is not. The CBR used in this comparo was from the second batch, and though the third batch of CBRs post better quality points- still I’d vote for the Duke.
RIDE QUALITY
The territory (suspension) where the CBR lost points earlier to the duo, equalizes the score on comfort. The soft suspension that snatched away the smile from your face will be bought back on bad and broken roads- particularly the monoshock is fabulous when in operation. The Pulsar might have a more upright riding position, but the stiff suspension will ensure that you share the suffering and sorrow the tyres and the suspension are going through on bad roads. The Duke betters the Pulsar (on suspension) but not by much- thanks to the weird sitting stance and it’s the CBR that takes the cake on comfort. I have graduated from a Karizma to the CBR and surprisingly on long rides if I have to recollect my Karizma riding experience on similar stretches, it’s the CBR that causes less fatigue despite the forward biased riding position. I’m not sure how it works, but I believe the riding position itself distributes your body weight and doesn’t concentrate your weight on your butt and back. Another point added to the CBR’s table.
Habituation, without a doubt, is a bad trait. Before the Karizma, I had a Pulsar 150 DTSi that I used to tour on. I never knew what protection from wind drag/blast was. Even with the Karizma later, it was still an alien term. All this changed as soon as I bought the CBR. Riding it for the past 6 months, I’ve realized the importance of wind protection. Commuting and short bursts are still acceptable on any motorcycle- in fact the breed of bikes that we have been feeding on all these years with riders doing long distances on smallish naked motorcycles. But we didn’t have a choice, did we? Now with an option of choosing a faired bike, it adds up an advantage. Wind-drag tires you- there’s no disagreeing on this fact. The CBR protects rest of your body from the blast, though the inclination of the bikini fairing could have been slightly more upright to cut down the helmet drag. Anyways another point to the CBR’s tally.
