2012 Ninja 250 is FINALLY OUT!

[Kurgan]

Originally Posted by headshrink

The absolute WORST was, I think, the 2011 (or was it 2010) green with the 80s checkering. Made me wonder if a disgruntled employee designed it before getting fired.

That was the street version of the MotoGP graphics.

It looks good on the A-Tech MotoGP nose & tail.

[headshrink]

Originally Posted by choneofakind

When I talked to the Kawi guy at ticket to ride, he said that FI would increase the price by at least 1000 or so. He said they were trying to work out a price but expect it in the US within the next few years

I wonder if it adds the equivilant of that in other countries.... At that price point, I would expect other improvements as well.

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by etiainen

I assume you mean 2012?
No, I don't think it has, but I"m not sure. I had thought that in the other parts of the world the CBR250R is MUCH cheaper than the 250(FI).


Even if the conversion rate is the case, then they'd end up probably being priced the same.

But even at that increased price you'd get a lot more, least when it comes to new technology.

(and the valve checks not at 7500, my first is coming up, and as interested as I am in learning how to do it, the ever approaching cloud of college classwork looms ahead too)

Yes, 2012.

Originally Posted by Heed

Anyone else disappointed in the graphics? :/

I think they're ugly, but they should be optional -- at least offer a solid black color.

How can Kawasaki not give the $4449 '12 fuel injection while the CBR250R (MSRP $3999) is fuel injected as standard?

Once again, that's the '11 CBR250 price. As far as you know, the same market forces will be raising it as well.

[n4mwd]

I think the main reason Kawi doesn't have FI on the 250 is pure politics. The whole purpose of the 250 is to get people to upgrade to a 600 or bigger. They have FI and gauges on a 600. If they gave you everything on a 250, you wouldn't want to upgrade.

Look what Honda did to the CBR250. It used to be 4 cylinders and had performance comparable to the Ninja 250. In fact, I think it actually had better MPG. Now they gave it FI, but took away three cylinders and a whole lot of performance. Its only 2 seconds faster than a Prius in a 0-60 run. Even the gas mileage is worse. But you still have a reason to upgrade to a bigger CBR.

Whatever Kawi does, I hope it doesn't involve shaving off any more performance. If they do, I might as well dust off my big wheel from when I was 5 years old and ride on that.

[etiainen]

The new CBR250R was designed for emerging markets and transportation. The old one was a supersport racing model no?

I think the naming is just quite deceiving.

Also pretty sure the new CBR250 has much better mileage than the old one. Pretty sure the 4-cylinder inline four with a carb had much worse mileage.

EDIT:

Designing a bike for upgrading?

I don't know, maybe for the American Kawa...definitely not for the Honda. In the countries it was designed for a 250cc isn't seen as that small of a bike.

Why design a bike for upgrading? I think the American market is the only place where people want to 'upgrade' because a 250 is too 'small' for them.

DOUBLE EDIT:

Not trying to start any 600cc flame wars or anything like that, I don't have anything against big bikes.

I just don't think bikes are designed for 'upgrading' in particular. I just feel like there's just so much demand for 250cc's as learners and then a lot of people just think the only thing 'real' out there is a 600. I know a lot of people here at ninjette don't think like that, but I've just run into so many people in real life who do.(Mostly people who don't actually ride though)

[CThunder-blue]

Originally Posted by n4mwd

I think the main reason Kawi doesn't have FI on the 250 is pure politics. The whole purpose of the 250 is to get people to upgrade to a 600 or bigger. They have FI and gauges on a 600. If they gave you everything on a 250, you wouldn't want to upgrade.

There are FI 250R bikes in Europe and Asia. I don't think your use of "politics" is the right term for what you describe.

[DjDiablo]

Originally Posted by CThunder-blue

There are FI 250R bikes in Europe and Asia. I don't think your use of "politics" is the right term for what you describe.

Include Brasil on the list... and we are not first wold country like most people would like to say... o and our economy is not a AAA is bely a BB so i really dont know why USA does not get the FI!!!

[CThunder-blue]

Yeah, I wasn't sure if South America got the FI bikes too, but It seems US and Canada didn't get them. No idea why since FI should be more fuel efficient.

