Don't believe everything you hear

[akima]

Edit: the video has been taken down.

Link to original page on YouTube.

I just watched this video and with about 2 minutes of research I concluded much of what the guy said was complete BS.

He claims that the new ninja 300 has a dry weight of 172KG compared to his CBR 600 dry weight of ~155.

Infact if you check the Kawasaki official site it reports a "curb weight" of 172KG. Curb weight means the bike is about as heavy as the bike can be without luggage and passenger (so full petrol tank, full oil tank, full fluid reserves and the weight of the supplied toolkit included). Compare that to the current CBR 600RR curb weight of 194kg and it's not bad at all.

He also states an opinion that it's not suitable for a new rider compared to the ninja 250s. This is an opinion so he can't be incorrect, but I see no evidence for his claim. I think the new ninja 300 is likely a better choice for new riders as it has two great new safety features that I would love to have had when I first started riding:
* a safety orientated slipper clutch. This should help avoid a scenario where a new rider down shifts and lets out the clutch causing the engine braking to lock up the rear wheel.
* ABS. Everyone probably understands the obvious safety advantages of ABS brakes.

It also has a slightly lower seat height making it easier for smaller new riders to be well balanced when at stand still.

[lgk]

why would i listen to a person crazy enough to drive on the wrong side of the road.

[akima]

^ It's ok though! We're lucky enough to all be crazy and all drive on the wrong side of the road, so there are rarely any collisions

[Miles_Prower]

slightly higher seat height
but narrower seat!

[akima]

Originally Posted by Miles_Prower

slightly higher seat height

Really? The Kawasaki UK website reports that the new 300 has a seat height of 785 mm and 2008+ Ninja 250R has a 790 mm seat height. Do they liess?!!

[Miles_Prower]

Originally Posted by akima

Really? The Kawasaki UK website reports that the new 300 has a seat height of 785 mm and 2008+ Ninja 250R has a 790 mm seat height. Do they liess?!!

hmmm strange..! yep, US site says 30.9in for 300 and 30.5in for 250R

[akima]

Originally Posted by Miles_Prower

hmmm strange..! yep, US site says 30.9in for 300 and 30.5in for 250R

Either the USA-Japanese or the UK-Japanese are lying! Maybe even both are lying!!

[Miles_Prower]

Originally Posted by akima

Either the USA-Japanese or the UK-Japanese are lying! Maybe even both are lying!!

hehehe maybe they are all lying!!
but anyways i agree with you, ABS sounds nice!

[Ben M]

Lol any video with the comments disabled is fake!

[ninja250r81]

Originally Posted by lgk

why would i listen to a person crazy enough to drive on the wrong side of the road.

Looks like he lives in Victoria, Australia.

he rides a cbr600rr with owning a kawi pre gen 250cc

In his is defense dry weight is 156kg and his comments section states that he was wrong with the weight of the cbr600rr.

after riding my 250 i dont want a 300.

and i would recommend 2nd hand 250 over a new 300 for a beginner.

[akima]

Originally Posted by ninja250r81

and i would recommend 2nd hand 250 over a new 300 for a beginner.

why?

[NinjetteNewfie]

Originally Posted by akima

why?

'Cause you won't feel as bad dropping a pre-owned 250, as you would if you dropped a brand new 300. Newbie rider is almost a guarantee to drop the bike.

[Motofool]

This video is private.
Sorry about that.

[lgk]

Originally Posted by ninja250r81

and i would recommend 2nd hand 250 over a new 300 for a beginner.

what about a used 250 vs a used 300 with abs?
they won't stay new forever...
look 2-3 yrs down the road, they will probably be more common than newgens.

the 300 is a great beginner bike.
its feature set lets the rider concentrate on skills, and lengthens time before trade-in.

[lgk]

Originally Posted by Motofool

This video is private.
Sorry about that.

the first video is fail and his followup video was in a car.

he was wrong, and didn't know how to damage control.

[Joshorilla]

Originally Posted by akima

why?

I prefer the look of the 08-12 over the 300, the 300 looks too plasticy and angular for my liking, however I prefer the headlights of the 300, the ninja 250 headlights always remind me of Zool, a bit cartoony.

[akima]

^ ha ha - I remember playing that on someone elses computer as a kid. The eyes really do look similar... and Zool is a ninja!

Side note: "I prefer the looks of X" is not a good reason for why you think one bike is more suitable than another for a beginner.

I actually prefer the looks of the 2008+ ninja 250r too

The point people have made about the price difference seems reasonable to me, but even then... as a beginner I'd get the bike with more safety features if I had the money. If you smash up your bike, you can save up and buy another or even get it out of insurance. If you smash up your body it could be impossible to fix it back to how it was and even if it is possible, the bill will be much much higher than the cost of fixing/replacing a bike.

[Joshorilla]

Originally Posted by akima

^ ha ha - I remember playing that on someone elses computer as a kid. The eyes really do look similar... and Zool is a ninja!

Side note: "I prefer the looks of X" is not a good reason for why you think one bike is more suitable than another for a beginner.

I actually prefer the looks of the 2008+ ninja 250r too

The point people have made about the price difference seems reasonable to me, but even then... as a beginner I'd get the bike with more safety features if I had the money. If you smash up your bike, you can save up and buy another or even get it out of insurance. If you smash up your body it could be impossible to fix it back to how it was and even if it is possible, the bill will be much much higher than the cost of fixing/replacing a bike.

I havn't really commented on why one is better for a begginer than the other, as they are so simmilar that I wouldn't even bother talking technical and would say to get whatever one you prefer the look of.

