so i just took my riders course and now im looking to buy a bike….i found a ninja ex500 and thought a 500 would be best cuz im 6’2 so it would fit my height…what i am worried about is the age…i asked my course instructor what they think of a 1999 ninja and they said anything past 10 years is bad because some mechanics wouldnt even touch it…..Im not sure if thats the case but I wanted to know what the forum thot…is a 1988 ninja worth buying? or should i get a 2005 ninja ex250?
The Ninja 500 was in production until this year. 2009 is the last year for them. They had a minor makeover in 94 but have essentially been the same bike since 1987. Finding parts for them shouldn’t be that hard. And the Ninja 500 is a great starter bike.
My concern wouldn’t be the parts rather more of 1) the age… if it was a car its a legitimate classic. 2) how many previous owners? and recorded provable history. 3) make sure , if your not, have mechanics available that are knowledgeable with that particular model. Even though it doen’t look like it has changed over the years you can bet it has.
If you can get it cheap enough, sure, why not. Parts shouldn’t be an issue. It’s a popular bike that’s been around for quite some time.
Or, another way of looking at it, even if the engine kicks the bucket and it turns into a parts bike, it’d still hopefully have cost less to your loss then the cost of a drop to a new sportsbike.
But that 250 won’t do you wrong, but I don’t see you wanting to stay on it long with your body type.
the Ninja 500 (called the Ninja EX500 up until its 1995 mild revamp) has always been a great bike. However there were some reliability woes experienced by early first generation models that weren’t solved until the 1995 redesign when they changed the name to Ninja 500R. It is still mainly the same bike with the same engine and everything tho.
From what I understand the reason it’s being discontinued now is because Kawi doesn’t see a reason to produce a bike in between the Ninja 250R and 650R. The 650R is still beginner friendly enough to totally eclipse the market segment the 500R was occupying.
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