Honda will display a number of new motorcycles at the upcoming Osaka Motorcycle Show and Tokyo Motorcycle Show in addition to a new 400cc version of its 500-series models. Honda describes the new motorcycles as exhibition models or models planned for production.

The new models include the previously announced-for-North America CTX700 and CTX700N, and the Thailand-bound CRF250M motard (pictured above). The CTX700N and the cowled CTX700 will launch first in the U.S. The CRF250M has not been confirmed for the U.S. however, though it wouldn’t be a surprise if Honda did introduce this motard version of the CRF250L.

Other announced models are less likely to arrive in the U.S. Read more about them after the jump. Continue Reading »

Honda Canada will introduce a new national racing series featuring the CBR250R for 2012.

The news is no surprise as Honda has been running a CBR125R Challenge racing series as a support class for the Canadian Superbike Championship since 2008. With the CBR250R on the market for nearly a year (and reportedly doing quite well at that), a racing series featuring the quarter-liter sportbike was almost inevitable.

According to CMGOnline,the new single-spec CBR250R series will replace the CBR125R Challenge as a national series with the CBR125R Challenge continuing on a regional level as a feeder series. The Honda CBR250R series will be open to racers ages 15 to 25, with an allowance for 13- or 14-year-olds who have completed at least three CBR125R Challenge races.

Continue Reading »

Quebec teenager Stacey Nesbitt has won the Canadian Superbike Championship’s 2011 Honda CBR125R Challenge title. We’re still checking, but organizers are already calling Nesbitt the first woman to win a  national road racing championship (excluding women-only categories).

The 14-year-old from St-Lazare, Quebec, swept both Honda CBR125R Challenge races in the season finale at Mosport International Raceway in Bowmanville, Ontario, to win the title with 421 points, 52 points ahead of runner-up Austin Shaw-O’Leary. Nesbitt won five races of ten races over the season including the final four races to cement the title.

The Honda CBR125R Challenge is a national spec racing series introduced to the Canadian Superbike Championship in 2008 following the introduction of the CBR125R sportbike to the Canadian market.

Continue Reading »

A 65-year-old man from Windsor, Ontario, Canada is attempting a cross-continent ride from Key West, Fla., to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska and back, on a Honda CBR125R.

Bob Munden of Windsor is attempting to set the record for the smallest motorcycle to make the trip from the southernmost accessible point in North America to the northernmost point, and back. A print shop owner with a stable of five motorcycles, Munden will attempt the trip on the 124.7cc single-cylinder four-stroke Honda CBR125R, an entry-level sportbike model Honda offers in Canada.

Continue Reading »

As we posted earlier this week, Honda Canada invited CBR125R owners to its corporate headquarters for the Canadian debut of the new CBR250R. But that wasn’t the only unveiling, as the 2011 edition of the CBR125R was also revealed. While the new 250 was the star of Honda Canada’s launch event, the 125 owners in attendance reacted positively to the updates for the 2011 CBR125R model.

The not-available-in-America Honda CBR125R has consistently been among Honda Canada’s top sellers since it was first introduced. For 2011, Honda has given the CBR125R its first major revisions since it arrived in Canada in 2007.

Check out the Honda CBR250R Forum

Continue Reading »

Recently here on Motorcycle.com, we’ve been bringing you reviews of a handful of Honda scoots that are available to our neighbors (or is that neighbours?) to the North in Canada, yet remain forbidden fruit for American consumers.

Reviewer Costa Mouzouris gave us a look at the naked CB1000R that Honda Canada is considering importing, the already-available half-faired CBF1000, and the entry-level CBR125R.

Meanwhile, Honda’s competitors have also announced some new products for Canada that have yet to be made available in the U.S. Yamaha Motor Canada is importing the new Fazer 8 and FZ8, while Kawasaki Canada announced it will offer the new Ninja 400R.

But before you start thinking of Canada as the land of milk and honey and “$#!+ we ain’t getting”, Honda brings some sobering news about the Canadian motorcycle industry, especially when it comes to the Japanese manufacturers.

Continue Reading »