Hey Guys, Happy labor day weekend!!! So have fun this weekend toss back some cold ones, rock out to some college football, and kick back and watching the Jerry Lewis Telethon…

In addition, I know a lot of you have some plans to go out riding this weekend.. Sooooo, just wanted to send out a reminder that if you haven’t recently done so — Why don’t you give your bike a quick once over and do a quick safety check. And if you head out on a ride with anyone — encourage them to do the same (Or, do it for them).

Quick List of things to Check:

• Tire Pressure / Tire condition
• Oil level
• Chain Lube
• Brake Fluid Levels / Pads / Rotors
• General Wear and Tear / Missing Bolts / Loose bolts
• Shift Linkages and Levers

Refer to your manuals for a full list, and info on how to check each item and what their spec should be.

Everyone be safe! And enjoy the long weekend! GO UCF KNIGHTS!

There have been Murmurs for the last day or so about 2009’s showing up at dealers. Although this has not been 100% confirmed, I got sooooo many emails about it, I decided to make a few phone calls. Here is what I found out:

This might actually be legit. One of the two people I talked to have deliveries scheduled in the next week that they were told contain these bikes.

More details to comes. I’ll update once I have 100% confirmation.

Update 1:

2009’s are officially being delivered in Australia. Reader Joel (Who Send a Shout out to http://www.kawariders.com.au/) just brought home a 2009 Lime Green (Remember Folks, No Lime Green in AU last year..)

Update 2:

This is officially confirmed. Yes, Fresh Ninja 250’s are hitting US Soil for the first time in over a month or two… There is a little confusion as to if these are “Rebadged” 08’s or actually 09’s. No one really knows yet — But it doesn’t make sense to me for Kawasaki to sit on stock for 2 months just for $500.. (Unless production costs went into the red, which would also explain why there is a price increase)

Either way, a few lucky few of you at the top of the waiting lists will get new bikes over the next week. Wether of not they are “true” 09’s won’t be known for 2 more weeks after the September dealer meeting.

Parts for the Ninja 250 are still sometimes difficult to come by.. Which is why protecting your bike is both important, but also sometimes a necessity. And when I say ‘Protecting your Bike’ I’m not just talking about in case of an accident, but also in the case of everyday road wear and tear.

The headlight lense is a pricey piece to fix.. And I already have my fair share of scratches mainly from ‘love bugs‘ on both the lense and also in the paint. Which is why something like the ScratchOn lense protector is nice cheap insurance.

Available in 5 colors (who said insurance can’t look good too) and for under 20$ (who said Insurance can’t be cheap!). ScratchOn is made from a high performance protective film that is rated to resisted fade and peel for 8 years.

The smoke film looks really nice… If you have a smoke Puig or what not, It’ll be a really nice compliment

Colors: Clear, smoke, blue, red, and yellow
Manufacture: ScratchOn
Price: $15
Link: Here

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Remember back a few weeks ago when we all were drooling over the A-Tech Carbon Fiber Rear Hugger… And then we all went on to bitch about how we can’t get any of these cool parts over here in the US? Well, That didn’t stop one of our beloved 2Fiddy readers from skirting the system and getting one of these bad boys sent over the pond..

And lemme say this… It was worth every freaking penny…

This is some of the highest quality Carbon fiber work I have seen in a while.. And the look is just sick. The rear hugger and chain guard now make a one piece shroud that is an absolute panty dropper.

So how did our buddy Chris order this bad boy? He used an online service called “Rinkya” — Which is an ordering proxy service that will order the part locally in Japan, and ship it direct to you (For a small fee of course).

Awesome piece man! I’m Majorly jealous.. And Thanks for Hooking 2Fiddy.com up with the pics and details!

So, enough of this chatter… And onto some eye candy!

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The point of ‘Readers Rides’ is to give people a visual reference of how parts look on their bikes. So, if you wanna see your bike up here, send me your pictures (Good pictures please.. No camera phones / Digital cameras from 1994)

Here are some great shots from one of our reader Bryan, who is well on his way to perfecting black, on black …. on more black.. One of the things I was excited to see is the Smoke Puig windscreen on this bike… It looks awesome, but for reference, the other parts on this bike are:

• Area P quiet core full exhaust
• Puig dark smoke wind screen
• Fender eliminator/license plate bracket w/LED turn signals
• Self painted gray metallic wheel stripes
• Dynojet kit
• Ported airbox

Nice Bike Man! Keep it up!

