Sprockets: Starter sport bike?

First, you summed up my feelings on it perfectly.

Second, you inspired me to put down a deposit on my own (in black)

Third, two words: "Fender Eliminator"

Third cont'd Two Bros pipe sounds badass

I was actually on waiting lists at several dealers until last week. Then I started getting calls that I was being taken off the lists because they didn' think they'd be able to fulfill the orders they had, so I should try again maybe in early August.

Then, Tuesday morning, I'm calling the parts counter at the dealer that's only about three blocks from the new office for some stuff for the KX. After I'm done with the parts guy, I ask him to put me through to sales, you know, just in case. So, I ask the sales guy "Hey, is there any chance you guys have any Ninja 250s in stock?" He says "Man, you're not going to believe this, but we actually got three on the truck this morning that weren't on our original allocations. Two of them are gone already [it was 8:45am] but I have a red one left, but I don't expect it to last very long."

It didn't because I got it. I also did something I've never done before, and that was to buy one of the extended warranty packages. The one I got was $300 for a five-year transferrable zero-deductible package that covers tires, wheels and towing. I get a flat, I call them, they come get the bike and re-tire it. That actually seemed like a reasonable expenditure. It doesn't cover wear, but, like the sales guy said "Hey, your tire start to wear out, jam a nail in it." I love salesmen.

Before I even had the bike I ordered some bags and the factory solo seat cowl. A fender eliminator is certainly on the list because the stock fender looks like the bike forgot to wipe, but I have to decide if I want to buy one or do my own.

As for exhaust, the TBR sounds awesome, as does the Yosh, but I have a philisophical block about Motorcycle cans. They seem unreasonably expensive. A slip on pipe for a bike shouldn't be more than an entire car exhaust.

jg

The sad fact about motorcycling is...

..no matter what advice anyone gives...

...you should get what makes your pants tent up like a Barnum and Bailey circus.

Motorcycles are not a logical decision. If you don't get what you originally wanted you won't be satisfied until you do.

Then, you should be REAL careful riding it. If you buy something big, new, and expensive. You should expect the same in repairs.

It really isn't rocket science.

Then spend at least $1k on gear. Helmet, jacket, GOOD gloves, boots, pants, etc. Then wear as much of it as you can stand. It's tough to suit up competely in 90 degree heat but you still should.

you know, that bike looks really good.

Xceler8x wrote: Then spend at least $1k on gear. Helmet, jacket, GOOD gloves, boots, pants, etc. Then wear as much of it as you can stand. It's tough to suit up competely in 90 degree heat but you still should.

My buddy looked at me funny last night for more or less that... I was riding my (borrowed) 07 2fiddy, and he was absolutely amazed that I bothered to own my own full face helmet, armored jacket (in the 90 degree heat ) and gloves, while not actually owning a bike...

I wasn't fully geared, as I stopped after work so was in khakis and dress shoes

Edit: The waiting list at my dealer (next closest is over an hour away) is 15 deep

jg said:but I have a philisophical block about Motorcycle cans. They seem unreasonably expensive. A slip on pipe for a bike shouldn't be more than an entire car exhaust.

Before I read your post, I was going to recomend fabbing up your own exh. Its not difficult. Just start looking at whats available at swap meets, ebay, etc, take a few measurements, and go to it. I'm fabbibg up an exhaust for my bike right now. A stock can from a YZF250 for $26 on ebay, will do just as good as a $300 slipon.

It looks like you guys are finally getting the ZZR250 now? Its a nice bike. For the price (big price drop in Canada - thanks CBR125), they're a great deal and a real nice looking bike.

suprf1y wrote: It looks like you guys are finally getting the ZZR250 now? Its a nice bike. For the price (big price drop in Canada - thanks CBR125), they're a great deal and a real nice looking bike.

Well... sort of. We don't get the fuel injection that the Euros (and I think you guys) get, still carb'd to hit the price point... but yeah, at least the styling is up to date!

JG!

Updates from the weekend? Notes, gripes, loves?

Gave it the first oil change at 100mi on Friday. Oil looked good. Couple of tiny hunks of blue gasket goo, but no metal. So far I've got about 170mi on it and the fuel gauge hasn't even hit the half was mark. And that's with "break in" riding (constantly on and off the throttle to load up the rings).

Put a set of 1" bar risers on it and that really helped for me. Completely takes the weight off my wrists, but doesn't put me up tall enough to be a sail.

The engine characteristic changed dramatically during break in. Right around 60-70 miles it became noticeably smoother and more responsive, and sustained cruise rpm felt even less labored. It has plenty of power for nearly any situation, and the torque curve has nice midrange for such a small engine. Reminds me of the revvy 24V V6 in the Probe GT and MX6. Nice midrange while still maintaining a nice top-end hit. I haven't taken it past about 10K rpm yet, so I'll be interested to see what the upper rpm feels like when it gets broken in a little more.

Speaking of break in, Kawasaki puts the exact same sticker—the one that warns you to stay below 4000rpm (about 36mph in sixth on this bike) for 500 miles on EVERY BIKE THEY SELL. From the 6500 rpm V Twin cruisers to the 13000 rpm 250. That's stupid.

