7 Honda CBR300R replacement for CBR250R? [Engine Specs & HQ Photos]

Honda shows it's global CBR250R upgrade, the CBR300R..

Indian's are not used to upgrade/change of engines in Honda motorcycles. Honda has never done it in India till date for its motorcycle lineup. But this could soon change with its flagship model in India the CBR250R. Honda has today shown its global upgrade to the CBR250R, the CBR300R. Its very likely that India too will get the upgrade and probably replace the CBR250R.

CBR300R changes from CBR250R:

Apart from getting a bigger engine the new CBR300R gets new fairing panels, twin headlights which mimic the bigger CBR1000RR, and a new exhaust end which seems to be borrowed from the CBR500/400 series.

The styling changes makes the motorcycle look sportier than the CBR250R. Thankfully the VFR 1200F inspired headlamp of the CBR250R has been done away with the new CBR1000RR inspired twin lamps.

CBR300R Basic Engine Specs:

2 Official: The 2014 Hero Karizma ZMR makes 20 bhp

The new Karizma ZMR makes 20 bhp.. Hero also calling it "The God of Bikes"..!!

Hero has come out with the power figures of its new Karizma ZMR. Peak power is up from the earlier 17 bhp to 20 bhp. The following promotional video makes it official

No issues with Hero upping the peak power of its flagship, but calling it as the "God of Bikes" is... well.. amusing. Someone at Hero should try the 390 Duke for a proper perspective of bikes in India in 2013-

3 How are Motorcycle Categorized Globally? My point of view

This study is something like Charles Darwin's "Origin of Species" for Motorcycles..!!

During the last few years motorcycles in India have started to mimic the looks and style of international motorcycles. Words like "Super Sports", "Street fighter" are sometimes loosely used to describe these motorcycles. But how exactly are motorcycles categorized globally?

The following was actually a project which took nearly 3 months for me to complete. The problem in the analysis was that there was no common terminology. Each manufacturer uses it's own terms to categorize it's models. For example Honda calls its CBR250R as "Sports" in USA and the same bike as "Super Sports" in UK and launched as a "Sports Tourer" in India..!!

Modus operandi for this study: I browsed through websites of different brands trying to understand how and why they categorized their models. Read countless articles especially on the history/origins of the different styles of motorcycles. Initially it was difficult to make sense, but eventually some kind of pattern emerged and ultimately all the pieces fell into place. On seeing some light at the end of the tunnel, it felt like how Siddartha attained enlightenment and became Buddha..!!

6 Hero Splendor i Smart is actually a Splendor NXG

New Splendor model from Hero is basically a Splendor NXG with a new feature..

Few days back Hero made some news by reveling plans of launching "new" models. Some of which were put on display in it's dealer's meet in Macau, China. The new Karizma R and ZMR were among those models.

Another model that was on display was the supposedly new Splendor variant called the splendor i Smart. According to what has been revealed by Hero, the Splendor i Smart would feature something like an "idle stop" feature. What this feature does is it shuts off the engine in case it remains idle like in a traffic stop for sometime.

This feature is not exactly a break through innovation, since this kind of feature is found in some cars and even on some bikes. It is supposed to save fuel and thus increase the fuel efficiency.

Quite a few blogs and auto sites have covered about the Splendor i Smart along with this particular photo. But I have not come across anyone who has realized that it is basically the Splendor NXG.

7 TVS Officially Discontinues Flame and Jive models

TVS removes the Flame and Jive models from its website..

So far nobody has noticed but TVS has removed its slow selling Flame and Jive models from it's lineup. TVS might have stopped supplying the models to its dealers some time back but removal from its website officially confirms that TVS has discontinued these two models.

The "Flame" that never started a fire

Guys who were following motorcycle in India in 2007 would remember that the Flame was a very ambitious model from TVS. It was for this model that TVS eventually discontinued it's first independently developed and India's first indigenously developed motorcycle the "Victor".