Call to all 250 riders

[Shorts]

best part of riding on a 250 is having to tell a girl that she is too fat to ride on the back.

The first time I rode pillion with DH he said "boy I sure can feel the difference in power with you on the back"

"oh, so now I'm fat!"


I was just messing with him

[Bubble Gum Jr.]

All I'm saying is with equal riders, the better bike wins every time.

That really wasn't important to the topic at hand.

I don't know of anyone who honestly thinks a 250 is going to beat better power:weight ratio bikes in a pure HP race. The question is, can it do what it needs to, and is it fun.

The problem is that a lot people seem to invent problems with smaller bikes. E.g. saying they can't be ridden on interstates without sounding like they'll explode, or that they are unsafe because of truck turbulance or winds. Or people who say you won't be able to accelerate with traffic on an interstate, or keep up from stop lights. And people who ride 250s on major interstates going 100+ miles a day with a bunch of truck traffic and frankly live in very high wind areas (the corridor I drive through regularly sees big-rig trucks blown over...yep, wind catches the trailers and puts them on their sides... the average wind speed near my house is 15-18MPH... that's average 24hrs/day 365 days/yr... gusts of 100+MPH are common) say it is BS. I climb 4000' of mountain pass every day at 85+MPH in the wind passing trucks, cars, and even quite a few other bikes (not everyone wants to go fast) on a 250 and I flat don't see the problems people invent. Why not? Because the people who come up with the problems don't know what they are talking about...they've never tried it, or if they have tried it they are incompetent.

Is it ideal? Shrug. I don't think there is an ideal bike... bikes are like airplanes in that respect... everything is a trade-off... if you go further in one direction, physics dictates that you'll lose in another. There are no free lunches.

I have no problem with getting what you want BTW. Not everyone enjoys the same thing and if your goal is kick-in-the-pants acceleration you're just dumb to buy a 250. If your goal is touring ... it's a bit of a gray area (can be done) but I'd say, "no, unless you really mean 'tour on a 250' which is different than 'tour'". If your goal is twisties and fun riding and building skills bikes like the ninja250 are great, but so are a lot of other bikes. Off roading? It's an OK trail bike but if your goal is dirt tracks get something else. Showing off and making a statement to your golf buddies? Don't even consider it. Cheap transportation that can do a lot of things fairly well? Bingo!

I can understand salespeople making up stuff... after all, they want the bigger sale of the higher-priced bike.

Well said!