This Chinese 250cc Bike Is Slower Than A 125cc KTM!

News about multi-cylinder small capacity sportsbikes is always exciting, and so far we’ve been wowed with Japanese bikes like the Honda CBR250RR and Kawasaki Ninja ZX-25R. Now, the Chinese have decided that they want to get in on the action, and the tool for the job is this: the Tairong GP1 250R.

First impressions seem pretty good, the bike looks sharp and sporty with quite an aggressive fascia. The exposed trellis frame, hefty exhaust end-can and large twin petal discs up front give it some substance too. But it needn’t have bothered with those discs because the 249.5cc parallel-twin motor powering this bike manages a laughable 17PS and 16.5Nm. That’s even less power than a Bajaj Pulsar 180F whose engine has remained largely unchanged for half my life.

Even the least powerful 250cc bike in India, the Yamaha FZ 25, manages to do a whole lot better than that, with 20.8PS and 20.1Nm on tap in BS6 form. Let’s not even get started on the KTM 250 Duke with its 29.91PS power output. When we first came across the GP1, we thought it would take the fight to at least the CBR250RR if not the ZX-25R, but with that power output and a 186kg ‘net weight’, Tairong has brought a butter knife to a machine-gun fight. Heck, the power-to-weight ratio is lower than that of a Honda Unicorn!

The riding posture doesn’t seem overly sporty either, with tall handlebars and relaxed footpegs placing the rider in quite an upright and comfortable position. These relaxed ergonomics along with the 14-litre fuel-tank could make the GP1 250R a decent tourer, but with a top speed of just 125kph, we suspect the motor will feel quite stressed at average highway cruising speeds. It certainly seems like Tairong bike to buy (geddit?).

And the price for all this? Tairong is offering two variants, one with ABS and one without. The former is priced at CNY 16,980 (Rs 1.81 lakh) while the latter will set you back by CNY 15,980 (Rs 1.70 lakh). The brand is completely unheard of in India so there’s very little chance of it ever reaching our market, but for once, we’re not disappointed. If you’d like to check out a more competent Chinese bike in this displacement range, read more about the Haojue DR300 here.

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