Hey guys,

I just bought my brand new Ninja 250R Green colour. This is my first ever bike. I liked the look of them & its pricing so just went along and got one. I am currently on my learners.

So just need some handy tips. Because the bike is brand new, the dealer I bought it off told me to not pass 5,000 RPM for the first 1,000 Kms. I took it around the block today, and kept it under 5,000 RPM to the best of my ability. However, one thing I have realised was that I struggled to get this bike beyond 50km/h with out passing the breakin threshold.

In order to get the RPM's lower and achieve faster speeds, the common thing to do will be to shift up gears right? e.g. 5th, 6th etc...

Well, I tried doing that but I honestly think that the bike wasnt letting me shift into higher gears. I think the max I got it up to was 4th gear.

Just a suggestion, is this normal? I was thinking maybe because I was doing such low speeds, the bike just didnt let me shift into a gear that is likely to stall?

Any suggestions?

 

Its more important to load the motor gradually than worry about the revs. Stay with 5K for 100 miles, and 1/4 throttle. Add 1K - 1.5K revs and more throttle for each 100 miles. If the bike wants to go a little faster, let it.

Vary the revs and don't flog the motor at too low revs - avoid dropping under 4K in the higher gears. In the first 100 miles, switch of for a 5 minute cool down - no need for any more - every 20 minutes.

By about 500 - 600 miles you should be hitting peak revs and full throttle for very short bursts. Then spend 300 - 400 miles gradually increasing the length of those bursts. Make sure that the first service ans oil change is carried out.

Use all the gears. The box is clunky from new and needs to be shifted up and down as much as you can. You need to practise using the gears. At anything over 4K revs you should no difficulty in shifting. You shouldn't really have a problem shifting below that, but if you do you'll be flogging the motor. For that reason, don't actually shift up into the higher gears until you're hitting 5K rpm.

To shift up, simultaneously pull in the clutch and close the throttle. Then shift - firm upward pressure on the lever. Then release the clutch and open the throttle.

Do an MSF course.

Rob

 

Thanks Rob for that info,

I've got another enquiry, because im only breaking - in at the moment, I can not exceed the certain RPM as you stated.

However, I have monitored my bike and realised that at 5,000 RPM, its only doing about 60-65 KPH Max, Is this normal?

If I start passing the 60 KPH range, the revs are also going to pass the threshold.

Also I do believe that I am at the last gear or so because its not allowing me to shift any higher.

Regards
Ken

 

Hey man...Welcome to the forums.

I just finished breaking in my new 250 and I have noticed with the bike (and others who ride cruisers commented on it too) you do go through the gears pretty quick and a lot of your riding seems to me to be in 6th gear...I think this is especially true during the break in period when you're trying to keep as much speed as possible while keeping the revs down.

You have to consider what the redline is for a bike like this so riding at 60-65 in 6th gear at 5,000 RPM is normal. There is a reason the bike has the top speed that it does :-)

 

Gearing in top is about 10 mph per 1,000 rpm. 5k rpm is about 50 mph (not kph) and letting the motor run on a bit will let you go up to around 60 mph. After the first 100 miles, this can be increased gradually as I posted. Check the speedo against the tacho if you're not sure you're in 6th. If your speedo is calibrated in Km instead of miles, 5K rpm is about 80 kph.

By now I'm guessing that you've covered 200 - 300 miles anyway, and are letting the revs rise appropriately. As you do, for break in purposes shift at higher revs as well as going faster in top. Later in the break in, as you start to find your own riding style, you may be more comfortable with shifting up around 4,500 or 5,000 revs unless you're pushing it a bit, but for now, as you cover more miles, spend some time riding so you shift higher in all the gears.

Get into the habit of counting your shifts so that you know what gear you're in. Even now, after a lot of years, a lot of bikes and a lot of miles, I still find myself trying to shift up from top gear if I haven't kept count or cross checked the speedo and tacho.

Rob

 

G'day Rob,

Yea I have been monitoring speedo/RPM and it is roughly doing 5K RPM at ~80 KpH in 6th gear. So I think that should be fairly normal.

Once in a blue moon when I'm shifting from 5th to 6th gear, I miss locking in the 6th gear and have accidently revved the bike till about 6K-7K RPM, im hoping that should'nt do much harm to the breaking-in.

After I have gone for a ~10Km ride, once the bike is cooling down, is it normal for the bike to make a weird noise, its as if its coming from the fuel tank or it could even be my horn playing up.

Regards,
Ken

 

Over revving out of gear briefly will do no harm.

As fuel is pulled from the tank it leaves a partial vacuum until air is pulled in through the vent to equalise pressure with the atmosphere. That's probably the noise you hear. Most bikes do it to some extent.

10Km (about 7 miles) is about the shortest distance that brings your engine fully up to working temperature. Try to do around 20 or 30 miles between cold starts if you pssibly can.

Rob

 

The noise you are hearing is definatly from that gas tank. I am new to biking and the 250 and noticed the same thing when I was riding - I just stopped once when it was happening and listened carfully to where it was coming from - then when I opened the gas tank cover I heard the air rush in and the sound stopped immediatly...It was a little disconcerting until I knew what it was :-)

 

Don't worry about staying under 5k it won't hurt the engine to go over that. Just don't go bouncing off the rev limiter from light to light. Heck the speed limit here is 75mph so the bike is past 7k rpms in 6th gear. You have to keep up with traffic.

 

You don't have to keep up with the traffic. As a new rider, trying to keep up with traffic at that speed isn't a good idea anyway. Most places only have a 70 or 75 mph limit on highways, not other roads, and many places don't allow learner riders to use highways.

US rules are very relaxed compared to most other countries, but then, the death rate is higher as well.

Rob