[ccpharrell]

“i.e. wheelies while splitting traffic, impromptu road racing, and to make it through that gap that is closing.”

No, no and no…..

I have no desire to do any of those and don’t, but when you are going 70 down the road and you have an 18 wheeler barreling down your backside at 80 your brakes aren’t going to help.

[Budd]

But the 18 wheelers brakes should help. They may want to go faster than you and it would be nice for you to get out of their lane so they can play decoy and get all the tickets. My bike does not struggle to go 90. I can safely say that if I have never felt that the flow of traffic was going too fast on my bike. My bike will go 105 according to people that know and test this sort of thing. This is faster than I want to go on it and faster than I have ever seen traffic move. I ride my 250 almost primarily in the far left lane of a four lane interstate during rush hour and any other time.

People saying that 250cc bike can’t handle the interstate or traffic have absolutely no idea what they are talking about. I would like to know what 250cc bike WeaponZero or ccpharrell has had on the interstate as a base of reference. I see people on rebels on the interstate doing just fine and that is an underpowered bike.

I was joking about the wheelies and what not.

But what do I know, bigger is better right.

“I am the best there is at what I do, and what I do ain’t nice.”-Wolverine

[WeaponZero]

Bear in mind Budd that the ninja 250 is not a normal 250. Its way faster and way quicker than other 250s, and it should be regarded as an exception to all the generalizations people say regarding 250s. What you say about what your bike can do is not a statement about 250s in general. It is light years beyond the performance of, say, a Rebel/Nighthawk 250, GZ250, V-Star 250, etc

[six-shooter]

I think alot of it has to with the distance that you are traveling at those speeds. On my wife’s 250, I can get on the freeway and keep up with traffic with no problem. However, if I’m riding more than 30 minutes at freeway speeds on the 250, it gets really uncomfortable because of the vibrations of the engine due to the high rpm’s. On my 500, I can make a a lot longer trip at the same speeds and still have feeling the lower half of my body when I’m done.
Also, I don’t think more power necessarily helps you to avoid trouble. It can, however, make your ride easier when passing, climbing hills, or changing lanes.

[Andrew]

Some of this personal preference. There are 2 cars in my house. A V6 Galant and a V4 Corolla. If the traffic in Chicago is going 85 then I am able to do that with headroom to spare in both cars. The V6 obviously has more instant torque should I wish to blow past someone or away from someone but I can achieve the same result in the Corolla. It’s just not as fun.

Now if you want your bike to have the same sort of headroom as a V6 does in traffic then you will want a bigger bike. What Budd is saying is that you can’t dismiss the 250cc bike as being incapable of handling interstate traffic. It can handle it but it’s not as much fun as a bigger bike.

The underlying assumption here is that you drive the same way you ride. I don’t ride the way I drive as I don’t have that cage around me anymore.

[Budd]

I thought the argument was against the CCs and foreign bikes. I have not ridden any of the lower CC European or Japanese models but I bet that the technology in them is newer than that of my Ninja. I would bargain that either of the Hyosung 250s would ride well in traffic. The Aprilla 125, although maybe not ideal and you would get pushed all around, could probably do it.

“I am the best there is at what I do, and what I do ain’t nice.”-Wolverine

[Budd]

I would argue that interstate riding is the least fun type of riding there is.

“I am the best there is at what I do, and what I do ain’t nice.”-Wolverine

[WeaponZero]

Personally I tend to disagree. Getting on a road where you can open it up to about 80-85mph and just leave it there, whether its an interstate, a turnpike, or whatever, is an absolute blast. It’s both relaxing and exhilarating at the same time for me.

[Matt]

Ahh the mosiac that is the motorcycling community. We all love two wheels, and yet no two of us can agree on how and why.
—
“The two seconds between ‘Oh S**!’ and the crash isn’t a lot of practice time.”

[Amoryl]

I got on the tollway north of chicago going southbound yesterday…it took almost an hour and a half to go 3 miles. I can’t imagine a 250cc not being able to keep up with that

just because many people want to go 15/20/30mph over the speed limit on the highway doesn’t mean that you cannot take a bike that’ll only go 10mph or so over the speed limit on the highway, IMO. I drive a big ugly slow cargo van, and if i’m over the speed limit it’s only by 3 or 4mph. I stay in the right lane, or the middle lane, go my own speed, and people pass me if they want to go faster (ok, I get passed a lot) and I get where I need to be when I need to be there.

honestly I get annoyed at all the people who use other people’s speeding habits to explain why a 250/500/650….whatever bike can’t go on the highway or cross the country. some dude rode across the Himalayas on an overloaded indian made 250 bike. sure the thing broke down like 4 times the first day, and he was practically crawling up parts of the mountain. but he made it. I’ve heard arguments that that wouldn’t work here because people drive down the highway at 70+ all the time….but you know what? all the other people on those roads that guy was riding were going much much faster than he was too, maybe not in the upper 70’s but compared to the speeds he was pulling it was like lightning. the big difference? he didn’t care. he didn’t care that he was going on average 1/3 the speed of the rest of the traffic, he didn’t care that his bike couldn’t break landspeed records or destroy speed limits. it was the journey that mattered. if you want to you can take any bike that can safely handle the MINIMUM speed requirement (usually 40-45mph) on the highway. it may take you twice as long than it would at 80, but if that doesn’t bother you, then go for it.

I have this crazy desire, and I really really want to do it, to take a big cross or partially cross country ride on my 250 after I’ve “outgrown it” before I move up to a larger bike. just to prove a point. I know even now that it’ll likely be much MUCH less comfortable than on a bigger bike, I’ll be more saddle sore, the ride’ll be slower, rougher, and the fatigue greater than with a bigger bike, but it CAN be done, and that in and of itself is enough for me

I hope

[smokeizfire]

What state are you in? Here in southern california, variety in low cc motos is the challenge. I visited 5 dealerships in 3 days. They all had that dang honda rebel. 1 had the 500 ninja which I don’t expect to see again this year. I went to my dealer today and they had about 3 GT 250 Rs. Maybe 3 GT 250 naked. And, 1 GV 250 Aquilla(I bought the other one they had). Did I see any 250 Ninjas at the Kawasaki dealer. No not one. So I guess it depends on what ur looking for. Most people are looking for names. And if you don’t believe that, just ask most of the Harley and BMW guys. Some guys want the bigger engine that they can’t handle, just to impress other bikers. I was looking to spend the least I could for a first bike, juggling comfort, size, weight, and of course looks. I got burnt by a Lancer today but hey, if I wanted to race I would have bought a R1 instead.

HE WHO DIES WITH THE MOST TOYS WINS

[Author]

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