Author |
Message |
Gschuette
| Posted on Friday, November 21, 2008 - 01:04 am: |
|
My friend let me ride his Ninja 250R yesterday. No torque at all! Very light and easy to steer. Very fun pinning it and having hardly anything but noise happen. I wish I hadn't ridden it b/c now I want to get one to enter into 250 class races. That would be a blast. Actually I enjoyed riding this bike alot more than the Blast I rode at my MSF class. New favorite small bike. (Message edited by gschuette on November 21, 2008) |
Johnnylunchbox
| Posted on Friday, November 21, 2008 - 06:53 am: |
|
I rode the pre-2008 ninja 250 and it felt like a bicycle. It was fun though. I prefer the Blast powertrain, but the Blast has such s***ty ergonomics. |
Tramp
| Posted on Friday, November 21, 2008 - 07:38 am: |
|
The Buell Blast, clearly, was ergo-engineered for "The Stork" from "National Lampoon's Animal House" |
Slaughter
| Posted on Friday, November 21, 2008 - 08:51 am: |
|
That "littlest Ninja" is hugely popular in racing organizations. There's a guy who has a half dozen race-prepped and for rent at $250 per day - fuel and tires included. http://racebikerentals.com/ A lot of people use his bikes for New Racer School and Novice classes. The 250 Ninja class is very popular and seriously fun to watch! Jeff Tigert and Jeremy Toye were in it a couple months back and came out of turn 9 and up the front straight - just freaking shoulder to shoulder and started swatting at each other's kill switches - it was HILARIOUS. Cool bikes - especially for local urban commuting. |
Froggy
| Posted on Friday, November 21, 2008 - 08:58 am: |
|
Not cool when your going up a hill! |
Miamiuly
| Posted on Friday, November 21, 2008 - 09:24 am: |
|
It's more fun to ride a slow bike fast than to ride a fast bike slowly. I am really starting to believe this. |
Jaimec
| Posted on Friday, November 21, 2008 - 09:39 am: |
|
We have one of those at our range. Unfortunately, the beast is SO cold-blooded that we hardly ever use it. Novices have no idea how to balance the choke and feather the clutch properly until the thing is warmed up. And it cools down so quickly, too. That being said, it is a BLAST to ride. When I got recertified I used that as my "Range Bike." Most of the other RiderCoach candidates tried it and were more than happy to give it back to me. When I was first certified back in 1990, we had a Yamaha SRX250 and a Honda VTR 250 Interceptor. Both were fun bikes too, but I enjoyed the air-cooled thumper Yamaha over the water-cooled V-Twin Honda. It had more "character." It's a shame 250s don't sell better here in this country... but everyone wants the biggest and fastest so these wonderful little jewels rarely get imported here. The Ninja being the sole exception. |
Jlnance
| Posted on Friday, November 21, 2008 - 09:46 am: |
|
It's more fun to ride a slow bike fast than to ride a fast bike slowly. I can ride my Blast like Rossi. It's fun, and I never break the speed limit. |
Babired
| Posted on Friday, November 21, 2008 - 09:52 am: |
|
I would like to have the Ninja 250 too. I taught RE on the Buell Blasts . I wish Harley would come out with a smaller bike for RE. Jaimc wow you have been teaching since 1990, I know a few that have been teaching that long. I've been at it since 1998. k |
Jaimec
| Posted on Friday, November 21, 2008 - 10:07 am: |
|
Yep, first certified in 1990, but due to my job I was unable to teach in 2006 and 2007 and so lost my certification. Went through the RiderCoach Prep this past Spring to get recertified since my new job actually lets me have weekends off (go figure). |
Babired
| Posted on Friday, November 21, 2008 - 10:19 am: |
|
Next time I come up to Liberty please lets meet. When I first started teaching I was teaching with this guy from Africa he was an MSF certified instructor in Africa and showed me pictures of his range out there on a desert floor, with chalk for the lines, and small dirt bikes for the students. The pictures where cool! |
Reepicheep
| Posted on Friday, November 21, 2008 - 12:44 pm: |
|
I was playing all day yesterday off road on my KLR-250 (like the Ninja... all the displacement and half the cylinders ) and thinking the same thing. And yes, for the record, it *will* wheelie without slipping the clutch when geared for dirt. |
Ezblast
| Posted on Friday, November 21, 2008 - 04:12 pm: |
|
Blasts wheelie easily too, just have to know how fast and far to turn that throttle - lol - I found that out my first day owning the bike. EZ |
Buellinachinashop
| Posted on Friday, November 21, 2008 - 04:25 pm: |
|
My first experience with peg scraping came off the Blast during my Rider's Edge class. Scared the crap out of me, but made my instructor smile.... "we don't condone or teach peg scraping or knee sliding in this course, please stop it Mr Heibler...by the way, you're the first one to ever do it in a class I've taught in three years." |
Gschuette
| Posted on Friday, November 21, 2008 - 07:54 pm: |
|
It's more fun to ride a slow bike fast than to ride a fast bike slowly. I agree. It was really fun to blast around a parking lot with the throttle constantly pinned. It makes you feel like a hero. Plus it is really low so I think I could get a knee down real easy on it. I didn't try though. It was a chilly night and I was on an unfamiliar bike that I didn't own. I guess the reason I liked it better than the Blast was the ergos. The Blast felt more powerful but the Kawasaki felt more refined with a more comfortable riding position. I wouldn't mind owning either though. |
Lemonchili_x1
| Posted on Saturday, November 22, 2008 - 10:59 am: |
|
"When I was first certified back in 1990, we had a Yamaha SRX250 and a Honda VTR 250 Interceptor. Both were fun bikes too, but I enjoyed the air-cooled thumper Yamaha over the water-cooled V-Twin Honda. It had more "character." " SRX250's are very cool, great little motorcycles. Little bikes rock . I had lot's of fun embarrassing bigger bikes at Eastern Creek on an SRX once, and I'm by no means a fast rider. |
Slaughter
| Posted on Saturday, November 22, 2008 - 11:26 am: |
|
I'll have to get some pics of my boss's CBR250RR - 4 cylinder, DOHC, 4-valve, liquid cooled. CUTE beyond words! |