Advanced rider, 250R by choice?

[sonny4472]

I'm really curious to know about other riders who ride the 250R, EX250 or 300R by choice.
As an example I have been riding for about 22 years, including some track time, and I have owned quite a myriad of bikes. I currently have a Buell 1125R, but I ride my 250R daily instead.
What about you guys? What are your motivations if the 250 is your favorite?

[subxero]

it's cheap, parts are cheap, it's easy to work on. If I wasn't poor I would have turbo busa dropped and strrrreeeeettttccccchhhhhheeeeed into the next zip code wit da chrome!!

[NevadaWolf]

Cheap to own, cheap to maintain, cheap to modify, cheap to repair, cheap to insure, cheap to register.

I find the 250 to be a very comfortable bike and does exactly what I ask of it, from track, to commuting, to canyons, to interstates, to dirt even. My little Ninjette fits me and what I want to do on a bike. It's small, unassuming, and capable of doing so much more than people expect. Kind of like me!

[greenaero]

I have 47 years riding experience and owned lots of different motos during that time. I love the Ninjette because of its great bang for the buck, adequate power, good handling, and great efficiency. MY priorities have changed from riding hard all the time to riding as smoothly , safely and efficiently as I can all the time. The Ninjette does a great job in meeting those objectives.

[capt_bugaloo]

I've been riding street bikes since April 1992. In that time I've owned or rented something like 25 different bikes, from a 50cc Honda scooter to a Harley 883 Sportster. I've rode sportbikes, dual-purposes, commuters, cruisers, etc. I'm no Ironbutt Rallyist, but I figure that I've rode something like 5,000 miles per year, for a rough total of say 110,000 miles.

My number one criteria for a motorcycle is not performance or handling, it's reliability. A bike that is superb for riding but won't start easily when I push the button is worthless to me. I've always found Kawasakis to be very reliable and dependable.

The Ninja 250R is a good all-around bike. It's not terribly fast off the line, but it's better than most cars and that's good enough for me. Costs for maintenance, parts, and insurance are about half that of most larger bikes, and so I can afford to keep my bike on the road year-round while most other guys here are parking their motorcycles from October through March.

If there is one brand I've learned to stay away from, it's BMW (Bring My Wallet). I've owned/rented three, and all three gave me mechanical fits at one point or another. "Superior German Engineering" my ass.

[sharky nrk]

not sure if I qualify but I choose the 250 for all the reasons NevadaWolf posted. I own other bikes, but ride the 250 the most. I have maybe 20K street miles under my belt and 10 or so trackdays over the course of 5 or so years.

[Blue Monster]

I received my cycle endorsement in 1980, rode a 1970 Norton from Dayton, OH to Tucson AZ. in '82. Nineteen bike over the years: 125's, 250's, 750, 800. 1000's. 1340 etc. my Pygmy Pony is my only bike now, probably the last. Err other than an old KLR 250 I have in my sights...

[Joshua763]

I found mine on cl advertised as a streetfighter got a good deal, Its a low mile crash victim that runs and rides great. It amazed me the other day how fast it can be. This is my sixth bike and it is the most fun to ride out of all of them. They are great little bikes with more than enough power to get a to b.
I also like how I don't feel bad about pulling into the hood after dark some of my bikes have been too loud to be sneaky.

[accumack]

I've been riding since the early 70s and can afford any bike I want. I chose the Ninja 300.
It is fun, easy to work on, good fuel milage, great looking, lot of accessories.

[sonny4472]

I've noticed the types of 250 riders are completely different from other types of bikes.
Perhaps a little less attitude?

[spooph]

fanboy discussion!!! I like these...

for all of the reasons mentioned above, but more so because it's more fun to ride a slow bike fast, than a fast bike slow... The 250 is perfectly capable for the street, it's suspension, brakes and acceleration a match for the designed limitations of our public streets and highways..

[verboten1]

I have my KLR, Virago and Cafe racer project.

I wanted something different, something light that could handle well.

it's smoother on the expressway, quieter.


I have been having a blast on my wifes 2000 250, so I picked up this '08 and I'm liking it so far!

[guambra2001]

Man I really miss my 1125CR, I traded it in to get my "dream" bike a S1000RR, by this point I've had plenty of bikes to include a ZX10R. Don't get me wrong the BMW was great but like it's been said before, I always choose my "wife's" N300 over the BMW on most occasions.

In fact if I could have kept the 1125CR instead of the BMW that would have been better. Now I have my n300 and really love it, it's great for commuting, the track is less intimidating, and the canyons are Jair as fun, if not more

[pwalo]

I've been riding for 40 odd years, and like a lot of older riders I can afford pretty well any motorcycle I want (with planning approval from Mr S of course). I had intended to get an MV Augusta F3 675 as my next bike, but bought my 300 instead.

I really like it because it's small, light, reminds me of my long gone RD400, and is just so much less of a hassle to ride than a larger sports bike.

[sonny4472]

I like the feeling of complete trust and confidence in my 250. I like the feeling of using ALL of the motor.
I'm considering going BIG with my next bike, maybe a 300.

[EsrTek]

Not sure I qualify as advanced, but I did go back to a 300 after having a inline 4 600.
As others said, more confidence in bike, cheaper all around (esp Ins.) and you can flog the hell out of it and not be in triple digit / lose your lic levels.

