The Ninja 250 Thread: You'll wait at the next stop right guys? GUYS?!?

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > Cycle Asylum > The Ninja 250 Thread: You'll wait at the next stop right guys? GUYS?!?

hot sauce: Jan 13, 2005; Grimey Drawer

Just passed the MSF course this weekend, pretty sure I'm going with a Ninja 250, GS500 or SV650 when I find a good deal. I asked the instructors for a bike recommendation just to hear their input, and both advised against the Ninja because I would "grow out of it too quickly". From what I've been researching lately I'm pretty sure this won't be the case and will still get a 250 if the opportunity arises. Anyone know why both (very experienced) riders would say this?

# ¿ Mar 25, 2013 16:08

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# ¿ May 22, 2024 00:26

hot sauce: Jan 13, 2005; Grimey Drawer

nsaP posted:

I made a post on reddit a while back mostly covering this so I'll just c/p, the OP was asking about getting a 600 but the points stand. I can't actually say why your instructors said that, but I'd think they either believe it, or they've seen enough riders that do "get bored" with the 250 and they know a 500 or 650 isn't a death sentence. The second part is true, while I love the little 250s, a gs500 is a fine starter bike as well. Just a bit heavier. Anyway:

----
When people say they "got bored" with a 250 what they mean is they got used to it's slow straight line acceleration and wanted more acceleration. If you just want to go fast in a straight line, by all means buy a 600.
If you want to actually learn to ride well, smaller bikes with tame, predictable motors are the way to go. It's your first bike, not your last. You should be focused on learning the basics on your first bike: clutch control, throttle control, braking and cornering. A ninja 250 is forgiving of beginner mistakes and great for learning the basics. It's no speed demon in a straight line but you're still quicker than half of the cars on the road, and once you get it up to speed, it's much more agile. I keep up with 600s and 1000s on the backroads because I can run the same pace as them even though they accelerate way faster. 600s are much less forgiving on newbie mistakes and it's a lot harder to learn throttle control on them, since you can barely twist the throttle without breaking laws usually. You can run a ninja250 to redline in 3 gears and you're only going 55. That's the top of 1st for most 600s.
People say to buy old ninja 250s because they are great learner bikes and hold their value, so after you spend a season on one learning to ride, you get your money back out of it and buy the bike you really want. Again, if all you want is the thrill of straight line speed then buy whatever and go wring it out on the highway. There's tons of riders like that and you can spot them by their poor low speed control, awkward body positioning and tendencies to crawl thru corners. If your goal is to become a competent rider, small and low power bikes like the ones in the FAQ are the right tool.
I'll say too that while a sv650, ninja 500 or ninja 650 are all tame and decent learners, they are heavier. A ninja 250 is 100-120 lbs lighter than any of them and when you're learning that is very nice. It makes low speed maneuvering so much easier. The other bikes are not* particularly hard, compared to like big 800 lb cruisers or something, but they are harder than the 250.

Awesome dude, thank you for this. The comment about riding a straight line makes a lot of sense for why people get bored. I definitely want to go the route of learning fundamentals on an easy bike and develop riding skills before getting on anything faster.

# ¿ Mar 25, 2013 16:55

hot sauce: Jan 13, 2005; Grimey Drawer

Fifty Three posted:

An excellent addition to the OP.

I've had my Ninja 250 for almost nine months now and I'm still in love. It's faster than any other vehicle I've ever owned and exactly one thousand times more fun. I've come close to dropping it during newbie mistakes, and (thus far) I've been lucky enough to just muscle it upright each time. It's a wonderful little bike.

It hates starting in the cold, but I would too so I can't blame it.

This makes me even more excited to buy mine. I've been browsing CL but am still unsure of what a fair price is. I've emailed a guy about a 2008 with ~2k miles he has listed for $2,800. KBB says $2,450 is closer to the value for this year. Link below if anyone wants to check it out.

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/mcy/3708923334.html

# ¿ Mar 29, 2013 19:26

hot sauce: Jan 13, 2005; Grimey Drawer

What is the general opinion for mileage on these bikes? Browsing my craigslist over the past few weeks has brought up many 3-4 year old bikes with under 1000k miles. Safer to buy one with higher miles and good service record or one that appears to be rarely used?

# ¿ Apr 3, 2013 15:22

hot sauce: Jan 13, 2005; Grimey Drawer

AncientTV posted:

Congratulations! And I just sold mine today
~~the circle of liiiiife~~

Still hunting for mine, apparently living in DC means adding $1,000 to the price of these bikes. After pursuing Craigslist for a few weeks, prices for 08s/09s seem to be similar to what people were discussing in this thread 2 years ago

# ¿ Apr 11, 2013 19:19

hot sauce: Jan 13, 2005; Grimey Drawer

Finally found a new gen 250 in my area worth buying, I'm checking it out tomorrow. 2008 with 3k miles on it, black. Not really into that color as I hear it's less visible, but I think I can get it for $2,600. Is there anything unique to these models specifically that should raise red flags?

