Kawasaki Ninja 250 - New Thread, 12/2008

[thaicbr]

I read earlier in this thread a quoted time for 0-100km/h for the Ninja 250 of 7.6 seconds. Isn't this slow for a bike ?

My 2 litre Nissan 200SX did the same in 6.5 seconds, Subaru WRX slightly faster.

No not really mate considering that the Kawasaki Ninja 250 is only a 33hp engine. its pretty fast for such a small capacity bike.

[dave_boo]

I read earlier in this thread a quoted time for 0-100km/h for the Ninja 250 of 7.6 seconds. Isn't this slow for a bike ?

My 2 litre Nissan 200SX did the same in 6.5 seconds, Subaru WRX slightly faster.

Did it really do it in 6.5 seconds? Must have been one of the fastest 200SX (assuming it was a N.A.; did the US get the SR20DET?) out there, especially considering this page has the North American version listed at 8.2 seconds for 0-60...

Kawasaki Ninja with 100 kg rider = 270 kg (33bhp)

Nissan 200SX with 100 kg driver = 1300 kg (~165bhp; S15na)

Subaru Impreza WRX STI with 100 kg driver = 1600 kg (300bhp)

Ninja has all of 0.122 bhp/kg. 200SX has 0.127 bhp/kg. Not much difference, unless you're referring to the turbo models which put out 197 bhp. That particular one has a 0.152 bhp/kg...quite a difference. The WRX has 0.188 bhp/kg.

So yes it's slow for a bike (unless you've ridden a Honda Rebel); but that's a little bitty powerplant it has inside. The fact that it takes motor vehicles with at least 6x the hp to out accelerate it to 100 kph is not a bad thing.

[sibeymai]

I read earlier in this thread a quoted time for 0-100km/h for the Ninja 250 of 7.6 seconds. Isn't this slow for a bike ?

My 2 litre Nissan 200SX did the same in 6.5 seconds, Subaru WRX slightly faster.

No not really mate considering that the Kawasaki Ninja 250 is only a 33hp engine. its pretty fast for such a small capacity bike.

Ninja 250cc - Nissan 1,997cc (albeit turbo). Lets say the Ninja is 10% of the Nissan in round figures.

Ninja 33hp - Nissan is 197hp so the Ninja is way ahead in power/cc ratio.

Ninja 160kg - Nissan 1,250kg.

Ninja 0.2hp/kg - Nissan 0.15hp/kg. Ninja is ahead in hp per kg.

However, put a 70kg person in both and the hp/kg becomes 0.14hp/kg for both.

So back to the question, why is the Ninja so slow for 0-100km/h ?

[dave_boo]

Ninja 250cc - Nissan 1,997cc (albeit turbo). Lets say the Ninja is 10% of the Nissan in round figures.

Ninja 33hp - Nissan is 197hp so the Ninja is way ahead in power/cc ratio.

Ninja 160kg - Nissan 1,250kg.

Ninja 0.2hp/kg - Nissan 0.15hp/kg. Ninja is ahead in hp per kg.

However, put a 70kg person in both and the hp/kg becomes 0.14hp/kg for both.

So back to the question, why is the Ninja so slow for 0-100km/h ?

Without going into gearing charts (an exercise for 'ya), consider the most important factor in 0-60 times.....TORQUE! The Ninja has 22 N.M., the 200SX has 275. Looking at the Ninja's 10.455 kg/N.M. and the 200SX's 4.8 kg/N.M. (2.178 times as much per the Ninja) it's pretty obvious why the 200SX should have better times.

BTW, according to my figuring, the 200SX has an effective gearing of 13.387 and 8.122 (first and second respectively) and the Ninja has a gearing of 24.648 and 16.960. So in first the Ninja is only geared 1.841 times slower (mechanical advantage; I.E. that 10.455 kg/N.M. is presented as a 5.679 kg/N.M load to the engine--still more than the 4.8 kg/N.M. for the 200SX) in first and 2.088 times slower in second. Neither enough to overtake the torque advantage that the 200SX has.

[sibeymai]

Does appear that you have solved the mystery, thanks dave_boo.

[Richie1971]

Ritchie there is a good seat mod on one of the American websites. it entails taking some of the foam out of the seat to flatten it down. I will see if i can find a link.

