Comfort
2009 Cpi SM 250
Excellent suspension, when you get on the bike you will notice the suspension compresses easily both front and rear which gave me cause for concern however while riding I could feel the road beneath me which gave me a feeling of confidence while at the same time the bumps and holes in the road caused no discomfort, which is very important for me as I suffer from back injuries sustained over many years of racing and riding. The seat is par for course, no better or worse than any bike I have ridden..
The riding position is upright and as such some people may feel discomfort over longer distances from spine compression, however as stated before the suspension is very forgiving so that will be a mitigating factor. I have ridden up to 200km’s on one day and still had no discomfort in my back. The ride feels very spacious and comfortable, I am nearly 6ft, and am not comfortable on small bikes, full steering lock on scooters bruises my knees and the smallest bike I feel moderately ok on is a 400cc superports. This bike while smaller and less intimidating than the DRZ400 is still large enough to be comfortable. The controls are all convenient and well positioned with easy access while riding.
2009 Cpi SM 250
When riding at night I was amazed at how great the lights are great positioning and luminescence, very impressed. As is to be expected there is no storage space save a small notch next to the battery under the seat where the factory supplied tool pouch resides. I love letting motorists know where I am and to that end my GSXR1100 had a Yoshi race pipe that left unpleasant washing up to do when the “I didn’t see you there driver” HEARD me approach. No modification is required on this great noisy thumper, not super loud but loud enough that scooters and cars knew I was there and moved out of my way, a great safety factor.
The gauge is a digital job with bar and number tacho, speed and total distance readout with Lap timer, average speed, Trip distance and clock all accessed by a button near the right thumb, lights along the edges for the standard information include neutral, lights, high beam oil pressure/service and temperature. Backlit in Blue when the lights are on a nice touch. No fuel gauage.
I worked the clutch hard backing the bike into corners on the kart track and it is still going strong. As are the gears small motions get the gears selected with the solid click of a new gearbox giving you the feeling of a quality gearbox, when looking for first gear on most bikes I have owned you will feel that the you cannot select a further lower gear because the gear pedal will not depress again and so you know you have reached first however on this bike when you reach first gear the pedal will still depress to the same degree as if you were in any other higher gear so you get an ambiguous sensation and cannot be sure that you have reached 1st when stopped and looking for neutral.
Conclusion
I really like this bike its handling and power are competent of a 4-stroke 250, it is in a civil state of tune but can be easily modified with a carb change. The SM250 that’s been winning races here.... I met the rider the mechanic and rode the bike on the track....and...hells bells! That thing is freakin fast!!! Its all down to the $1000 Carburettor he put on the thing, he also removed the airbox and put on a European spec pipe, but his power comes from the carb (which he says is a bitch to keep correctly tuned), so no doubt his bike is thirsty as hell and warranty invalidated, but the potential in that motor is clear, helluva fast!! So when you think you have mastered the stock bike (which is no slouch) you still got a long way to go to unleash the monster beneath. He recommends for general use to put a different carb from the one he has that costs only around $165 and is less temperamental.
Basically for a 250cc Supermoto $3300 all in it’s a great city commuter as well as short distance touring bike that can have fun at the track using low revs so limiting engine abuse and with a quick swap of wheels you can have a great time off-road or on the beach. CPI has plans to provide the complete wheel assemblies at a discounted price for those that want to make 2 bikes out of one but this is nly to transform the SM to SX not vice versa.
The dealer said he anticipates very high demand locally as the bike has received recognition by being raced successfully as well as getting glamour appeal since a local star rides one. I will say that, in my opinion, this is terrific joy for the money.
Some points of interest:
Run-in limits from CPI engineers:
The recommended RPM limit is 8000RPM in run-in period, the suggested timing for gear changing is :
1st to 2nd : 20km/h
2nd to 3rd : 35km/h
3rd to 4th : 50km/h
4th to 5th : 70km/h
5th to 6th : 95km/h
The first service light comes on at 300k’s that’s for the first oil change, next one is at 1000 then 1000k oil changes after and oil filter change at 5000km.
Fuel consumption is claimed at 200km’s, reserve to reserve of 92 octane got me 118km’s on road riding and on the track got me 78km’s but have to refill after 70km’s or you get dry gulps from the carb when coming out of a corner after braking hard on the way in since the 1 litre of fuel you have left moves forward in the tank and the carb has no gas during the heavy braking period ..
I had a small crash and there is some damage on the right hand grip and the rear brake pedal which was pushed up and scratched the engine cover on that side,
2009 Cpi SM 250 Damaged Handle
2009 Cpi Sm 250 Damaged Brake Lever
But I am very impressed by the way the bike handled the fall without any big problem, I came into the pits kicked the brake pedal back down into position and went right on riding.
Also footpeg sliders are an absolute must have item to protect the footpegs for track use. I ate these footpegs up.
2009 Cpi SM 250 Damaged Footpeg
20009 Cpi SM 250 Damaged Footpeg
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