[mania]

Like others posted before me ....been riding & racing since the 70's
These days this bike is all I really need.
I do not tour & do not ride freeways

All I really ride is tight twisties
For this riding nothing beats this bike & to top it off I do not think
I could ...or would want to ....go any faster for the rides I do.

My rides regularly see me downshifting to 2nd or even 1st gear
for tight mountain turns
Then quick acceleration to 3rd...4th max
Speeds rarely top 120kph / 75mph nor could they IMHO
On the way home I have a couple stretches I touch 165kph/102mph but that is less than a minute out of a 2hr+ ride

I truly like this bike for this type of riding. Light ( of course I wish even lighter ),
responsive....rpm range is fun & I tend to stay between 9k-redline most of ride using engine braking.

With upgrades of tires,brakes,suspension & the usual power upgrades pipe/filter/efi controller .....
I find it to be a very capable bike.

Yes sure at times I think it might be nice to try the new stuff in the 600/1000 range
but I have been there & know what it is & why it is not needed at all for my current riding

So as others have said this is a very nice package, hard to beat on many fronts,
weight,cost to own & maintain, insure as well as improvements all cheaper than bigger bikes

Yep like it a lot

I will say that I hope they continue to improve this class of bike for folks like us
who are not beginners & could appreciate some finer things like lighter stiffer frame,
better suspension etc. I would be willing to pay for these if they came stock & were
not insanely priced.

[fishdip]

Originally Posted by sonny4472

I'm really curious to know about other riders who ride the 250R, EX250 or 300R by choice.
As an example I have been riding for about 22 years, including some track time, and I have owned quite a myriad of bikes. I currently have a Buell 1125R, but I ride my 250R daily instead.
What about you guys? What are your motivations if the 250 is your favorite?

I sold my 2 cbr600rr and got the 2 300 and the 250

[jgcable]

I ride an 03 250r by choice. I have owned a ton of bikes over the years of all kinds and sizes ranging from the 250cc up to 1800cc. I have a big bike to ride 2-up with my wife and when its just me.. its my Lime Green 250r.
Its fun and its plenty fast for the back roads of Connecticut. I love the RPM's. That's probably the biggest draw for me.

[ally99]

It's cheap. It's a good size (weight and height) for my 120 pounds.
I have more fun riding bikes hard than riding them easy, and it's possible to still ride the little Ninj hard at times on the street (which is where I do most of my riding). The larger displacement throttles could get me in trouble on the street, but admittedly, they are more fun on the track than my smaller bikes.

[kawabama]

Not an "advanced" rider, but that never stopped me from commenting like one. :-)

My 2007 has been a wonderful bike. Getting close to 20,000 on it. Just dropped $120 in insurance...... for the YEAR! Cost of ownership is incredible, as in incredible low.

It's also so much fun to rip up through the gears and feel like you're getting your money's worth out of it. And that's probably the biggest appeal. There is so much wisdom in the saying: "better to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow". The only bike that could lure me away from the ninjette would be a dualsport. I live in the sticks now and so many logging roads call to me on the drive home from work.

[csmith12]

[Bill N]

50 years experience for me. I currently own a 1300, 1100 and the 250. It's a hoot. My favorite commuter by far. Has plenty of power for city riding and short day trips in the country. It's just a damn fine, good looking bike. Kudos to Kawasaki. Bill

[cbinker]

aside from being cheaper all around, it is fun to put guys in their place that think you have a girls bike.

[CZroe]

No mention of @rojoracing53?!

[mgentz]

Originally Posted by sonny4472

I'm really curious to know about other riders who ride the 250R, EX250 or 300R by choice.
As an example I have been riding for about 22 years, including some track time, and I have owned quite a myriad of bikes. I currently have a Buell 1125R, but I ride my 250R daily instead.
What about you guys? What are your motivations if the 250 is your favorite?

I ride the 250R by choice. It is a fun little bike that keeps me out of trouble.

[cuong-nutz]

I yearn for more power when I'm out at the track playing with bigger bikes but other than than that, the 250 does what I need and keeps me below triple digits and out id trouble most of the time. Parts a plentiful and easy to source and nit to mention relatively cheap.

[rojoracing53]

I may be hard to find someone more over qualified then me to be riding a ninja 250 on a regular basis. At the same time the bike does everything I need it to and can't do most of the things I souldnt need to do.

Things I needed it to do
It gets good MPG
Its cheap to purchase and own
Parts are easy to find
It looks good enough to pass as a 600 just about everywhere
It built to last 44k miles and still going strong
After some mods it can comfortably cross several states carrying a Mtb

Things I'm glad it can't do because if it did I would abuse the ability

It can't do power wheelies
It can't outrun most cagers or police so you need to play nice
It can't comfortably do triple digit speeds so I tend to cruise at 70-80mph
It's not sexy enough to be stolen while sitting next to say an RSV4

I will go onto say my bike after two years of constant modding is so far from stock that egonomics wise that it feels nothing like a stock bike. In fact when I hop on a stock 250 or 300 all the things I hated about the bike originally are all brought right back to my attention and it makes me fall in love with my bike all over again. Now if only it wasn't a Kawasaki

[mgentz]

Originally Posted by rojoracing53

Things I'm glad it can't do because if it did I would abuse the ability

It can't do power wheelies
It can't outrun most cagers or police so you need to play nice
It can't comfortably do triple digit speeds so I tend to cruise at 70-80mph
It's not sexy enough to be stolen while sitting next to say an RSV4

you can't do power wheelies on your's?