Motorcycle Stalling

First produced on January 16, 2011, Honda's CBR250R entry-level motorcycle (the subject vehicle) remained in production until being replaced by the MY 2015 CBR300R. In May, 2011, Honda received its first complaint (a field report) concerning subject vehicle engine stalling while decelerating. Honda began a root cause assessment and, in September, 2012, concluded the stalling was due to improperly adjusted engine exhaust and intake valves during engine assembly. Production changes were made to address this issue. The data indicate that subject vehicle engines built with insufficient valve clearances were being corrected during the 600-mile service per the owner's manual maintenance schedule which includes a valve clearance check and adjust. All of the stalling events involved subject vehicles that had not yet had that service completed and most occurred shortly after purchase. ODI's review of Honda's data shows a sharp decline in stalling reports: MY2011 - 48 reports / 43 received prior to October, 2012; MY2012 - 17 reports / 13 received prior to February, 2013; and MY2013 - 5 reports / 4 received prior to November, 2013. With the sharp decrease in complaints after February, 2013, no defect trend has been identified, therefore, this investigation is closed. The ODI reports cited above can be reviewed at: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchNHTSAID using the following complaint identification numbers: 10658684, 10585591, 10579375, 10523178, 10505549, 10480058, 10479757, 10470072, 10439045, 10436627