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Last week while looking for “How It’s Made”’s that I haven’t seen yet (There are so few left…), I saw a listing for a show called “Crash Science - Motorcycles” on NatGeo so I decided to set the ol’ Tivo for it. Well, seeing how good ol’ Tropical Storm Fay has kept me inside (and miserable) for the last 3 days, this show was a pleasant surprise when it recorded Wednesday night — and after watching it I was very, very, impressed.

Today I saw that they are replaying it one more time. So, if you can, I highly recommend recording this show. It goes over some of the variables that cause Superbike crashes, and what science goes into helping solve these issues. Overall it’s a great crash course (no pun intended) into the evolution of Sportbike technology and how this technology trickles down into street bikes.

And Best of all.. It’s in HD…

Channel: National Geographic / NatGeo / NatGeo HD
Show title: Crash Science - Motorcycles
Date/Time: Tuesday Aug, 26th @3PM EST

The international parts scene is kicking the poo out of the US scene as far as getting parts to market… Here is some more Japanese goodness in the form of an exhaust by Nojima. This is a full exhaust that actually has a super nice look to it, ( Sorta like a refined Yosh)  and I was really getting jealous that Asia is getting all these awesome goodies, and us…. Not so much…

Then I realized… it’s also almost a $1000 USD… Yah… Exactly..

So — I guess at the end of the day, I’m starting to understand why these are not imported… I really doubt that many Americans would dish out a cool K on an exhaust for a $4k Bike…

Manufacture: Nojima
Price: ￥99,750 (~$950 USD)
Link: Here

Thanks Rogg for sending this in…

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Wow - more and more exhausts are showing up every day. It’s sorta hard to keep up with all of them, but It looks like most of major players have stepped up to the plate and released something for the ol’ Ninja 250R.

Today’s offering comes from FMF Racing in the form of their Apex Ti Carbon Exhaust. Which is a good looking exhaust. It aesthetically competes with the Yosh, and performance wise… Don’t know yet as the details are a bit lacking. However, traditionally the FMF exhausts I have heard sound rad — so hopefully we can expect the same here..

Details:

- Aerospace quality Carbon Fiber can and Titanium endcap
- Incredible sound.
- Most advanced slip-on on the market.
- Hand crafted in the USA.

Manufacture: FMF Racing
Price: ~$425.00
Purchase: Here

Note: Do we have to pay extra for the “Hand creafted .. Areospace quality Carbon Fiber..”

Thanks for the Tip Bryan!

If you build it, they will come…

And building it y’all did… A demand for fender eliminators that is. Targa, who’s previous offering was incompatible with the seat cowl, has released a new fender eliminator that has proper clearances to allow for our beloved rump hump… (Not that it matters, seeing as how the US is completely dried of up seat cowls right now.)

This kit from targa comes with turn signals, and also a trick billet license plate light. All for a damn good price.. And from what I have been told, this is a No-Cut kit, but I cannot 100% verify this. So if any knows for sure, please post up in the comments!

Manufacture: Targa
Price: ~$90.00
Where to buy: Link

Thanks for the Tips Andrew & Jake!

One thing you see a lot of people asking for is a gear indicator for the ol’ 2Fiddy… And usually the response is something along the lines of “Learn your RPM’s!” or “Learn to Count!” etc.. etc.. I must admit I sorta agree that telling what gear your in on the 250 Is not that hard once you have a couple tics on the ODO..

But, this weekend I found myself searching for 7th a few times, and once or twice unsure if I was in 5th or 6th. What I realized is, once you get this bike over 60 the difference between 4+5 and 5+6 are pretty marginal, and I understand how people can easily guess wrong using the RPM method. (Also — With the RPM fluctuations when the cable heats up can further confuse a rider) Inexperience? Perhaps. But misleading? Defiantly.

So, I did some searching and found a neat gear indicator which appears to be a pretty simple install for the 250, and can help daily riders or racers alike. I don’t foresee myself adding one to my bike, but if you really, really, really need / want one here yah go!

Price: ~$90.00
Manufacture: Data Tool?
Purchase: Motosports.com