Hey everyone. I thought I'd post this in the new riders section to try and give a little persepctive on the mentality of "start small."
Let me start by giving a bit of information about my riding experience. I like to consider myself an intermediate rider. I'm not new, but I am also by no means a veteran rider.
I got my first bike in June of 2002. It was a 1985 Kawasaki ZX600R. Got it for about $500 bucks and rode it for that summer. Put about 1,200 miles on it before catastrophic engine malfunctions left it for dead. I sold it to a guy I work with who ended up doing a ground up restore on it. It's beautiful now, but alas...anyways, most of this perspective won't deal with the ZX600R due to the fact that I didn't get to ride it much, and it's been a while since I did so I don't remember alot of it.
The following spring, I ended up picking up a 1986 Yamaha YX-600 Radian. It was a 599cc air/oil cooled I-4 standard. It was sporty and comfortable. I really enjoyed riding it. I rode it about 1,000 miles that year, and then the next year I did about the same. The following July, 2005, I finally got around to taking the MSF Basic Rider Course. I know, better late than never though, right? Anyways, after the BRC was out of the way I started putting some serious miles in. Between July and September I put about 1,700 miles on the Radian. Then in 2006 I put about 1,500 miles on between April and August. For some reason last fall I just got tired of riding, so I put the bike up early.
So, as you can see, I've put about 6,500 miles give or take onto bikes over the past 5 years. In Michigan, where our riding season is about 3 weeks long, I'd say that's fairly decent saddle time, especially considering I work full time AND go to school. In this time frame, I've also had the luxury of riding for a few hundred miles a Ducati Monster 750, for another few hundred miles a 2001 Honda CBR600F4i, and a Yamaha YZF-600R. Like I said, not a total newbie but not a veteran either.
Now, two weeks ago I sold my Radian to another guy that I work with. The Radian was starting to nickel and dime me, and I was tired of spending alot of time wrenching and not getting a ton of satisfaction out of it. So I unloaded it for dirt cheap to a friend at work who was looking for a bike to learn to ride on so that he could get a new bike next season.
I sold that bike because I have decided that I want to become a faster and better rider. Not just faster because I buy a faster bike, but faster because I actually better my riding skills. With that said, I started looking for smaller, newer, cheaper motorcycles. Then this past weekend, I took delivery of a 2002 Kawasaki EX-250R, more comonly known as a Ninja 250. It's bright green, which means it's faster than most other Ninja 250s.
Of course, I didn't ride it until I had it regsitered. Putting the tag off of my old bike and riding the new one around for a few days before the DMV opens is NOT something that I would ever do...okay, so maybe I would, but I wouldn't recommend that anyone else do it. I got it regsitered today. Let's just say I've already got some good seat time in on the bike, despite the fact that while I was out on it I'm pretty sure the wind chill was down in the 30s or lower at times...and it was WINDY.
The very first thing that I picked up on about the Ninja was it's insanely light weight. Coming from the Radian that was about 450lbs dry to the Ninja that's about 300lbs dry is an amazing difference. It feels like I can literally pick the Ninja up and walk it around if I have to. I like the fact that it feels like a mountain bike underneath me...it inspires confidence that it's going to be easy to whip around some nice curves.
The first thing that I noticed while riding the little Ninja was what I thought was a lack of power. After riding the Radian for the past few years, I'd gotten accustomed to the 600cc bike's power. Even for an older bike, my Radian was geared fairly shortly and accelerated like a raped ape. -2 front and +2 rear will do that I guess.
Now, you'll notice that I said "what I THOUGHT was a lack of power" regarding the baby Ninja. What I began to realize after about the first 10 minutes was that the Ninja is no slouch. It's power is simply in a different spot in the power band than the bike I had been used to. The Radian had gobs of torque down low, but once it got to higher RPMs it didn't have the same grunt. The Ninja is exactly the opposite. It doesn't seem to have much power down low, but once it gets up into the RPMs it's power comes on predictably...and it's power is quite satisfying to me. I found that the 0-60 time of the Ninja is probably about the exact same as what I was used to on the Radian, despite the fact that the Ninja's mill is less than half the size of the Radians. I also think that the Ninja FEELS a bit slower or more sluggish than the Radian simply because it has fairings. The Radian was completely naked, and therefore every bit of wind in my face felt like "fast" if you get my drift. Although the baby Ninja's fairings aren't blocking all of the wind, they are blocking more than the Radian would've been, and I believe that translates into a feeling of slightly less "fast."
