Kawasaki Ninja 250

[LivinLOS]

thinking about it.. Seem to remember numbers like 14.5 ish for the old v-ixion (indo one) 17 or 18 for the new FZ150 aircooled.. and 22 ish for the watercooled R15.

All from hazy memory tho.

[dave_boo]

Thanks for the reply. I just stumbled across this, and saw that it was fuel injected thus leading me to wonder if it was what we were to expect the next pocket sports bike from Yamaha to look like.

[voracious]

I was in Berkeley, Ca for Sunday breakfast at the Thai temple there and stopped by "Tuk-Tuk" market afterwards. There's a black 2008 Ninja 250 parked in their parking lot (regularly) and it was gorgeous. Really does look like a bigger bike until you look under the plastic.

It redlines at 14,000 rpm and from what I have read, the powerband doesn't really even kick in until 9,000 so sedate at lower rpm for city commuting, fun when you want it.

There's been a couple of recalls. The rear light bulb that was mentioned earlier, as well as a break line bracket and an air box fix

When I make my move to the LoS, I'd love to have one of these and a four door truck and I'll be 'set' for transportation...

Edited April 7, 2008 by voracious

[nefelimhg]

Keep in mind that the crumple zone for both the bike and the truck are starting at your knees

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=172699

[gmac]

A Kawasaki Ninja 250R on the Thai Road

Saturday, April 05 2008 @ 11:43 PM GMT+5

Contributed by: news

Motorcycle ReviewsI'm on a brand-spanking-new Thai build 2008 Kawasaki Ninja 250R I've never ridden and the Ninja 250R doesn't even belong to me. With the shock turned to its lowest setting, my feet can reach the ground. I need to confess that as a Thai female I'm not that big.

......

Just seen this report on the site www.motorcycle.in.th which suggests that maybe the Ninja has now arrived, anyone heard anything definite yet? Last reports seemed to indicate it was coming July - maybe, maybe!!

Edited April 9, 2008 by PeaceBlondie
Go to website to see entire article. PB

[nefelimhg]

Hopefully the guy from Kawasaki who i've been talking to made up a story just to get rid of me

But i sure hope he was right about the price.

Tomorrow i will give Kawasaki a call unless somebody has some good news

[Richard-BKK]

I can say that Kawasaki and the owner of motorcycle.in.th have a special connection, all the Kawasaki bikes they talk about in the past. Are now coming available in the Thai market, motorcycle.in.th was the first who break the news back in September 2007 that the Ninja was coming Kawasaki Ninja 250R Supersport

That was 3 months before the information was made public, at a press meeting at Rayong....

P.S. did anybody see the copyright notice at the http://www.motorcycle.in.th ? Copying a whole article is a copyright infringement!

Edited April 8, 2008 by Richard-BKK

[gmac]

I can say that Kawasaki and the owner of motorcycle.in.th have a special connection, all the Kawasaki bikes they talk about in the past. Are now coming available in the Thai market, motorcycle.in.th was the first who break the news back in September 2007 that the Ninja was coming Kawasaki Ninja 250R Supersport

That was 3 months before the information was made public, at a press meeting at Rayong....

P.S. did anybody see the copyright notice at the http://www.motorcycle.in.th ? Copying a whole article is a copyright infringement!

AN infringement maybe but it hardly does the owner of the copyright any harm, it actually gives him/her greater exposure, I would have thought I should be paid a commission! Sorry anyway, reprimand accepted.

[dave_boo]

gmac,

Good news. Let's hope it's releaed at a price point to attract those whos budget leaves them in the 150 range.

[PeaceBlondie]

At RichardBKK's request, since he or his publisher probably do hold the copyright, I have shortened the excerpt without checking with the lawyers.

[Richard-BKK]

Again the prices of the soon to be on sale EX 250 J are again open for discussion, with possible upcoming competition Kawasaki is reconsidering its price.

[submaniac]

Well I do not know if this means anything to anybody...but here goes. In Los Angeles, a brand new 250 Ninja from the dealer is $2,800 USD. Hmmmm...I wonder if you can import a motorcycle from the United States into Thailand that was originally manufactured in Thailand.

[PeaceBlondie]

If the naked, new generation Honda CBF250 comes on sale anywhere near 85,000, little ol' Kawasaki had better lower the price of the fully faired Ninja 250. Good grief, $2,800 in Los Angeles amounts to only 88,200 baht, including cost of shipping to North America, and the dealer having to pay American-sized rent and commissions! Is that the full retail price, submaniac?