# ¿ Apr 17, 2013 21:46

hot sauce: Jan 13, 2005; Grimey Drawer

Smokey Blue posted:

So I'm trying to sell my 03 ex250 with 8k miles. What kind of price should I be expecting to get for it if it's in good condition? I can only find two of the older models on craigslist in my area that have not been beat to poo poo, an 05 and 07 for $1900 and $2200, both with 6k miles. I've had a couple people saying they would pay the KBB value ($1550). Is asking $1800 too much? I'm in NOVA if that helps.

What part of VA are you in? If you are near nova and DC I think 1800 is a good price even to stay firm on. I just got done 250 hunting for a couple of weeks and all of the good condition ones listed 1500 - 1800 seemed to go quickly. I emailed two people who sold for 1500 on the day the posted the ad.

# ¿ May 13, 2013 17:21

hot sauce: Jan 13, 2005; Grimey Drawer

M42 posted:

Crosspost, but this fits here too. My itty bitty ninja two fiddy:

That's one of the best looking older models I've seen.

# ¿ May 28, 2013 16:18

hot sauce: Jan 13, 2005; Grimey Drawer

captainOrbital posted:

First highway ride; how do you people deal with the wind at 60 mph? That poo poo is crazy buffeting. Also, ran out of gas while on the highway and couldn't find the petcock while riding along at 55 or so. Next time.

Went on my first highway ride not too long ago and kept thinking "what the gently caress am I doing". I got used to it after only a couple more rides.

# ¿ Jun 21, 2013 21:15

hot sauce: Jan 13, 2005; Grimey Drawer

TheNothingNew posted:

Newgens might, not sure. The '88-'07 models certainly don't.

In case anyone was wondering the newgens do have a gas gauge that seems to be accurate. I still just go by trip mileage though.

# ¿ Jun 24, 2013 17:58

hot sauce: Jan 13, 2005; Grimey Drawer

nsaP posted:

My 2009 has possible the worst gauge of anything I've driven.

Mine will never show exactly full or empty but whatever marking it's close to usually coincides with what should be left. I'd still always use the trip meter even if I fully trusted this gauge.

# ¿ Jun 24, 2013 21:02

hot sauce: Jan 13, 2005; Grimey Drawer

M42 posted:

Holy poo poo, you guys. If you do anything to this bike, let it be switching out the oem headlight for something better. I couldn't see a fuckin thing with the old one, it faded away like 15 feet from the drat bike. Popped in a silverstar H4 today and I can could actually see poo poo at night. Wasn't anything wrong with the oem one, either. It's just crap.

Do you have an amazon link for this or something? I'm getting a bunch of results for silverstar H4. I was going to look into this soon, as I can't see poo poo on dark backroads.

# ¿ Jun 27, 2013 14:31

hot sauce: Jan 13, 2005; Grimey Drawer

How much oil do you guys put in when you do a full change including filter? All in all I put about 1.8 quarts in there and it's still only around the middle of the sight glass.

edit: it's a 2008 newgen Ninja

hot sauce fucked around with this message at 15:25 on Jul 29, 2013

# ¿ Jul 29, 2013 15:19

hot sauce: Jan 13, 2005; Grimey Drawer

Not sure if this has been covered, but does anyone have tail bags or hard luggage mounted to their ninja? I'm looking to do some longer trips soon and want tank bag + tailbags. Preferably, I'd want something temporary that can be removed when I'm just doing city riding.

# ¿ Sep 23, 2013 16:36

hot sauce: Jan 13, 2005; Grimey Drawer

Thanks for quick responses guys. I like the idea of a magnetic tank bag and the removable tail bags. I wouldn't mind unstrapping it and bringing it inside at night/long time away from the bike.

# ¿ Sep 23, 2013 18:36

hot sauce: Jan 13, 2005; Grimey Drawer

So I found myself behind another newgen this weekend on the highway. I had no idea the rear tire looked so hilariously skinny from directly behind the bike.

# ¿ Nov 11, 2013 20:43

hot sauce: Jan 13, 2005; Grimey Drawer

IuniusBrutus posted:

So, I am looking at buying a 250 Ninja for a first bike.

Couple of questions:

I am 5' 11", 215#. Will it be able to haul my fat rear end around at 70mph for limited (<50 mile) distances? I don't have particularly long arms or legs, but will I still feel like I am on a clown bike?

Are there any years I should avoid? I don't want to buy a brand new one, but I see ones from 2002 or so and on at decent prices.

