CBX250RS….downgraded cheap girly design was hated by ladies who were supposed to be the main customers.
I got to tell Car designers “Girls don’t like Girly design!!”
Honda CBX250RS was a 250cc single cylinder sport bike introduced in 1983.
Honda CB250RS….it was slim & light….but it was quite sporty looking too.
The previous model CB250RS was a really nice bike. It only had 25PS which was lower than Honda CB250Twin…but it was nearly 50kg lighter. Combination of light slim body and responsive single cylinder created quite sporty feeling and that was how it was loved from experienced rider to lady riders.
Also the design was downsized CB900F which was one of the most popular sport bike at that time.
Then, 3 years later, the updated CBX200RS came out with stronger chassis and 5PS extra with DOHC head.
But somehow….it was not popular at all.
It came with starter motors and it spoiled the character of the previous model.
CB250RS was kick-start only with light weight body….it was purely sporty charactor…but just adding extra starter motor spoiled it.
Secondly the vibration. When they developed previous model, they were not particularly interested in “Taste of single cylinder”.
It was only because the engine was carried over from off-road bike and also was the only engine a part from heavy & aged CB250Twin engine.
But lots of people liked the engine.
So, what Honda did was….increased vibration on purposely. This was not as nice as previous model.
Then, the biggest problem was…..they misunderstood the customers.
Previous model were quite popular with girls….that was true…..then they did girly or cheap design for this model.
This is the important point.
Girls who take motorcycle license and spend big money for motorcycle don’t like girly design.
So, this model was not popular with girls and of course was hated by experienced riders too.
Recently, Toyota launched Toyota Crown with Pink color…..they did the exactly the same mistake.
Young people who spend big money for Crown won’t buy cheap crappy looking pink car.
When Japanese designers try to attract girls, they always do cheap crappy design instead of chick sophisticated design.
What’s the problem you guys?
Westcoast Auto Design Studio 