THE demise of Erik Buell Racing appears to have had a knock-on effect on the HX250R sports bike the company has been helping to engineer for its Indian shareholder Hero.
The HX250R, which is due to go on sale worldwide, marking Hero’s first big push outside its home market, is understood to be largely developed by EBR, with shipping documents from India showing that a steady stream of prototypes have been being flown from America to India over the last year. There was even a rumour, prior to the collapse of EBR, that the bike might be sold under the Erik Buell Racing brand in some markets.
With a 31hp, 250cc single, the HX250R is aimed firmly at machines like Honda’s CBR250R (still sold as a 250 in some markets despite being replaced by the CBR300R in Europe). Relatively simple and likely to be something of a bargain, its on-paper specification looks promising. Fortunately for Hero, the last remaining bikes to be at EBR’s premises are believed to have been shipped over to the firm just as the American company closed its doors.
Although it’s been shown already, and the large number of prototypes – in both ABS and non-ABS form – suggests that it’s close to being ready, the latest news from India is that the firm’s original plan to have the bike on sale before the end of 2015 has fallen by the wayside. Presumably that’s at least in part down to the reduced R&D resources now that EBR is no longer in a position to assist with its development.
Even so, the HX250R is still very much a live project and is likely to go on sale – in India at least – in the first half of 2016.
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