Picked up my 2010 Mon. night, rode it home in a rainstorm 25 miles so I really didn't have real test until today. It's my day off, so after going over tire pressures, fluid levels, etc. I took off for my 40 mile loop. Bear in mind that my normal daily riders are a Honda VFR 800 Interceptor, and my big brute.... a Kawasaki ZRX1200R. So, 1st thing I notice is the light weight, and rather diminutive size. Didn't need to be warmed up nearly as much as it did when I picked it up, must have needed to be ridden. 2nd, Wow, 1st gear is very short, and I felt the need to shift up not long after she started rolling. I was pleasantly suprised at the midrange from 5000 rpm on up, so you can actualy ride this thing without having to rev it to the moon every shift. However, to move along smartly, reving it to at least 10,000 rpm was best. What fun! to ride this thing at or near full tilt is a blast. I was constantly suprised to go WFO from the get go, feel like I was on a racetrack, look down, and I'm hitting maybe 65mph...ha ha. If I rode either of my other scoots like this, I'd be dead or in jail, rev my VFR to redline in 3rd and you are well over 100mph. Twist the throttle WO on my ZRX, and it's like being launched into space, she won't stop pulling 'til north of 150mph. But, this 250....I forgot how much fun it was to ride a tiddler. Heck, I grew up riding 50's to 90's and we had a ball with those things, riding like crazy people and NEVER getting pulled over. As a matter of fact, in 1968 I bought a Yamaha "Twin Jet" 180 2 stroke 2 cylinder streetbike, and was convinced that I had finaly graduated to a "big" bike. So much so that I rode it from Jax Beach FL, to Leesburg, VA and back on my 1st ever over the road M/C ride. This little Ninja brings back some fond memories. I may have to keep this one in the stable......we'll see
