The fine for having a scooter license and not a big bike license is 1800NTD, because you do have a license, just the wrong class… as a side note, i have never ever been stopped in Taiwan and asked for papers in 9 years, and in my 4 scooter accidents i was never asked for driver license, that i actually have the same as a car license…
the fun in life depends on the risks you are willing to take… that is just my point…
[quote=“dominic77”]The Ninja is mainly a weekend bike for me. I have my Hartford HD200S for short runs around town, or if it’s raining, or if I have to park in the street anywhere. I’ve driven the Ninja to work a few times this week, but I have secure off-street parking at both ends of the commute. No way would I leave it parked in scooter parking in the street, it would only take one betel-nut chewing idiot to knock it over and incur some very expensive fairing damage.
I realise the Ninja is in a bit of a grey area. White plate, yes, but it looks and goes like a bigger bike. I’m sure it’s quicker than most yellow-plate bikes and scooters on the roads. I’ve been riding it like a big bike, cruising along in the outside lane and taking direct left turns at intersections. I did already get a speed camera ticket and I’ve only had it a week - maybe I need to be a bit more careful 
I don’t agree with your assessment that the Ninja is underpowered. It’s much quicker than any other <250cc bike I’ve driven (including the Honda CBR250, which I was quite disappointed with), and performance that doesn’t feel TOO far short of the Ninja 650 - although obviously the 650 is more torquey and you have to work the 250 a lot harder to get decent acceleration. On twisty mountain roads, I would bet that the Ninja 250 can keep up with almost anything.
Yes, I guess the previous owner had 140s fitted. The tires are brand new. They certainly look wide enough for the bike, and it handles great. I agree with your comments about helmets, for sure.[/quote]
lol you have a Hartford 200 and you just bought a Ninja 250 ? Why don’t you just take your Ninja out for short runs since their both light bikes and both … around the same CC?? Ohh, about those scooter places, just don’t force your bike into a slot, and you won’t have an issue. People RARELY mess with any “modified” scooters , motorcycles, and they for sure very very rarely mess with large CC-bikes, and your bike … people will mistaken it for a large bike, before they notice its a white plate, so you don’t have to worry too much about it. I haven’t had an issue with those kinds of people who will bump into my bike while pulling their scooter over and stuff or people trying to sit on my bike, and my bike isn’t even a quarter of your price.
Haha your right about that , about most yellow plates, your bike is quicker in acceleration but your gonna lose in top speed 
Really ? You already got a speeding ticket ? Damn man, I’ve never gotten caught , and I always expected several … I usually drive 80-90 KMH on the average road and I’ve never been caught… I also rode on the expressway once on accident for 550cc+ and I never got a ticket for it O.o BUT I got two tickets for not doing that two-point left turn, so watch out, because some of the left turns are watched by cops down the road. after you make that left turn , your gonna see cops will pop out less than 100M and stop you. Be careful not to try to run from these cops because they have camera recorders on their vest .
Haha I’m comparing it to a big bike ~~ A 250cc is no match for a 1000cc I do love having a ninja 250 , since I prefer full fairing bikes, but when I heard that the ninja comes with 130 tires, I thought… lame.
The Hartford and the Ninja aren’t even nearly in the same ball park. The Hartford is a pile of Taiwanese-made crap by comparison to the Ninja. It’s woefully slow for a 200cc, although it looks pretty good and handles well.
Well I have just bought myself a mint 2011 black T2 with 7000km on it- 100k NT with 1 year full warranty. I rode a number of different bikes this weekend and none of them felt as comfy or as well built as the Sym. Yes it’s a very heavy bike, but it looks good, can be serviced most places, goes quite well and is ample fast enough for Taipei, especially as it can’t use freeways. Well pleased.
The Hartford and the Ninja aren’t even nearly in the same ball park. The Hartford is a pile of Taiwanese-made crap by comparison to the Ninja. It’s woefully slow for a 200cc, although it looks pretty good and handles well.[/quote]
Umm, What I mean is that… their both motorcycles, and their both 200+cc, why didn’t you just buy the 250 in the beginning and buy a scooter from the start ? Or now that you have a nice bike, you sell the other pile of crap, and buy a scooter? An average Taiwanese has a scooter and a big bike, and since your 250 is considered a big bike by some, I would imagine you’d probably have a scooter on the side for the grocery haulin and stuff.