It's like deciding which is the healthier fruit, apples or oranges, they are both good.

The debate for the slipper clutch and abs is flawed imo, sure it prevents brake locking and downshift skids, but it mollycoddles the rider too much imo, and I would go as far as to say it's dangerous as when and if you decide to up the cc's and you don't have these features acting as a safety net you havn't learned proper braking techniques of clutch control, it's like when you see people whom have never driven a manual car in their life go to drive one and it's like they have to learn driving all over again, while if you learned in a manual to start with you can hop in an automatic and be fine.

[akima]

Originally Posted by Joshorilla

The debate for the slipper clutch and abs is flawed imo, sure it prevents brake locking and downshift skids, but it mollycoddles the rider too much imo, and I would go as far as to say it's dangerous as when and if you decide to up the cc's and you don't have these features acting as a safety net you havn't learned proper braking techniques of clutch control, it's like when you see people whom have never driven a manual car in their life go to drive one and it's like they have to learn driving all over again, while if you learned in a manual to start with you can hop in an automatic and be fine.

That's not a good argument to make in favor of getting a bike without a slipper and abs. It's like saying 'it's better to live in a high violent-crime rate area. someone who lives in a low violent-crime area wont learn the necessary skills needed to better survive if they move to the high crime area."

Personally -- assuming I had the cash -- I'd choose both the safer neighborhood and the safer bike. You exercise poor emergency braking technique on a ninja 250r and there's a very good chance you'll go down (see the crash sub-forum). You exercise poor braking technique on a ninja 300 and you have a much better chance of staying upright while that fancy nissan abs tech takes over. If someone is then stupid enough to transfer to a no-abs bike and assume that they don't need to apply more intelligence to their braking and practice lots... their stupid head is likely to hit the ground the next time some equally stupid person in a cage pulls out in front of them.

I hear the argument that it's easier to learn to do something right if you've been doing it that way from the start, but it's certainly not impossible to re-learn how to do something differently. Also: ABS is here to stay and I imagine it will be standard on almost every single new motorcycle before long. Considering that, I don't think there is anything wrong with a rider learning how to brake effectively on an ABS bike instead of a non ABS one.

In those initial months of riding there is so many potential ways for a rider to crash. If I can pay an extra £500 to greatly minimize the chance of a couple of different causes of crashing then that sounds like a great deal. It might even save some lives.

^ none of the above changes the fact that I love my 2fiddy to bits!

[choneofakind]

Idk, I'm not really for or against the abs. It would be a good tool for a newbie in an emergency because it takes out a big variable (threshold braking) but I figure that I've learned that skill from mtb riding and car driving school, and skid car driving school. ABS is a good option, but not a deal breaker for me. Same with the slipper. I'm just kind of meh on them.

[slowninja]

i thnk the new 300 is a really good first bike choice, but not a brand new one, unless you have some spare change. it's quite expensive and new riders are more than likely to drop it. i'd feel really bad if i dropped a brand new spotless bike. this is just my opinion!

[csmith12]

If the slipper is anything like my R6's, it's not all that. Even at track speeds.

[Jiggles]

You get a parking violation and a maggot on your sleeve.

[lgk]

Originally Posted by slowninja

i thnk the new 300 is a really good first bike choice, but not a brand new one, unless you have some spare change. it's quite expensive and new riders are more than likely to drop it. i'd feel really bad if i dropped a brand new spotless bike. this is just my opinion!

you might drop it once but you will feel so bad, you wont do it again.

[alex.s]

do you frequently intend to lock up your front brake?

do you frequently intend to spin up the rear downshifting?

neither do i.

it's called a safety feature for a reason, because when you need it to save you, it will.

[lgk]

Originally Posted by alex.s

it's called a safety feature for a reason, because when you need it to save you, it will.

its like insurance,
you might not need it but you'll be glad you have it when something bad happens.

[250rr]

Originally Posted by NinjetteNewfie

'Cause you won't feel as bad dropping a pre-owned 250, as you would if you dropped a brand new 300. Newbie rider is almost a guarantee to drop the bike.

I think that a newbie IS more likely to drop the bike. But I actually don't think this has to be the case. When I bought my Ninja a year ago this month I had already been stalking this site for months. Because of my due diligence, I knew that my chances of dropping my perfect Baby Ninja was higher than average for my first year of ownership.

So what did I do, you ask? I pretended that I would get $50,000 from Kawasaki if I didn't drop my bike for in my first year of ownership! It so works, my fellow Ninjetters! The only issue I have is a genuine resentment towards Kawasaki for not sending me my check. Damn them. Damn them all to hell!

[NinjetteNewfie]

So what did I do, you ask? I pretended that I would get $50,000 from Kawasaki if I didn't drop my bike for in my first year of ownership! It so works, my fellow Ninjetters! The only issue I have is a genuine resentment towards Kawasaki for not sending me my check. Damn them. Damn them all to hell!

LOL!! The check is in the mail!! Yes being more aware of the potential to drop the bike as a newbie could certainly curb some of the random knucklehead drops and tip-overs. But sometimes damage done to a newbie's bike isn't their fault, case in point, I was hit from behind by a cager and my bike was wrote off. I'd bought the bike used, and the guy's insurance covered it, but none of that kept my heart from breaking while looking at my poor baby laying on the road If it had to be a brand new bike, I think I would have had to be medicated, and the man that hit me would have needed protection!!

[akima]

@250rr: ha ha! I like your technique.

[red5]

I thought Zool was pretty hot.