HERE ya go ... http://www.kawiforums.com/showthread.php?t=105214

Allan

cheers Al

[dave_boo]

Finally took my lil green Ninjette up as fast as it would go; 156 kph (just shy of 97 MPH for us that don't follow convention) is what the GPS registered as the fastest. However there was still some RPMs left, but no matter how much I willed myself into a smaller package it wouldn't go any faster. In my case at least it seems that I need to go with a rear gear with more teeth to get more torque to the rear tyre and break 100 MPH (sorry...160 kph).

[JonnyF]

Finally took my lil green Ninjette up as fast as it would go; 156 kph (just shy of 97 MPH for us that don't follow convention) is what the GPS registered as the fastest. However there was still some RPMs left, but no matter how much I willed myself into a smaller package it wouldn't go any faster. In my case at least it seems that I need to go with a rear gear with more teeth to get more torque to the rear tyre and break 100 MPH (sorry...160 kph).

Did you note what the speedo was showing at 156? How much is it out by compared to gps?

I've had mine to 170 indicated but there was definitely still some power left, I'd guess maybe 10kph more - that's with me at 72kgs and the 'Area P' Quiet Core full system. Be interested to try and work out what 170 indicated is "really".

[dave_boo]

Did you note what the speedo was showing at 156? How much is it out by compared to gps?

I've had mine to 170 indicated but there was definitely still some power left, I'd guess maybe 10kph more - that's with me at 72kgs and the 'Area P' Quiet Core full system. Be interested to try and work out what 170 indicated is "really".

I knew that someone was going to ask, but no, I didn't check it. I sneaked a peek at the tach, but threading between cars and lorries at ~50% greater speed than they were putting along at took most of my concentration.

However, according to mine and other forum members' GPS the Ninja is off some 8.7% on the optimistic side. I.E. holding a steady 100kph on the speedo results in 92 indicated on the GPS. So assuming that the 'drift' remains constant, I was going ~169.6kph on the speedo.

You definitely have me beat on the weight (think about 28kg...lightweight ), and I'm still on my stock exhaust. Another thing that probably hurt me is that I have a tank bag; but there wasn't anything of note inside and it rides pretty close to the instrument cluster.

[CanInBKK]

I took a look at this page http://www.kawasakibigbike.com/showroom_chiengmai.html and there is a Ninja "C&G" listed as being few thousand Baht more than a regular 250. Is this the Special Edition? And what's different other than the paint job?

I was interested in financing but after looking at that webpage it seems the interest is a whopping 10%!! Is that for real?

[tuktukracer]

Hi Chaps.

Anyone interested in a nicely modded ninjette?

If so, mine's up for sale here: http://classifieds.thaivisa.com/automotive...-iii-26197.html

Cheers,

Simon

[dave_boo]

I took a look at this page http://www.kawasakibigbike.com/showroom_chiengmai.html and there is a Ninja "C&G" listed as being few thousand Baht more than a regular 250. Is this the Special Edition? And what's different other than the paint job?

I was interested in financing but after looking at that webpage it seems the interest is a whopping 10%!! Is that for real?

I think there's something lost in translation there. The way I read it is that it's 44.9K down and finance 100K over two years at 5k per month (5k x 24 = 120K for a grand total of 164.9K). That's still some 14% interest they earn on you though.....also I don't know of any difference between the two bikes.

[CanInBKK]

Well guys.....I finally bit the bullet and bought a new Ninja 250 (SE)!! Awesome ride, quite a different machine from my CBR150. I decided not to finance as the interest was overwhelming and in the long run not worth it.

I got with the bike a Thai manual but does anyone have an English version (for download if possible)?

[dave_boo]

Well guys.....I finally bit the bullet and bought a new Ninja 250 (SE)!! Awesome ride, quite a different machine from my CBR150. I decided not to finance as the interest was overwhelming and in the long run not worth it.

I got with the bike a Thai manual but does anyone have an English version (for download if possible)?

Welcome to the club. Did you keep the CBR?

Scribd.com has a scanned PDF for the carb'd model...can't tell you where to find the fuel injected model's manual.

[CanInBKK]

Well guys.....I finally bit the bullet and bought a new Ninja 250 (SE)!! Awesome ride, quite a different machine from my CBR150. I decided not to finance as the interest was overwhelming and in the long run not worth it.

I got with the bike a Thai manual but does anyone have an English version (for download if possible)?

Welcome to the club. Did you keep the CBR?

