Tuesday 17 June 2014

Honda CN250

Honda CN250



These "big scooters" as they're called here are typically black, and fitted with a 4 inch diameter steel tube in place of a muffler. They're usually ridden by young guys wearing a helmet smaller and flimsier than a plastic mixing bowl, with the chinstrap either not done up, or so loose that it hangs off their back like a koopa troopa shell. Often there's a cigarette glowing brightly in the wind, dangling out the side of their mouth as they tailgate, lane split and weave their way through traffic.

I didn't meet the owner of this example parked in Ueno, but I doubt they fit that mould. I somehow can't imagine one of those guys riding this, between the bright bronze paint job, the Exile Tribe sticker, and the lines of diamond-shaped plastic beads. They also want us to know that they are Gentle, and Convey True Love.

This is the ubiquitious Honda CN250 (marketed as Helix in the US). First manufactured in 1986, it had a 20 year production run with almost no design changes apart from emission controls. In that sense it's a bit like the SR400 of the scooter world.

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