Aww damn you -.- I wanted a SYM T2 so bad… Well in the beginning I wanted a Kymco Quannon, and I did get a Kymco Quannon but before hearing about the Quannon, I found out about the SYM T2 , and then the ridiculous sale price… I feel so regretful == The Quannon doesn’t feel fast for me … Best I did was 117 KMH on a straight -____-
The T2 is supposed to be able to reach 145km/hr, but I don’t know where you could ever go that fast here! Yes- I rode the Quannon and T1 and was depressed by both of them- especially power. The only CPIs i saw were old dogs and looked like loads of trouble. The T2 was the only one I rode that felt like a ‘proper’ bike and was selling for reasonable money. Now I want a decent performance exhaust to make it sound good.
I want to hear how fast you can do with those bikes, just out of curiosity. My old SYM wolf 125cc burns oil and its engine sounds like crap, but if the GPS is right, the other day I did 128 kmh with it 
Of course acceleration is very bad, but if you give it some time, that piece of crap can fly, seriously.
It’s not just how fast it can go, it’s also the ability to stop quickly and turn corners! Again- I took the T2 out in Yangminshan Park today and was really pleased with the brakes and its stability around the twisty stuff, even if it is a very heavy bike. It’s got great torque and because of the F1 it’s very responsive on the throttle, so even though its only 24hp, it makes great use of it. i have had more powerful bikes that are more difficult to ride fast compared to the T2, so i am well pleased. I followed a Hornet up the hill and he had to ring the neck of his engine to make the same speed I did- sounded great (like a little Ferrari) but not very relaxing! I think with a softer set of tyres, thicker oil in the front forks and a noisier exhaust pipe, it will be a cracking little bike.
Haha dude your telling me the T2 is only capable of 145?? I saw a bunch of Youtube videos with people on their T2’s going at 170, and one video I saw a Hornet 250 do 180, and the Ninja , 170+. Hmm well, I’m usually riding on regular roads at 90-100+ so I’m pretty sure you can do 145 pretty easily on bridges or regular streets ! Just watch out for speed traps . I really did like that T2, since I can’t afford a import bike in Taiwan -_-
Hm… for a SYM T2 ? Kind of hard to find exhauts for that 250 , I could suggest Hirzan or WRRP, but not all their exhausts are for the 250. If you want a good exhaust meant for the T2, it would probably costs like 10000+ since my buddies akrapovic exhaust on his Z1000 costed him around 30K. RK1951 could probably help you out
i1063.photobucket.com/albums/t50 … /image.jpg
I asked the guy at the shop if I could buy a carbon FMF exhaust of a Quannon he had- he said he would for 8000Nt which I thought was way too much considering it was second hand, but maybe it was about right then… Do you know any performance shops for exhausts?
[quote=“Tintin”]http://i1063.photobucket.com/albums/t501/njhardy/image.jpg
I asked the guy at the shop if I could buy a carbon FMF exhaust of a Quannon he had- he said he would for 8000Nt which I thought was way too much considering it was second hand, but maybe it was about right then… Do you know any performance shops for exhausts?[/quote]
Actually 8000NT is pretty standard for motorcycles here. My exhaust costs 6,800 for full exhaust system, but the installation was like 500 NT so it was 7,200… Your getting a pretty okay deal since FMF is a known brand compared to my Taiwanese exhaust. Like I said, I know two, Hirzan and WRRP , but I know that Hirzan doesn’t really make exhausts for the T2, but WRRP does. If anything, you could probably consider that FMF muffler since they sell it for way over 10K here in taiwan.
I don’t think 8000 was for a full system- just the end can. I am assuming the full Sym exhaust is v heavy and it could improve noise and power if the whole thing was changed rather than just the muffler. Where sells WRRP 21K?
