Sold the 250, miss the 250.

[Kruse08]

I sold off the 250 as so many do because they chase the dream of bigger is better. Well, I bought a bigger bike but it is older and needed some love. I gave it the love it needed with help from some friends. I have ridden some distance and realized I bought the wrong bike and miss the lightness and nimbleness of the 250. I know if I would have bought a sport touring like I wanted I may not be posting this. Though that is not the case. I bought a standard bike which is heavier and sloppier than the 250 and I miss it. Mistake made and lesson well learned. Kind of looking at a ninja 500 but hard to find and hard to sell my bike. Just wanted to share.

[dcj13]

I hear you, Brandon. What kind of standard bike did you get?

["A"]

I bought my first pre-gen 250 for $450, it had salvage title, some body damage, broken front fender, dented tank... but low mileage, I rode it for approx. 4k miles before selling it for $800.

Two months after I sold the 250 I started looking for a replacement.
My current 2004 model has a clean title, bought for $850 w/8k miles on the bike, needed some carb cleaning, but been running great ever since. Now at 14k miles, it's my daily commuter between Hoboken, Mahattan and Brooklyn.

No matter how many other bikes I have in my garage, I will likely always keep a pre-gen Ninja 250. They are cheap to buy, ease to maintain, cheap to repair and does just about any type of riding if the rider is up to it.
Those who say 250 is not enough, more than likely is just because they don't know how to ride one.

[Kruse08]

I picked up a 92 Honda CB750 Nighthawk which I thought I would enjoy and I do but it is not the bike for me. I am trying to sell to pick up something different.

[dcj13]

Originally Posted by "A"

...it's my daily commuter between Hoboken, Manhattan and Brooklyn.

No matter how many other bikes I have in my garage, I will likely always keep a pre-gen Ninja 250. They are cheap to buy, ease to maintain, cheap to repair and does just about any type of riding if the rider is up to it.
Those who say 250 is not enough, more than likely is just because they don't know how to ride one.

I agree. Although deciding between the 250 pregen Ninja and the KLR250, I chose to keep the baby KLR. It's 45 lbs lighter, has more torque right off idle, more comfortable upright seating, and a much more plush suspension: the right bike for the hills and rough city streets of Seattle. The Ninjette was better on the freeway, though.

[dcj13]

Originally Posted by Kruse08

I picked up a 92 Honda CB750 Nighthawk which I thought I would enjoy and I do but it is not the bike for me. I am trying to sell to pick up something different.

The 750 Nighthawk is a nice all-rounder. The adult former neighbor kid (happens to be the brother of the adult former neighbor kid who bought my Ninjette) had one for a couple of years and I thought it rode really well. Not as nimble as the Ninjette, though.

If you're contemplating getting another 250, you might want to try a KLX250 (or the Honda or Yamaha equivalent) before you buy.

[Kruse08]

I havd to sell my bike first and its rough because I had to fix it up but its a great well running bike with lots of new parts on it. Just not a comfortable confident bike. I like it but not what I want. Now to find a buyer!

[CycleCam303]

Ouch. Sorry to hear that you don't like the different bike. I wouldn't write off a standard yet. Remember that motorcycles are like computers. Modern bikes are pretty awesome. And something 1992 is anything but modern.

Good news is you should be able to flip the bike and not be too deep in the whole getting another 250. Although I would just get a 300.

[Kruse08]

Yeah, it will happen in time. Maybe someone here would like a bigger bike??? I am patient though so.

[VaFish]

In about a month it will be perfect time to buy a bike. Just keep your eye out for a good deal.

[Kruse08]

Can not buy without selling the one I have.

["A"]

I have had a 2001 Nighthawk 750, rock solid bike, decent power, very easy/very little maintenance required, just a bit top heavy, but great for long distance/packed touring, good highway/daily rider, put it away wet and forget about it kinda bike.
My wife likes the backrest so she can fall asleep on the bike, passenger seating area is nice and big, good power even for 2-up.

It's a 5-speed, but engine likes to rev just like most in-line4 Hondas.

[Kruse08]

Nice nighthawk, glad you enjoy yours.

["A"]

Nighthawk 750 is a very capable bike, what exactly is it not working out for you?
Too heavy? not sporty enough? no wind protection? riding position?

