29th September 2011 - Happy Birthday to me :)

The bike being prepared at the dealership

This was more of a last minute plan! Being an automotive journalist can sometimes help. A couple of calls to the good guys at Honda and my red CBR250R was made available to me on the desired date - my birthday, the 29th of September!
The bike was picked up from Global Honda and within couple of hours, I was out of the dealership, riding my new machine which had just 1km on the odo. Brilliant! I picked up the non ABS version due to lacks of funds and the total on-road price including 3rd year warranty came to around Rs 1.58 lakh.
The bike was immediately ridden 40km away to my present office in Gurgaon. Clicked a few pictures enroute from my Blackberry and hence please excuse the quality!

Enroute Gurgaon - my lid and jacket can be seen!

What kicked off my love for the new CBR250R

November 2009

It was long back in November 2009 (when I was with Bike India magazine) when I went to Japan to be among the first few journalists in this part of the world to ever experience the mighty new VFR1200F. I am a touring guy and love machines that are designed for long distances than track days. The VFR had me hooked though I knew that when it comes to India, its pricing would be out of my reach completely. Still, its comfortable ergonomics, looks and handling had me hooked!

November 2010

In November 2010, when I was heading Dreamcarz magazine out of New Delhi, I got to visit Thailand to again be among the first few journalists from this part of the world to experience the all new CBR250R. I had memories of the VFR1200F deep in mind my mind and could relate the two bikes - both were meant for long distances, both had comfy ergonomics and both were typical Honda machines. That day, after riding the bike at the track in Thailand, I promised myself - this would be my next bike!

November 2011

A few weeks later, I was once again on the biggie VFR1200F - this time being the first journalist in India (along with Bobby Roy on the CBR1000RR) to ride the VFR for such a long distance, all 1400km of it, from Mumbai to Delhi. This trip gave me a fair idea of what the VFR was and what the CBR250R could be. The VFR, with due respect, was completely out of my budget. However, the CBR250R was a different story all together!

January 2011

In January 2011, I looked at the practical side of four-wheels and got myself this - the Hyundai i20. Loaded it with alloys, fat tyres etc and basically exhausted my budget that was kept aside for automobiles. I was now also heading the editorial section for www.Gaadi.com and hence, somewhat, bikes did take a back seat... thought not for long!

26th September 2011

Sorry - no picture for this. I woke up with a thought - to be the biker I was, once again! Within an hour, I was on the phone with the good guys at Honda and told them about what I had in mind. My birthday was three days away (29th Sep) and Honda did the unimaginable! Within two hours, a red CBR250R (non ABS, due to lack of funds) was made available to me for pick up on the 29th September 2011. This was nothing short of a dream - this was too good to be true. A bike with months of waiting, ready to be mine in a matter of a few days. Hats off to Honda, HMSI (Honda Motorcycle Scooters India Ltd) - I owe you one for this!

To be continued....