Kawasaki 250R Ninja (2008-current)

A popular choice for most new riders, this is a great motorbike due to its quality build, stylish looks and ease of ride. If you are thinking of advancing onto a bigger sportsbike in the future, this is an ideal motorbike to practice on to improve your confidence. If you are interested in reading my more in-depth review of this motorcycle, then please check out my website at: http://www.besttwowheelreviews.com/kawasaki/ I've also got more reviews on motorbikes in the A2 license range from various different manufacturers, contained within the rest of the site.

hi just got back from a longish motorway ride on my little ninja, not the ideal bike for high speeds on the motorway but will do 70mph all day but sadly my backside will not so had a stop about every couple of hours, overtaking at thease speeds was a slow but my ninja was fully loaded with gear and it coped well for a 250cc bike.

Ok, where to start...I bought this bike back in October 2007 having waited about two months for my local garage to get stock (typical Japanese delays) and since then I have been nothing but thrilled by it. Having probably had the most experience on this bike out of any other owner (18,000 miles after 14 months...yes 18,000!) I think it’s about time I posted my view. The title of this review pretty much sum up my thoughts, I love the little thing! Having owned a cbr125 and a 650 cruiser before hand it was a bit of an unknown experience jumping on the 250. The 125 was slow and I screamed for more power every time I rode it, and the 650 was heavy and too much of a handful for me (after all, I was only 17). I think the 250 suits me perfectly. The stock tyres really aren’t as bad as people make out, I got my fair share of miles out of the rear (8,000) and had no problem whatsoever. The replacement Bridgestone did feel a whole lot smoother but by then it’s too late to care. As for the front…that’s still on there after 18,000 with plenty of tread. The handling is spot on, I can flick this round bends like anything, and it just wants more. As for the engine...sure it could do with a bit more grunt but if you rev it hard it responds well. I have a full Two Brothers V.A.L.E system with a K&N filter which always helps. If your thinking of getting this pipe (I would recommend it to anyone) just be warned...it is loud...and when I say loud...I mean LOUD! Performance wise...the little one will get to 90 with little fuss, but after that it starts dragging off, I have had 110 out of mine once or twice though. Looks wise I love it. This thing turns heads everywhere I go, if it wasn’t for the 250 badge and tale-tale rear tyre size it would be easily mistaken for a 600. As for reliability I haven’t had any major problems with it even after all those miles. Keeping it serviced every 4,000 does help I’m sure, the only thing that ever needed changing was the rear calliper as the pins had seized, but that didn’t affect me while riding it. I’m trying to rack my brain for bad points…the lack of digital clocks is rather disappointed, but that’s hardly a negative worth picking up on. Other than that you get what you pay for, as 250’s go I’m sure its one of the best out there, sure the price isn’t quite in everyone’s budget but it’s what you’d expect to pay for the quality on offer. As for me I just hope the little thing keeps going, even after 18,000 it still feels like it did the day I took it out of the showroom, and when cleaned up it looks that way too! Fantastic bike, if you’re undecided, buy it! You won’t regret it.

Very good bike for beginners.

After I had my Er6F (unrestricted as I'm an old fogey) for 2 years and 32000 miles I thought I would try to save money by going downsize. In particular since I ride very slowly by bike standards I thought I could save substantially on petrol and tyre costs without suffering from lower performance. The good news is that I am saving - getting over 74mpg even when I thrash it and the current tyres are showing no wear after 2000 miles but I am suffering for that. I wasn't able to test ride one but had a 250 as a teenager so thought it should be okay - after all my GSX250 was fast in my memories and it only had 27bhp... I really hadn't realised how slow these bikes are - You can keep up with normal cars driven fairly quickly if you are busy up to 70 or so but acceleration tails off quite quickly above 60 and although 80+ is possible its not very nice. What I'm trying to say is that if you don't need to ride a restricted bike don't - Its not very nice and even if you don't go flat out every-where you would use and enjoy the extra torque of an unrestricted bike every time you took it out. The bike is much faster than a 125 (For comparison I would estimate that the CBR125 works about as hard at 65 as the 250 does at 80) but its just not in the same league as a 600... The engine though is the only negative thing about the bike. I happen to love the way it looks even if its a bit small, its handling is really secure and safe and its brakes are also much better than the ER. The secure way it goes around roundabouts and bends even on damp roads is really confidence boosting - it makes the ER feel vague - its just a shame the engine is so weak. The tyres have been commented about before and they are good for wear but not good in the wet - the rear is prone to skid in the wet if you use the brakes hard - The letgo is just too quick although since the bike is so well balanced it's not a major stress to me and I will replace the tyres when they are worn. Two last cautions about this bike: 1. No real bikers ever nod at me anymore - its very lonely saving money... 2. My insurance company is quoting me at group 12 which makes it more expensive than the ER6 - Need to change insurers at the end of the year!

I've waited a while before posting my comment on this bike so that I've got a sufficient amount of experience to base any opinions on. I bought my 250R brand new back in April of this year (2009). Since then I've done almost 3000 miles on it over 7 months. Most of this is for commuting in and out of central London although I have also taken the bike across Surrey, Berkshire and Kent over the weekends. Having ridden 125s previously this bike is a great way of stepping up. I passed my restricted A2 license in Dec 2008. As someone else has said - its bang on the 33bhp limit so there's no need to consider any restricter kit as would be the case for a bigger bike which is very convenient. The riding position is quite high for a racer but that's a good thing since most new riders will want to have the ability to look up and over cars and other vehicles. The narrow profile makes it excellent for filtering through traffic - I generally find myself coping through traffic far more easily than 500/600cc bikes around me. The engine revs very smoothly and is generally forgiving although one is aware that there's a fair amount of poke should it be needed. Its great for city riding and commuting where you're never really going to need top end speed. The motorway is the only time I feel the bike is lacking to the point that I'm wishing I was on something bigger. Mechanically, the bike has never given me any troubles. The IRC tyres could be better however I wouldn't consider changing them unless you're intending to take the bike onto a track. Otherwise, just wait for them to wear themselves out and replace then. This is great bike to start on and the inexpensive running costs and high residual value mean you can't go wrong. Definitely recommended - I may even keep this bike when I upgrade to something bigger in a couple of years.

This bike is amazing i love it! its good fun to ride and great to throw around bends. I dont think the tyres are bad reguardless of what others say..as i can grin the pegs along the floor and the bike still grips and grips! only thing is i wish it had a bit more power...im on a restricted licence but i would love a little more power...(even if i cant) overall an amazing motorcycle!

This bike is amazing i love it! its good fun to ride and great to throw around bends. I dont think the tyres are bad reguardless of what others say..as i can grin the pegs along the floor and the bike still grips and grips! only thing is i wish it had a bit more power...im on a restricted licence but i would love a little more power...(even if i cant) overall an amazing motorcycle!

Hi, done over 400miles now, soon be due 1st service, will be changing the tyres then, as others have said the tyres give you no feed back at all, otherwise just love this little bike, in town its spot on for nipping in & out off traffic, very good tank range got 180miles before low fuel light came on.

Picked up bike this morning, impossible to keep it under 4000rpm, dealer told me it would be ok to just keep my speed down, and not to over rev it, kept it under 6000rpm most of time, tyres feel ok but only rode it in the dry, after 1st day clocked up 107miles, will know more once i,ve done a few more miles, but so far so good.