Upcoming two-cylinder sports bike was teased back in 2024
Back in 2024 CFMoto wheeled out a disguised prototype for an upcoming new model – the 250SR-R – at its annual CFMoto Day in China. Now the same machine has appeared in a patent filing that strips away the disguise and gives a first look at the components underneath.
Currently, CFMoto makes single-cylinder 250SR and 300SR models to cater to the small-capacity sports bike market, but there’s a growing pressure for a more high-tech, high-revving twin instead. That’s precisely what the 250SR-R is, using an engine that’s similar to the larger 450SR’s parallel twin, simply downsized in all dimensions to achieve the 250cc capacity.
The patent shows that engine for the first time, revealing that it’s visually similar to the 450SR’s, and depicts the frame in detail for the first time. It’s a part-aluminium, part-steel trellis design that should be both lightweight and rigid.
While the bodywork shown in the patent is similar to the design used during CFMoto’s 2024 event, the line drawings give a clearer look at it, stripping away the disguise wrap. The headlights – completely covered back in 2024 – are revealed to be similar in style to the ones on CFMoto’s four-cylinder 750SR-S, with two lamps that meet in the middle of the nose.
There are winglets, of course, but the 250SR-R opts for a design that’s intended to help the boundary layer airflow over the side panels. Instead of targeting downforce, the winglets extend downwards, braced against the fairing sides by two airflow-controlling strakes, to help smooth the air’s passage and reduce drag. On a small-capacity bike like the 250SR-R, that’s much more valuable than the notional front downforce that MotoGP-style winglets might add at road-going speeds.
The patent’s publication suggests that, two years on from the original tease, the 250SR-R could be approaching production to compete with rivals like the Kove 321RR, Yamaha’s R3 and the newly updated, variable valve Suzuki GSX250R that has recently been announced in China.
