Quote:
Originally Posted by allanoue
wall of text please?
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LOL! You got it!
Acceleration (economy mode): honestly, I didn’t spend a whole lot of time in this mode. I was having a lot of fun in sport. …BUT, what I did was in traffic (40MPH) under normal circumstances. It struck me as being very similar to the Ninja 250 but this was smoother. Not that the 250 wasn’t.
Acceleration (sport mode): I found this to have a similar low end torque as my old Ninja 650. I think the S has more grunt up top though. The power delivery is quite a bit more than economy mode but it still manages to be smooth. They say top speed is about 95MPH but I can’t confirm that. I can say that I got on the highway and looked at the speedometer and realized that ummmm… that I needed to slow down.
These two modes can be switched at any time and both are adjustable by a slider bar through the phone app along with top speed.
Handling: flickable. Just as flickable as the 250 I’d say. I think there is an extra 10LBS on the S than the Ninja 250 but you would never notice. It went over the imperfections of the road very well and I think with some adjustment it could handle a track day without an issue. My other half was mentioning how forgiving it seemed.
Seat height/riding position: It is an upright position much like the 250. The seat height is .5 an inch taller but with the flexibility of the suspension, supposedly it can get lower (going off of what one of their sales reps for this area told me). The foot pegs seem a bit lower than the 250. Not by much but enough for me to notice. The seat felt scooped out. I wouldn't change the shape but it is a bit stiff.
Veiw: The long stem mirrors give you plenty of visibility and no shaking - so no funky chicken dance trying to see behind you with the mirrors. The dash is very easy to read and grouped together well. My only complaint is there is no clock.
Maintenance: There are no oils that need to be changed as far as the engine goes. There is of course the brake fluid and fork fluid though. No filters to change out and it is belt drive so no lubing and cleaning there either. Just plug it in every night. A full charge will cost $1.20 and that gives you 67 highway miles at 70mph or 137 in the city. Slow speeds and regenerative braking give you the better mileage from what I understand. There is a CHAdeMO charger that will do a full charge in one hour and there is a surprising amount of them in my area. Other than that, replace the brake pads and tires when needed. Tires are the same tire sizes as the Ninja 250 by the way.
The hardest part to swallow is the initial sticker price. MSRP is $14k for the 8.5 battery and $16k for the larger battery. You get a %10 rebate during tax season. I am just going to say that the sales guy at my local dealer is awesome.
Noise level: There really isn’t much. There is a “whir” as you accelerate but it gets hushed by the wind noise. When at a stop, there is no noise. Nothing is running, just the lit up display from the dash. I know that some may look at this as a bad thing but IMHO, as long as you are riding defensively – I don’t see it as an issue. Also… when riding, there is a certain ambiance that just can’t be described here. Ultimately, I REALLY want one of my own.