Scribd.com has a scanned PDF for the carb'd model...can't tell you where to find the fuel injected model's manual.

Hey dave_boo! Yeah I kept the CBR and still ride it daily for work, the Ninja is awesome for cruising the weekends but I find the CBR more attuned to weaving during rush hour traffic.

Thanks for the tip on the manual, I'll check it out. Any key points/features I should know that the CBR doesn't have (i.e. the gas light instead of a gauge)?

[dave_boo]

Well guys.....I finally bit the bullet and bought a new Ninja 250 (SE)!! Awesome ride, quite a different machine from my CBR150. I decided not to finance as the interest was overwhelming and in the long run not worth it.

I got with the bike a Thai manual but does anyone have an English version (for download if possible)?

Welcome to the club. Did you keep the CBR?

Scribd.com has a scanned PDF for the carb'd model...can't tell you where to find the fuel injected model's manual.

Hey dave_boo! Yeah I kept the CBR and still ride it daily for work, the Ninja is awesome for cruising the weekends but I find the CBR more attuned to weaving during rush hour traffic.

Thanks for the tip on the manual, I'll check it out. Any key points/features I should know that the CBR doesn't have (i.e. the gas light instead of a gauge)?

Positive nuetral. Great idea. When you come to a stop at an intersection, shift all the way down into First. Than shift up....you can't go past Nuetral! I drove myself bonkers trying to get the Second Nuetral shift until I found out about this.

Another thing. The intake snorkels have a habit of falling off ....take off your side panel where the right knee is. You'll see it to the far left. I took off the air cleaner access panel, pulled the air cleaner out, and pushed on the snorkel where it was inside the air box. A bit of fiddling and the snorkel came out. Sound was much improved and there might be a bit more midrange.

Let out the air in your tyres until it's at the proper range. The IRC tyres on the CBR are bad enough, but those on the Ninja are even harder! I've got mine a bit under recommended (32/28 IIRC) and as long as I get them warmed up they're not too bad.

Watch out for the pad on the pillion seat's cover, assuming it came with your bike. Mine disappeared somewhere on Sukhumvit/Srinarkarin. It's held on there with just some cheap molded plastic; guess my fat ass knocked it loose. I suppose a bit of contact cement will prevent someone else from losing theirs.

There's been some reports of the pillion seat/cover being hard to get on and off. I haven't had that problem, but the reported fix is to keep taking it on and off until everything gets settled.

You may have to adjust your head lamps. Once again, from what I've read, and experienced, Kawaski has them aimed MUCH too high. Not that hard to fix, but something to keep in mind unless you want people tipping their high beams at you in dusk/night conditions. Oh, and they WILL try and tell you that you have a lamp out also.

Watch the kill switch; CBR doesn't have one and I've felt stupid sitting there trying to figure out why the damned thing wouldn't start.

The fairing panels come off easily enough for deep cleaning of the bike, but I'd recommend having someone help you because those lower front pieces are big 'uns. It's fairly easy for them to get away from you and you don't want to scratch them now do you?

It seems to take longer than the CBR to start and warm up. Odd the starting part, but on the CBR it just purrs to life at the blip of a throttle. It takes a bit more to get the Ninja going, and when it does it has a pretty high idle for what I consider quite a bit of time. Settles down though, so no complaints; probably just the electronics erring on the side of caution.

Watch out for the Uni-Trak or Pro-Link (which is Honda and which is Kawasaki's name for the suspension bits?) under the bike...there's been a couple of times where I went a bit too enthusiastically over a speed bump and scraped it. Obviously didn't have that problem with CBR-that's operator error though.

Finally, that light....well....idiot lights are an invention of the devil (and that statement comes from an athetist). You'll see it flickering first, especially if you're on a curvy road, and eventually it will become more and more solid. When it's solid, I assume I have ~25km left. Funny thing though, you can still hear a lot of fuel sloshing around inside there. That's been a comment on various webboards and mags I've read. I haven't heard the whistling sound that some owners claimed from the gas cap that they hear when the tanks get hot.

I'll try and think of some more, but those are the majority of the differences.

[CanInBKK]

Thanks for the snorkel tip dave_boo!!! Gonna give it a try after I've finished breaking it in.....350km down......a couple (hundred) more to go.....

Watch the kill switch; CBR doesn't have one and I've felt stupid sitting there trying to figure out why the damned thing wouldn't start.

