To many, the 250 is a stepping stone to bigger displacement bikes. To those of you who upgraded, how many miles did you put on the 250 before upgrading?

You forgot.... so far... NEVAR! :D

You forgot.... so far... NEVAR! :D

I know. I just realized after posting that there should have been an option for "Will NEVER upgrade."

I guess you could say I down sized.

You forgot.... so far... NEVAR! :D

+1

2200

9544.8 to be exact.

~4500 miles before upgrading.

4200 + some change

About 10,200 ish.

Sold it at 5100 exactly!

I downgraded to the 250 after 60,000 miles and I doubt I'll ever go to something bigger.....

I bought my 250 ninja to race at Maxton. I ordered my bike in Sept of 2007 .It is # 69 off the line and the first one to be delivered to Maryland .They delayed delivery till Febuary. My first race was in April.I already had parts .

I rode ten miles home from the dealer changed the oil . Went back out and did my motoman break in . The next day I had about 100 miles and 2 oil changes. I and changed the gearing and and started testing top speed with GPS It was January of 2008 .I froze my ass off at 100 mph .

I then did a wright up on ninja riders club, 1 .I told them the gears from a first gen fit the new bike.And you did not need to change the chain . 2 I told them the speedo was off by 10 % and 3 I said the bike would not go over 105 mph.

They ignored my posts and one guy said I was wrong about the speedo. Then for the next 6 months they asked each other if the gears would fit and the if speedo was off.

thanks X my bike is runing 15/43 I love this setup and Im never giving up my 250
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I have had 3 Goldwings, Vstroms, Versys, Concours, Shadow, KLR650, and many others. I PREFER the lil 250. At least for full time street. I have a combined mileage of well over 200,000 miles in the 26 years I have been riding.

Cheap, plenty of used parts, good mileage, fast enough, easy to maintain, good wind protection, upright seating position. Oh and the best part FUN FUN FUN!

So upgrade??? How about I sold my 09 Versys that I bought new then went out and bought my 02 Pregen.

I still have my 250, but I "upgraded" to a Ninja 650R @ 12,500 miles.

After riding at least 50% of my 250s miles 2UP, I realized i needed a bike with more comfort, more power, etc, for riding 2UP to keep both my GF and I happy during our travels. Yet, i didnt want a huge sport-touring monster weighing 700 lbs like some bikes! Im not retired and we arent gonna be doing any 2,000 mile+ USA trips so a bike like a Goldwing would be a waste for me! :p

I reviewed the 650R and all ive heard was Good things about it. To turn it into a more sport-touring bike, for now there is No Need, but...

-Corbin gunfighter seat w/ Passenger removeable Oval-backrest.
-OEM passenger grab bars (off a ER-6n) *bought some off Ebay :thumbup:
-Twistedthrottle.com has for the 650R, Tailtrunk,Hardcase Saddle bags.

It's different for each person. Could I upgrade to an r6? Sure, why not. I am not going to simply because I know I haven't even come close to touching all that the 250 has to offer. I'll be tracking it next spring and I'm sure after having it on the track for a bit I'll decide to keep it anyways. I'll probably consider upgrading if I crash/total the 250 or it just breaks down, but hopefully that wont be for a while.

Got my lil Ninja March 09. Now has 11,000+ miles and I just bought a bigger bike. I haven't sold the lil Ninja yet but if there's a willing buyer I may. Kinda want to hold onto it. I've wanted to upgrade for a while but I didn't do it till I felt I knew my bike pretty well. Now it's like starting over w such a different bike. Everything feels different.

I'm doing it backwards -- I had 11 years and ~150,000 miles of riding *before* buying my Ninja! :lol:

20,000 miles before switching

I just turned 20,500 miles riding on my '06, not feeling any need to get something bigger yet. If I do, it will be as a second bike, not as a replacement, and only because I'd like something different to ride every once in a while rather than something just because it's bigger. Next bike will likely be an SV650S 200-2001 vintage if I run across one for a decent price.

