F.A.Q

For those of you who are wondering what FAQ means, it stands for "Frequently asked questions". I get tons of mail every week with people asking me all kinds of shit, even from people who steal the bloody things!!!! (that was very surprising). Here are some of the most commonly asked questions.

Q1. I live in the States, and im having trouble finding a CBR 250 or 400. Are they rare, or is there another reason for this.

A1. The reason for this is that the bike was never officially made in your country, or anywhere else for that matter other than Japan, Australia (there officially imported, and i think a couple of eastern countries). The problem with this is that Honda don't think there is a market for such small engine motorcycles any where else than these countries. Japan people are generally smaller, so the bike size suits them! However there are many companies who import them, and the spares are usually easy to get hold of, basic things such as oil filter etc are the same as the CBR 600 :)

Q2. So why do countries like Australia benefit from the CBR 250 and not others?

A2. The CBR250 was never actually manufactured in Australia, however was
officially imported by Honda into Australia. This made warrenty and
regulation transfer easier, and made parts etc easier to find. The reason
why it is so popular here, is because in Australia while a rider is on his
"learners licence", the rider is restricted to a motorcycle of no more than
250cc. This accounts for the huge 250 market here, and the CBR250's
popularity.

Q3. I'm a girl and im quite short (i get lots of you asking) can I ride the CBR, I have trouble standing on a bike comfortably normally.

A3. Yes the CBR, especially the 400 has a VERY low seat, one review said that it almost felt that your were inside the bike because it is so low, its a very race style seating position! good for the girls if your not tall!

Q4. I need spare parts, where can i get them from?

A4. See my PARTS/REPAIR section and ring the companies listed, if you live outside the UK, then im sorry I do not know any other companies. Although these should ship internationally if you ask nicely :)

Q5 My body panels are obliterated where can i get some new ones from? I don't want to pay Official HONDA prices as they are FANTASTICALLY EXPENSIVE!!!!!!

A5. You have 3 choices

1. Buy from HONDA (costs feckin loads!)

2. Buy aftermarket ferin replacements (you can usually only get race replicas, which is a single seat conversion for the rear, front ferin sides as normal, and the top with no light holes (you would have to cut them). But they are reasonably priced. You can get them from a company called M&P a big bike mail order company based in the UK. For all the panels on the bike front rear sides blah blah blah :) its about £300 for the entire bike. So you can get a complete front for around £150-£200, I think the rear is about £130 for both sides, which is a complete part rather than 2 sides, looks dead sexy!!!

Contact details are www.mandp.co.uk (NOTE: the panels are not on their website, please order their mail order catalogue which has them in, its about £2)

REMEMBER, they are NOT painted, and do not come with decals.

3.  Lastly use a process called Plastic Welding and Re-spraying, which is the cheapest, and is very good for big cracks, snapped panels etc.

Even if your bike ferin is chipped, smashed cracked what ever, so long as you have all the pieces, funnily enough you can get it put back together. This is done by a process called "PLASTIC WELDING" if you can get a business with experience they can fix virtually anything! I smashed my bike on a roundabout, (see cbr400 page for bike damage) and a nice man repaired it all, re-sprayed it and made it like brand new. I couldn't believe it was my bike when he gave it back to me.

To get my entire front ferin put back together, top, and sides, it cost £190 including the repair and re-spray. Dam sight cheap than new ones!