2015 CBR300r

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Bheezy27403_imp

Road warrior
Thread starter
I've been kicking around the idea of a nimble mountain road carver for sometime and the CBR300r has been on the radar. I stupidly went to my local shop today (where I bought my CB1100) to kill some time as I was near. I spied the 2019 version in the back crammed in with others of the ilk. I couldn't sit on it as there was no room to even walk beside it. But I gave it a once over and considered the $4300ish sales price, not too bad. As I was leaving I saw a red, small, CBR something in the used section of the lot. It didn't have a cc decal on it so I guessed maybe a 500? It was a little tired looking and in need of some TLC (which I can provide). The salesman came out and we looked it up, 2015 CBR300r 8200 miles. I was out of time so I hit the road on my (friggin GLORIOUS) CB1100, yes, it does keep getting better, after telling the salesman to email me a price. 20 min later I had an email which stated $3000 out the door. Aw man, might just have to do it.

P.S. Sat on a Monkey, nicely done, but I can see why Alprider put aftermarket shocks on the back. Quite soft.
 
Keep us posted Bheezy. I met a guy the other day with a new CB600R which I really liked the look of.
 
(+1) Bheezy27403. My '14 CB1100 in 2019 has never been a better bike to ride compared to the previous five years. I don't know what the cause is, but when I do saddle up (164 kms today), the appetite to not stop is ferocious.
 
My wife has had a CBR250R and two CBR500R's. She loves her CBR500R and thinks the CBR250R was only OK. The 500 has lots more power and only a little more weight. I suggest you find a CBR500R. I sold her first one (with 20K miles) for only $2700 in excellent condition...you should be able to find one cheap. I would get one that is 2016 or newer. Her 2013 and another friend's 2013 CBR500R had transmission issues. They fixed that in 2016. Her 2017 shifts great.
 
rickcb_imp said:
My wife has had a CBR250R and two CBR500R's. She loves her CBR500R and thinks the CBR250R was only OK. The 500 has lots more power and only a little more weight. I suggest you find a CBR500R. I sold her first one (with 20K miles) for only $2700 in excellent condition...you should be able to find one cheap. I would get one that is 2016 or newer. Her 2013 and another friend's 2013 CBR500R had transmission issues. They fixed that in 2016. Her 2017 shifts great.
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I agree! I had a CB250R and now a CB300F, both nice, but marginal on the freeways. I agree the CBR500R/CB500F/CB500X have much more power for just a little weight gain (about 60 pounds).
 
I'm still in love with my CBR250R. It only wants for power if you need to run on the highway above 75 mph or if you're trying to pass traffic doing 70 mph going uphill. For swift, nimble mountain road carving it's hard to beat. The Yamaha R3 has a bit more power but riders who've tried both generally say the handling and brakes on the R3 aren't as well dialed-in. In any case, there's no substitute for light weight and narrow tires.

Should be able to find plentiful supplies of CBR300R / CBR300F with really low miles (in many cases less than 1,000) priced less than $3,000 and CBR250R with less than 5,000 miles for less than $2,500.
 
Thread starter
I got her. Talked them down a bit and got new rubber thrown in. The thing is a scooter. Sooo light. I cannot wait to get it in the mountains. I rode it to work tonight and it behaves well in traffic on my 7 mile commute. Looking forward to getting the tires scrubbed in to see what she'll do in the corners.
 
Congratulations, Bheezy. Photos and reports would be welcome in due course.
 
Bheezy27403_imp said:
I got her. Talked them down a bit and got new rubber thrown in. The thing is a scooter. Sooo light. I cannot wait to get it in the mountains. I rode it to work tonight and it behaves well in traffic on my 7 mile commute. Looking forward to getting the tires scrubbed in to see what she'll do in the corners.
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Congrats! :thumbsup:

Soon you will learn the ways of Momentum, young Padawan. :)

What tires did they install?
 
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I'll try to get pics up. I 86'd my editing app on my phone to cut down the size so I'll have to figure that out again.

Yes Stichill, momentum is a must on the 'lil beastie.

Dunlop Sportmax. I will get a "sticky" set next. Maybe these will be fine, who knows, too early to tell.
 
'lil beastie, I think you've named it! :thumbsup:

Looks like there are two versions of the Sportmax, the GPR300 and the Q3 Plus. Both are highly rated, with the GRP300 being more of an OEM tire and the Q3 Plus being oriented toward an aggressive street rider with occasional track days. I've been running Michelin Pilot Street Radials and love them, but the Q3 Plus has me intrigued.

