Ninja 250R/500R

[Oldone]

To say I love that color, would be the understatement of the year. I am eating my heart out. Congrats

[sebastian1000]

That is a winner my friend! Congrats.
-S

[lilredridingliz]

Speed, beautiful bike! Have fun!!

[SpeedCostsMoney]

I have to say this little bike is blast to ride. It's a thrill taking it around the corners and winding it out. I'm used to heavier motorcycles so the Ninja is pretty drastic style change for me.

It’s also working real well as a commuter. The trek to work is 30 miles and then 30s mile back. I have ridden it almost everyday and still have half a tank of gas left. Where gas is reaching sky rocket prices it’s nice to have this means of transpiration. Not to mention it’s just a fun toy.

[milo]

2008 Ninja 250R.. how fast can it go? in paper, the bike is much lighter
than ZXR250 (inline 4). it will be release in Malaysia this April..

just wanna be extra cautious when i meet this new 250 in the highway..

[SpeedCostsMoney]

I have been cruise in along at 80mph at about 8,000 RPM. It has a 14,000 RPM read line so it's not that bad. It doesn't sound like a moped either. The sound is cool. It's not a 4 banger but it gets the job done.

Fastest I have gotten it is 100 mph. I still had a couple thousand left on the RPM gage. It wasn’t topping out yet. The speedometer says 120 mph; it might be able to do that.

[Nerdkill789]

i have a ninja 250 and dropped it while trying to start it the other day (very embarasing) and now the coolant is leaking so i don't know if that is normal or not. any help would be good. thank you

[milo]

the coolant / radiator might not be leaking at all..
maybe it went through the breathing hole for coolant reservoir.

well.. if it is leaking, aluminum patch will get the job done..

[lilredridingliz]

I know there are a couple of people with 250s who have installed flush mounted front turn signals. I'm guessing there is an option to do that with a 500, also, but I have been doing some research and am unable to find a good option for the 500. Anyone done this? And if so, what product did you use? Thanks.

[messer00]

I thought about switching mine over to flush mounted, but I also commute on my bike and I noticed the smaller signals and the flush mounted signals aren't as visable. I just put on Clear Alternatives and it looks great (pics coming soon). They just discontinued making them, so if you want them, you may have to get them from one of their vendors.

[lilredridingliz]

Hey, Chuck. Yes, I have thought about the visibility issues, but I just think the stock lights are kind of dorky looking, like alien antennas. I know they're visible and that's a good thing, I'm just struggling with "the look". Probably dumb, but my designer's aesthetic thinks flush mounts would look better.

[messer00]

Originally Posted by lilredridingliz

Hey, Chuck. Yes, I have thought about the visibility issues, but I just think the stock lights are kind of dorky looking, like alien antennas. I know they're visible and that's a good thing, I'm just struggling with "the look". Probably dumb, but my designer's aesthetic thinks flush mounts would look better.

(LOL) They do stick out a bit, I can't argue with that. I just got back my mid-fairings from the paint guy and put them on, so I'll post some pics of the Clear Alternatrives in a few days (I'm waiting for my smoke windscreen to arrive before I take pics). I ride on the freeway and through very busy city streets to get to work, so visability/safety is a top priority. I'll live with the alien antennas

[lilredridingliz]

Can't wait to see! Are you happy with the paint job? I've got the smoke windscreen, too, and love the way it looks.

Visibility/safety is of course top priority, so I should just put that designer devil in me away! But maybe just not quite yet…

[messer00]

Originally Posted by lilredridingliz

Can't wait to see! Are you happy with the paint job? I've got the smoke windscreen, too, and love the way it looks.

Visibility/safety is of course top priority, so I should just put that designer devil in me away! But maybe just not quite yet…

It was tough trying to match the Kawasaki Metalic Titanium (they couldn't locate the color code the dealer gave me), but I think they came extremely close and I'm very happy with it. It looks like a different bike with the full fairing look to it. I can't wait for my new windscreen

The integrated and flush mounted stuff looks super cool and I was going to do it, but I recently went on a ride with a few guys that had the integrated tail/sigs and they were super hard to see.

[messer00]

Originally Posted by lilredridingliz

Can't wait to see! Are you happy with the paint job? I've got the smoke windscreen, too, and love the way it looks.

Visibility/safety is of course top priority, so I should just put that designer devil in me away! But maybe just not quite yet…

As for your "designer devil", that's the best part about the 500's... Switch it over to a full fairing (by either switching out the whole thing or filling-in that middle section), and maybe a few other small things to lose that stock look, and you're done. The lines a simple and smooth (not "old school"). I hate when people rag on it. If you don't like it, don't buy it.

[lilredridingliz]

Originally Posted by messer00

As for your "designer devil", that's the best part about the 500's... Switch it over to a full fairing (by either switching out the whole thing or filling-in that middle section), and maybe a few other small things to lose that stock look, and you're done. The lines a simple and smooth (not "old school"). I hate when people rag on it. If you don't like it, don't buy it.

It's funny, I have had more people say "What bike do you have?" because of the full fairings. They can't figure out if it's a 500, a 250, or not-a-Kawasaki! I like that kind of mystery.

The bike also came without the standard rear signals also; the brake and turn signals are integrated. That helps with the "custom" look. I'm now working on designing some kind of graphics for the bike. I have silver decals, but also want something else to really make the bike unique to me. Just not sure what that will be, though…

[lilredridingliz]

Okay, so how many people will flame me if I put a ZX-5R decal on my bike?

Will that be totally anathema (i.e. will I be struck down by the Kawasaki gods/godesses)?

[messer00]

Originally Posted by lilredridingliz

Okay, so how many people will flame me if I put a ZX-5R decal on my bike?

Will that be totally anathema (i.e. will I be struck down by the Kawasaki gods/godesses)?

It's a EX500 or 500R (whatever you prefer to call it), so YES, you will be struck down. Be proud of your bike and the fact that it's a 500... Wear your TRUE COLORS with pride !!!

Or keep it a mystery... That's fun, too.

[lilredridingliz]

Originally Posted by messer00

It's a EX500 or 500R (whatever you prefer to call it), so YES, you will be struck down. Be proud of your bike and the fact that it's a 500... Wear your TRUE COLORS with pride !!!

Or keep it a mystery... That's fun, too.

Hmmm, you're waffling here, Chuck! Which is it…?

It was my bf who bought the decals for me; he thought it would be "cool" to be different, but, yeah, I'm sure I would be flamed for the ZX-5R stickers.

Although wouldn't it be sweet if Kawi would make the next gen 500 into a ZX model!?

[jaydub77]

Originally Posted by lilredridingliz

It's funny, I have had more people say "What bike do you have?" because of the full fairings. They can't figure out if it's a 500, a 250, or not-a-Kawasaki! I like that kind of mystery.

So I'm new here and I just wanted to know how you did that then? I have an 87 EX500, and being a newbie I crashed as soon as i got it running (stupidly thinking it wouldn't be too much different from my old bike, a 78 honda 400 ), so now I have a blank slate as for what to do to the front end as far as looks go. I want it to look like a full fairing bike, can I just swap in a 250 fairing of the same gen bike? I would greatly appreaciate any help you could give me...thanks alot