$29,000 HRC CBR250
 

like it's really that hard to find on the Honda website...

Honda Powersports Racing - Road News - Honda NSF250R Coming To U.S.

Sounds like the took a page outa Yamaha's MX playbook with their cylinder design.

looks like Yamaha took a page outa cannondale's playbook, who took it from...
THE LONG HISTORY OF REVERSE-CYLINDER ENGINE DESIGNS | News | Motocross Action Magazine

and it looks like Cannondale took a page out of Yamaha's 500GP page from 1980 (the OW48R, the last of the piston-port inline fours campaigned by Kenny Roberts had reversed outside cylinders). I doubt they were the first either....

Well, yes, read my post and you will see that I said ...cannondale, who took it from...

I remember when they started putting OHC's in cars and advertised it like it was new during the 80's and 90's (existed teens and twenties). Same with aluminum body panels and stow and go seats in 90's-today (existed in the teens).

I want to know how these moto3 bikes compare to the defunct 2 stroke 125's in power & track speed.

Indeed, the four-stroke revolution will do to roadracing what it did to motocross, bring costs down dramatically, notably in the area of maintenance..... lol

Not sure why everyone is going crazy over the price of these bikes. They are purpose built machines for racing on the world level. These Moto3 bikes are pocket change compared to even a Moto2 bike.

wasnt really referring to you. there are lots of people out there talking about the price of these bikes. same thing happened when one of the companies offered a Moto2 bike to the public (cant remember who it was now).

Christ, they must have been mahogany framed.

It doesn't really matter. Moto 2 so far have been slightly slower on the stopwatch than the 250cc GP bikes and the racing has been more entertaining to watch than any GP class has been in years. Even if they're ultimately going slower they look faster because the guys are riding the snot out of them. If Moto 3 brings on the same consistency in the equipment then bring it on!

And yeah, $29k? wow. It's amazing to me that these classes are still being raced. At privateer level I can't understand how anyone can afford it and at Pro level where is the ROI? Yet there were 14 Moto GP machines on the line at the last race, there were 40 Moto 2's so what do I know?

29k, do you realize how much it costs to race with the big boys. We are talking about an international circuit or races, following around the most expensive form of motorcycle racing known to man. Upkeep probably isnt that much in the grand scheme of things... I know "privateer" sprint car drivers (just regular dudes) with $15k in their engines.

Nobody said racing was cheap but this bike isn't for the "big boys", it's for kids and young adults small enough to fit on it. Ever seen a 125gp bike up close? They're impossibly small. I'm just surprised there are enough customers to justify building it.

For club racing, the Moto450 class looked really interesting but doesn't appear to be taking off.. Same thing could be done on a 250 I suppose.

I have seen a 125gp, we have one at the shop. It is for people under 140 pounds and shorter than 5'4". Formula extreme was a support race, and that was about 30k to set one up. I am certain that it isnt all that much. I mean, how much is it to run a CRF250 at the AMA level? I mean, to have a pro built engine... About $8k, the $7K you paid for it, the 1-3 grand in suspension upgrades. And this is cheap.

All joking aside... in the mid 80's I club raced a $3k bike .. Was I at the top level oh hell no.. but we were living a dream for sure.

You can do Track days on a $3k bike these days, but racing one and being on the same lap as the rest of the field is going to be tough.. And if you can..... you need to be on a Factory team.. :D

Well, inflation has that at nearly $8000, and you can club race for that much all day, all year (buy an sv650). If you want to roll around for $3000, try vintage racing. You can race some pretty new bikes (relatively speaking) and keep it on the cheap.

The point about the price/size is the majority of these will be sold for kids to ride, which mom and dad will be paying for.

I think you can race up to AMA "A" class successfully on a nearly stock 450 these days. They are powerful enough for all but the best riders.