Ninja 250 Review

C’mon Sandy, be fair. After a Jota, anything is going to feel small.[/quote]
For the money. Its just that its a lot of money for not very much bike. It was just a drag, especially because I REALLY WANTED to like it. :frowning:

There are some nice bikes available here for that kind of money. No need to cut your legs off at the knees by going for a wee thing like that. Get a used 650 and have some real fun. Or get a commuter for a 10th of the price.

With a good Kwak dealer, I would be all over a Versys. Helluva a bike. It really does do everything well. Not the best in anything… a WeeStrom has more torque and better pillion, the Deauville (as if you could get one in the 'wan) has shaft drive, … the Versys is unusually good.

Kwak has been active.

Of course, you could mod a Zook DR with some SERIOUS rear cases, leaving the front cases for ammo. Sort of a Special Ops prototype for the Artic and steering while wearing huge mittens.

I agree, but this thread is discussing the 250 Ninja, even if it’s not something we would buy. For various reasons some people are interested in 250s, like not taking the big bike tests. Go figure. :shrug:

Lower demand on the black market is another reason,I don’t know if that is true for Ninja however.

I hate to repeat myself but… HORNET 250!.
It revs to 18,000rpm, sounds like an F1 car, goes like a rocket, weighs next to nothing and looks awesome with its 180 section tyre.
No need for a big bike licence, honda reliability and can be bought barely used for $200k.

C’mon Sandy, be fair. After a Jota, anything is going to feel small.[/quote]
OK, this is off-topic, but its so weird I’m-a post it anyway.
Redwagon mentioned my old Jota. Last night I got a call from my sister in Edinburgh. Her partner collects bikes – he has like eight. All Italian, all vintage. Ducs, Guzzis and Laverdas. He picked up an old Jota last week. Its MINE! Or used to be. A 1979 180 degree – a REAL one, in other words.
Sitting in a garage for the last 30 years, it has around 10K more miles on it from when it was wrested from me. And it still has “sandman” crudely sprayed on the bikini. All he had to do was clean the sludge out the sump and put fresh oil in it. BANG! First kick! He opened the top end and – get this – the valves still had the last shims I had put in all them years ago – cut and shaved from a MacEwan’s beer can!
He paid 2,000 pounds for it.
And no, he has absolutely NO intention of selling it to me, the cunt.
Here’s a pic of the best bike ever built, for the younguns.
AND plus, the wimp can’t handle the clutch!

The Ninja 250 is not for everyone, it just happens to fit my needs very well, which I’ve described in my first 3 posts. I will post periodic updates regarding it’s performance, maintenance and repair, good and bad, as a resource. Feel free to pm me for any particulars.

Wow, stumbling back on the 'mosa after all this time. 10 year down the road, and this bike still impresses me. It’s maneuverability and acceleration, especially through Taichung’s outlying city-to-countryside roads, has lifted me to an elevated level of joy in commuting. I need to start slowing down though, and contemplating -gasp- a gogoro….

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It seems Kawazaki doesn’t sell Ninja 250s anymore, correct? Bummer, since I was browsing this thread to consider a next bike. Already ride a Quannon 150 and want something with more kick without any of the hassle of owning a yellow/red plate.

quite a lot of those still available on FB marketplace used at decent prices, if I had to guess. Alternatively there’s the Gixxer 250s, which are good but not nearly as good looking lol

But yeah, don’t think Kawa has a single legal white plate import.

There’s the Huskie 250 too, but that’s KTM so parts could be a bottleneck