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The engine was a single cylinder 250, with a four valve head - singles have a reputation of being a bit prone to vibration, and Honda got around that by building in a couple of counterbalances on the cam chain drive. This allowed them to increase the power to 26 horses, which doesn't sound ... Read review
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A review by dobieg on Honda CB250RSA August 16th, 2004
Author's product rating:
Comfort
Good
Handling
Excellent
Looks
Excellent
Features
Good
Fuel consumption
Excellent
Advantages:
Light, easy to ride, excellent bike
Disadvantages:
not many good ones left now
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
If only they still made them today!
I look upon the time I owned a CB250rs with great affection - for me it was the ideal machine, and if I could get my hands on a good one, grab it without a second thought.
You don't see than may 250s nowadays - at the time, the 'one part test' allowed any learner to use a 250cc bile with 'L' plates and a normal provisional licence - considering it was entirely possible for such a machine to break every speed limit in the country, it was only a question of time before something had to be done about that!
The RS came out in the early 1980s, and was pitched as a road alternative to the 'classic but ugly' Superdream.
The machine was designed around an old trail machine (the XL-250) but was heavily restyled for road only use, and had a few tricks up it's sleeve.
The engine was a single cylinder 250, with a four valve head - singles have a reputation of being a bit prone to vibration, and Honda got around that by building in a couple of counterbalances on the cam chain drive. This allowed them to increase the power to 26 horses, which doesn't sound a lot, but with a moderately lightweight frame, gave it plenty of poke at the lower end of the rev scale.
Even though this was a single, the style gurus in Japan insisted on giving the bike a dual exhaust! - the suggestion was that this reduced exhaust velocity, but it was complete nonsense! Yes - it looked OK, but it really wasn't practical, and the original chrome work (rusting quickly) meant most guys invested in a 2 into 1 pipe before very long.
Top-end speed wasn't that great, at least not when compared with the racing tow-strokes which were around at the time (Yamaha RD250LC being the cafe racer's preference at the time) and at 70mph on the flat, it wasn't going to end you up in *too* much trouble on the motorway - and you had to watch out when overtaking, if you pulled out of a slipstream, you could feel as if you'd been thrown backwards at 20mph!
My mates, who all went for 'real men's bikes' after they passed their tests used to take the wee-wee out of me relentlessly, but then again, mine ran in the rain (unlike their Itallian machines) and tended not to land on the deck as often (like their LCs, with the 'power band' and 7500 rpm)
In town, however, the bike was another thing entirely.
You could outrun anything on 4 wheels (not to say I did that very often) but if you wanted to make the point to some soul-boy in a Ford Capri at a set of traffic lights, you could be a dot on the horizon before he's managed to get out of second gear.
The RS came out at just about the same time that designers moved away from chrome, and went for plastic - mudguards, chain guard, indicators etc got the treatment, and I found this especially welcome, as road salt had seen the looks from by previous bike ruined in it's first winter!
Other features included having the engine casing held together by hex-headed bolts, as you had to remove the right hand sump cover in order to clean the oil filter, this made a huge difference from the crosshead screws used in earlier bikes of the time.
Looks wise, it was an absolute winner - the angular lines of the Superdream 'eurostyling' gave way to a more organic set of curves, the square headlamp looks a little dated by nowadays standards, but went well enough with the square instrument dials and indicators.
Wheels were (even in 1982) 'retro' styled spoked jobs, although alloy rims meant they didn't rust up, and they were certainly a lot more reliable than the 'comstars' fitted as standard on Superdreams made out of pressed alloy (one whack and they were warped beyond recognition)
Petrol consumption was around 75 miles to the gallon, which being a student at the time, was very welcome.
Honda had the reputation at the time (and still do, to an extent) for producing bikes which, if the truth be said, tended to be rather more concentrated on styling and reliability than all-out performance, up until the RS came out, they were also said to be as easy to handle as a drunk pig on roller skates.
The latter was a little unkind, if you got a half decent set of tyres, the handling improved dramatically, however they still tended to be a bit top-heavy, especially on a full tank.
The RS avoided this by having Bridgestones fitted as standard, mine lasted about eighteen months, after that I went for Dunlops, and whilst they didn't last as long, felt a lot safer, even if I was being silly and showing off.
The back shocks were adjustable, FVQ units (the joke was it stood for 'Fades Very Quickly) the front shocks only had one setting, carbs and brakes were unbranded (front was hydraulic disk, back drum brake was operated by a steel rod), but did the job. The foot pedals were partially rearset, although you could reckon to have to hammer the brake flat again if you dropped the bike on it's left hand side.
Transmission was still a bit of a problem, a single tends to have a fairly heavy 'thump' which gets passed on to the chain and sprocket - even with regular oiling, you could get through a chain in six months, and a set of sprockets in a year.
The bikes were very economical to use, especially in the Urban circuit - the Post Office used them for their 'datapost' service, as did many couriers, although, interestingly enough, they tended to replace the original engines (when they burned out at 26,000 miles) with the original XL-250, lower powered, but built like a tank.
