Yamaha V Star 250 Vs Honda Rebel 300 Comparison

Yamaha and Honda are two tough competitors of each other and are always contending to become the most reliable global motorcycle brand. Both top Japanese producers hold the top spot when it comes to producing bulletproof motorcycle technology. To reach out to most consumers, both Yamaha and Honda make motorcycles that are highly user-friendly, long-lasting, affordable, and approachable for a large number of riders. The two prominent entry-level examples from these two manufacturers include the Yamaha V Star 250 and the Honda Rebel 300.

The V Star 250 and the Rebel 300 are very basic and ideal for learning how to ride a motorcycle. The V Star 250 is an old-school motorcycle, first introduced in 1988, and it still has the same classic look in 2024. Meanwhile, the Rebel platform was transformed in 2017 with a more vibrant, trendy, and sporty look. Both these bikes serve as a great platform for new riders. Continue reading this article to learn about the detailed specs and performance comparison of the Yamaha V Star 250 vs the Honda Rebel 300.

The Yamaha V Star 250 is probably the smallest and simplest classic cruiser currently produced and available in the market. It is very stripped down and reduced to the base level where it does not feel intimidating to a rider who knows only a little about riding a motorcycle. Though the V Star 250 is quite skinny, it still flaunts a seamless typical cruiser appeal and can make you look like a veteran motorcyclist. It is slim, skinny, and light but it is big enough to not make you look inexperienced, riding a mini-moto.

The Yamaha V Star 250 flaunts a chopper look with its efficiently raked-out fork and small round-shaped halogen headlamp. The front fork is quite lean and it also carries a narrow front tire and large front wheel giving this bike a meaningful front stature.

In addition, the V Star 250 has a comfortable two-piece well-padded rider and passenger seat and a very small and decent, yet stylish gas tank. There is a single unit, basic instrument gauge attached to the triple clamp on a motorcycle. The dual air filter covers are intelligently installed on either side below the steering stem to give the V Star 250 a fairly muscular look.

To maintain the classic vibe, the 2024 Yamaha V Star 250 comes in both dull and lustrous chrome finish. The front fender is a trimmed-down and narrow piece and the rear mudguard is chopped, but it is decent enough to carry the passenger seat, drawn-out tail light, and turn signals. Being fitted with a V-Twin powerplant, the V Star 250 carries short-style dual chrome mufflers on the right side of the motorbike. To complement its bobber look, this bike features wire-spoked wheels.

One thing you will observe immediately while looking at the Honda Rebel 300 is its small single-cylinder engine which does not seem to fit perfectly inside the chassis. The whole Rebel series has the same iconic build and chassis design except for a few minor details. However, the Rebel 500 and the Rebel 1100 look more complete and compact as the engine and machinery fit neatly inside the chassis. When it comes to the Rebel 300, you can tell the difference.

The Honda Rebel 300 carries a distinctive slim gas tank design, resting diagonally on top of the frame. The front end of this bike looks comparatively taller than its low-slung seat and tail section. The less protruding round-shape headlamp carries four main symmetrically installed LED lights for an iconic front-end look. Another amazing feature of the Rebel 300 is its fat tires wrapped around similar-sized blacked-out front and rear wheels, ensuring an even look.

Most riders lose interest if you start talking about a 250 cc cruiser bike in front of them. With that said, the Yamaha V Star 250 is different. The engine size and performance figures may be small but it can keep you entertained with how it accelerates. Due to being lightweight, the Yamaha V Star 250 feels adequately responsive.

The 249 cc air-cooled, 60° V-Twin Engine pumps out 21 hp of horsepower at 8,000 rpm and a torque of 20.6 Nm at 6,000 rpm. The readily available torque as soon as you take off this bike makes it a reasonably fun bike for both novice and experienced riders. This is the kind of bike that can be used for training purposes.

If you do not have anyone to impress and want to start riding safely as a new rider, the Honda Rebel 300 is more than capable for you. If you are a good learner, you will probably outgrow this bike quicker than you expect, but you will never regret owning and riding the Rebel 300 as it is a perfect base platform for beginners who want to learn riding skills as a whole, not just the straight-road riding.

