[RobM]

But I haven’t been on any rides more than an hour long. For that, the time just flew by because I was having some much fun and focused attention on the ride. We’ll see how it goes in a few weeks when I make my first longer (+200 mile) ride.

[RobM]

Good choice. I love m 06 Ninja 250. Keep up the parking lot practice. It’s a great way to build a little confidence. Oh and that thing will turn on a dime. Just be careful.

[RobM]

Started on the Ninja 250 for my recent reincarnation of MC riding. I rode dirt bikes as a kid and had a Kaw 550 LTD back in college. I’m really enjoying the ninjette. It’s a great bike to sharpen your skills.

[RobM]

That’s a great story about your ride with your son. You have given me some things to think about before taking my son for a ride. I appreciate your caution and thoroughness in preparing for the ride. I’ve been riding about 4 months and my son (who’s 10) is ready to go. He has gear from his BMX racing (helmet, goggles, gloves, armour and pants). The jacket is the only thing that worries me about it. Need to keep thinking about that one.

Thanks for relating your experience. It has helped me keep thinking about the important things.

[RobM]

I searched around in SD for a Ninja 250 for about a month before finding one that I liked and met my criteria. The person I purchased my bike from lived about an hour away on both country roads and a busy superslab. I choose to pickup the bike with a u-haul trailer for ~$15 for the day. It worked great. No problems with loading and unloading the bike using the tailgate as a ramp. Just make sure that you bring 4 tiedown straps.

On the Ninja 250 vs. 500, the girl that I got the 250 from was selling it because she had upgraded to a Ninja 600 after just 6 months. She said that is was very similar to the 250 just a little more power at the top end (highway speeds) and weight for the freeway driving that she does. My experience has been that the 250 is an excellent bike to learn and improve your skills on. I had previous riding experience on dirt as a kid and some street bike riding in college. However, I am really glad that I choose this bike to return to riding on and I’m enjoying the Ninja 250 on both commuting and weekend rides. Mind you my rides don’t include much freeway driving, but the Ninja 250 Riders Club has a ton of information on that bike (Ninja 250 RC FAQ). Many of them ride everyday on freeways.

Good luck in your search.

[RobM]

I’m glad to hear that you came out with mostly bumps and bruises. Bummer about your bike. I have that same Cortech jacket in yellow to match my Ninja 250. How did it do will sliding down the street? If something like this ever happens to me, I know that my wife will be very resistant to me getting back on a bike.

[RobM]

That bike is cool, even for standard/sport bike dude..

[RobM]

I was actually referring to the forums RSS link at the bottom of each category page. I also have the RSS link to the articles page, via the upper right link. I was experiementing with using the RSS feed reader to monitor updates (both new topics and follow-on discussions) to the forum pages. I’ve done a little looking around on the internet and it seems that RSS and the feed readers weren’t setup for doing what I was trying, more like for monitoring news sites. Apparently, there may be some apps called Web Forum Readers that will do what I am looking for. Checking one of those out was my next step. Thanks for looking into this for me.

[RobM]

IE 7….

[RobM]

Done it several times on my Ninja 250 when I first got it because: 1) forgot to turn on fuel switch and then ran battery down trying to start it (a senior moment) and 2) left ignition switch on after using kill switch. Luckly that light bike is easy to bump start. I also stand up on the pegs a little and use a little downward bounce on the seat when popping the clutch to minimize wheel slip with the pavement. This added step is left over from my dirt riding days as a kid. I guess learning this skill is another advantage of starting on a smaller cc light weight bike.

[RobM]

Check out Bohn Armor for something to use under jeans. They have armored shorts/underwear or full length armor that should work well under jeans. I’ve read a couple of reviews that are very positive about the products.

[RobM]

I’m interested in getting this for my 2006 ninja 250. Can you tell me where you got your manual? From the local Kawi shop or on-line? Thanks…

[RobM]

You might also look into the MSF dirtbike class http://www.dirtbikeschool.com/. You meet the age limit right now for this class. Of course you will need parental approval and all, but this might be a way to easy into riding. My son is 9 and I’m thinking that in a year or so I will take him to this class to get him some experience (he is very keen about motorcycles now that I have one). If you think that something like this is possible, even one of your parents can take the class and experience the learning process with you. This class is just another resource for you to learn about motorcycles and what kind of experience is needed to ride one.

At your age, the process of getting acceptance from your parents will be a slow process that will try your patience. You will need to convince them that you have the maturity to understand the responsibility of riding a motorcycle and following through with this responsibility everytime you ride. In a car its alittle easier for a parent to accept that a young adult driving because you are in a protective cage. The cage is not present in a motorcycle.

Good luck…

[RobM]

Hey Scotty…Congratulations on reaching 4000 miles. That’s quite a bit of riding since June. The bike looks sweet. Some of your pictures look like the same area my sister lives in just north of DFW, Lewisville. Are you near there or somewhere else? I can’t imagine riding in the Texas summer after leaving there 20 years ago for southern CA.

[RobM]

From one noob to another, congratulations on getting such a nice looking motorcycle. I have the same problem as you mention about turning right from a larger road to a minor street (or parking lot). I think that practice and patience will be the key.

[Author]

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