Nowadays, I'd probably be a bit on the fat side to cope with a bike like this (I was nine and a half stone at the time, twenty years on, countless pints, and I'm touching 13)
The original models were kick-start only, later an electric starter was introduced, but by the time that came along, I had a girlfriend, and a car.
They don't make bikes like these any more - more is the pity, I paid £800 with a part exchange with a CB100n (now *there's* a bike with an identity crisis!), and after about seven years (three spent in a garage) had it nicked - I hope whoever did it fell off & really hurt themselves!
If you find one, and it's running, check the frame is OK - the engine was a stress bearing member, and dropping it hard could knock the whole thing off, other than that, you couldn't go that far wrong!
Advantages: Reliability, Economy, Cheap Spares, High Fun Factor Disadvantages: Noisy engine, Weak Clutch, High Chain / Sprocket Wear
...of mine who was a Honda mechanic - 'What's the problem', said he, 'they're all like that, you'll just have to get use to the noise'. So, RS ownership requires a certain degree of deafness!
Having had my first lesson in RS ownership, I set off to cover the first of my 30 thousand miles-a- year stints. The RS proved to be unbelievably reliable in all areas, except the drive-chain department. The standard RS set-up does not include a proper shock absorber ... ...- the partial solution was the fitting of an RS Deluxe rear wheel incorporating a cush drive hub. The lumpy single-cylinder engine, however, ensured that chain and sprocket life was relatively short, even though I fitted a Scottoiler.
Continuing with the transmission theme, it should be said that the clutches are also weak, the plates often needing a change before 20,000 miles although the fitting of a few proprietary 'stiff' springs increased plate ...
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Advantages: Economy, sound, performance Disadvantages: Looks, long term reliability, age
I owned one of these for 8 months in 2002 after passing my 33bhp test.
I put 6000 miles on the clock, mostly going to and from school. It did however also take me and the girlfriend to france, two up with luggage.
I bought it on a warm summer evening the day after doing my test. It was ugly, but it was 400 quid and the seller knew his stuff about it. Exhaust was a bit rotten, tank was painted with a brush, but the tyres were new and the oil was ... ...It just ran and ran for months, the only problems being a puncture and a tendency to occasionally just lose all power. It started up again with a kick though.
Running costs were low. The chain was new when I bought it, and I didn't have to buy another. It returned 60mpg. I changed the oil every thousand miles, but it only took 1.8 litres or mineral oil. Back tyres cost 50 quid and lasted 5000 miles, much of that two up.
Performance was quite good ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: handling,preformance,mpg Disadvantages: Eats chains and sprockets
I have had two of these bikes,The first one I bought new when the model was first introduced.I part exchanged a 250 Dream for the CB250 RS and the differance in handling,preformance and economy was a revolution. It was used for commuting, touring and visiting raceing events as far away as the Bol, dor and it eventualy did 60,000 miles before I sold it. The only problem I had with it was that it devoured chains and sprockets. Fitting a heavy duty ... ...than this the bike nether let me down.
The second CB250RS was bought many years later in 1992 and needed some sorting out as it had not been verry well looked after. In the end it needed a top end rebuild which was not difficult to do because of the straight forward nature of the bike.Once it was back on the road it brought back many happy memorys although it did not seem as fast as my first one. That apart it still had the great fuel economy [ ...
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Advantages: light small economical Disadvantages: not good on motorways wil seize up
A little bike ridden by me over thousands of miles. Comes in two version with or without electric starter always go with a electric starter as kick back from the cylinder is possible. It has a twin seat, speedo and revometer. An adequate 3 gallon fuel tank as it is good for 65mpg. Performance is 90mph tops but do not spend to much time there these bikes will seize at that speed as it is on the red line anyways. This is due to poor lubrication of ... ...is going to happen the engine frees itself right away however but will need a rebuild. I was eventually banned from riding them an given a VT500 instead.
These are old fashioned bikes with a single cylinder and are very simple to maintain. The single cylinder means they will eat chains. Not good for motorways then as they do not like high speed travel but good around town and the open road as it is light at around 280lbs minus rider so flickable ...
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Advantages: Cheap, handles thrash and crash well Disadvantages: A bit slow, everything breaks (electrics, engine, suspension) at the same time
Ah my CB250rsa abuse.
Owned a couple now and still use one for work every day (28 mile round trip)
Go one tooth smaller on the front sprocket if you are 6'3 and 15 stone like me or else you won't get out of 4th in a head wind.
Mine both pissed oil out and burnt loads but both happily spent all day on the red line and just took it.
Great cheap bike for work.
Get a self tapping screw and screw the side panels to the bike cause some bugger nicked ... ...for two up work but if you ride like a supermotard instead of sports bike (leg out wedged up the tank) you can scrape the pegs and stand at 60 MPH and laugh your arse off as it sways and slides round a corner (gets heads turning). Have found doing 80 every day down the old pot holed bumb and dip ridden bank csuses the bike to take off. When it does this the front end slams franticly from left to right at ever increasing amounts until you land again ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
