I finally got it.

[jaskc78]

Got home from grandma's at a pretty reasonable hour today so decided to log some more miles on the Ninja. I know I need the practice more on the Madura, but still kinda taking it slow on that and just wanted to go ride and the Ninja is just so much more responsive in the turns.

Headed up to Mt Lemmon, got stuck behind some jacka$$ doing 15mph around every curve. Pulled off to take a break for a bit and let him get ahead of me a ways. Ended up heading back to town but was still to warm so went back up. Had some courteous drivers ahead of me that would pull off in the parking pullouts to let me past, so had some fun on the way up. I'm getting a lot more confident in the turns now, so was really getting some good lean going. Turned around at the top and headed back down and remembered someone mentioning to move your face closer to the wrist on the inside of the lean.

Let me just say--I now understand why everyone says the 250 Ninja is so much fun. I hunkered down and suddenly the turns that had me leaning to the point of feeling like I was on the edge of the traction were cake walks. Picked up a little speed and before I knew it I was doing double the recommended speed around the curves (according to the speedo, anyway, which is horribly inaccurate) and still feeling well within the bike's limits. I don't think I've ever had so much fun. Well, at least not since I had the Scout laying on it's side in the bottom of that ravine, anyway. I'd always just kinda went with the seating position that the bike favors, which is much more upright than I was on my way down today.

I got to my neighbor's house after about 10 miles in town and still couldn't stop smiling like an idiot. Definitely will be selling the Madura when the time comes to make more room in the driveway. I was already leaning that way just because the Ninja is so much better on gas and a perfect commuter bike, but today sealed the deal. There's just no comparison. I gotta be more careful about keeping it in the power band on the way up, but the payoff is so nice. What an absolute blast.

So....anyone wanna buy a 1985 Suzuki Madura 1200 for about 3 grand? Low miles and just got a maintenance check-up done.

[dusty97]

I wish there were some twistys around where I live. Or at least a hill.. or something. Pretty much flat and straight in the red river valley of North Dakota. I'm grinning like you described from the boring straights so I'd love to get a shot at some fun driving. Though I'm sure me and the harley would take the twistys a lot slower than you and the ninja

[squirts]

I wish I had a dollar for every time I've had the conversation about bike size.... Most of the riders I know ride HD. The Sportster riders get grief because they ride "piglets" at 883cc's and 1200cc's. I've heard time and time again somebody complainin' about how they wish they could have a "big bike", and my response is always the same.... It ain't the size of the bike that matters, but what you do with it.... Good for you for finding your sweet spot with the 250 Ninja. Some people ride to be "cool", others ride for the miles per gallon... In my opinion, the BEST bike is one which gives the most SMILES per gallon.

[MTexile]

+1 squirts!

[Dragon on Wheels]

Great post! I agree with everything you mentioned. Originally, I had thought I would have switched bikes by now, but I'm enjoying this one so much now that I'll probably keep it until it stops running.(or it might go to a cousin who has shown interest in motorcycling when he gets old enough)

[jaskc78]

Same here, Dragon. I actually had a friend of mine up in Phoenix tell me he wanted to buy it when I decided to sell it....before I even started my BRC.

Strange how it seemed like such a smart move at the time to turn around the capital on another bike and now I'm wondering how much I'd even ride another bike when I buy it. That little 250's like crack on wheels. And now that I'm getting that much more comfortable with it, I'm starting to push it harder and that just makes it even more fun because I think it's looking up at me and going, "Really? You started me up for this?"

We'll have to see what happens because I know I'll never ride it the 200 miles to grandma's house so I'll definitely need something else or keep driving the truck out there. Might end up just loaning it out to friends so they can learn on it so long as I get it back so I can keep pushing up towards that 13k redline.

[Ryethil]

I wish there were some twistys around where I live. Or at least a hill.. or something. Pretty much flat and straight in the red river valley of North Dakota. I'm grinning like you described from the boring straights so I'd love to get a shot at some fun driving. Though I'm sure me and the harley would take the twistys a lot slower than you and the ninja

Yea but the Harley eats up the miles comfortably doesn't it. IMHO, what you need now is find some like minded friends to share the ride. We have twisties in the area but its my friends that make it so much fun. Just an an observation.