What does GN stand for, as in GN250?

[McJim]

Well, y'know what the S on the end of NZ250S means - bikini fairing. The others? No idea. Maybe there are exceptions to every rule... except this one. Like Honda's CB series - all inline four 4 strokes... except 250cc and under, like the CB250RS and the CBR125R. And yes, it does exist believe it or not, it's a learner machine in the UK - they're only allowed 125s - biggest selling bike of 2005. They even do a Repsol edition, couldn't stop smirking when I saw one in a shop. Tiny little bike. *Rummage* Ah, here we go...

Ha ha - yes - couldn't believe it when I heard I could get a 250cc on a learner's over here - jumped for joy I did. First 250 I sat on (CB250) I thought was a massive bike. It's all what you're used to eh?

[xwhatsit]

Well, y'know what the S on the end of NZ250S means - bikini fairing. The others? No idea. Maybe there are exceptions to every rule... except this one. Like Honda's CB series - all inline four 4 strokes... except 250cc and under, like the CB250RS and the CBR125R.

The CB series is just Honda's roadbikes (well, the majority of them -- there's the V2 and V4 bikes). There's plenty of CB twins from the 70s and 80s, a smattering of singles, even a 6 cylinder thou (that sounds really, really horny ). The bit which denotes `single cylinder' in CB250RS is (at least according to the period Japanese marketing material I've seen) is the `RS' -- stands for `Racing Single' apparently, lol. That said, I've seen one of the bikini fairings produced for it with `Road Sports' written on it, but I don't think they were an official Honda fairing.

I think the large number of CB straight-fours is just that the straight-four has become the bike engine du jour, so a good chunk of CBs from recent years have been four-pots. However you don't have to look too far back to see CB250Ns, CB250Ts, CB200s, CB250 twins, CB125s, CB150s, CB175s, and even a gorgeous little CB50.

EDIT: I just re-read your post, realise you were talking about the 250s and under. However there's also the CB500 twin, CB400 twin, CB400SS (now that is a cool modern bike), CB350 and CB360. Also the CBX1000 straight six I mentioned earlier.

Those CBR125Rs are awesome! There's one up here at uni, they look like so much fun

[Trudes]

GN = Gutless Number. Poor little GN, everyone loves to take the piss!