[n4mwd]

The Ninja 250 isn't going to oil starve during a wheelie because the oil pickup is at the rear of the engine. As long as its got the required 2 quarts in there, it should have no problem. The problem is the opposite - braking. Something like a stoppie is going to starve the engine for oil. Even heavy braking is bad.

Another thing that is VERY bad is after an accident and the bike is on its side, if the engine continues to run, its running without oil. Usually the carbs will flood and stall the engine, but not always.

The Ninja does have a problem with oil frothing at RPM's greater than 7K or so. What happens is that the oil gets splashed around so much that it becomes a bit frothy and then foams out of the oil breather. If its hooked to the airbox then it just gets sucked into the engine and burned. But if its just sitting there with a little pod, then it runs out on the street.

A dry sump system would probably fix that, but IMHO isn't not worth the extra weight on the Ninja. Just don't do stoppies or hard brake any more than absolutely necessary and keep an eye on the oil level.

Justin uses full synthetic oil which can tolerate a second or two of zero pressure without damage. I don't have an explanations for the pistons, but in this engine, the crank bearings are the first to go in a zero oil pressure situation. When the tolerance is measured in microns, it doesn't take much to mess it up.