The Rebel 300 houses a 286 cc single-cylinder engine with a liquid-cooled system, along with the radiator for engine heat management. Most seasoned riders do not like the idea of cruisers being powered by a single-cylinder engine. In certain markets, cruisers are also termed as V-Twins. However, the Rebel 300 is not the same thing. It is more of an urban commuter and an unconventional cruiser with sports styling. The 286 cc powerplant generates 27.6 hp of peak horsepower and a reasonable torque of 28.74 Nm, making it perfect for urban commuting.

The choice of the handlebars installed on the Yamaha V Star 250 is quite unusual as found on most typical cruisers. It features nearly flat handlebars mounted on tall blacked-out, highly swept-back risers, providing a sufficiently high arms position and a comfortable margin for riders to sit and ride while keeping the back upright.

The V Star 250 has a stretched rider seat, ensuring enough room for riders to adjust their seating position during the ride. It makes this motorcycle suitable for both taller and average-sized riders as they can adjust their seating position and rider triangle accordingly.

Being a classic and retro-style cruiser, the Yamaha V Star 250 comes with forward-mounted foot controls, making it highly suitable for taller riders on long-haul journeys.

The Honda Rebel 300 features low-mounted naked bike-style handlebars that are almost flat-style with a small pulled-back angle, offering a slightly sportier riding style. Riders will have to stretch their arms a little and lean their back slightly forward to grab the bars.

The foot controls on this bike are almost mid-mounted. However, your legs will not feel extra kinked up while riding this bike thanks to its ideal seat position, ensuring a reasonably comfortable sportier rider triangle. The seat on this bike is quite shaved off and does not have adequate padding. However, it manages to keep the rider comfortable for urban commuting.

326 lbs of wet weight and the amount of power it delivers make it an exceedingly suitable motorbike for city traveling, weekend rides, and countryside roads. Considering the engine size, overall weight, dimensions, and base-level performance, you must not expect this bike to smoothly cruise at highway speeds on open roads. The vibrations exceed when you ride this motorcycle above its limit.

However, it does not mean you are now allowed to take this bike on highways. If you are a beginner and want to get over the fear of riding a cruiser on open roads, The V Star 250 is a decent ride partner.

Regardless of being branded as a cruiser, the Honda Rebel 300 is more of an urban commuter. It has an unconventional sportier stance, biased more towards daily commuting and weekend rides. If you are an intermediate rider, you will immediately notice its incapability to cruise at highway speeds. The Rebel 300 becomes extremely uneasy to ride when you open full throttle on open roads. The handlebars start to vibrate excessively and the engine feels breathless while cruising. In addition, the Rebel 300’s slim design and low weight also make it impossible for riders to keep it planted and stable on highways. Such lightweight cruisers, like the Rebel 300, feel extremely wobbly as the air drag increases.

Being an outdated model, the 2024 Yamaha V Star 250 houses a typical Mikuni 26 mm single carburetor with a petcock and choke. However, it carries only a 2.5 gal gas tank with 2 gal usable and 0.5 gal reserve capacity. The V Star 250 covers this drawback by providing a phenomenal average fuel economy of 78 mpg. If you ride this motorbike carefully and only on country roads, you can achieve a tremendous fuel mileage of around 85-90 mpg.

What makes the Rebel 300 enormously suitable for new riders is its ability to ensure remarkable fuel economy thanks to Honda’s iconic programmed fuel injection (PGM-FI) system installed on this bike. The Rebel 300 has a slightly bigger gas tank capacity of 3 gal compared to the Yamaha V Star 250 and it provides an equally splendid fuel mileage of 78 mpg.

The most obvious advantage of having a lightweight motorcycle, like the Yamaha V Star 250, is light handling. The V Star 250 ensures that you confidently turn corners without being fearful of leaning on this bike. Such a lightweight cruiser is best for learning to ride on twisty roads as a beginner. You do not feel worried about dropping this bike while entering a corner.