Either way, you'll find the bike precise yet forgiving and tolerant, pure joy of riding!

Good forums:

Honda CBR 250 Forum
Honda CBR 300 Forum
 
Thread starter
GPR300's. I'm hoping to get them scrubbed in a little after work and then get her in the mountains tomorrow. I will report back with initial review if the girlfriend and baby allow me to escape. :biker:

I'll try to get a couple pics up too.
 
When I decided to return to motorcycling 6 years ago I wanted to buy a 2013 the tri-coloured CBR500R.


Unfortunately my 67 year old, 6'2" 220 pound frame did not fit well on it. Bought a CB500XA instead and thoroughly enjoyed it's light and nimble handling on curvy back roads. However it felt wound up and noisy at 70 MPH on 4-lane highways.

I feel much more comfortable on my CB1100 EX at high speeds, but wish it was 100 pounds lighter.
 
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The tires are officially scrubbed in, as in, they took a beating today. Did 175 miles today, the bulk of which in the southern Virginia mountains. The wee beastie performed very well.

I rode with my buddy on his 14 Valkyrie (best rider I have ever seen. Frequently dusts off high end liter sport bikes on that rolling couch.) and a new friend on a Speed Triple. We headed up to HWY 66 just above Hanging Rock State Park. This little road is 3-4 miles of tight tight technical stuff on a narrow, chip and shoot surface. Always one of my destinations when out for a twisty ride. The little 300 easily kept pace with the other 2 bikes. Now, to do so required wringing her neck like there was no tomorrow. I just kept the tach above 7k (7500 max torque I think) and that usually meant no more room to twist the go go handle. The lean angle is much greater than either of my other 2 bikes which helps a lot.

We then headed on into VA where the road surfaces are better and the turns are spread out a little more than 66. The 'lil girl had a much more difficult time keeping up when there are 100 yard spaces between the turns. She just doesn't have the torque out of the turns. By the end of the day I had it dialed in pretty good and could keep momentum up to slingshot out.

I quickly found her limitations. The forks. They will need stiffer springs to take this sort of a thrashing. Several times they bottomed out while leaned over in the corners. Not very confidence inspiring. I will also set the preload on the back spring to the next stiffer setting on the next time in the mountains. Also the narrow wheels skip around on loose impediments quite a bit more which took some getting used to. The Dunlop's did a superb job all day. I will gladly keep these on the bike as it has no need for stickier tires. The brakes were also more than adequate. I noticed no fade but I don't use them much except for entering the hairiest of corners at a good clip.

All in all great first outing on the new addition. I've been wanting to pull the trigger on a lightweight to abuse in the mountains and she didn't disappoint. Fork springs changed, work out my clutch hand (lots more shifting), and check out a new seat and I'll be happy as a clam.
 
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Quick update. First fill up was before the mountain session and refilled today. 65 MPG! And that is wringing her neck with zero regard for mechanical life. Gotta say I'm pretty impressed with that.

Another comment, she does well on the hwy despite the reports I have read. Sure she's a little busy but she loves 73 mph. Spins @ 8500 doing 80 mph. Never did I feel I was going to be run over or did any sort of mechanical empathy kick in. I wouldn't hesitate taking her down the hwy for a couple hour trip. Of course I have her big (BIG) sister for that kind of slabbing.
 
Bheezy27403_imp said:
Quick update. First fill up was before the mountain session and refilled today. 65 MPG! And that is wringing her neck with zero regard for mechanical life. Gotta say I'm pretty impressed with that.

Another comment, she does well on the hwy despite the reports I have read. Sure she's a little busy but she loves 73 mph. Spins @ 8500 doing 80 mph. Never did I feel I was going to be run over or did any sort of mechanical empathy kick in. I wouldn't hesitate taking her down the hwy for a couple hour trip. Of course I have her big (BIG) sister for that kind of slabbing.
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LOL... I could not run anything at 8,500 rpms for any length of time. Heck neither my FJR, either of my two CB1100's, my ST 1300, my Triumph Bonneville, either of my two FZ-01s, or my 750 Nighthawk (well over 300,000 miles on those 8 bikes) none saw over 6,000 rpms and only over 5,000 rpms a couple of times between them. Just not a revver kinda guy.
 
Thread starter
That's one of the things I'm trying to get used to on this bike. Red line is 10500 or 10750. I've never OWNED a sport bike, ridden a few though. It's hard to comprehend those numbers when compared to bikes that red line at 8 or thereabouts.
 
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