What is the price point where I would be getting ripped off on one? The bike market here sucks, and since shipping seems to only be ~$400 I may scour eBay for one, so that should be accounted for in the price.

Thanks!

2008 newgen ninja owner here, but most of the answers will still apply for the pregen. I'm 6'1 195 lbs and it's fast enough. Power has been enough for just about everything, except for one instance riding on a high altitude mountain road. As for comfort, I do all day rides frequently and the only thing that gets sore is my rear end. A 50 mile highway commute will be fine.

I don't believe there are years to avoid, but based on your question in another thread I'd buy a running 2000-2007 pregen model. High miles is better than something that's sat around idle for years. It will depend on where you are located, but around here you could find one under $2000 during winter. I saw a 2003 in great condition here recently for $1500 - you just have to check CL daily.

Also, it's probably been said already but also look into Ninja 500 or the gs500 for an affordable commuter.

# ¿ Jan 1, 2014 22:48

hot sauce: Jan 13, 2005; Grimey Drawer

captainOrbital posted:

While I was getting acclimated to riding (this particular bike and in general) I made some dumb mistakes with the clutch and with the brakes once or twice, and it's a very forgiving bike.

I can't agree with this enough. While still a noob rider, I stupidly downshifted hard while in a turn and the back wheel broke loose. Didn't crash and it righted itself quickly. A lot of bikes would have thrown me off if I did something like that on them.

Can you post a pic of your bike with no fairings and that headlight? Seems like it would look cool.

# ¿ Jan 1, 2014 22:55

hot sauce: Jan 13, 2005; Grimey Drawer

That looks good. When I was bike shopping I kept an eye out for pregens with messed up plastics to do something like that.

# ¿ Jan 3, 2014 20:01

hot sauce: Jan 13, 2005; Grimey Drawer

So the tires that came with my bike are going to be about 5 years old this spring. Low miles and decent tread, but they might need replacing soon from the PO letting it sit around. Anyone have any recommendations? I want to stick with the stock tire size for the 2008-2012 model (110 front 130 rear)

# ¿ Jan 8, 2014 20:58

hot sauce: Jan 13, 2005; Grimey Drawer

Sounds about right, ninja250.org and all anecdotal evidence points to the Pirelli's or BT45s.

nsaP, how much was your pair? I've got a few months to watch for deals so I'm going to keep an eye on them.

# ¿ Jan 9, 2014 01:15

hot sauce: Jan 13, 2005; Grimey Drawer

That's awesome! What kind of bags are on the rear and what kind of camping equipment are you traveling with? I'm looking to do some camping this spring and still slowly gathering the things I'll need.

# ¿ Jan 10, 2014 01:36

hot sauce: Jan 13, 2005; Grimey Drawer

Thanks for the list. Did you have any problems with the tent? I was looking at an affordable one like that this year to see if moto camping was for me, but have heard some bad things about Coleman products.

# ¿ Jan 10, 2014 02:23

hot sauce: Jan 13, 2005; Grimey Drawer

My bikes PO had it lowered, so I was planning on doing this in the Spring as well. Just need to get some stock dogbones. Did you just buy some stock ones on CL?

# ¿ Jan 31, 2014 18:55

hot sauce: Jan 13, 2005; Grimey Drawer

captainOrbital posted:

It just spins and spins forever, like a...political...guy...like something that spins a lot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT6_PXXjU94

# ¿ Mar 21, 2014 16:55

hot sauce: Jan 13, 2005; Grimey Drawer

drat

Does your insurance cover theft?

# ¿ Jul 19, 2014 16:35

hot sauce: Jan 13, 2005; Grimey Drawer

Just to be clear, is the filter jammed up in there by itself, or is the metal cover and bolt stuck up in there too?

# ¿ Aug 5, 2014 16:55

hot sauce: Jan 13, 2005; Grimey Drawer

Are you sure you stripped the bolt? Mine usually stays up in there for many more turns than I'd expect and requires you to pull down a little to get it to pop off.

# ¿ Aug 5, 2014 17:16

hot sauce: Jan 13, 2005; Grimey Drawer

So I have a random brake light issue. Bulb is burnt out and the back seat needs to be removed to replace it, but it's jammed or something. You use the key to unlock it and then remove the seat - my key bent and almost broke off trying to unlock it the other day. Anyone have this happen on a new gen?

# ¿ Aug 30, 2014 01:44

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# ¿ May 22, 2024 00:26

hot sauce: Jan 13, 2005; Grimey Drawer

Z3n posted:

Push down hard on the part of the seat that the latch is at.

Didn't work

I think I'm going to have to find cable that's connected to the latch. Might have to take off some fairings.

# ¿ Sep 6, 2014 03:52

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > Cycle Asylum > The Ninja 250 Thread: You'll wait at the next stop right guys? GUYS?!?