[NathanUc]

Maybe I'm crazy but I could have SWORN I saw a red/black Ninja like that one pictured the other day. I figured it was just a custom decal job.... Maybe it was but just similar.

I want to see the 2012 650r color options... THERE BETTER BE RED AGAIN!!!! I wonder if the 650r is going to become the 650 instead as well?

[TomServo]

Originally Posted by Jepoy005

price went up by 400

Price went up $200.

2011 Non-SE was $3999, 2012 Non-SE is $4199
2011 SE was $4249, 2012 SE is $4449

[n4mwd]

Originally Posted by DjDiablo

Include Brasil on the list... and we are not first wold country like most people would like to say... o and our economy is not a AAA is bely a BB so i really dont know why USA does not get the FI!!!

Isn't Brazil the S.American Country that has all the ethanol in the gas. I'm not sure what the percentages are, but high percentage ethanol fuels work better in FI vehicles. Its the only way to have a flex fuel vehicle. Maybe that necessitated Brazil's FI Ninja. Last I heard, the US is threatening 15-20% ethanol gas so we might get an FI Ninja for the same reason.

What is the MSRP of a Brazilian Ninja 250? (In US Dollars)

[n4mwd]

Originally Posted by etiainen

Also pretty sure the new CBR250 has much better mileage than the old one. Pretty sure the 4-cylinder inline four with a carb had much worse mileage.

I just double checked the mpg with my favorite motorcycle reference (wikipedia) and the 4 cylinder cbr250 lists 94 mpg and a top speed of 124 mph. Even the Ninja wasn't that good. The New cbr250r is listed as 57 mpg with a top speed of 91 mph. It also says that the good one was only available in Japan and Australia.

[Alex]

Originally Posted by n4mwd

the 4 cylinder cbr250 lists 94 mpg and a top speed of 124 mph.

That figure is misleading. Here is the original honda doc for that 4-cyl cbr250:

http://www.honda.co.jp/factbook/moto...00300/011.html

It lists 40 kilometers per liter, at a constant speed of 60 km/hr.

Converted to numbers we're more familiar with, that is 94 mpg, at a constant speed of 37 mph (in top gear). The bike would get nowhere near 94 mpg on a standard mileage loop today, or in normal usage either.

[kevinkit]

It cost almost USD$ 8,500 here in Malaysia. Thanks to the Freakin' Government Tax.

[n4mwd]

Originally Posted by Alex

That figure is misleading. ...
Converted to numbers we're more familiar with, that is 94 mpg, at a constant speed of 37 mph (in top gear). The bike would get nowhere near 94 mpg on a standard mileage loop today, or in normal usage either.

I didn't know that. A constant speed is no way to test for mpg. Its not even close to realistic.

When I was first learning to ride my Ninja I rode over to Wellington, a local neighborhood, and just rode around until I was just about out of gas. The average speed limit was about 35-40. At the next fill up, it worked out to 80 mpg. That was with real live traffic and starting and stopping and such. It would have probably done 94 on a constant speed dyno as well. At real speeds, it was about 70 mpg pretty regular and then dropped to 58 when they upped the percentage of ethanol recently.

When I said the reason we don't have FI on the ninjette was because of politics, I meant internal company politics and not national politics.

In any case, they aren't going to give us something for free and they still want us to have a motivation to buy a bigger Ninja. I seriously fear that if they give us FI, they are going to do something to kill performance, or jack the price way up. All they did this year was add a great shade of green and jacked the price up $200. Think of what FI would cost.

Here's a guy that added FI to a 2005 Ninjette. It probably cost him $1000 or more considering all the parts he added. Not to mention his labor.

[DjDiablo]

Originally Posted by n4mwd

Isn't Brazil the S.American Country that has all the ethanol in the gas. I'm not sure what the percentages are, but high percentage ethanol fuels work better in FI vehicles. Its the only way to have a flex fuel vehicle. Maybe that necessitated Brazil's FI Ninja. Last I heard, the US is threatening 15-20% ethanol gas so we might get an FI Ninja for the same reason.

What is the MSRP of a Brazilian Ninja 250? (In US Dollars)

Yeas we make most of the ethanol in the world... but... you probably pay less for it than we do... our gas has alot ethanol on it... and yeas that is why we got the FI bike... But still USA could have FI bikes and make the costumers happier and willing to pay more...

