Crashrat

Has anyone ridden or owned one of these? I tell you what, if this came as a scrambler, I'd probably leap at it. Seems like a neat little single.

cat0020

I traded ride with a buddy of mine, my $450 2004 Ninja 250 (yes, it was purchased less than $500) vs his $4999 2012 CBR250R. Both bikes are stock, no mod whatsoever.

CBR250r has nice 17" wheels, lots of tire choices, handles better going over bumpy roads.

For the city riding, lots of stop and go, CBR has nice torque down low, gets off the line quicker, but once above 35-40 mph, Ninja takes off.
At highway speed, the single cylinder does have noticable vibration vs parallel twin of Ninja.
Ninja seems smoother running at high speed.

Fuel injection vs carb... other than the cold start difference, performance wise I can't see the advantage. Fuel economy, that is all depended on operator.

IMO, you can easily find a used Ninja 250 at less than 1/2 of a new CBR250R.

If CBR250r is aimed for beginner rider, likelyhood of dropping the bike is high, why buy a brand new bike when you're more likely to drop it?

7moore7

Totally agree with this, but every bike started out new at some point (in other words, where are all of these "used" beginner bikes coming from?)

The CBR250r seems like a nice scooter alternative or bike to have fun testing the limits of without hitting triple digits if you are the kind of person who likes to buy a new bike. I'd like to give one a try... sitting in the cockpit the bike has a great fit and finish.

matt365

I've ridden both the CBR250 and the newest version of the Ninja 250. As learning tools, commuters, and backroad corner blasters, they're both real nice. Riding something smaller teaches you to carry alot more corner speed, rather than just hitting the throttle after messing up your lines/ screwing up a corner.

I liked the CBR250 better than the ninja 250... in reality, the differences are negligable.

I'd like to find one all scraped up and ugly, and use it as a track tool. embarrasing bigger bikes in the corners on a 250 is awesome.

cat0020

For pure track use, previous generation Ninja 250 would be ideal.
Previous generation (pre-2007) Ninja 250 is lighter in weight than current generation (2008-2012)Ninja 250, better topend power output.. if only they have 17" wheels to have better tire choices... but nowadays, there are some nice 16" pure race tires (expensive), too

GTS

Yeah but if you got the ninja you'd have to own a krapasucki. No thanks! LOL! Did a tune and service on one a month or two ago, was a total dog. But then what can you really expect from a 250?

cat0020

You can expect to become a better rider with a total dog of a 250, just as Matt said:

GTS

Well agreed, doesn't make it not a dog, but I can see how it would improve your ability having to rely more on the handling than the motor.

Crashrat

I’m very attracted to the idea of a sport single. A few years back I had a GB500 that was punched out to 6-something and it was a joy to ride around town and in the really tight stuff. The front end just wasn’t up to par. Unfortunately, that may be the case here, too, although the braking 60-to-zero stats I’ve seen are pretty impressive for a single 2p.

I hear Triumph might be developing a bigger single in the next couple of years, though, so who knows?

cat0020

Probably do pretty well in tighter tracks, but for the faster tracks with long sweeping turns, Ninja 250 will probably out pace the CBR250R.