I don’t believe, from my limited knowledge, that anybody would ride a 250 or possibly even a 300 on the track. I’m not interested in riding on a track anyway, at least not at this point. Where does everybody ride? i’ve obviously seen lots of reckless sports bike riders on the highway but I just want to ride for fun. I don’t intend to use a motorcycle for daily transportation.
Aside from the track, are there places that are better to ride this type of motorcycle than, maybe a cruiser or cafe style bike?
Sports bikes are light and nimble, so winding roads with lots of curves?

:)

I live in KY, and it is full of twisty roads, aka "over the river and through the woods." I broke my 250 in on the street for a few thousand miles.

After that, it has only seen track. I am a track coach also, and I have coached on my 250 to show that bigger is not always better. Many of us have the video to back up that statement. Don't discount track due to the bike, I have helped baggers and full dress cruisers on the track. Its a place to gain more advanced knowledge and don't let anyone tell you any different.

Directly answering your question? Where to ride is where you are happy riding. To each their own. But if you ask where the bike shines? Its small, min width, very tight curvy roads where you keep the pace in check and the fun factor on par.

It's a small cc and light framed bike and the rider should play to those strengths.

I live in San Francisco Bay Area with tonnes of traffic! I do commute with Ninjette due to horrible traffic here.Would take me over 2-hrs to get to work in car, only 35-40 minutes by bike because I can use car-pool/express lane and also split lanes when those aren't available.

On weekends, I usually ride north and to coast to escape it all. Here's ride I did to Pt. Reyes lighthouse (with photos).This is part of Point Reyes National Seashore of U.S. National Park Service.
https://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?p=1250681#post1250681

I do spirited and fun rides in twisties, but not dangerous or obnoxious. I don't ride Ninjette any faster or slower than my CBR600RR. I reserve going all out for track! Only safe way to do it.! I get in about 7 race-weekends per year with AFM Racing (https://afmracing.org/) and about 35-45 track-days in between. Here's some videos of Ninjettes at track beating up on bigger bikes!!!

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I like twisty roads with little traffic. 20-40mph corners where I can get a good lean going are perfect. This bike isn't a speed demon, but it loves the tight twisty stuff, and I really enjoy the fact that I can pin the throttle and not go to jail in 3.5 seconds.

It does fine on the highway too for getting to the fun roads.

I prefer to ride mine on the same roads I ride my bigger motorcycles... twisty country roads. My daughter and I just spent a week at the annual 2-stroke meet at Deal's Gap, NC, where we rode many hundreds of miles of twisty mountain roads. I mostly rode my '72 Kawasaki H2, and she rode the '05 Ninja 250. The 250 is excellent for "The Dragon", but I usually ride a smaller motorcycle on that road while my daughter rides the 250.

My Dragon bike, a 1978 Yamaha DT100, and my daughter on the 250... the turns are so tight that you can drag a knee at 35 mph on many of them:

Purely a longtime street rider....I frequently ride in the Long Island, NY area called the Hamptons, purposely exploring, seeking desolate back roads, beaches, etc. They DO exist.

During summer beach and vacation season, generally heavily trafficked highways I avoid...in "off" season...empty roads become my personal playground out there.

Anywhere and everywhere!
But the track is my favorite

Depending on the track, the 250/300 bikes are better than the bigger bikes. Unless you're hitting its top speed, lighter is better.

I'm a street grrl, and I prefer canyons/twisties over just about anything. I'll also do regular street riding, commuting, that kind of thing. Because anything I do is better done on two wheels.

I have expanded my riding area to outside my busy city. I like the quiet 2 lane country roads with 55 to 60mph limits going by cornfields and pastures, and the wooded twisty areas in the national parks. Once I get around buying a disc lock, I'll be doing the short ride to grab my coffee and go to work as well.

As for the track, plenty of 300s out on the track. My first days will be in August at Palmer in MA, and I'm lucky to have Mid Ohio not too far away. 50% chance I'll be making it there on Labor Day weekend.

I have expanded my riding area to outside my busy city. I like the quiet 2 lane country roads with 55 to 60mph limits going by cornfields and pastures, and the wooded twisty areas in the national parks. Once I get around buying a disc lock, I'll be doing the short ride to grab my coffee and go to work as well.

As for the track, plenty of 300s out on the track. My first days will be in August at Palmer in MA, and I'm lucky to have Mid Ohio not too far away. 50% chance I'll be making it there on Labor Day weekend.

Hey! You owe us an update to your thread.
It’s great to hear your venturing out.

I rode my 250 as a commuter bike in college, and out in the rural roads of southern Missouri. Now living in Colorado, I'd love to have a small bore bike to hit some of the tighter canyons.

Truthfully, I think the small bikes are suited to ride just about anywhere, track included. As a more experienced rider now, I find they are more fun as well. I can't use all the power my R6 has (my skill is the limiting factor), but I can get a lot closer to riding a 250 or 300 at it's limit.

Yeah,it's so much more fun to ride small bike fast than big bike slow, even if it's exact same speed! Infinitely frustrating riding CBR600RR when I can never ever open throttle more than 10-20% for a couple seconds at time! GGrrr.....

I ride in South Florida! All you can find is hot, flat and straight. Take it to the track!

AwDang update is in the ninjettes at speed section, did Palmer this weekend!