HONDA The Power of Dreams

For 20 years, Honda’s 250cc road sports models were powered by 4-stroke, inline 2-cylinder engines, starting with the Dream CB72 Super Sport introduced in 1960.

With the frames, Honda had not developed its own 250 cc chassis for some time, Japan lacked an inspection system for 250 cc models at the time, leading to popularity of the class thanks to low costs. In order to deliver 250 cc motorcycles to customers that could serve as an entry model leading to larger bikes, Honda often adopted chassis developed for larger bikes.

For example, the 1968 Dream CB250 shared the same chassis with the higher-end Dream CB350. Similarly with the HAWK series, the 250T and 400T had nearly identical chassis sizes and similar vehicle weight (178 kg vs. 181 kg).

Very little specific development was done for 250 cc road sports models, to keep development and manufacturing costs down.

In contrast, on/off-road models needed to be light and easy to handle, so models developed specifically for the 250 cc class were also popular. The XL250S, launched in 1978, was a huge hit thanks to its extremely lightweight design and newly developed engine and chassis, which accelerated the popularity of the 250 cc class.

This trend led to demand for exclusively designed 250 cc road sports models, which led to the launch of the CB250RS.

The CB250RS, developed with a “simple is best” concept, was designed to be lightweight and slim. Borrowing from the popular XL250S, the CB250RS was powered by a 1-cylinder engine mounted on a diamond frame, and was equipped with a kick-starter.

As a result of these weight reduction measures, the CB250RS weighed 129 kg, 39 kg lighter than the HAWK CB250T’s 178 kg.

The lightweight design greatly contributed to a nimble ride. The development team used the term “hirari, hirari” (onomatopoeia for nimble movement) to describe the sports bike that riders could freely control at will, and the lightweight CB250RS’ ample performance, nimble handling, a focused center of gravity, and a deep banking angle that truly delivered a “hirari, hirari” ride.

The CB250RS became the first 1-cylinder 250 cc road sports model in the CB series.

1981
The CB250RS was also popular with female riders thanks to its light weight and excellent footing. The Z type was equipped with a cell motor for easy engine starting.

1983 CBX250RS
Name changed with introduction of new engine. Inheriting the lightweight and slim 1-cylinder road sports fundamentals of the CB250RS, the CBX250RS was equipped with a newly developed 4-stroke, RFVC (Radial Four Valve Combustion Chamber, Honda’s unique technology) DOHC engine, which boasted a maximum output of 30 PS.

1985 CBX250S
The lightest 250 cc road sports model. Lightweight and compact design for easy handling, the CBX250S’ dry weight was 115 kg. The engine continued to use RFVC technology.

Although the CB250RS continued to evolve, the overwhelmingly popular Honda 4-stroke 250cc road sports model was the VT250F, powered by a V-2 engine, introduced in 1982.

Due in part to the popularity of VTR series, new CB series 250 cc models did not appear until the CB223S in 2008.