The next thing that I noticed about the Ninja was it's suspension. I've read that the suspension on the little Ninja is fairly soft from the factory. I didn't notice much difference from my Radian. Most of that probably has to do with the fact that the Radian's suspension components were 20 years old and probably fairly worn out. With that said, I would like the Ninja to be a bit more stiff. This can be fairly easily rectified, so I've read, and I'll be looking into that fairly soon. However, I still feel that the bike handles well, especially considering I'm a rather large person to be riding the Ninja at 220 lbs without gear.
While out riding, I found that the suspension isn't too soft to let the bike handle like crazy. Even with the stock tires which aren't supposed to be the best I felt like the bike was handling amazingly. There's a fairly long sweeping turn near my home that has a 25mph speed limit. Not that I recommend this, but on the Radian I was usually only comfortable hitting this turn at about 45mph or so. On the third pass on the Ninja (yes I went back down the same road several times) I had no qualms about hitting the turn at 50mph and not backing off at all through the duration of it. Simply put, the bike handles great. It's flickable and predictable. I can't wait to see how fast I can take that turn when I get some Sport Demon tires on, an EX500 rear shock, and some cartridge emulators for the front. The handling of the bike inspires confidence in me, and that's something that can't be said for the Radian.
The braking of the Ninja seems adequate for the bike's size. I didn't feel like I needed to mash the brakes at all in order to get the bike to stop quickly. It stopped great when being mashed on or when braking under normal circumstances. I didn't get enough aggressive riding in to determine if there is alot of brake fade as the brakes heat up, though.
The ergonomics of the Ninja are inviting. The Radian was comfortable, but as I've stated above, the fact that it had no fairing really made it unpleasant to ride at anything above about 55mph. The Ninja doesn't suffer from that, despite the fact that it isn't the largest bike out there. I took the bike up to about 85 on the highway and felt that I could ride like that all day. On the Radian, anything over 70 and I felt like my arms were about to be ripped out of their sockets...oh, and speaking of the highway, anyone that says that the little Ninja can't hold it's own on the highway must not ever have been on one. I found it easy to pass cars on the highway and easy to maintain an adequate speed that kept up with traffic.
Now, let me touch on the one thing that I noticed about the Ninja that I actually liked LESS than I liked on my Radian. The wind. The bike is so small and light that it has a tendency to get pushed around by the wind. Nothing that is scary, just a little annoying having to correct everytime the wind gusts. With that said, it was gusting up to about 40mph today, so it was relatively windy. I'm pretty sure that my Radian would've been pushed around too, but I think the Ninja was pushed around a bit more than the Radian would've been.
I can honestly say that I remember almost everything about the first 200 miles I put on my Radian. I loved every second of it. However, after the first 200 miles I put on the Ninja, I can also honestly say that I will never want to go back to the Radian again. The Ninja has left such a wonderful impression on me that I think I will keep it forever. Even when I upgrade to something bigger and badder, this little Ninja will always have a spot in my garage. It's a wonderful machine.
Some things that I plan on upgrading over the next few months will be new tires, new suspension components, and a bigger rear sprocket for a bit quicker acceleration. I figure I'd rather get to 60 a bit quicker than have a higher top speed, so I'll sacrifice some top end for a bit more get up and go.
Now, after all this, I can honestly say that I think the Ninja 250 is the perfect bike for the beginning rider. It's fast, but not too fast. It handles greatly. It's light. It's inexpensive. Best of all, it seems to hold it's value. So a newbie who really wants a 600ss could buy a brand new Ninja 250, ride it for a year and sell it for about $400 or so less than they paid for it as long as they take care of it.
Here's to the Ninja 250!!!
Initial Impression of Ninja 250 from an Intermediate Rider...
2001 Honda CBR600 F4i
Hexxagon Champion!
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