New Honda Rebel 300 and 500
 

Finally a new Honda Rebel based on the modern fuel injected, water cooled, and O2 sensored engines from the CBR300 and 500. These are two of the most fuel efficient motorcycle engines on the road (the third and fourth being the Honda CTX/ NC700 and the PCX). Now packaged in a minimalist low seat Bobber. This is the perfect starting point for an ultra fuel efficient Vetter style foot forward streamliner. Based on what the less efficient Ninja250 streamliners are doing, a Rebel300 based Vetter bike could break 200mpgUS at 50 mph.
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I did finally buy that CBR250r and got a great deal on it. I had to drive 10 hours one way to get it, 2012 with 416 miles on it. This guy bought it brand spankin' new and then laid it down several times the first month he had it before finally losing control of it, giving it full throttle as he was falling off and ran it into his pickups' open tailgate smashing the front fairing, headlight tubular bracket etc. LOL, the insurance adjuster finally totalled it after that. I found absolutely nothing wrong with it other then cosmetic stuff, so i got it for $2k! Took it for a test ride and it was amazingly smooth just like you had said the little R's were. I still have it stored and am trying to finish a few other projects so i can get to work on a Vetter Fairing this winter! :{)

http://i67.tinypic.com/mlrvp0.jpg

Welcome to the club. 44,000 miles on mine. And it was off the road for a year and a half. So I put 19,000 on my PCX150.

Once the fairing is in place can the liquid cooled engine be fitted with a heater core and a fan?

There is very little wasted heat energy in the radiator of this single cylinder Honda. The radiator is already in the fairing. The Ninja twins do tend to run hot in a Vetter fairing and might help to keep your legs warm in bad weather.

The long stroke Honda 500 balance shaft twin is one of the smoothest engines on the road. After starting, you have to look at the tach to make sure it is running. And has a butter smooth clutch/ trans. And very fuel efficient.

Hopefully they didn't detune the smaller Rebel like they did the CRF250L. That bike turned out to be a total slug and heavy to boot relative to the Yamaha WR250R .

If they kept the peppy motor of the CBR this bike might have a wider appeal than just for beginners.

The original Rebel was $1495 in 1986. Doing the inflation calculation to 2015 dollars that takes it to $3295. Is the new Rebel worth the additional $1100? I'd say yes--if it runs well. If it's as slow as the CRF250L, no.

Apples to oranges. The WR 250R engine is a performance engine and the bike costs 30% more. The Honda250R and L are world bikes meant to be cheap, fuel efficient and indestructible transportation in developing nations. Not toys. But I still don't understand why Honda doesn't go with the 300 engine in any market that is not cc restricted to to 249.

For what it's worth Honda did a number of small modifications to the 2017 CRF-250L to increase it's power output. Someone at the Big H is actually listening to what people are saying about their machines.

That's what Yamaha is doing with the R3 everywhere except Japan and maybe a handful of other Asian markets with a lower volume. There's a JDM version limited to 250cc (R25).