It’s been a while since we had some Ninja Racing Porn on here… This is a video from the WSMC Ninja 250R Cup Race September 21, 2008 at Willow Springs Raceway in Rosemond California. This video was shot from from the bike of AMA racer Jeff Tigert Richard Barnett of www.racebikerentals.com.
Kawasaki updated the webpage for the 2009 Ninja 250R… And not to to many people’s surprise, not much has changed.
What has changed:
Price is listed as $3,499 - $4099 (Pretty sure this is a misprint and should be $3,999-$4,099)
Colors are now: Metallic Diablo Black, Sunbeam Red, Candy Thunder Blue, Special Edition Lime Green / Metallic Diablo Black
There is a special edition version ( Lime Green / Metallic Diablo Black) Which also looks to get wheel stripes.
Updated the pictures, removing the pictures of the woman riding the bike. (Perhaps marketing shift?)
More details: Kawasaki.com
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
So I have recently been going through the log files of 2Fiddy.com where I noticed some very interesting patterns. Upon further investigation, I have realized that we have a very frequent reader to this Site. Non other than good ol’ Kawasaki themselves from both the US and their JP offices.
In fact, You can clearly see when a comment or post peaks their interest, because you’ll see a bunch of hits right after the original access, most likely from some sort internal email… Really kinda funny. In fact, the 2009 Ninja 250R thread has been quite popular. [ I see you! *Waving* ]
In Addition, I have been receiving more and more emails from vendors giving me tips, and thanking me for posting about their products and wanting to work out giveaways… And asking me my opinion on parts… So we know Vendors are reading too… [ Hi guys! We love you too! *Waving* ]
Sooooooo.. This is our Wishlist Thread… Post Up what the heck you want, need, desire, and loath. It can’t hurt.. We have the audience we need, now — lets tell them how we roll! (And how we can roll mo’ better…)
What we Know:
All 2008 orders not shipped as of Aug. 05, 2008 (Today) are canceled
Colors: Black, Blue, Red (No more Kawi Green)
Price: $3999 USD
What we’re waiting to find out:
When they will be shipping.
My Thoughts:
I don’t think any of this is ground breaking news. It does suck that people who have deposits on 08’s @ $3499 might get bit for another $500 — That might even turn away a few prospective buyers — However, the used market is indeed picking up I’m seeing 250’s all over eBay and Craigslist. But — Unless we saw a YZF-250, CBR-250, GSX-250 or something similar hit the market, the price increase was pretty much inevitable. (And I have a hard time believing it’ll scare away enough buyers to hurt Kawasaki’s sales numbers)
I do think it’s pretty odd for them to drop green as a color. I would think that they would drop Red or Blue. However, since they did drop Green, it does leave the door open for a Kawi Green Special Edition… *shrug* Who knows.
Anyone have any updates on any physical changes? (No, there is not fuel injection on North American bikes. Please don’t ask…)
Hat tip JET for sending this in. Dealer Notice After the Jump..
Click Here for Additional Content and Pictures:
Kawasaki UK updated their website recently to add in some neat goodies for the Ninja 250R. No updates on the US site (I mean common, they still have a picture of a 07 up for parts!) — But rumor has it there will be some parts released Stateside during the dealer meeting in October.
The parts that jumped out at me were the Bubble Windscren and the LED Turn Signals. Hopefully some of these (If they are DOT approved *shrug*) Start showing up stateside…
Thanks for the tip Nathan.
Click Here for Additional Content and Pictures:
Well, this might be the last chance for anyone to get a new 2008 Ninja 250R… 
kawasaki announced the finalists for their “My Ninja 250R story” where people submitted videos about — well — Their 250R story.
After watching all of them, My Vote goes to Becky Shimek from San Antonio, Tx. First, it’s a really well made video. Second, she has a HelmetHair sticker on her helmet — Which is a rad community that supports female bikers (Which we all love…). and Third, she seems kinda cute… And that always helps..
So head on over to the My Ninja 250R Story Page, and check out the videos. There are some really good ones.
So, I noticed this month that lots of “Letters to the Editor” of the major bike magazines had lots of chatter about the Ninja 250R (mainly because it’s been about 3 months since all the reviews… ) — And quite a few people were picking on the 250R for the published “low” fuel economy numbers, considering MPG’s are one of the main selling points for a 250. Most magazines saw between 45-50MPG.. (still pretty impressive…)
First a few things about the Magazine Reviews: Their bikes were non broken in brand new bikes. And I can say from experience, the first ~500 miles on the 250R you see in the 40-50 Range. Also, most of the riding from the reviews was very spirited “Lets ring this suckah out!” review riding.. Which of course will be lower than the avg riders daily sprint around town. So, I’m pretty sure these published numbers a waaaay off (and thats from my personal experience…)
In addition, Kawasaki added a new MPG Page to their site listing the Ninjette @ 61MPG. I haven’t seen 61MPG.. with ~1000 miles on the ODO — I got 57MPG last take. And that was with mostly 55MPH around town stop and go riding. (This is also on a Jetted Bike…)
So please - My fellow 2Fiddyr’s — Post up in the comments what your real world MPG’s are, what your mods are, mileage, and what your riding environment/style is… And for our International readers — Chime in! Tell us what the FI models are doing!
Kawasaki updated their website this week to include the 2009 Ninja 500R. There was quite a bit of anticipation that the 500R would receive a similar face lift to the 250R. I guess now we know it is clearly not happening in the 2009 year.
I’m guessing that Kawasaki feels that it would be competing with it’s ZZR and ZX lines if it did a face lift on the 500R, or, they will upset the more conservative economical audience the 500R attracts? (Ie. Some people don’t like the ‘crotch-rocket’ look..)
I would personally put an Updated 500R as a nice upgrade path for 250R owners looking for a lil more freeway ooomph, without having to jump directly into a Supersport bike. I guess thats why the ZZR is still around, but at 2K less, a sexy 500 would be a nice option…
Thoughts?
D&D Released two new Slip-On Exhaust for the Ninja 250R this week. (And Reading about it reminded me that it’s been a while since we have had any Exhaust news on here.)
This pipe is actually a really nice looking piece, and the power numbers seem to be in line with most other slip on’s on the market. But - Power Aside for a second — This black version of this pipe would look absolutely rad on a black or a blue bike. So, if you’re looking for just an aesthetic upgrade from the ol’ Chromepon (You’ll get that joke later) that come stock, the D&D might be one of the best places to look. (Especially If you don’t want to dish out the money for the Yosh)
This slip on does not require to have the bike Jetted (but trust me — jetting helps) — And Without Jets the D&D will give smooth out your power band and keep power building well past the 10k drop off in stock form. Peaking out at 26Hp / 13lbft it’s a decent 2Hp increase and 2ftlb of torque increase. (And on this bike, That’s a 10% increase in power…)
Details:
539-11A Ninja 250 08 Alum $489 s/o 3×12 Muff /w pipe
539-11B Ninja 250 08 Black $489 s/o Heat shield
Link:
D&D Performance Exhaust
One of our 2Fiddy readers Mark sent me over some pictures of him on his new 250, and it’s looking good. I really like this picture to the right because it is a great size reference for riders. Mark is about 5′8″ / 200(ish) pounds — and as you can see — the bike is a really good fit.
In addition to stopping for a few mins for a quick snap shot — Mark is doing a good job getting some nice Ninja footage up on YouTube. Make sure you check it out.
Marks Mods:
Area P Carbon Fiber Exhaust
GLSIGNS Ebay Wheel Stripes
Competition Werks Fender Eliminator
If you have pictures, and would like to have them included on 2Fiddy.com, just shoot me a message @