We pay: US$ 10,625.00 for 2011 - US$11,875.00 for SE2011
We dont have the 2012 model out here!!!

About the cost of the FI bike vs a carb...
What i think is... better performance... Bike runs smooth... it turns on easy on cold days... less fuel used...
So US$1,000.00 is nothing for a good bike that you are going to be with for 5 to 6 years (even more some times)...
And people that realy rides bikes will aways and to buy a 650cc bike... because real bikers want real bikes... and kawasaki does not make bikes for any tipe of people they make for people that loves bike... they are not honda, or yamaha that aim on selling more a more bike for any tipe o people...

[Kurgan]

Originally Posted by n4mwd

I think the main reason Kawi doesn't have FI on the 250 is pure politics. The whole purpose of the 250 is to get people to upgrade to a 600 or bigger. They have FI and gauges on a 600. If they gave you everything on a 250, you wouldn't want to upgrade.

It's not politics, or to get you to upgrade to a 600, especially since the 250 is the highest selling bike Kawasaki has out of ALL their bikes. It's been that way for the last 2 or 3 years now.

It's solely about price.

They did a web survey last year that asked people if they wanted to pay more for an EFI bike, and said something about a $5000+ price point for an EFI 250R. They were going to milk the price just based on the EFI and I don't think that went over too big in the survey.

I honestly think Kawasaki needs to support the 250R with more parts in the USA since it's their highest selling bike, give people a reason to keep coming back to them for official parts that won't kill the warranty. Plus they need to stop with the slight color variations in each year, it only makes it more difficult for the aftermarket to keep up, nobody wants to stock 3 or 4 color variations of the same parts.

[etiainen]

I would say that survey is filled with too many people who don't appreciate 250s and only think of them as 'learner bikes'.

That may not be true of course, but I wouldn't mind paying more for some new tech.

[headshrink]

Originally Posted by etiainen

I would say that survey is filled with too many people who don't appreciate 250s and only think of them as 'learner bikes'.

That may not be true of course, but I wouldn't mind paying more for some new tech.

Keep in mind, that when the 250r was re-designed, it's MSRP was $3500, which was an increase over pre-gen.... that wasn't long ago. So yes, I understand market forces, making profit, etc. But speaking for myself, as a consumer, it is too expensive at or around 4500. At that point it becomes real money, and I likely would never have bought a MC. But then again, I am one of those guys who started during the gas crisis because it was cheap, and couldn't afford car repair.... then I got bit by the bug and LOVE it. So, thinking aloud, I guess you have to look at the differences between different TYPES of new riders.

[n4mwd]

I confess. I love my Ninja. I don't care how many CC's it's got or how it gets gas into the cylinders. If I ever seriously wreck it, I'll be looking for another one just like it.

[michael t]

Greetings , new member here We picked up new Candy apple green from dealer yesterday. My 19yr old daughter won the bike (I helped ). Like others we got phone call on the 4th . and paper work that afternoon . I hang around dealer couple times a week. I rode down and ask them Who won . They said Didn't know . Informed them my daughter was winner..

They really had no idea what they were suppose to do. Said never had this kind of contest before. At first they were going to give me a 2010SE they had on floor. I said no . I don't want a bike for her almost 2 years old. They checked and told me they would have one coming . They got in this week and we picked it up yesterday. Timing was perfect. She just got foot out of cast and Now I will send here to school to learn to ride.
I rode it home. First time I have ridden a 250 like this. We have a Rebel also. No Contest This way better bike than the Reb
We live in country and lots of crooked roads . I enjoyed the curves . Was careful as new tires but we had fun. My street bike is a 2007 Hayabusa with a few simple mods. . Both have their place, and the 250 will serve her well . When ready, she can as I did can move up from their. I know her younger sister be glad to take it off her hands . If not I will ride it I entered also and I didn't win . Maybe next year.

[Lil_Green_Demon]

Oooh, boy, that red/black color Ninja is making me slightly regret not waiting a few months before buying a bike. Haha
I bought a 2011 Green/black 250R.

[nit8690]

I am gonna get a 2012 ninja next spring. going for red and black

[n4mwd]

Originally Posted by michael t

Greetings , new member here We picked up new Candy apple green from dealer yesterday. My 19yr old daughter won the bike (I helped ). Like others we got phone call on the 4th . and paper work that afternoon . ...

