08+ NINJA 250 as a track bike? Y N

[SULS]

If you want a good reliable track bike, SV650 will make you a better rider and you will have a fun time on it. Ninja 250 is very small, underpowered, and you can get a previously set up SV on many of the club racing sites for less than a 250. Either way, welcome to the addiction.

[cbr100rr]

Originally Posted by SULS

If you want a good reliable track bike, SV650 will make you a better rider and you will have a fun time on it. Ninja 250 is very small, underpowered, and you can get a previously set up SV on many of the club racing sites for less than a 250. Either way, welcome to the addiction.

The SV650 seems to be a popular choice.

ANY MODEL YEARS better then other or to avoid purchaing? I see lots of 2000-2002 SV's for sale are those years any good?

" Hi, my name is .......... and I'm a track addict!"
Since my trackday. I find myself daydreaming and thinking about the track. how much i want to go again. And keep remembering the sensations of going thru some corners, the braking, accelarition, and even the scary moments, braking after tripple digit speeds down the main straight, the corner speed in some corners.

Thank you very much for the info SULS. which webiste do you mean for the SV?

[LawnDart]

I tried riding my wife's 250 like I would ride my bike and it felt sketchy cornering fast. Probably because I am 200 lbs, but the suspension was really soft up front, dives if you brake hard. If you don't slow down enough it gets twitchy and you might die but if you slow down too much then it takes forever to get out of the corner and back up to speed. I never had it much over 100 not that it would have done much more and it just felt dangerous to me. I am not a super rider or anything but I have been riding for over 20 years, it was a good starter bike for her but thats about it.

[CNI Dawg]

IF you get a 250 you are gonna have to spend some money on suspension work

We endurance raced a 250 all this season finishing 6th overall for the season in Mini Endurance

It is more fun than a barrel of monkeys !

If you are just doing track days you are going to get passed a lot in the straights by the big bikes.
But you can eat them in the turns

brakes suck compared to your RR but the 250 will teach you to keep your corner entry speed up (cause it doesn't have much 'grunt' accelerating out of corners !

Tires last forever - we went thru 2 sets of Bridgestones for 10 endurance races & one set of rains

the 250 will teach you about drafting other 250s in the straights for 'slingshot' passes
It really works !
Will teach you to plan your passes..you have to study your opponent to figure out where & when you can set up a pass. sometimes takes a few laps to do it

Our race org keeps the 250s super stock legal (no engine internal performance mods)
so everyone is putting out about 30HP
It is very competitive racing because it is more rider skill than bike performance

The entry fees are cheap too - $35 per hour for mini endurance.
Bike will run almost 2 hours on one tank of gas

If you ride at track days suggest you ride down a group so the big bikes don't run you over !
The baby Ninja is best at short tracks with lots of turns (bike tops out about 95-100 depending on rider weight)
The Ninja's strength is in the turns

[CNI Dawg]

BTW there is a huge thread on the WERA forum about prepping the Ninja 250 for the track

Lots of good info !

http://forums.13x.com/showthread.php...cing+ninja+250

[RC-RAMIE]

Motorcyclist just did a article you might find helpful.

http://blogs.motorcyclistonline.com/...50r-30711.html

[Madness]

Originally Posted by CNI Dawg

BTW there is a huge thread on the WERA forum about prepping the Ninja 250 for the track

Lots of good info !

http://forums.13x.com/showthread.php...cing+ninja+250

[MKP]

Originally Posted by LawnDart

I tried riding my wife's 250 like I would ride my bike and it felt sketchy cornering fast. Probably because I am 200 lbs, but the suspension was really soft up front, dives if you brake hard. If you don't slow down enough it gets twitchy and you might die but if you slow down too much then it takes forever to get out of the corner and back up to speed. I never had it much over 100 not that it would have done much more and it just felt dangerous to me. I am not a super rider or anything but I have been riding for over 20 years, it was a good starter bike for her but thats about it.

Yah, I'm 200lbs also and when I rode my wife's 250 before suspension mods it was dangerous, but after some springs with 20 wt oil and fiddling with ride height...it was transformed into a stable good handling bike at speed.

[cbr100rr]

Originally Posted by RC-RAMIE

Motorcyclist just did a article you might find helpful.

http://blogs.motorcyclistonline.com/...50r-30711.html

Originally Posted by MKP

Yah, I'm 200lbs also and when I rode my wife's 250 before suspension mods it was dangerous, but after some springs with 20 wt oil and fiddling with ride height...it was transformed into a stable good handling bike at speed.

I read the article it was interesting. I know Ari Henning i read his articles all the time. I know he loves the Aprilla RSV4 and track it or race it dont remember which. I know he had it for a couple of months. To hear him say he enjoys the 250R means alot.

im only 155-158 lbs. How much did you spend on forks and what brand and what kind of rate did you get? total $ w/ labor? Did you leave the rear stock.

i've been convinced that the best way to go about this is a SV650. i've found a few w/27k-31k miles and many are asking $2200-2800 but most of the bikes have something not working

What ever good deal i get on a 250R or SV650 is what i'll buy.

[MKP]

Originally Posted by cbr100rr

I read the article it was interesting. I know Ari Henning i read his articles all the time. I know he loves the Aprilla RSV4 and track it or race it dont remember which. I know he had it for a couple of months. To hear him say he enjoys the 250R means alot.

im only 155-158 lbs. How much did you spend on forks and what brand and what kind of rate did you get? total $ w/ labor? Did you leave the rear stock.

i've been convinced that the best way to go about this is a SV650. i've found a few w/27k-31k miles and many are asking $2200-2800 but most of the bikes have something not working

What ever good deal i get on a 250R or SV650 is what i'll buy.

I put .75 springs from Sonic in the Ninja...they were $70. and I did all the labor myself. Currently running the stock shock but will be upgrading to an rpm shock soon.