[SafetyFirst]

At no point have a felt the Ninja 250 to be underpowered. I never noticed the engine go over 5000 RPM while I was riding (redline on the 250 is 14000 RPM)

In one of the rough friction zones mishaps, I ended up finding myself reving it way too high then all of a sudden deciding to dump the clutch (oops) and the result being me jolted way more than I was expecting. It could have been bad but I just hung on, stuck with it, hoped for the best and it turned out OK. But that’s a “don’t do that again!” moment.

I’m worried that if I was in that Ninja 650 you want, which has WAY more torque than a 250, I’d be picking up the bike off the road, assuming the damn tailgating cager didn’t run either me or the bike over first.

[SafetyFirst]

More riding tonight…

From about 7 PM to 8 PM.

I’ve found a traffic light that I love. I’ve used it to get across the ‘main drag’ I live near. It’s basically two 3-way intersections together. And it has no turn on red from the side-streets. So I can sit there, wait for the green, and make my right then my left without fearing over the main drag traffic. Or listening to the honk of cagers behind me when I chicken out on right turns.

I went over to the hospital a few blocks away and had some fun in their parking lot. Just for fun, I had to blast through the gaps in the concrete barricades they set up to divide the two back parking lots. I like being narrow.

Practiced stopping and shifting from a dead stop, and turning and shifting from a dead stop. I was impressed with how the braking practice went, but I don’t have any cones like I did at the MSF class to tell for sure.

Went around to the neighborhoods around the hospital for more riding. Very hilly area. I went down a steep hill with a hard right at the bottom. Second gear + that turn = awesome. Then I just kept it in second to make another left to go back up the same hill I went down, on a different street. No complaints from the bike, but it was fun to twist the throttle more than usual.

Hit a little patch of sand/gravel on a left turn on a sidestreet, on my way to go uphill to another road. It kinda took me off guard, but I knew exactly what it was by feel and just let a tinch off the throttle and went along my merry old way.

Did some more riding, more parking lot fun, and decided to take ‘er home. Got up to an intersection and I did something annoying. I hit the front brakes too hard when I was about stopped, instantly knew it and backed off quick. I was going maybe 5 mph, had been coasting for a while, I don’t know how little slip-ups like that still happen.

I decided to try my hand on the ‘main drag’ for a block or so, but never made it anywhere near the 35 the road is marked. I think I was too worried about my right hand turn coming up to bother getting up to speed just to have to brake it away in a hundred feet.

Oh, and I figured out the center stand (finally.)

[SafetyFirst]

The bottom line is, any decent helmet is better than no helmet.

Still, I wouldn’t suggest anyone touch the ‘bargain section’ helmets at Iron Pony in Columbus, OH.

Here in Ohio, helmets aren’t required unless you are a new rider. I see guys riding down the main-drag in town all the time without any helmet at all.

How much protection does that ‘safety’ dew-rag offer?

Or how much protection does that Alpinestars baseball cap provide? (had to rip on the metric guys, too.)

As far as I’m concerned, full-face or GTFO.

[SafetyFirst]

I don’t understand why you couldn’t use a higher amperage battery.

It’s no different than plugging a toaster into a 20 amp electrical outlet. Even though you can draw more current before the breaker blows, it doesn’t make the toast.. well.. toast any faster. The voltage is still ~120 VAC, it simply has more current available.

If it fits properly and is the same amperage or more, and is maint. free, you should be fine.

I have a higher capacity battery in my car than stock. It helps my electrical system. Higher amperage battery = easier starts in slightly discharged state. That’s what you’re looking for.

[SafetyFirst]

I’m wondering how smart it is for bare-bones coverage like I show in that quote.

Let’s face it, in almost any situation where I’d be at fault that I can think of, the cager is going to get off pretty cheap damage-wise and will get minor injuries.

I’d rather focus on collision coverage.

PS… the price through Progressive for the above, with Comprehensive changed to $100 deductible is $262/yr. Not bad for a new rider?

[SafetyFirst]

How’s this sound?

Policy Coverages

Bodily Injury & Property Damage: [] $12,500 person/$25,000 accident/$7,500 property damage

Uninsured/ Underinsured Motorist Bodily Injury: [] $12,500 person/$25,000 accident

Medical Payments: [] $1,000 each person

Transport Trailer: [] No coverage

Vehicle Coverages for 2003 KAWASAKI EX250-F

Physical Damage Options: [] Actual Cash Value

Comprehensive: [] $250 deductible

Collision: [] $250 deductible

Uninsured Motorist Property Damage: [] No coverage

Roadside Assistance: [] No coverage
[
Accessory coverage: [] $3,000 (Included)

[SafetyFirst]

Fear not, the stock horn of the Ninja 250 strikes terror into man or beast…

[SafetyFirst]

The wikipedia page I could find on deer whistles said they didn’t work.

And everyone knows Wikipedia could never be wrong.

Flush my idea down the toilet. Don’t forget to spray.

[SafetyFirst]

An eBay listing I saw for one had me giggling…

2002 rs50

great shape

cool fun bike

cooler than a scooter

65 mph on the level no headwind

get to shift a lot

[SafetyFirst]

I say throw the book at the driver.

Did they even brake before the crash?

BRC was right — intersections are the most dangerous places to be on a bike.

I’m sure we’ve all been spooked by things similar to this, on car or bike. The latest for me was on a freshly wet divided highway a few days ago in the car. I stopped at a red light, gave myself a lot of room between me and the car to the front. I hear the sound of brakes locking, look in the rear-view and see a monster F350 truck behind me skidding. He had plenty of room to stop, but that left turn lane was looking better and better by the second.

[Author]

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