With the new (Last year) Ninja 400...and the new (revised) 2019 Yamaha R3 ....Honda may totally revamp the CBR 500 R (Major weight loss..50 LBS) to compete with the mentioned above. I really like the new CBR 500 R...but not the extra weigh it has. So yeah,,I too can see Honda keeping the CBR 300 R as a "Beginner " Sport Bike.

That always bothered me about the CBR500R/CB500F which by all reports are nice bikes...Yamaha and Suzuki have bikes in the 650cc/689cc class (SV650/FZ-MT07) which are lighter than Honda's 471cc offering. Not sure what Honda was thinking there.

*I take it back looks like the SV650 is about 5kg heavier than the CBR500R. But given it is based on an almost 20 year old bike...

Im going to disagree but not just for the sake of an argument ha ha
I reckon now that they have updated the CBR500R they will probably leave it alone for a couple of years and if they are going to redesign any motor it will most likely be the 300R.
They already have the basis for a good motor in the 2017 CBR250RR that was released in Japan and South east Asia only. It is a parallel twin, but if they want to compete with Kawasaki and Yamaha head on then this is probably the way to go.
If Honda were to build a hot 350/400cc sports bike with some of the trick bits like @Sam R. mentioned in his post then they would sway me back from my current Ninja 400 which has conventional forks and steel swing arm etc etc.
I'm losing faith in them though, they seem to have embraced the whole Neo Sports naked bike thing at present and the only sports bike in their line up getting serious technological upgrades is the CBR1000.

"If Honda were to build a hot 350/400cc sports bike with some of the trick bits like @Sam R. mentioned in his post then they would sway me back from my current Ninja 400 which has conventional forks and steel swing arm etc etc."
(Kiwi Rider)


WOW!! What a turn coat...no brand loyalty....

Happy New Year Bud!

So I just figured out this thing - NZ LAMs regs require that a bike be under 150kW/tonne. But the CBR250RR at 27kW/168kg is at >160kW/tonne.

Come to think of it the R3 at 30.9kW/167kg comes in at 185kW/tonne! And I think the new Duke 390 comes in above that...yet all are NZ LAMS bikes. Interesting!

Yep, I'm as fickle as a pickle me.
You can miss out on some great bikes by being brand loyal.

You need to add 90kg to the bike weight to get the correct equation.
From the NZTA website:

• a maximum power-to-weight ratio of 150 kilowatts
per tonne (the power is that specified by the
manufacturer and the weight is that specified by the
manufacturer plus 90kgs for the rider and riding
gear), and
• an upper engine capacity limit of 660cc

similar australian lams.. 1993 cbr250rr four just gets in..
demonstrating honda can and could do it 25yrs ago..


http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/documents/...ice-riders.pdf

Ahhh should have seen that, thanks that makes all the difference. That means the R3 is down to a ratio of 120kW/tonne.