INDIAN firm Hero Motocorp looks a step closer to launching a 250cc sports bike over here, having just filed a European trademark for its fully-faired HX250R.
Designed in association with Erik Buell Racing, the HX250R is due to go on sale in India next year but this is the first indication of Hero’s ambition to bring the 249cc single to Europe.
With 31hp and 19.1lbft, it’s well qualified on paper to take on Honda’s CBR300R, which makes 30hp and 19.9lbft (and costs a worrying £4,299).
The HX250R has a tubular steel frame using the engine as a stressed member, and a claimed kerb weight of 139kg, compared to the CBR300R’s 164kg. In India, it’s expected to be similarly priced to CBR250R, which the CBR300R replaced in the UK.
We think the HX250R is not too shabby looking, either.
Hero applied to trademark the name with the EU’s Office for Harmonisation on July 18.
The firm, India’s largest two wheeler maker, last year paid £15 million for a near 50% stake in EBR, which opened its first European office in the Netherlands in January. It raises the possibility that the HX250R could even be EBR branded for Europe.
In the US, Hero has recently trademarked a further seven small-capacity models in addition to the HX250R.
