An Honest Review....2008 Ninja 250r

Well, my friend has been looking for a small displacement bike to learn on for about a year now, and stumbled across a green 2008 Ninja 250 that looked good on the CL photos. So, as she had to work today, sent me out with $2000 samolians to get it if it was as nice as claimed. I discovered an immaculate and well cared for bike with right at 10k miles. What sealed the deal on spending someone else's money was the fact that the owner had everything documented, oil changes, fork seals, tires, brakes, even has the original purchase contract. .
So, I handed over the money and went for a cautious test ride on leaf covered roads. For a carbed bike, it fired right up and behaved very much like an injected bike. At that point, I left with paperwork signed and loaded the bike up for the 1.5hr drive home. Once back here and safely unloaded, I used "going to get gas" as an excuse for properly putting it through its paces.

I am by no means a fan of normal shift pattern, but that's just an annoyance. I commenced testing on straight roads and through some corners, and was pleasantly surprised with how well it handled. These things are by no means fast, but after banging through the gears I looked down to discover it had propelled my 210lb self to the century mark without any drama. Corners were equally surprising as I was nearly knee dragging with ease. The bike feels like a featherweight, and you can tell when tossing it for a quick transition in a shicane. The brakes arent great, but they are there and do stop you. All in all, pretty good all around.
One thing that was noticed, this bike begs to be flogged....hard. I think its behavior is mimicking something out of 50 Shades of Gray. So, after riding for nearly 100mi, I finally get gas and bring it back home. 52mpg for WOT to the limiter every gear is a strange reward that doesn't really make munch sense.

When all was said and done, I found myself grinning from ear to ear like a little kid. "Is it a strange feeling to fall in love with a little bike?" I was asking myself. The answer is still eluding me, so I think more excuses will be required to ride it some more.

The Verdict, it is always going to be slow, but for the princely sum of $2000, just a bit over an hour convinced me that it was worth every penny. The only thing that needs to change is a proper exhaust with a DB killer built in. I'm thinking LeoVince is going to be the choice this time.

In closing, if you are looking at learning two wheeled travel or even a well experienced rider of big bikes, the Ninja 250r has something to offer everyone.

Pictures to come soon.

I think I would enjoy one of those.

For riding on the street in the actual world, you don't need any more bIke than a Ninja 250. I have a 2012 250R and I have more fun riding it than I have on either the Bandit or the 999.

Last night, we went out for a ride and I started on the Ducati. Often frustrating to ride on the street, I did manage to get into third. Once. I remember a road here that had me thinking when I was on the BMW that I really wished I had a sixth gear cruising along at 60. On the Ducati I thought, finally I get into third. Half an hour in, we came home so I could switch bikes.

There is NOWHERE legal to open it up and hit 10k rpm, much less redline it. And on roads with cars and police there isn't anywhere to go fast enough to lean it over at all.

It was the same on the F4i, but I fulfilled a dream in buying that Ducati.

I have the most street fun on my baby Ninja. It isn't slow. My Enfield was slow. It is faster than nearly all automotive traffic short of a super car and I can redline in three gears and not worry about being arrested.

It has skinny tires so I can actually lean it over. I can actually push on a bar, rather than just sort of slightly a little bit twitching my elbow and then having to accept that at the speed I am allowed to travel that as far as I can lean to make that turn.

Riding a super sport on the street is a constant exercise in frustration. Riding the little Ninja is a hoot. The only thing my big boys do that my little guy can't is 110mph.

I just looked up the performance figures for an 08 250R and they are very similar to my sporty, with the sporty holding a slight edge to 60 and to top speed.

I may have to try to get a ride on one just to see what they're like. The only thing is I've hated the riding position of every sport bike I've been on.

In reply to Lugnut:

Living out in the middle of nowhere has its perks, sure....it isn't legal, but I've already successfully argued my way out of a ticket by pointing out the difference between whats safe on a car and a bike in reference to the posted limit. In many cases, its safer to go faster.

In reply to Nick_Comstock:

It isn't a damn lazyboy, but it feels more like a dirtbike. So long as my friend doesn't destroy it learning, I'll probably buy it when she goes to upgrade to something bigger. Partly because I want to put a vj-11 on it and see if I can hang with the 650 ninjas.

In reply to yamaha:

Lol, you crack me up

yamaha wrote: In reply to Lugnut: Living out in the middle of nowhere has its perks, sure....it isn't legal, but I've already successfully argued my way out of a ticket by pointing out the difference between whats safe on a car and a bike in reference to the posted limit. In many cases, its safer to go faster.

Yeah, with police around there that sort of arguing is a sure way to have your ticket boosted from 20 over to reckless endangerment. LEOs do not enjoy being argued with.

Super excited for all the new small bikes coming out soon. KTM Yamaha Triumph Kawasaki Suzuki and Honda all have or will have some neat stuff.

In reply to Lugnut:

Sounds like your police are the problem there. I'll admit, it wouldn't fly in an urban setting for sure though. But there are plenty of places to open a literbike up. Not so much a literbike with a whistle tip though.

In reply to Appleseed:

I still haven't seen anything about the KTM 390 actually coming here(edit:expecting 2015 arrival after teasing us for well over a year), and the r250 yamaha might as well be vaporware in the US. Suzuki I doubt has the financial stability to do anything new, and triumph I haven't heard anything about a sub-675 sporty bike. Kawa and Honda are about the only names in the game currently.