Gripes? Not many yet. The rear fender is ugly, but that will get solved before too long with a cutoff wheel and some 600 grit paper. And I've now got three nice new burn marks on the back of my right leg from the exhaust. It's a little close to the peg. Right bout where you might put your foot down at a stoplight. Oh well, call it negative reinforcement.

Most impressive is the way it cruises given its small size and light weight. It zips along at 70 feeling quite stable and no more "nervous" than my 600cc sport bikes. And when it comes time to scoot around a tight parking lot or squeeze between some parking poles, its weight and size work for you there as well.

It's also interesting how many sport bike guys think this thing is really cool. I was stopped a couple times this weekend by guys on 600s and liter bikes asking questions and saying how cool it looked.

If I had to make a guess, I wouldn't be surprised if other manufacturers follow Kawi's lead and introduce their own flyweight sport bikes to the states before too long.

jg

Funner than a Hawk? Really?

That's saying something right there...

My brother just got a Buell XB9SX. It's his first road bike. I hate him now.

It's translucent blue (you can see THROUGH many of the blue parts of the bike) and black. Holy E36 M3.

The "SX" in XB9SX must stand for sex because that's what the bike is.

JG Pasterjak wrote: If I had to make a guess, I wouldn't be surprised if other manufacturers follow Kawi's lead and introduce their own flyweight sport bikes to the states before too long. jg

I'm amazed that none of them have released something similar. The Ninjette has been the best selling Kawi for years. It may not be the most profitable bike (due to the stupid cheap entry price), but that volume has got to pay off somewhere.

Honda already has a nice 250 naked bike in the Euro market. And then there is Derbi and GasGas with their mini-sized supermotos and stuff. I would have bought a Pampera or Mulhacen in a heartbeat if there was a local dealer.

ACarlson wrote: Funner than a Hawk? Really? That's saying something right there...

The Hawk was killed by vibration. Awesome engine with a great power curve, but really shaky for a sporty bike. It was fun for quick little blasts around, but a day's worth of errands became tiresome.

jg

A 250 naked sportbike would be a huge hit for new riders, IMO. The old Ninja 250 appealed to me when I was looking for a bike last year, but I totally ruled out a new one because I was afraid of dropping it in the driveway and losing $1000 worth of value in the first week. A naked wouldn't have that problem, it should be cheaper, lighter, and more ergonomically friendly than a faired bike, and beginners are less likely to use the bike at the speeds where the fairing is at maximum benefit anyway. If there were a 250cc japanese naked that mimics a Ducati Monster as well as the Ninja mimics a modern sportbike for a similar price I'd probably buy it.

http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/I_want_to_make_my_bike_into_a_streetfighter

Heh, I was this close to buying a Ninja 250 with broken plastics for around a grand and doing exactly that last year, when I decided to spend all my toy fund on the Miata instead :).

This one is pretty hot though

Oh man! Very supermoto.

I'm sold.

I like that one too, but I'd be scared to put my fat ass on it, given what's been cut out of the frame .

Xceler8x wrote: ...Motorcycles are not a logical decision. If you don't get what you originally wanted you won't be satisfied until you do...

I'm quoting only a small snip of the OP, but after 36 + years on 2 wheels, IMO it's all dead-nuts on & pure gold.

A 250 streetfighter is a great idea...500 is even better. I'm very tempted to do an F4i streetfighter when I outgrow the chickenhawk, since Honda says I won't buy a Hornet 600. Fine Honda, if you won't sell it to me I'll build it myself.

Hyosung actually makes one...

MSRP of $3399, but probably can be had for a good bit less than that. But, it has zero resale because there isn't any name recognition (yet). It gets decent reviews and the v-twin should be good for urban riding (vs a parallel twin). But, lack of dealer network was the killer for me.

CrackMonkey wrote: It gets decent reviews and the v-twin should be good for urban riding (vs a parallel twin)

1. What reviews have you been reading? Granted I haven't read any of the 250, but every one of their larger bikes had reviews that make me want to stay far far away.

2. How is a V-Twin any better than a parallel other than packaging?

ProDarwin wrote:

CrackMonkey wrote: It gets decent reviews and the v-twin should be good for urban riding (vs a parallel twin)

1. What reviews have you been reading? Granted I haven't read any of the 250, but every one of their larger bikes had reviews that make me want to stay far far away. 2. How is a V-Twin any better than a parallel other than packaging?

2: Balance and torque?

1: They're not that bad.

You beat me to it on the Hyosung. They've been on sale here for what seems like maybe 5+ years, and the people that own them have few complaints. Their problem, IMO, is the price. If you can get a Kawi at a similar price, which one are you going to buy? The CBR125 started the small bike comeback here last year, and were, for the most part, all snatched up right away. Now I see a lot of them for sale. I guess a FI 125 is just not fast enough for most people. The 100MPG would temper that for me. Thanks to the CBR, Kawi dropped the price $2000 on their 250, to where it should have been in the first place. All the manufacturers have small bore bikes in other markets, and if they think demand will be there, they will bring thm over. Probably moreso in Canada, than the US.

I was all set to buy the CBR125, but in the end, and after a lot of research, decided that a dualsport bike was best for me. Watch this segment grow in the next few years. With the KLX250s, I'm getting 75+MPG and have the option to hit the trails anytime I want. I choose that oprtion frequently. Maybe next year, I'll pick up a Ninja250, and have both!

Can't buy CBR125's in the US? I assume your live in canadia?