The fairing panels come off easily enough for deep cleaning of the bike, but I'd recommend having someone help you because those lower front pieces are big 'uns. It's fairly easy for them to get away from you and you don't want to scratch them now do you?

It seems to take longer than the CBR to start and warm up. Odd the starting part, but on the CBR it just purrs to life at the blip of a throttle. It takes a bit more to get the Ninja going, and when it does it has a pretty high idle for what I consider quite a bit of time. Settles down though, so no complaints; probably just the electronics erring on the side of caution.

Haha!!! I've done that too....I killed it once using the switch instead of the key and then sat there puzzled why it wouldn't start again. I was worried because it was 11pm and I was in a dead end soi (not feeling threatened, just didn't want to push a bike to the main street), but I was laughing at myself when I realized just a few minutes earlier I had used the switch.

I agree with the starting, just subtle nuances!!

BTW did you keep your CBR too?

[thaicbr]

Canin.... good job on your purchase......... Dave did keep his Cbr.. then his wife sold it... then Dave got his wife to buy it back.........hahahahaha classic.

[dave_boo]

Canin.... good job on your purchase......... Dave did keep his Cbr.. then his wife sold it... then Dave got his wife to buy it back.........hahahahaha classic.

I love that CBR.....and she heard about it. I even withheld sex for all of two days to punish her.

[jchfriis]

Well guys.....I finally bit the bullet and bought a new Ninja 250 (SE)!! Awesome ride, quite a different machine from my CBR150. I decided not to finance as the interest was overwhelming and in the long run not worth it.

I got with the bike a Thai manual but does anyone have an English version (for download if possible)?

Welcome to the club. Did you keep the CBR?

Scribd.com has a scanned PDF for the carb'd model...can't tell you where to find the fuel injected model's manual.

Hey dave_boo! Yeah I kept the CBR and still ride it daily for work, the Ninja is awesome for cruising the weekends but I find the CBR more attuned to weaving during rush hour traffic.

Thanks for the tip on the manual, I'll check it out. Any key points/features I should know that the CBR doesn't have (i.e. the gas light instead of a gauge)?

Kawasaki should supply you with the owners manual. They gave me a big fat manual in English, French and German a few weeks after I got the the bike.

Chris

[MegWong]

My brother has a Kawasaki Ninja too. He never allow me to touch it when he is around. However, sometime I take it out for a joy ride when he is overseas.

Edited July 20, 2009 by MegWong

[neverdie]

My brother has a Kawasaki Ninja too. He never allow me to touch it when he is around. However, sometime I take it out for a joy ride when he is overseas.

Perhaps Meg, you might be kind enough to post a picture of the bike, perhaps with you standing next to it in a bikini?

[dave_boo]

Ummh, noticed goodspeed is offering rearsets and exhausts for the Ninja 250. Faddy is offering exhaust and a new rear shock.

[JUDAS]

Ummh, noticed goodspeed is offering rearsets and exhausts for the Ninja 250. Faddy is offering exhaust and a new rear shock.

The Faddy link is pretty cool. Did you noticed there's a link to youtube where you can actually listen to the exhaust?

[thaicbr]

The carbon one is the same exhaust from both people. wonder what the price is. On the Thai ninja forum they are 7,000b

Edited July 24, 2009 by thaicbr

[monkeyofdoom]

When I turn the key to the On position, I hear a whirring sound from the bike. Sounds like a little electric motor spinning. What is it? Oil pump? Fuel injection getting ready? Does anyone know for sure?

[dave_boo]

When I turn the key to the On position, I hear a whirring sound from the bike. Sounds like a little electric motor spinning. What is it? Oil pump? Fuel injection getting ready? Does anyone know for sure?

Fuel pump pressurising the lines.

[monkeyofdoom]

When I turn the key to the On position, I hear a whirring sound from the bike. Sounds like a little electric motor spinning. What is it? Oil pump? Fuel injection getting ready? Does anyone know for sure?

Fuel pump pressurising the lines.

Makes sense, thanks!

[dave_boo]

The carbon one is the same exhaust from both people. wonder what the price is. On the Thai ninja forum they are 7,000b

faddy had it at 250USD...don't know the thai price.

[dave_boo]

For all those wanting to hot up their Ninjas, JE Pistons is now offering 12.0, 12.5, and 13.0:1 pistons. Cost is some 335 USD. This is an increase of 0.4-1.4 over stock...