Cross Country Ride
Wow - I have seen this thread over at Kawiforms for a few days now, and never clicked on it thinking it was some goober asking questions about some pipe dream he has about riding cross country — not actually someone doing it.
That’s right — some crazy bastard is riding his 2008 Ninja 250R Cross Country ( And by Country — I mean the good ol’ US of A… Not some micro country like, Vatacan City… ie. 3000+ Miles, EACH WAY!)
*sigh* I’m so Jealous. That is so rad — if you haven’t read the thread already, take some time and read it. It really sounds like quite the adventure, and I’m completely Jealous of you. I did some searching, and I cannot find any proof of any other 2008+ Ninja 250R doing any type of trip even close to what you’re doing.
So, because I want to support what you’re doing — and since I’m pretty damn sure you’re the first — 2Fiddy.com is willing to sponsor the next 50$ worth of Gas for you bro! Just shoot me an email or leave a comment here and I’ll get in touch with you about pay-pal’n you some gas money.
Good Luck Man!
Greg Said,
August 4, 2008 @ 11:04 pm
What an awesome thing to do. That $50 should cover the whole trip.
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J.E.Turner Said,
August 4, 2008 @ 11:56 pm
I didn’t realize that this was such a big deal. I planned to drive mine back from WV to GA and then drive it to CA when I move there this year. Should I reconsider? I just figures that I’d stop at a cheap motel whenever riding got too uncomfortable.
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Mr. 2Fiddy Reply:
August 5th, 2008 at 12:07 am
This is something that I think all riders think about doing at least once. Ever since I watched “Feasting on asphalt” with Alton Brown, I have always wanted to do a cross country trip… I just can’t imagine doing it on the lil’ Ninja vs. some sort of Cruiser/Touring bike…
But Hell — If People wanna do it… That’s just freaking rad in my book and I’m all for it…
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Stephane Said,
August 5, 2008 @ 12:35 am
Very Nice Man. Can you please tell me what type of Tail Bags did you use and were did you buy them. Thank you.
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Owen Said,
August 5, 2008 @ 3:12 am
good on ya mate!!! im hopign to get a rack and bag for my baby so it can tour more easily… didnt like strapping a bag to the rear seat as it scuffed my plastic!!! these things are good to tour on as long as you dont want to sit on 90mph the whole way… they are comfortable, cheap on fuel and a bucket of fun in the twisties…..
woo hoo… i should take some pics when i finally get her in touring mode… who needs a 1400GTR (concours to u yanks) when u can have one of these
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Kenny Said,
August 5, 2008 @ 7:17 pm
That’s awesome! Good luck on your journey, brother. I too am about to take off on an adventure… although mine is a one way 1,198 mi trek up north to live in Washington…
Take it easy and ride safe.
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DJAZ Said,
August 6, 2008 @ 12:43 am
Well I’ll be hot damned…that’s gutsy.
I have put 1500 mi on my bike in two months. i cannot imagine just jetting out 3000 mi on all kinds of roads and weather with this bike. It’s just too tight. I have been unable to convince myself to ride to meetings 60 mi away because of the highway limitations of this bike. (PA turnpike for an hour is like riding on the moon during a wind storm. Maybe Mars? Whatever…it sucks.)
But his setup is amazing and he may already have children so the mitigating circumstances are minimal.
Godspeed you crazy bastard……
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Owen Reply:
August 6th, 2008 at 1:08 am
the ninja 250 can easily do highway riding… u just gotta wring its neck a little…. ive done a trip which was 1300 kms in 2 days with a buch of guys who pretty much sat on 85 mph the whole way… i was not behind at any fuel stop or meet point…. u just gotta ride her hard… even if the manufacturer didnt intend it
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DJAZ Reply:
August 6th, 2008 at 1:57 am
speed I can do, no prob. it’s the bumps and wind blasts that knock this bike around at speed that scares me. Ever drive sideways in a wind shear only to have a wind blast from a semi knock you back the other way? On this light bike I have had rag doll moves daily.
an hour of that and I need therapy.
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J.E.Turner Reply:
August 9th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
I second this. I was really feeling it in the mountains but I could always tell when a big rig was about to try to overtake me because the wind blast precedes it. Scary as all hell.
Julian E. Turner Said,
August 9, 2008 @ 9:37 am
Well, I just put 600mi on what was practically my first ride (WV-GA).
In the car, I drove my mother up to West Virginia to visit family and pick up my bike from the dealer. I then took it from the dealer to my relative’s house ~20mi away, led my mother to the other relatives house and back a couple times (~20mi round-trip; she didn’t know the way and I was leaving her there), then hit the Interstate to go all the way back south of Atlanta Georgia.
It sure was a relief to get out of those mountains! They’re TERRIFYING to a begginer. Then again, so was seeing another biker die/nearly die (I’m pretty sure he’s dead) when I passed through ATL (if I bypassed it, I would have further exceeded the mileage for the break-in period).
