Im setting off in less than 6 hours for a 5 day trip down to the RedWoods. Tire tread spaced my mind while I was getting my 250 ready. The owners manual says 2mm min. of tread depth on the rear wheel and mine is 1.5mm. Anyone have suggestions for a good replacement tire and also any thoughts so the safeness of the ride if I just rode on it?

Hey, try to replace it. Sounds like you are going to be doing a good amount of riding. I think it is 1.5mm min for under 60mph (don't quote me)

Look around, there are a ton of topics on new tires. Sport demons are pretty popular...few longer mileage tires out there if you aren't going to be doing a lot of harder riding.

there are wear bars embedded into the rubber in treads that indicate when the tires should be changed. Are yours down to those indicators.

pirelli sport demons or bridgestone bt45s for traction.

Found this for you... http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/What_tire_makes_are_available_that_fit_the_250%3F
Not all of these tires will come in your size...but a lot of info there.

Yes 2 mm is the limit for the rear tire. You need to change it before your trip. I highly recomend the sport demons. They have good grip and the handling is better. I also reccomned that you do a pre-ride checklist which is a label attached to the bottom of the seat.

I would consider still running on the existing tire if you're comfortable handling the bike through a blowout, and a fishtail and or lowside slide on the roads you'll be riding.

Otherwise, replace it once you hit the wear indicators.

You might also consider Kenda's offerings, I've been pretty pleased with them both in terms of price and performance/durability.

I have GBC Street Shark General Replacement front tire 100/90-16 on front for $40.99 on the front and Kenda K657 Challenger Sport Cruser/Touring rear tire 130/90-16 for $42.99 that I purchased from Dennis Kirk. The total for both, with shipping, was $100.93. It took me about 2 month of every night searching online to find some inexpensive tires. I like them, with 2500 miles on them, they still look brand new. They feel OK to me, but those miles are all I have under my belt as well. Other Ninja Pilots may have different opinions of these tires, and I encourage responses from more experienced pilots, and Aces, but I paid less for both tires, and mounting, than what I have seen for one tire. P.S. I was in Naval Aviation, that is why I pilot a Ninja, and drive a Shark (Hyundai Tiburon), soon to be a Tiger Shark, new body kit and graphics http://www.ilovebodykits.com/product/19672/Vis_Racing_97_98_99_Hyundai_Tiburon_2dr_Ballistix_Body_Kits.html

The Kenda K671's have been rated highly and I was considering getting them. Unfortunately I was cheap and didn't want to wait for them to come in so I just slapped on the spare stock I had, so I can't speak from personal experience. Others have said they grip well in various weather conditions and have long life as well.

http://motorcycle.motorcycle-superstore.com/search?w=Kenda%20k671