[Kiatrasi]

I have a sort of newbie question, hope someone can enlighten me a bit..

Being a new rider that I am, I don’t really know what kind of things can a new bike tolerate or if it has zero tolerance on this matter.
I have a ’09 Ninja 250R, still on it’s break-in cycle, and I’d really love to drive it to my aunt’s house who’s also into motorcycles. Well the problem is, she lives about 45 miles away, and no matter how twistingly illogical I try to plan my route there, I will end up having to drive some distances on highways. I can’t reach 80-100kmh speeds without going to 6-7k RPM. And the manual recommends 4k during break-in.

Is it dire danger for my bike’s engine if I have to drive a bit on highways? How tolerant are bikes on general? Please give me some views of your own, so I can form a picture of my …chances, hehe

Thanks!

[megaspaz]

If you’re close to 1/2 way through the cycle, you can start wringing your ninja’s pretty little neck. The latest ninjas are still using the break in instructions from 1980. Ride it like you mean it. Some people scoff at break in altogether and seem to be doing fine.

[Kiatrasi]

Ah, unfortunately I’m still on the first “part” of the break-in, aka not close to halfway at all …I just got license a week ago, then had cousin visit for 4 days, add in 2 rainy days when I didn’t have guts to go test my luck with new slick tires, and I haven’t had chance to drive much more than few hundred kilometers so far.

If I planned my route to be VERY twisted, I may get around highways but daaaamn it’ll be a scenery route for sure…

[megaspaz]

kilometers? what’s that in miles? anyhoo, i think on my sv, i rode it like a couple hundred miles before i said eff break in…

[Kiatrasi]

Megaspaz: 200km is around 125 miles, I still got a way to go. Well, if I have patience to take it easy for that recommended full 500 miles, ugh…

Thanks Elwood and Megaspaz, I’ll try to plan my route to have minimal highway ride, but if there is some, well it can’t be helped. Never happened, like you say :p

EDIT: PS. I don’t expect a real answer but I just gotta vent, why in the damnest hell are motorcycle navigators ridiculously overpriced? Christ, if Tomtom Rider 2nd didn’t cost 500 euros (710$) , I’d have bought that thing already.

[megaspaz]

hrm… i just use google maps and my brain to remember the route… pretty much free of charge…

[owlie]

I read a suggestion to mark out your route on a map, zip it in a ziploc (with route showing) and tape it to the fuel tank. Easy to quickly glance at it, and no high-tech gadgets to fiddle with.

(oh, no, I’m not turning into a luddite am I? no cable modem, no Ipod, no Blackberry, and now advocating use of paper maps! AAHHHH!!!)

[yugen852]

Don’t worry about that, owlie. I am not like that anymore, but I was. The difference between you and me is that now I have basic cable and somewhat fast internet. I don’t own a blackberry, I have the cheapest cel with a pre-paid program I[don’t talk much on the phone]. It is tough not having access to technology, but hey, it isn’t too bad. Give it time and the stuff you need will appear.

yugen852

[owlie]

Luddites are anti-technology. My comment wasn’t a lament on not having any of the “essentials” in life. It was more a facetious comment on the fact that I don’t have any of it and (other than occasionally thinking that more bandwidth would be nice) I don’t particularly want any of that stuff.

Sorry, humor doesn’t always come across well in this format.

[Kiatrasi]

Well I made the trip, although I gotta say my little Ninja hasn’t been handled that “roughly” (in very mild sense of word) yet. Hopefully it won’t cause any problems in the long run. Some 4-8 mile trips on highways couldn’t be helped, occasionally raising the rpm upwards to 7k (yiieek, well it couldn’t be helped at those speeds) but usually staying at 4-6k rpm. Least I didn’t *notice* any difference in how it handles, or sound of the engine, clutch…anything. It rode like it was made for the job, ha. I haven’t gone above 7k rpm ever yet, staying far away from redline. So, hope she’ll be alright

Thanks for the infos! It’s very appreciated.

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