GPR250S was finally launched at 8 p.m. on March 23.

Unlike the previous pure race-aping GPR150R and GPR250R launched by the joint venture with Piaggio, the GPR250S re-optimises the riding triangle based on the family platform, with a less aggressive posture, but retains a lot of racing elements in appearance.

Such street-and-track dual-purpose bikes are very attractive to young users, but the optimization and design of such modes are a big challenge for manufacturers and designers. The balance between “street” and “track” is often completely altered by some parameter changes, so balance is crucial for GPR250S.

The GPR250S looks like a street bike while retaining some track elements. The head looks more simple and concise. The body is divided into the upper and lower parts by the aluminum alloy frame as the central axis. The upper part features the main tone of track elements. The lower part shows more street features. The exposed mechanical structure and wires demonstrate a unique “street bike style”. GPR250S’ riding posture and the tail part is less aggressive than that of GPR250R. The extended one-piece cushion replaces the previous split cushion, which improves the comfort of daily riding.

As a high-performance street bike derived from race-aping models, to ensure its playability, the parameters of GPR250S and GPR250R are almost the same, with only minor differences for street use purpose. The body length and wheelbase are the same as the GPR250R, which are 1970mm and 1345mm respectively. The short wheelbase allows it to perform well on both street and mountain roads. The width of the body has been increased from 770mm to 820mm due to the change of the variable-diameter handlebar to a split handlebar, and the wider grip makes the riding posture more relaxed. The height has also been reduced by 50mm, from 1150mm to 1100mm.

The GPR250S also has a light body, with a net weight of 145kg that even women riders can handle it easily. It is worth mentioning that it is not only light, but also quite balanced in front and rear counterweight ratio.

GPR250S is equipped with a sliding clutch, inverted front shock absorber, front floating brake disc brake, dual-channel ABS, CST semi-hot melt tire, LCD dash, LED lights and other high-end configurations.

The powertrain of the GPR250S is derived from the “ARC” power family, a 249.2cc, single-cylinder, four-valve water-cooled DOHC engine, producing a maximum power of 20.5kW (9000 r/min) and a peak torque of 21.5N•m (7500 r/min). Seeing from the power data, explosive power comes from high-rev range.

This is a mature engine with good practicality and stability. The key issue lies i契合n whether it is suitable for GPR250S, which requires both low-speed smoothness and high-speed sports performance. During actual riding, you will find that APR250-S is incredibly suitable for GPR250S in terms of performance both on mountain roads and urban roads.

Based on the basic data of GPR250R, it has excellent performance at curves on mountain roads. It is not difficult for GPR250S with a wheelbase of 1345mm. Even if you are a novice, it is not too difficult to pass a return bend slowly with the light body and smooth gearshifting.

Passing bends at high speeds on mountain roads, the grip of GPR250S’ front 100/80-17 and rear 130/70-17 tires is more than enough to resist the centrifugal force. With excellent traction and stable grip, the GPR250S can easily and quickly pass bends. However, due to the adjustment of riding triangle, the extreme countersteering angle of GPR250S is higher than GPR250R.

City roads, to be precise, are GPR250S’ home court. A series of improvements such as integrated higher handlebar, inverted 41mm front hydraulic shock absorber, and racing-grade embedded muffler are all aimed at making it suitable for urban roads.

On urban roads, precise throttle and clutch coordination and strong braking performance are the key to a fast commuting. The Bosch EFI with a sliding clutch makes the APR250-S engine rather smooth in 2^nd and 3^rd gears. The high-grip semi-hot melt tire, reliable calipers and dual-channel ABS work well enough to easily deal with occasional emergency braking.

In general, GPR250S can easily handle mountain roads, short-distance commuting and urban riding for fun. GPR250S, inheriting the predecessor’s good performance, greatly improves in comfort and practicality, making it appealing to young people and competitive in the market.

Source: http://www.chmotor.cn