I agree with the stopping thing; brakes and tyres are about the most imporant things to look at in a motorbike in Taiwan. But leaning… I’m sure that my wolf can turn and lean at least as well as the T2 
I agree with the stopping thing; brakes and tyres are about the most imporant things to look at in a motorbike in Taiwan. But leaning… I’m sure that my wolf can turn and lean at least as well as the T2 [/quote]
Lol any small bike can corner better than a large bike no ? T2 is still considered a small bike 
…
Oh, it was just a slip-on for 8,000? Well… That seems kind of high, but then again, I don’t know the condition of the slip-on nor do I know the exact model of that FMF exhaust so… yeah… but really, you don’t need a full system, as you can just use that slip-on with your stock headers, you just need to rejet it so you don’t backfire. I didn’t reject my Quannon, so mine backfires a lot .
heres their website wrrp.com.tw/ Its in chinese, and I can’t read or write chinese, just can speak , so your gonna have to click on their address tab yourself, but its in Zhonghe so yeah… I live in Zhonghe I go to Hirzan since they actually have parts specifically made for my Quannon. Hirzan is in Yonghe.
Ta very much 21k.
I owned a 650 Ninja for 4 years and played around on the Kawasaki 250 a bit on a demo day…The only thing they have in common performance-wise is that both have two wheels.
I hope you got a good deal…The 250 Ninja remains the single most overpriced entry level motorcycle on the island
[quote=“MJB”][quote=“dominic77”]
I don’t agree with your assessment that the Ninja is underpowered. It’s much quicker than any other <250cc bike I’ve driven (including the Honda CBR250, which I was quite disappointed with), and performance that doesn’t feel TOO far short of the Ninja 650 - although obviously the 650 is more torquey and you have to work the 250 a lot harder to get decent acceleration. On twisty mountain roads, I would bet that the Ninja 250 can keep up with almost anything.
[/quote]
I owned a 650 Ninja for 4 years and played around on the Kawasaki 250 a bit on a demo day…The only thing they have in common performance-wise is that both have two wheels.
I hope you got a good deal…The 250 Ninja remains the single most overpriced entry level motorcycle on the island[/quote]
I’ve driven probably around 3,000km on two different Ninja 650s, although they were rentals … I have never owned one. It’s probably fair to say that I’ve forgotten how fast one of those things can go, as it’s a while since I’ve driven one.
Yes the 250 Ninja is expensive, but as I was looking for the best bike that can be legally driven on an ordinary motorcycle licence, it was the standout choice.
This weekend, I gave the Ninja it’s first proper run-out, from Kaohsiung south on the 17 then the 1, across the island on the 9, then up the east coast on the 9 then the 11 as far as Dulan (north of Taitung). Had no problems keeping up with the traffic on the twisty roads and the hills, even with a passenger on the back (my girlfriend) … the lightness of the bike made for some fun cornering, and it mostly felt as stable as any bigger bike I’ve driven, except on a couple of stretches where the strong wind buffeted us around a bit. On a couple of the long bridges, it accelerated smoothly to 135km/h or so, with what felt like plenty of power left (although I ran out of road so couldn’t test the top speed).
To make the most of the engine and its 33hp, you have to keep the revs high … find yourself in the wrong gear going up a hill, and nothing much happens until you drop down a gear or two and get back above about 5,000rpm. You also get up through the gears very quickly and even at 80km/h in 6th gear, the engine is running at around 5,000rpm and it feels like it could do with another gear or two. But that’s just the way the bike is designed to run and I quickly got used to it.
Nice machine that the Ninj 250- what with it being a twin as well, it has more top end power. However, for cruising, I have been really pleased with the T2 as it pulls cleanly from 2000 revs with loads if torque for a 250 machine. It cruises lovely at 90km/hr at 5000 revs. The fuel economy is brilliant too and the brakes are awesome, even if not abs. However, I was a bit unhappy with how much it vibrates above 8000 revs considering its a 4 valve motor and the fact that my oil change light has just come on!
^ Your T2 sounds good, would be interesting to take a drive on one to compare it to the Ninja. Sounds like it has a lot more torque.
I’m also pleased with the Ninja’s economy. It uses more fuel than my Hartford, of course, but the difference isn’t as great as I was expecting. Big fuel tank on the Ninja too, so a more-than-decent range.
Where do you live, Tintin? If you’re based down south, we should take a ride out to the mountains one weekend (I’m in Kaohsiung) 
Hey guys… what mileage do you get out of your bikes?