Ninja 250r 2009 - first 300 miles impressions/problems

[hackeron]

I bought a brand new 250r, year 2009 for £3.6k. I love the bike but have a few things I'm not sure are normal or not.

I'm now halfway through my break in before the first service and the problems I had so far are:

1) Quite often, if I don't gradually down shift before coming to a stop, and just pull in the clutch and try to shift all the way from 6th to 1st, it won't shift down! - The pedal moves but nothing happens!

I have to partially open the clutch, feel the bite point, then close the clutch before it will let me shift down. Also sometimes even if I do that, it goes into neutral, I have to open and close the clutch a second time, and only then I can shift down to first.

I've made it a habit not to shift from 6th to 1st and try to anticipate slowing down and downshift gradually, but when you're going 30MPH in 6th gear during this silly break in period, I sometimes find myself at a green light frantically trying to get it into first.

Anyone experience this? Any solution?

2) 3 times now, I had the bike slip out of 6th gear. I shift to 6th, start accelerating, then suddenly roar, engine revs to 8krpm and I realise it slipped out of gear - I quickly pull in the clutch, kick up and it's fine again.

It's very rare and only happened 3 times over 300 miles. Maybe I just didn't kick up hard enough those 3 times? - But it did go in gear and accelerate before jumping out of gear. Anyone else have this?

I adjusted the gear shift lever down a bit as before I had to physically lift my foot off the foot rest to kick up, now it's far easier, maybe I need to adjust it further down?

Other than that, it's rock stable on the road compared to the Suzuki GSX125 I had before (for a week) where the rear end kept sliding all over the place on a wet road and it doesn't vibrate my internal organs loose - A lot of fun down the countryside twisties too.

[edbro]

1) I don't have much useful advice other than shift down as your coming to a stop, rather than doing it once your stopped.

2) You're hitting a "false neutral" going from 5th to 6th because your simply not pulling the shift lever hard enough.

[00NissanNinja]

You cannot shift from 6th to 1st at a stop, all bikes with a positive neutral finder will not allow you to do so. If you end up stopped in a high gear you are already doing what you can to get to 1st. When stopped the only gears you can move between are 1st and neutral. Or do you mean you are slowing down with the clutch all the way in and it doesn't downshift? That happened to me a couple times when new, just pull the clutch in and hit the shifter harder or shift in the friction zone. Oil changes help too. I think the transmissions are a little wanky when the bike is new after and oil change it should vastly improve. above has you covered on 3 also if you have the shifter slightly moved from rest that is another reason it happens

[hackeron]

Originally Posted by 00NissanNinja

You cannot shift from 6th to 1st at a stop, all bikes with a positive neutral finder will not allow you to do so. If you end up stopped in a high gear you are already doing what you can to get to 1st. When stopped the only gears you can move between are 1st and neutral. Or do you mean you are slowing down with the clutch all the way in and it doesn't downshift? That happened to me a couple times when new, just pull the clutch in and hit the shifter harder or shift in the friction zone. Oil changes help too. I think the transmissions are a little wanky when the bike is new after and oil change it should vastly improve. above has you covered on 3 also if you have the shifter slightly moved from rest that is another reason it happens

Yes, I think the problem is me trying to downshift when I'm stopped. Since I get in 6th gear around 25-30mph, it's trickly to downshift 6 gears coming to a stop from 25mph - guess this wont be a problem after the break in period when I don't need to observe the silly 4,000rpm limit guideline. Also will see how this goes after the first service.

Would you recommend I change the oil or do anything else to the bike before the first service at 600 miles?

What do you mean by slightly moved from rest?

[Alex]

Stop following that silly 4,000 rpm guideline.

http://www.ninjette.org/wiki/Break-in

[00NissanNinja]

Originally Posted by hackeron

Yes, I think the problem is me trying to downshift when I'm stopped. Since I get in 6th gear around 25-30mph, it's trickly to downshift 6 gears coming to a stop from 25mph - guess this wont be a problem after the break in period when I don't need to observe the silly 4,000rpm limit guideline. Also will see how this goes after the first service.

Would you recommend I change the oil or do anything else to the bike before the first service at 600 miles?

What do you mean by slightly moved from rest?

Like if you have your foot on the shifter and you are applying pressure on it and accidentally move it up a bit with your foot and you are kinda holding it between its rest position and the next gear. That also makes it slip into a false neutral. well the 600 mile service is basically an oil change so you can wait it out or swap the oil up to your discretion. And you can't downshift while stopped. If you get stuck in a high gear and are stopped you have to let the clutch out into the friction zone then hit the gears down(might take a bit more force than normal). This "tricks" the transmission into thinking you are moving so you can get back down to first.

[hackeron]

Originally Posted by 00NissanNinja

Like if you have your foot on the shifter and you are applying pressure on it and accidentally move it up a bit with your foot and you are kinda holding it between its rest position and the next gear. That also makes it slip into a false neutral. well the 600 mile service is basically an oil change so you can wait it out or swap the oil up to your discretion. And you can't downshift while stopped. If you get stuck in a high gear and are stopped you have to let the clutch out into the friction zone then hit the gears down(might take a bit more force than normal). This "tricks" the transmission into thinking you are moving so you can get back down to first.

Oh, I thought the first service was quite a lot of different things? - I read in a few places to have the first service done by kawasaki and then do the others myself. Kawasaki charge £130 here for first service (around $200).

And yes, that's what I do now, was just wondering if it's normal or not. I didn't have to do that on the Suzuki GSX125 but it didn't have a positive neutral finder so I guess that's why.

[00NissanNinja]

Originally Posted by hackeron

Oh, I thought the first service was quite a lot of different things? - I read in a few places to have the first service done by kawasaki and then do the others myself. Kawasaki charge £130 here for first service (around $200).

And yes, that's what I do now, was just wondering if it's normal or not. I didn't have to do that on the Suzuki GSX125 but it didn't have a positive neutral finder so I guess that's why.

Well they check to make sure a lot of the parts are in spec like the clutch cable and choke, carb sync, and so forth, but mostly just an oil change.