Nick_Comstock wrote: I just looked up the performance figures for an 08 250R and they are very similar to my sporty, with the sporty holding a slight edge to 60 and to top speed. I may have to try to get a ride on one just to see what they're like. The only thing is I've hated the riding position of every sport bike I've been on.

I had a 2008 baby ninja. The riding position is much more like a standard than a sport bike (looks to be different on the newest baby ninjas and more sport bike position). It suffered from 2 issues - my wife loaning it out to a friend to learn on (that cost an engine) and sitting. The carbs do not like not being used. The passages are tiny and gum up easily. If mine sat more than a couple of weeks it meant pulling carbs off to clean.

In reply to oldtin:

Yea, I'm going to be the one keeping this thing on the road....so that'll be fun.

yamaha wrote: In reply to Lugnut: Sounds like your police are the problem there. I'll admit, it wouldn't fly in an urban setting for sure though. But there are plenty of places to open a literbike up. Not so much a literbike with a whistle tip though.

Oh. I guess now we are in philosophical difference mode. I don't think that the "police are the problem" when they are pulling people over for dragging a knee at 80mph on a 35mph road. It doesn't matter how good of a rider I think I am. EVERYBODY thinks they're a good rider and feels that have earned the right to go whatever speed they want to go. The speed limit's the speed limit and when you're like me and you are not a speeder, no, there is no place to open a literbike up.

yamaha wrote: But there are plenty of places to open a literbike up.

I do it every single time I throw a leg over. It can't be helped. Although... my litre bike isn't as fast as many jap 600s and it makes negative noise. It actually causes quiet.

I asked my riding buddy if he's ever ridden one. He just looked at me and said, "no...I will not allow you to get one...if you do our friendship is over" I tried to explain the whole slow car fast thing but he wasn't having it. He said, "You already look like a grizzly bear riding a unicycle on your bike and you want to go smaller?...NO!"

LOL

I've owned 2 of them and really enjoyed them. Turned out that the crank case filled with fuel on the first one I got and I suspect it probably had been run that way not long before I bought it. Anyway I put a really good used engine in it and it ran great until I sold it. I also replaced the petcock which caused the cylinder wash to occur. The other one was immaculate when I bought it. I've been told they will hit 115 but about 95-100 was the fastest I ever took mine. I'd say it COULD hit 115 but it would be a slow climb above 100.

The front forks are too soft and like said before the brakes could be better but they really are great little short haul commuters. They'll stay with interstate traffic if needed.

My current bike is a Yamaha 250 V Star. It is nearly perfect for what I use it for.

Nick_Comstock wrote: He said, "You already look like a grizzly bear riding a unicycle on your bike and you want to go smaller?...NO!"

LOL

In reply to Lugnut:

I live in the land of wide open straight roads....and otherwise, I think you missed the point.

In reply to Nick_Comstock:

LMAO, you should tell your friend you're getting a CBR500r because its faster than what you have now.

I took a 250R on an extended test-ride a couple of years back after I sold my Ninja 500 to my nephew. I think that the 250 Ninjas are better than the 500, the engine is smoother and revs quicker, the lighter weight makes the crappy suspension more tolerable, and the riding position is slightly better. Nice little bikes. I wish I had someone in the family who needed to learn to be my excuse for buying one.

In reply to SEADave:

Buy one anyway......the '08 will probably still be worth $2k bones for another decade. LoL

I was very tempted to pick up a Ninja250 (baby Ninja, Ninjette) or the Honda CBR250 when I was looking. Had I not happened across my bike I probably would have ended up with the Honda, and only because it is FI, whereas the Ninja didn't go FI until the 300 that came out in 2013? 14? But as someone else said, the 2013/14 Ninja300 also has a more sport seating position.

One thing that got me was how small the tires and bike itself are on the Ninja250 and the CBR250. They almost look like kid bikes. I'm 5'11" 185lbs and I felt cramped on the little CBR, not really in a bad way, but I still don't know if it was somewhere I wanted to spend a lot of time. If it was just a afternoon spin bike then yeah, but I was looking for a DD and that's why I wanted a little bit bigger bike.

Also, price wise if you look you can find the bigger Ninjas for not much more. You can easily find the 500 for the same price, and I know I got lucky, but my 07 650R was only $200 more than what she paid for that 250. Then again if you look you can find Ninjaettes in running condition for $1300-1500, there are several on my local CL in that price range.

http://knoxville.craigslist.org/mcy/4696592350.html http://knoxville.craigslist.org/mcy/4703766753.html http://knoxville.craigslist.org/mcy/4703766753.html http://knoxville.craigslist.org/mcy/4711084599.html

In reply to octavious:

Up here, we couldn't find an '08-12(because they look just like your 650) that hadn't been down for less than $2300-2500 asking price. And this bike's previous owner was jumping up to the same 650 you have.

The 08+ bikes look oh so much better than the pre-08.

Ninja 250's look pretty cool naked without the bottom fairing on

In reply to 92dxman:

This one has one piece sides. The bottom is in halves, half to each side. Don't mind the broken Raptor lurking in the background.