In contrast to the large front wheel on the Yamaha V Star 250, the rear wheel is small but is wrapped under a fat and wide tire. Such a combination of wheels and tires is to ensure versatile performance characteristics, including better linear performance, stability, and seamless road grip.

One of the best advantages the Honda Rebel 300 has over other beginner bikes on the market is its superior light handling. This motorbike feels extremely lightweight when it comes to handling and maneuverability. Due to its slim profile and low weight, it feels extremely agile. Even if you are a beginner rider, you can confidently lean on this motorbike to easily turn tight corners.

It seems that the braking department is overlooked on the V Star 250. Though this bike is quite basic, it is still being produced in 2024 and must have adequate and reliable disc brakes. Considering the low weight of the V Star 250, it must not have been a huge problem to stop this bike immediately as soon as the rider presses the brakes. This motorcycle still comes with an outdated expanding rear drum brake with no ABS.

The Rebel 300 has sufficiently reliable stopping power with its 296 mm single front disc and a 240 mm single rear disc brake, along with the Nissin calipers and optional ABS. The low weight of this bike helps in stopping it immediately as soon as the brakes are pressed.

The gear shifting on this bike is neither considerably smooth nor extra distracting. It feels a bit clunky when you shift between gears. However, changes can be made by adjusting the position of the gear shifter to make it reasonably better. In the stock form, the V Star 250 offers low gearing and you have to shift gears rapidly.

Being a modern bike equipped with a slipper & assist clutch, the Rebel 300 offers one of the smoothest gear shifts. The clutch pull action also feels extremely light and you can pull the lever with even one finger.

So, gear shifting does not bother you at all if you are riding within the city. However, it can be slightly irritating while riding on open roads or highways to shift between gears after short intervals constantly. Also, due to being equipped with a six-speed transmission and having a low top speed, the time gap between shifting to the next gear shortens further.

Yamaha V Star 250: From only the sound of the V Star 250, it is hard to tell whether it is 250 cc or bigger. The exhaust note is completely on point and is loved by most riders who own this bike.

Honda Rebel 300: As you expect from a single-cylinder engine, the Rebel 300 does not sound as good and throaty as a V-twin motorcycle

There is a small round-shape classic instrument gauge that is very basic and contains only an analog speedometer, providing both mph and km/h reading, an analog odometer, trip meter, and light indicators. The instrument cluster is small and is installed so low on the triple clamp that it becomes hard to read the information displayed on it.

Due to being a highly affordable bike, the tech feature and the instrument gauge on the Rebel 300 are extremely basic. Though it is digital, it does not come with a tachometer. The display size is also quite small compared to the overall size of the instrument gauge and it displays gear position indicator, digital speedometer, clock, and fuel level gauge. The rider can also find it difficult to read the values sometimes in sunlight due to low brightness.

Considering the engine size of the Yamaha V Star 250 and the Honda Rebel 300, they may sound almost similar in terms of performance. However, both these bikes belong to completely different and unique classes. The V Star 250 is a very basic and stripped-down cruiser with no tech features. It is best for beginners due to its esteemed fuel mileage.

On the other hand, the Rebel 300 is a far better motorcycle than the two if you are looking for a better beginner bike. It is more modern with a far better value for the money. Firstly, it has programmed fuel injection in place of the carburetor, It has rear disc brakes, optional ABS, assist & slipper clutch, remarkable fuel economy, stylish design, and much more.

Above all, the Rebel 300 is available at a very reasonable price tag. You can also find a used Rebel 300 in good shape at a very affordable price if you want to start learning motorcycle riding.

If you are a beginner, it doesn’t mean you have to compromise on the look and style of your first motorcycle. Viking Bags has every solution to make your first bike look as cool as a bigger bike. If you own a Rebel 300, you can install tailor-made saddlebags to improve the look and storage capacity of this bike. In the cruiser category, the company manufactures a range of multipurpose luggage bags, including sissy bar bags, tank bags & pouches, backpacks, tour packs, tool bags, windshield bags, and much more.