There are some models with huge profits, that sell steadily because of the demand - probably the Honda Gold Wing 1800. In America, I have no idea what the profit margin is on tiny little 250's, because they hardly ever sell many.

[submaniac]

If the naked, new generation Honda CBF250 comes on sale anywhere near 85,000, little ol' Kawasaki had better lower the price of the fully faired Ninja 250. Good grief, $2,800 in Los Angeles amounts to only 88,200 baht, including cost of shipping to North America, and the dealer having to pay American-sized rent and commissions! Is that the full retail price, submaniac?

There are some models with huge profits, that sell steadily because of the demand - probably the Honda Gold Wing 1800. In America, I have no idea what the profit margin is on tiny little 250's, because they hardly ever sell many.

Here's a scan of the ad I saw.

I was a little off, it's USD $2899 not USD $2800, so $99 more. the MSRP is $2999. Still, I think the prices that have been thrown out of 140k to 170k baht on this thread are a wee bit high. It just strikes me that that the Kawasaki folks may not know what they are talking about. It is hard for me to conceive of tacking on another 60k baht to 80k baht, when the price in the states is so low. 1) the baht has risen sharpley against the dollar 2) it is expensive to ship from Thailand to the states and 3) if the MSRP is $2999, imagine what the dealer cost is. The bike is not on sale in thailand yet, so I would wait until final pricing before deciding not to buy one because it is too expensive.

[submaniac]

Oops. relooking at the ad I see it is a 2007 model. I checked on the US MSRP and I guess the new model went up $500 from the old model, so it is $3499.

http://www.motorcycledaily.com/21february0...08ninja250r.htm

[PeaceBlondie]

Okay, that is about 110,000 baht. And, hardly anybody buys them in the States.

[apetley]

Wifey has just been on the phone to Kawasaki in BKK asking on my behalf(my Thai aint good!) when the 250 Ninja will be available.

She was told it will be on sale in Thailand this coming August at a price of 150k Bht.

Hope that they are as good as their word as I will put an order in for one as soon as it's confirmed.

[Phil Conners]

150,000 baht ~ 5,000 USD!

That's a bit of a ripoff considering the Ninja 250 is built in Thailand, exported to USA and then sold there for under 4,000 USD.

What are these people thinking about?

[Richard-BKK]

150,000 baht ~ 5,000 USD!

That's a bit of a ripoff considering the Ninja 250 is built in Thailand, exported to USA and then sold there for under 4,000 USD.

What are these people thinking about?

Are you sure that the US version is Thai build, as I remember the US version has no fuel injection and some other details I forget... All production in Thailand is with fuel injection, the European version is build in Thailand, and is therefore also equipped with fuel injection.

If I look at the American website, I can see that the 2008 (latest) Ninja 250R is still equipped with 2 Keihin carburetors. So guess that somewhere, Kawasaki is building more 250's

[apetley]

150,000 baht ~ 5,000 USD!

That's a bit of a ripoff considering the Ninja 250 is built in Thailand, exported to USA and then sold there for under 4,000 USD.

What are these people thinking about?

4800 USD at todays onshore rate but I get your point.

Maybe the extra tax on 250cc in Thailand?

Or more likely they know farangs are likely buyers and will pay a premium to own a half decent road bike.

[dave_boo]

@Richard-BKK

Supposedly the reason that the US version only have carbs is due to cost. It has to fall in the under $4 000 range to be precieved as a good value.

However, I still agree that it's a bit of a rip-off.

[Richard-BKK]

I agree, the Ninja 250R is surely not cheap, but then which Kawasaki was ever cheap. Still compared to anything we can and ever could buy, it is still cheap. If I compare what a Ducati in Thailand cost and what you pay in Italy, you would never again say that Kawasaki is expensive.... Nothing going to change, if you want to ride a motorcycle in Thailand you just have to dig a bit deeper...

Also keep in mind that we now comparing the suggested retail price with prices we see in markets where the 250R is longer on sale. I bet that in 6 month to 1 year the competition up to speed is and the price much more competitive is.

The idea, that “Kawasaki knows farangs are likely buyers” and that for that reason the price is high, is of course a bit simple. To be honest if farangs only would buy a bike like this, we would never see it introduced in Thailand.