What kind of contest was that? I am going to have to enter.

[avneet]

I believe it's been over for some time now. I know because I too kept trying to figure out how to join it only after realizing it was already over

[RedOctober]

Picked it up 1 week ago. This is a first 2012 the dealer had and they thought it was 2011 until they ran the VIN for financing.

[s2kenny]

I saw the Ninja 250 with the new green, it looks real sharp! Almost like a pearl

[ruben]

Originally Posted by greatwhiteninja

they actually use sharpie paint pens.. most popular ive seen was a lambo gallardo done by some artist , cant rember.. had like 300hrs hrs or some crazy number in drawing on the car..loL! then i believe they clear coated over it to protect it..

thats a local guy here. his dad owned 'the collection' which is an upscale dealer. they sell lambo's, ferraris and bentlys. timbaland bought his carrera gt from him.

anyway they didnt paint on the car, they covered it in 3m clear protection and drew on top of that. he let timbaland borrow it for his sons super 16 or whatever show on mtv.

[kevheads]

seen a 2012 on craigslist already, a little pricey
http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/mcy/2558977489.html

[RedOctober]

Originally Posted by kevheads

seen a 2012 on craigslist already, a little pricey
http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/mcy/2558977489.html

MSRP on 2012 is 4499, $500 more than 2011.
The biggest problem with Ninja 250? Fricken 110F temperatures in Austin.

[KawiKid860]

I prefer solid colors, or two tone, but I must say the orange decals on my 500 + the black wheels with orange reflective rim tape + the black chin fairing = one good looking bike, with an old school sport bike vibe to it. Of course the decals on my bike are just triangular stripes, they aren't like the vinyls on the 250, or gixxers lol.

[Gulf1]

I dig the white! Not enough bikes inb white out there. Very clean and sharp. There was a gorgeous pearl white CBR 600 in '09.

[Dmented]

Originally Posted by Ranor

EDIT: Added pic :P

I may have to get that color...
with accents of course.

[headshrink]

Nice architecture. Is that an apartment?

[akima]

Originally Posted by n4mwd

I think the main reason Kawi doesn't have FI on the 250 is pure politics. The whole purpose of the 250 is to get people to upgrade to a 600 or bigger. They have FI and gauges on a 600. If they gave you everything on a 250, you wouldn't want to upgrade.

My Ninja 250 has fuel injection.

[headshrink]

Originally Posted by akima

My Ninja 250 has fuel injection.

It is just the US, and a couple other countries which escape me at the moment, that don't have FI.

[akima]

Originally Posted by headshrink

It is just the US, and a couple other countries which escape me at the moment, that don't have FI.

Aww.

I can see you have a red Ninjette. That's something I wanted, but isn't available here in England I ended up buying the Green and black special edition: it's pretty nice, but I think I will get it sprayed at some point.

It seems crazy to me that they don't offer the same Ninjette options in every country. I heard the "upgrade path" theory for not providing F.I. on USA Ninjettes, but what possible reason could there be for not selling red bikes in England?

[nickjpass]

Originally Posted by akima

Aww.

I can see you have a red Ninjette. That's something I wanted, but isn't available here in England I ended up buying the Green and black special edition: it's pretty nice, but I think I will get it sprayed at some point.

It seems crazy to me that they don't offer the same Ninjette options in every country. I heard the "upgrade path" theory for not providing F.I. on USA Ninjettes, but what possible reason could there be for not selling red bikes in England?

They pick what colors are sold by putting tickets in a hat and then picking one from the hat.

[akima]

Originally Posted by nickjpass

They pick what colors are sold by putting tickets in a hat and then picking one from the hat.

Multinational companies will often "localise" their products/services to make subtle adjustments to ensure they fit in with the culture of the people in the market they are targeting. It could well be that the guy they paid to localise the Ninjette sucks at his job and actually does the hat thing you suggested We should find him and shove his hat up his...

[nickjpass]

Originally Posted by akima

Multinational companies will often "localise" their products/services to make subtle adjustments to ensure they fit in with the culture of the people in the market they are targeting. It could well be that the guy they paid to localise the Ninjette sucks at his job and actually does the hat thing you suggested We should find him and shove his hat up his...

...red ninja exhaust