Touring on a Ninja 250?
 

Hello ninja 250 owners,

I am a fairly new rider, i have about 6 months and 2000 miles under my belt. My bike is an old '82 honda 450 that I am looking to sell next season. For a new bike I am considering a ninja 250. I would feel comfortable upgrading to something much bigger, but money restraints limit me to about $3000-4000. Id rather spend it on a new bike than playing the used bike crap shoot game.

My question is, is the ninja 250 up to the task for touring?

1. How badly does the bike get blown around by the wind?

2. How bad is the vibration in the bars/pegs/seat at an indicated 65-70mph?

3. Is oil consumption a problem at these speeds?

3. Would I be insane to attempt a 1500 mile round trip?

Of course I would add some comfort mods like a corbin seat, etc. And I would likely stop every 100 miles or so to stretch, eat, take a leak, gas up, or whatever. I am 5'10 150 lbs. if it makes a difference.

I would appriciate any input. Thanks in advance.

RE: Touring on a Ninja 250?
 

Welcome to the forums! Your questions are very much a matter of personal opinion, so I'll just give you mine.

The 250R only slightly, if at all gets blown around more than my KZ750. Every bike has this problem. But if you're comfortable with your ride, it won't be an issue.

Vibration is almost a non-issue in my opinion. This engine is very quiet and vibration free for a two cylinder. After about two straight hours of riding, your hands do start to feel a slight "numbness", however my feet don't seem to become numb after the same amount of riding.

I know there are one or two members here that say the 250R is an oil consumer. But I can attest that oil consumption has NEVER been a problem for my 250R. After 3000 miles on the current oil, I have only had to top it off once with a little less than half a quart. I personally believe the amount of oil consumed is directly related to how the engine was broken in while new. I chose a different route than some took, and I'm not looking back!

About your 1500 mile trip.... Um, I don't think I would do that on a 250R. Not that the bike wouldn't make it, but I think your body would have a hard time making it through 1500 miles. Sadly, the factory seat is terrible for long distances. Maybe if you buy an aftermarket seat, or make your own then you may be able to ride that long of distance. Aside from a different seat, I would install either a smaller rear chain sprocket, or a larger front sprocket to reduce the RPM's on your engine at highway speeds. This bike is geared for in-town riding, therefore the gearing is very short.

Hope this helps.

-Mark

RE: Touring on a Ninja 250?
 

yes

RE: Touring on a Ninja 250?
 

I share all of Mark's advice however, I do not have experience touring on mine yet but I expect the difficulties Mark suggests to be true. I'd suggest creating a new thread asking for anyone with experience using the Corbin seat which would probably be your gateway to touring on a 250.

RE: Touring on a Ninja 250?
 

Thanks for the replies.

I realize that an aftermarket seat would be mandatory.

In stock form, at what rpm is the engine turning at 60-65mph? Even with my current bike, I usually just hum along at 65, I dont ever cruise at 80 or anything like that. But of course id like to have the option of being able to boogie up to 80+ for a short burst just in case I need to get out of a tricky situation.

If the bike can hold 60-65 without revving its guts out, then id probably be happy enough with the stock gearing.

I wish a dealer would let me test ride one, but thats a real long shot.

RE: Touring on a Ninja 250?
 

60-65 mph isn't bad. Probably about 7-7.5k rpm's. But that type of speed won't cut it if you want to stay alive on the interstate. At 75-80 mph, the engine is at about 9.5-10k rpm's.

RE: Touring on a Ninja 250?
 

Adding half a quart in 3000 mi is consumption. Thats around 25% of the total oil your bike holds. If your car ate 25% in between changes you would be concerned especially if it was new.

My Katana that holds around 4qts loses hardly anything compared to the amount it holds overall. Half quart low out of 4 qts isnt as bad as half qt low in less than 2 qts.

The bad thing about the half quart loss in a 250 is that youve lost a good portion of your oil. If someone lets it run that low and never tops if off during the 3000 miles they run the risk of trashing the cam bearings or wearing out the rockers. I can hear my engine makes a different metallic tapping if I'm even a few ounces low.

I don't think Ive added more than a half a quart in between changes, its just that I always top it off regularly by a few ounces. I never let it get even close to low they just don't hold enough oil to be slack on checking and adding it.

RE: Touring on a Ninja 250?
 

I understand your reasoning, but being relative to the actual amount the 250 consumes, it's not very much. That's all I'm trying to point out.

RE: Touring on a Ninja 250?
 

Doing 63 actual mph (shows 70 on speedom w/ 10%) my bike runs at 8k rpm
54 mph = 7k rpm
45 mph = 6k rpm

Forget the higher speeds as I avoid highways when it's convenient.

RE: Touring on a Ninja 250?
 

The 250 will jump around with sudden cross winds but if you keep your knees tight on the tank it isn't much of a problem. 1500 miles? Whew! Makes my rump hurt to think about it. It is not as good on the hyway as your old 450 but will spank it in the turns and has about the same top speed and isn't too far behind in acceleration. Vibration is numbing on the hands but not on the rest of you. I agree with all of the previous commets on the bike. There is no other bike in its price range that can touch it in any category.