Kawisaki Ninja 250R discussion

[Rockadile]

I'm new to this forum.
I am a lifelong biker also. 48 year old male. I just had to throw in my 2 cents
I drive a full size truck and drive 62 miles per day round trip to work.
I am dropping $250.00 bucks a month + just for gas.
I too am looking for a bike to save fuel this spring.
I was looking at the little ninja 250 also.
The little Honda rebel is a contender for commuter bike also if you really need a trainer.
Here's my take on this (my opinion) it may not be everyones opinion.
You can find a used sportster 883 or 1200 for less than $5,000.00 anywhere in the USA. If you don't play around with the pipes carbs and jetting you will get 40 to 50 MPG and look like an adult doing it. The ride will be way more comfortable. When you get tired (if) of the sportster you will be able to turn around and sell it and get almost all your money back. You don't have to look like a nerd to get good fuel economy.

[GasSavers_SD26]

I'm a hair younger than you, but I can't get myself into the H-D thing...LOL! I'm not sure if it's the pushrods or the loosening fasteners that I haven't seen on similar bikes.

Welcome to the forum!

[Rockadile]

It's kind of hard to shake a bad reputation once you have it.
The oil leaking and stuff vibrating off the harleys is not really an issue any more.

For me a 250 ninja is around $3,000.00 and then they start with the distination and dealer prep and who knows what else before it ends up costing 4 grand. As soon as I get it home it's worth $2,000.00.
I'm sure it would a fun little ride to work though.

I am going to poke around this forum and see if I can find any tips for truck.

[GasSavers_SD26]

If you sell a 250 Ninja for $2k, you sold too low. Most of them sell used for about $200 to $400 less than new after a new ride has used them for a few years. Destination and dealer prep of $600? That would be a really bad dealer really raking a customer over the coals. Kind of like a dealer changing over retail for a machine...LOL!

No, I don't think they leak oil like the older, more porous cased stuff of years ago, but I live in the Milwaukee area. I've got owners, engineers, and racers around. They do vibrate, and stuff falls off a lot more than what I would consider to be reasonable to me. It's a lot more maintenance compared to a regular UJM.

Nothing against it, but it's a different duck. Hard to compare them. A sportbike vs a Sportster is a hard one to develop a different reasonable analogy. It has a stable resale market, but the idea that Japanese motorcycles don't hold their value is quite different now. There are 600cc sportbikes that are selling for almost as much used as they sold for new fifteen years ago. All depends on their popularity, etc., but it's a different market now.

[2000mc]

if you want a 250 ninja to save money on gas, the last thing i would do is buy a new one and lose all the money you would of saved before you even leave the dealership. just get a used one...

as for a sportster... lots of bikes that will bring 40-50mpg, but the sportsters are some of the slowest ones. a 883 and a ninja250 would be heads up ina drag race, the 883 would be nicer in traffic with more torque, but the ninja will get ya 65-75mpg instead of 40-50. as far as looking like an adult doing it, sure, but i always seem to see them witha lady pilot chasing a guy on a larger harley

[Rockadile]

Wow it's nice to see a forum where people can express thier different opinions without resorting to name calling and the like. I have seen many that were rendered almost unusable by that nonsense.

I am actually still looking at the 250.
I agree the initial purchase depreciation could be avoided by buying a nice used one. After doing some reading up I understand that 70 MPG is possible. That would sure be nice. would pay for the bike in gas savings in about 4-6 months over driving my truck.
I also understand the Sportster is not exactly the same animal.
We have a lot very twisty roads here (PA Mountains) and the 250 would probably outrun many bigger bikes.

[GasSavers_Ryland]

I road a Honda GL 1200 once (basicly a goldwing without the faring and frills) a few years back, the owner clamed he averaged over 60mpg, it was reasonably comfertable for crusing down the highway, altho it was large enough that it felt a little bulky for ridding around in town, but if you had a long commute, or whated something that had a more conservitive appearance, I have to say that they are a really nice motorcyle, get decent mileage, and are large enough that if you wanted to get a small trailer to tow that was intended for a motorcycle, that it could handle it.
40-50mpg is better mileage then most cars, but in my opinion that is rather poor mileage for a motorcycle, so altho you would save alot of gas compared to driving a pickup truck, but there are motorcycles that can get 60-70mpg, and I like like to aim high when it comes to vehicles and their gas mileage.

[Rockadile]

I Stopped at a local bike shop and looked at a used ninja 250 on the way home.
It was a 2003 with 4000 miles and they were asking 2599.00 for it.
I told them that was only 350.00 less than a new one.
They said would take 2399.00 for it.
I guess I stand corrected on the resale value of small Japanese bikes.
The bike was pretty clean but I am still amazed at the lack of depreciation.

[Project84]

You have to buy from a private seller to get a good price on ANYTHING used these days.

You can find nice 250's for $1500 all day on craigslist or ebay.

[Rockadile]

The local kawasaki dealer here will take my Bayou ATV in trade on a new 250 ninja.
They are getting 3200.00 for new 2007s. that includes Tax, tag title and everything, out the door. That's not too bad for new.