[Kruse08]

The riding position is not what I expected after riding it for over 500 miles. I dislike the top heaviness of the bike. I did test ride it before I bought it but I never noticed this on the short ride. To outdated and not worth it to invest money to upgrade. I just felt like saying that people are not crazy to miss a 250. They are fun bikes. Just wanted people of this forum to know that others miss the bikes when they leave them.

[Kruse08]

Dcj13, why do you say to look at the klr250?

[kxpower?]

Originally Posted by Kruse08

The riding position is not what I expected after riding it for over 500 miles. I dislike the top heaviness of the bike. I did test ride it before I bought it but I never noticed this on the short ride. To outdated and not worth it to invest money to upgrade. I just felt like saying that people are not crazy to miss a 250. They are fun bikes. Just wanted people of this forum to know that others miss the bikes when they leave them.

Man that sucks. Have you looked into putting on a wider handlebar? Depending on what you have now, of course, but wider/taller bars will give you better leverage at low speeds so the top-heaviness won't be so bad, and may be more comfortable for longer rides.

You're only eight hours away from me, I might be coerced into taking it off your hands... any interest in a nice little 82 GS 450? A tad heavier than the 250, about the same power and nice relaxed standard riding position might suit you.

[dcj13]

Originally Posted by Kruse08

Dcj13, why do you say to look at the klr250?

Just suggesting you don't rule out a small dual-sport bike. Actually, I suggested a KLX, as the KLR250 (kick start only) hasn't been made for 10 years.

Nothing wrong with the Ninjette. They are great bikes!

[kxpower?]

Originally Posted by dcj13

Just suggesting you don't rule out a small dual-sport bike. Actually, I suggested a KLX, as the KLR250 (kick start only) hasn't been made for 10 years.

Nothing wrong with the Ninjette. They are great bikes!

+1, rode my brother's KLX 650 all over Detroit one week, could not ask for a better city bike, especially on the minefields that pass for streets up there. Great upright seating, nice wide bars make it cake to handle at low speeds.

[Kruse08]

Not ruling out any bike. Not a huge fan of cruisers but I will look at them. Just difficult to go back to smaller cc since the passing power is so much nicer with larger cc bikes.

["A"]

Small displacement dual sport are little more practical than Nighthawk. But when compared to Ninja 250, it's not a whole lot more capable.

Small thumper engine likely more vibration than Ninja 250, even though lower rev to get higher torque, but at highway speed are harder to maintain, due to wind resistance and handling nature of a lightweight vehicle with large profile.
The dual sized tires/tube combo require more spares to carry.

I have a street legal KLX300 that I ride as a dual sport, far more trail operation than street, with dirt bike knobbies. KLX300 is a very capable trail bike, but I would avoid riding on the street just because effective off-road gearing doesn't perform too well at street legal speed.. far less at highway speed, even with 6-speed gear box.


I also had a Kawasaki Super Sherpa, it;s got a wide-ratio 6-speed gearbox, much better suited for street use than KLX300, but it's air/oil cooled engine, decent enough for casual trail riding, but just need to keep moving to avoid overheating the oil.


Ultimately, I steered away from dual sport, the wide handlebar and tall profile affects handling too much at highway speed, not suited for lane-splitting with the tall standover height, tubed tires are not as easy to plug when flat occurs.
I just keep my KLX300 for my trail riding fix, getting to the trails on a street legal dirt bike is much easier than trailer.

For street use, it is hard to beat the pre-gen Ninja 250. Mine get well over 220 mile between fill-up, always less than 3.5 gal. no matter how much I rev the engine to keep the highway speed. In the twisties you learn to carry the speed through corners, keep the throttle in powerband above 8k rpm and spank them liter-class sportbikes that need to use their brakes.
In Manhattan and downtown Philly, I park my Ninja among bicycle racks, never get a parking ticket since the profile of the Ninja 250 is so small. Easily get between car mirrors when traffic becomes bumper-to-bumper.

[motoman]

I keep thinking of getting another dual sport only had mine for a short time I have a 2010 250r but every time I look at it I just can,t do it. It,s such a good looking bike and fun to ride

[xXecuterXx2]

Turn it into the Mad Max bike, instant +3k to price

[InvisiBill]

If you like the 250 but want a little more power, definitely check out the EX500. It has about twice the power, but still has a lot in common with the 250, down to a number of shared/swappable parts. I would consider the Gen1 pretty similar to the PreGen, and the Gen2 a mix of the PreGen and NewGen. If you can handle the '90s styling (including the split fairing), they're usually priced about the same as or even cheaper than 250s in this area.