highway riding, top end giving out?

[dungY]

hi all
i have a friend that keeps telling me that my 250's top end will give out with extended highway uses...i.e. speeds 60-80mph (for me at least)

anyone have any problems with their 250's?
or is it only a known issue in the older 250's. i have an 08 btw

just curious as i plan to use my bike as a commuter and the majority of the riding will be highway

i'd love to hear input from you guys about this
Thanks!

[kkim]

Ride it and enjoy it. The 250R is a very reliable bike and thrives on high revs. The top end is about 100mph.

[ScraitT]

The 250 does fine on the highway and handles speeds in the 70s and 80s just fine...it'll even get close to 100, though pushing is just isn't worth the ticket.

I've read plenty of stories about people riding 10+ hours at highway speeds and other using it to go cross country at mainly highways speeds. And most of those are the old gen 250s. The 08+ should only do better since kawi has reworked the engine to be even more reliable, especially in there upper RPMs.

Your friend doesn't know what he's talking about and has obviously never owned a 250. Other bikes will handle the higher speeds better, BUT the 250 does just fine, and as long as you take care of the bike, there's no reason the engine would give out.

[M]

Originally Posted by dungY

i have a friend that keeps telling me that my 250's top end will give out with extended highway uses...i.e. speeds 60-80mph (for me at least)

Your friend speaks from opinions that are based on zero factual information about the Ninja 250. Both the '88-07 and '08-10 models are suited to sustained 80mph interstate riding.

My '05 Ninja 250 finished the 2009 Iron Butt Rally.

I also ridden this 250 on a 24hr / 1,529 mile BBG ride, in which I was on the 80mph I-10 in TX. I cruised that section at 85mph for 400 miles.

[Guinss]

Hi. I have an 08 myself and i have clocked a lot of hours at around 70-80, no problem at all. You can go 90-100 for hours. I got 8000 miles on it, and its still running as if it was new. These engines have been around for over 30 years, and they love rpm. If you don't use the whole rpm-range regulary, the bike will be sad.

[illrational]

I use mine to commute everyday it doesnt rain and get up past 100 atleast once a trip because im hard headed. It does great as far as im concerned maintaining 70 mph but hate when people pass me when im trying to do speed limit its demoralizing.

[wvninja]

I hate doing that to a bike, I don't care if there are facts based either way. Simply put if you don't maintain the bike and you continually hard rev the engine to redline for prolonged periods of time, there is no way you can tell me that is not hard on the engine. I personally do not ride long periods of time on the highway because I will eventually move to a bigger bike (already considered it) and I do not wish to have what I would call *hard miles* on my bike. I also hate the lack of power and uneasy feeling when trying to pass people on the highway, people here see a sport bike go to pass them and they always seem to feel the need to push on their gas.

I keep to back roads and in town as much as possible. It's what this bike is made for imho.

[Snake]

I usualy ride 100+ miles at a time at highway speeds with no problems. Just be sure to check and change your oil regularly.

[dungY]

glad to hear that!, he was referring to something on the motor, having the top end going out on the motor rather than "top end speed"

i'd like to keep to backroads also, but with my commute to work there's no avoiding the highway

shrugs i have no idea but i'll just continue to enjoy my bike

[CC Cowboy]

I've read a lot of posts on here and most of them are about their lower end giving out on the highway. Their is usually the suggestion of a corbin seat, bicycle shorts, or monkey butt suppositories.

[00NissanNinja]

I've ridden at 75mph for 3 hours one day and the bike way perfectly fine. Your body will give up long before the bike will. The bike is designed to be just fine in the higher revs just like a mazda rx-8 loves to go to its redline daily.

[tjkamper]

Rev it up and keep up on your maintanence. You should have no problems. I put 10,000 at 70MPH + on my bike last year with no problems.

[spooph]

With regular oil changes, the 250's entire design is rock solid. I have over 30K on my 2008, and valves, journals, cams, and the rest all well within spec. I put 4,300 miles on her in 2 weeks about a month ago, 1,300 of which was in 2 days, all at above free-way speed limits. So, no worries dude, make her scream! I can't speak to an ill-maintained bike however, because I maintain my bikes very well... I change oil every 2,000K miles, and I use Kawi-dyno juice (Not trumpeting it for others to use, I simply like to see what's going inside my engine, and oil is good for that, and it gets expensive changing the oil with synthetic and the like every 2K...)