[PeaceBlondie]

Let's see: a Japanese brand with about 2% of the Thai market wishes to corner the sportbike niche of the Thai market, which is less than 5% of the Thai market, a niche which has just seen BMW, Ducati, Triumph, and Suzuki steal a lion's share of the upper-priced models. As Robert-BKK says, Kawasaki cannot expect farang to buy enough Ninja 250's. I just do not imagine that there are enough Thais willing to spend 150K on a play-toy.

I am no marketing genius, but I will bet the total Thai sales of Ninja 250's will not exceed 2,000. Maybe 489. Also, I doubt that all fifteen real Kawasaki showrooms are going to generate enough traffic based on the Ninja. They have that cute little KSR110 kisser to attract crowds. Most Thais cannot even name 3 currently available K models.

I just hope it scares AP-Honda into selling lots of CRF250's at several hundred showrooms.

[Richard-BKK]

@PeaceBlondie,

Sorry to say, we cannot expect much from AP-Honda, it is similar to what happened in India. In India Honda as not Hero-Honda also entered the Indian market to sell motorcycles. AP-Honda has set its focus on creating a motorcycle which has to compete with the Kawasaki KSR-110, okay lucky it will be a bit bigger. But still it is powered by a 110cc engine. It looks a bit like a mix between a Honda Wave and a Kawasaki KLX110 with motard tires.

So lets hope that Honda Motorcycles (Thailand) comes to its senses and start to push bikes which AP-Honda clearly has no intension of doing.

[PeaceBlondie]

Pardon me, Richard, for not knowing the trade names of the Honda franchise. I only hope the many hundreds of Honda dealerships in Thailand can sell CBF250 bikes this year.

[Phil Conners]

150,000 baht ~ 5,000 USD!

That's a bit of a ripoff considering the Ninja 250 is built in Thailand, exported to USA and then sold there for under 4,000 USD.

What are these people thinking about?

4800 USD at todays onshore rate but I get your point.

Maybe the extra tax on 250cc in Thailand?

Or more likely they know farangs are likely buyers and will pay a premium to own a half decent road bike.

No, below 4000 USD. I think earlier in this tread someone included a scan from a US newspaper where the 2007 Ninja 250 was offered at 3,800 USD.

Edited April 24, 2008 by Phil Conners

[submaniac]

150,000 baht ~ 5,000 USD!

That's a bit of a ripoff considering the Ninja 250 is built in Thailand, exported to USA and then sold there for under 4,000 USD.

What are these people thinking about?

4800 USD at todays onshore rate but I get your point.

Maybe the extra tax on 250cc in Thailand?

Or more likely they know farangs are likely buyers and will pay a premium to own a half decent road bike.

No, below 4000 USD. I think earlier in this tread someone included a scan from a US newspaper where the 2007 Ninja 250 was offered at 3,800 USD.

Actually it was $2895. Brand new. But this is last year's model (2007). The MSRP on the 2008 is $3,499.

Edited April 24, 2008 by submaniac

[Phil Conners]

150,000 baht ~ 5,000 USD!

That's a bit of a ripoff considering the Ninja 250 is built in Thailand, exported to USA and then sold there for under 4,000 USD.

What are these people thinking about?

4800 USD at todays onshore rate but I get your point.

Maybe the extra tax on 250cc in Thailand?

Or more likely they know farangs are likely buyers and will pay a premium to own a half decent road bike.

No, below 4000 USD. I think earlier in this tread someone included a scan from a US newspaper where the 2007 Ninja 250 was offered at 3,800 USD.

Actually it was $2895. Brand new. But this is last year's model (2007). The MSRP on the 2008 is $3,499.

I misunderstood apetley's reply - he was referring to the Thai price, not the US price.

Still, big difference between 4,800 and 3,499!!

[PeaceBlondie]

My first modern sportbike was a Suzuki 400 single for 999. I paid about 1250 for a new Yamaha 400 twin, also, and 1850 for a new Suzuki GS850G, but those were all prior years' models, deeply discounted, so I'm spoilt. I paid $1,540 for my CBR150R, nearly five years ago. Spoilt.

[moo9]

I'm gonna upgrade and repaint my CBR150R. It is a great bike!

There is no reason to spend a 90,000 Bht surcharge for 100cc extra!

So bye bye Kawa, I might have considered to buy one at 100,000 Baht, but 150,000 Bht is really too much.