I know the ninjette's are famous for being cold blooded, but I'm new to them and was wondering what the normal operating temp is? Also, what temp is considered overheating on these bikes?

200F.

normal coolant boils around 250F

So if 200 is the normal operating temp, what is the overheat temp? 215? 225?

I think I just read the fan kicks on at 220*, but not entirely sure if that is accurate or if that applies to only one or both the generations. I'm trying to get my newgen hot enough to run the fan but gave up.

Fan comes on at 210 for me on my temp gauge

I know the ninjette's are famous for being cold blooded, but I'm new to them and was wondering what the normal operating temp is? Also, what temp is considered overheating on these bikes?

Normal operating temperature depends on where it is measured, on the regime of work and on the rate of cooling.
The combustion chamber has the highest.
Open throttle means higher pressure and temps.
High rpms at low speed overloads the cooling system.

http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/Cooling_system

The cool blood is due to the mix being regulated by the manufacturer on the lean side in order to comply with EPA restrictions.
When carburetor's and head's metal parts are cool, the vaporized gasoline in the mix condenses over those, making the mix reaching the combustion chamber way too lean.

The legendary cold-bloodedness of many of Kawasaki's motorcycles (why they run so cold in cold weather) is due to the overly-simple design of their cooling systems. In a lot of their lower-end models Kawasaki has chosen to use a very rudimentary plumbing. And besides running too cold in cold weather this type of cooling system causes some rather negative effects on the engine's thermal characteristics and this affects its efficiency and longevity.

One person in particular who has done research on this situation is Bill at watt-man.com He's the guy who has developed the Thermo-Bob modification that can be used to fix the cooling system shortfalls in several Kawasaki models.

Here's his analysis of what's going on in one of Kawasaki's cooling systems (a KLR 650 which has the same cooling system plumbing as the EX-250): http://www.watt-man.com/uploads/TB_Testing.pdf

I don't know if you have the interest and patience to read and understand what Bill is demonstrating in this PDF file, but it pretty well explains the dynamics of the EX-250's cooling system and the shortfalls and drawbacks to such a design.

Should have a temp. gauge

Wow!! Thanks for the info guys. I really appreciate it. I'm just getting the bike back on the road so this is greatly appreciated.

The legendary cold-bloodedness of many of Kawasaki's motorcycles (why they run so cold in cold weather) is due to the overly-simple design of their cooling systems. In a lot of their lower-end models Kawasaki has chosen to use a very rudimentary plumbing. And besides running too cold in cold weather this type of cooling system causes some rather negative effects on the engine's thermal characteristics and this affects its efficiency and longevity.

One person in particular who has done research on this situation is Bill at watt-man.com He's the guy who has developed the Thermo-Bob modification that can be used to fix the cooling system shortfalls in several Kawasaki models.

Here's his analysis of what's going on in one of Kawasaki's cooling systems (a KLR 650 which has the same cooling system plumbing as the EX-250): http://www.watt-man.com/uploads/TB_Testing.pdf

I don't know if you have the interest and patience to read and understand what Bill is demonstrating in this PDF file, but it pretty well explains the dynamics of the EX-250's cooling system and the shortfalls and drawbacks to such a design.

Great info. I wonder how much of it would be over engineering for the 250.

I put one on my EX-250, love the difference it makes...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LD0IpbRWcw