Seemingly none of the other sport-bikers could figure out why I was driving so slow and most would speed past me, so I can’t help but think that the accident was one of those guys I waved at earlier. That’s the kinda experience that ensures that I’ll be staying “a commuter” and not becoming “a thrill-seeker.”
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Julian E. Turner Reply:
August 9th, 2008 at 9:42 am
Oh! And I still might ride the thing when I move to San Diego, CA. I tried my darndest to rent a truck to take my 250 home but no one in WV or VA would rent one to me one-way. I just had to stick it out despite my inexperience because I had to be back for work.
The WV mountains seem to be about the worst place to get comfortable riding without getting in an accident! The paved lanes are only big enough for one car-sized vehicle with gravel on either side for cars to pull over and pass each-other. That gravel gets spreat out into the twistiest roads I’ve ever seen and you can’t see it coming. Thank God I took classes.
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DJAZ Said,
August 10, 2008 @ 1:08 am
@Julian: You have completed stage one. Welcome to the hair raising world of riding. It gets easier from here on out.
Now it’s your turn to crash Make it a small one and then you are good for a couple of years!
Seriously, be careful and try to take your risks in bite-sized chunks.
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Julian Emmett Turner Reply:
August 11th, 2008 at 10:57 am
Bite-sized chunks, eh? Thank God, because I know I bit off more than I could chew in those mountain roads (didn’t have a choice).
I’d like to think that I already got “the small one” out of the way. A driver was tailing me close as I was going extremely slow. I mean, I didn’t know the roads and I couldn’t see more than about 15ft in front of me at any given time just due to the road twisting around deep cuts in the mountain. This one was particularly tight, so I didn’t know where the road was going only 6′ ahead. There was no way I was blindly going around the next one with the car on my rear like that. I also suspected that I was going the wrong way (I was), so I had to pull over anyway to check my directions. Thanks for the bad directions, Google Maps! *grrr* I shouldn’t have even been on that road.
Unfortunately, what I meant about “deep cuts” is just that, the road turns and drops so fast that you often can’t see more than a few feet down ahead and there is a wall of mountain dirt on the side that you are driving around. The pavement is only wide enough for one car-sized vehicle because they don’t want to cut deeper into the side of the mountain (adds to the expense of creating and maintaining these mountain roads), so they just spread a little gravel on the side so that cars can pull over and pass each other. I still wonder how they see each other coming around the curves!
Anyway, I pulled over on the right and soon realized that there wasn’t enough room to have my bike leaning left on the side-stand (leans out in the road), so I quickly pulled it back over to the right for the car to pass and then found that erosion of the gravel left no place for my right foot to stabilize it. I leaned it right over into the wall of dirt and watched my right mirror disappear into the dirt and vegetation. Only the mirror, right bar end, and the point on the side a little behind the right seat touched.
I was sitting on it, engine running, with plenty of room on either side of me, not touching the mountain-side with my body or anything, so it was still *mostly* upright (just a little more lean than it would be on the side-stand), but I tried to lean it back left and found it more difficult than I thought with my right foot unable to reach the ground (dangling because of the 6″ of erosion at the base of the mountain wall). I ended up just having let it go back into the dirt wall again. After doing this a couple more times, I just had to grab the left handlebar with both hands and push off the mountain wall with my right foot. It was still extremely difficult even without my weight on it, so I should have accepted help offered from the first driver/tailgater. If I had, there likely wouldn’t be any visible blemish. Instead, I now have a black spot on the right behind the seat where that point touched the dirt wall repeatedly and scratched off a bit of the paint. Even though I told my brother about it and he looked at the right side when I arrived home, he totally missed it, so it’s not that bad. If I had a black bike like I originally wanted, I wouldn’t have noticed!
I sure am glad that 2fiddy reported the touch-up paint deets!
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Bryan (2008ninja250r) Said,
August 11, 2008 @ 1:31 pm
The trip has been amazing so far! I’m leaving Vegas this afternoon to head over to California stay tuned for more updates. Thanks again for the sponsorship!
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DJAZ Said,
August 15, 2008 @ 1:13 am
@Julian: I’m amazed you still ride after that ordeal. Some others would just call a cab.
@Bryan:Stop when you get to California. You’re there man.
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Chris M Said,
September 23, 2008 @ 12:02 pm
I too am heading out for a long haul on my little 08 250 i leave October 4th from Saint Paris OH for Oklahoma City Oklahoma. I plan doing this in a straight shot for about 15 hrs if im lucky. its just under 900 miles. My wife trains horses for a living and she pulls her 4 horse trailer out on sept 29th for 2 weeks i am going for only the last week and then as we have done in Detroit and other shows i will load my 250 in the living quarters of the horse trailer and help her on the drive back to Ohio. Try getting a harley or cruiser in that tight spot. My rear sprocket should be here tomorrow i will be running a 15-42 combo since last trip i thought 8200 rpm at 75-77 was a little high, but it did it for 4 hrs at 64mpg. Well hats off to anyone riding these bikes across the country i know i enjoy mine a heck of alot.
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