I can't call it an upgrade. Had I not re-ijured my back, I would still be riding the Ninja. I used the Ninja primarily as a Pocket Sports Touring bike--visiting my mother: 1000 miles round trip, Appointments at the VA Hospital--about three visits per month: 100mi Round trip (less frequent now since I am in remission). When even the 100milers were killing me, I had to do something. Quitting after 50 years of off and on riding was not on the table for discussion.

I road over 50,000 on big bikes, before I upgraded to the 250. :D


Now in all seriousness. If you think you are ready and responsible. Plus your pocket book can handle it. Get the bike you want. No number of miles can truly be an indicator of when you are mature enough of a rider to handle a 600 1000 or more.

If you feel comfortable, do it. But if you are asking, "How many miles do I need before I upgrade?" that probably means that you are not comfortable yet and should wait. Once you no longer have to ask the question, that is when you are ready.

9800 miles...

Should include an option of "haven't upgraded yet or don't need/want to upgrade." I've clocked at least 12-13k on mine and plan to clock a lot more. I have considered upgrading to something like the 650's that are out there. But I haven't really done any serious shopping. In fact I'm doing work to the little 250 to get her in top shape and maybe make a few changes/improvements to her. :D

I added 1 poll option for folks that didn't start out on the ninjette, but landed on it afterwards. :thumbup:

I traded my Ninjette in today with almost 4500 on the odometer. All but maybe 10 miles were mine.

I will second what Travis said: When you are ready get a larger bike (if that is your goal), don't use mileage as the indicator. There is no right time, and riding, regardless of the size of the engine is inherently dangerous. You could get injured (or worse) on a 250 same as a liter bike.

When you feel you are confident in your abilities is about the best gauge anyone has to decide when to move up. It has to be personal and thought out. Don't let others talk you into something you aren't ready for.

At 32,500 miles I traded the ninja for a 2011 V strom.

I loved the ninja, but I do not miss it. The V strom is a better bike, as far as I am concerned.

I added 1 poll option for folks that didn't start out on the ninjette, but landed on it afterwards. :thumbup:

Thanks Alex. That is me. My first street bike was an 86 Ninja 600R back in 90(I loved that bike). I had quite a few different Ninjas since then, (all in the 600cc range) before getting a left over '09 250R SE last year. I still kept a ZX-6 on hand too. Unfortunately my ZX-6 burned up in a garage fire 2 weeks ago. :( It was a very hot fire and was a total meltdown of the bike. I will post some pics when I get them uploaded from my camera. Thankfully the Ninjette was in not in there, so I still have at least one ride for the summer.

I originally got the Ninjette for the gas mileage and it was such a cheap commuter bike that also has decent looks. I got 70 MPG during the breakin, but I can't keep my hand out of the throttle, so I haven't gotten anywhere near that since the breakin period. But it was still better than my car or the ZX-6. I put 4,600 miles on it over last summer. I must admit, I drove the Ninjette way more than I drove the ZX-6 last summer(even on weekends). I guess I have mellowed out. Or maybe I don't 'need' to go 130+ mph anymore or have my hands go numb on long rides from leaning over all the time? :) I find it doesn't matter to me (as much) what I ride anymore, as long as I am still riding. :thumbup:

Bought a 2008 250R. Rode it for about 2500 miles. Sold it and bought a Daytona 675. Loved it and rode it for about 3000 miles. Traded it on a 2010 R1. Holy S*#!. Loved it but eventually felt like I was going to die on it. A true superbike. I've been riding for a long while and I couldn't even get to 75% of that bikes potential. Ended up selling that, paying off all my bills and bought a 2011 Ninja 250R SE- in green. I love these 250R's. Sure it ain't the fastest bike in the world, but it looks good, it's fun as hell to ride, and it's relatively cheap.

I got a black one so I it was an upgrade from the red, blue or green bikes right from the get go.

I upgraded after 850 miles on my Ninjette.