Faults:

I bought my Superdream as an ex write-off that had to have a new pair of forks. It came with a slightly bent front disk that I replaced after a week or so.

The rivets on the front wheel needed to be re-hammered after about 10,000 miles.

That's it. Apart from the usual chains, sprockets, tyres and oil nothing went wrong.

General Comments:

A cracking machine to drive. Easy on the fatigue factor after 8 to 10 hours in the saddle. Easy on the pocket for fuel.

I drove my first 'dream to Greece and back one winter (1981) via Holland, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. I drove between 500 and 600 miles a day and the only time it missed a beat was when the porcelain fell off the left spark plug and got momentarily stuck in the exhaust valve on the way out (Lake Garda, Italy). 200 miles later I changed plugs as it was a little sluggish uphill with the throttle wide open.

For the most part it was motorway driving and Germany was the only scary driving as even though I was doing 70 everything else was at the ton +. Even the lorries at times!!. But the machine took everthing that I or the weather could throw at it: minus 28c in the Alps, all day snow on the way home in Germany, and a slide and crash on the Greek roads didn't slow things down either.

Not the quickest of 250's. Yamaha's RD 250 had the legs on the 'dream, but it was a 2 stroke. But reliability had it all the way, mile after mile, month after month. The only thing to do, apart from routine service, was fuel up and ride.

In '83 I part exchanged the 'dream for a Kawasaki Z1000-A1. An excellent machine (see review). After some guy jumped the lights in London and tried to kill me (he broke my neck and did kill the quaker) I bought another 'dream from my brother and rode that for about 20,000 miles without any problems either.

All in all an excellent machine that was well built, ultra reliable, very easy to ride either around town, commuting or on the open road just for fun. I cannot speak too highly of it. Both machines served me very well.

Marriage and family occupy me now, but when the time comes, if there is a bike out there that is in good order, I'd have another Superdream to get me back on the road.

Faults:

Rear tire needed to be replaced when I bought it.

At 40,000 km I replaced the chain and sprockets as they were badly worn.

Around 41,000 km I had to replace two blown fuses.

General Comments:

This Honda CB250N (also called Superdream) is my first real motorcycle. I bought it in March for €700, and it was well worth the money.

It looks and feels like a 400 or 500 rather than a 250. It weighs about 170 kg, which is rather heavy for a 250, but at least the wind doesn't blow you sideways when you're riding in stormy weather.

Despite being 24 years old, the bike has no rust. The front mudguard was an exception to this, but I found another one in excellent condition for 3 bucks.

The Superdream handles well and the brakes are adequate for the size of the bike.

Performance is adequate when above 5500 rpm, and the engine happily revs up to 8000. Top speed is about 135 km/h, but I wouldn't recommend anyone to keep the needle there for more than 60 seconds, as the engine is screaming its guts out with 9000 rpm at this speed (although I've never seen any smoke trails behind me). It will happily cruise at 90 km/h, though.

Fuel consumption is acceptable. Mine does about 270 km with a full tank including reserve.

So far, my Superdream has never let me down, and it's a real joy to ride. If anything does go wrong, you don't need to panic as spare parts are dirt cheap and the motorcycle is very easy to work on.

If you are looking for an inexpensive and reliable bike for town use and for cruising on windy roads, the CB250N is the perfect bargain. Do the basic maintenance jobs like oil changes, chain adjustment etc, and this little classic should keep on running forever!