ninja question

Well after reading all of the advice that has been given to the beginning riders I got to thinking that it has been ten years since I had my wreck and haven't owned a bike since (man does time fly!). While I was reading some of the posts I got to thinking that a VFR right out of the shute might be a little too much bike for me.

Do any of you have experience with the 250 Ninja? It doesn't look half bad in the pics and the price is not too terrible either. I thought that this might be a good way to get used to the sportbike feel without all of the weight and power of the VFR (to begin with anyways). How do they ride? Highway speed? Resale? Any information or experience would be helpful.

 

Double:

I think the Ninja 250 is a great bike to start out on and if you take care of it, resale should be no issue. And finally, the 250 has been updated in looks for 08!

Many people will say you will out grow the 250? I think a better statement is you may eventually want a larger displacement bike for various reasons. You never really outgrown a bike.

My very good friend Jeff has a Hayabusa and a Ninja 250. Talk about two extremes LOL! I can tell you the 250 is a blast to ride. Highway speeds 60-70 mph can be a little "buzzy" feeling on your hands and the wind can push you around some, but other than that I really like the 250. It is not as slow as I expected off the line and I'll finish with this. Jeff and I are doing our first track day, God willing, this weekend. Some track people we know asked me what Jeff is taking and I said the 250. The biggest smiles came across their faces and the response was "man, he is gonna have it wide open, but he is going to have a blast riding that on the track, it'll be better than the busa"!

And when you decide to purchase a VFR after you have learned on the Ninja, you may find you do not want to sell it.

My 2 cents!

BZ

 

I would say get a Kawasaki EX 500. Same size as a 250 Ninja and only a little heavier. I just bought one for my girlfriend and I have to say I love that bike. Honestly I think it's all the bike anyone would ever need. It's so easy to ride it almost feels like a toy. I may even sell my 06 GSXR 750 and get one.

 

Two years ago, when I took the MSF course, I used their Ninja 250. The only problem I had with it is that in hard stops, the front end dips too much. In fact, you can even bottom it.

The front suspension can easily be upgraded to reduce the dipping. At 70 mph, the engine speed is about 8000 rpm! According to another site, it is easy to replace the front sprocket with one having one more tooth thereby reducing the engie speed. If that isn't enough, a smaller rear sprocket can be used. Obviously that would reduce 1st gear acceleration, but that's a problem only at low speeds since when more power is required, you can always use a lower gear.

The Ninja 250 will pull smoothly even at low engine speeds, but it has to be revved quite high to get power. The torque peaks at something like 10,000 rpm. At city speeds, it has enough acceleration to beat most cars.

 

I'm also going to reccomend the Ninja 500. My wife and I bought one for her to learn on due to the great reviews it has.

The Ninja 250 is also a great bike, but as has been said above, at normal highway speeds it is BUZZY due to the RPM's and you most likely will find yourself wanting a larger displacement bike very soon. The new style for 08 though looks great, to non riders they probably wouldn't know if you were on the 250 or a Ninja ZX-6R.

The Suzuki GS 500 is also a great bike to start off on, very forgiving, it has a sporty full fairing and again, to non riders it could be mistaken for a baby brother to a GSXR.

The Ninja 500 outperforms the GS 500 in every performance category though, so you may find yourself again wanting to move on to a larger bike soon.

When we got the Ninja 500 for my wife, I rode it home from the dealership as she was still going through the MSF course at the time and did not have her MC license yet. At the time I rode a CBR 600F2 (my first street bike was a GS 500) so before I even started it I already had a preconceived notion of how much of a slug in every area this "little beginer 500" was going to be.

Boy was I wrong, granted it was no CBR but IMO no other 500 comes close to the performance & ease of riding than the Ninja 500. I had a blast on it everytime I rode it.

Sorry this was so long. :redface:

 

My first bike was a Ninja 250. The pros: very easy (much more than the Ninja 500 and GS500) to find cheap in great condition used (you can usually get one for around $2500 and resell at the same price), great mileage, pretty quick in city riding (high 13s 1/4 mile?) for a small bike, no mechanical problems. They are very light, have a low seat height and inspire a lot of riding confidence.

The cons: its a $3000 motorcycle. The suspension just sucks. The brakes aren't bad (having dual rotors on an entry level bike IS pretty nice), but won't stop you like a larger sportbike. It has very little power at higher speeds, and you will definitely want to change the sprocket if you intend to ride on the freeway often. Looking back, I feel sorry for my 250 with its stock sprockets because I was constantly going for long periods on the freeway at 85mph -- more or less redlining the engine. You will also lose a lot of money buying one from a dealership.

 

The thing with the ninja 250 is that kawi keeps on changing and tuning her out, cause it has a rep to mantain. The new 08 looks great, very similar to the ZX-6R. I currently own a ZX-6R, first bike, and will be buying an '86 VFR 750 next week as a project bike. I've had my 6 for almost 2 years and probably next year will go for the new ZX-14, but I am a big guy. I believe the new 250 brings in a new level of performance to go with the looks, so I say go for it.

 

Thanks for all of the input. I am going to try and ride the different bikes listed above and see which one "fits the bill" the best.