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.

I’m shooting blanks on the titles guys… err.. I mean.. I’m trying to be creative… but my mind just goes soft.. *Sigh*

Anyways, If you’re looking for a neat way to change up the look of your Ninja without having to take it to the paint booth… Wrap it. Thats right, slap some V’s up on that bitch! ( And by V’s I mean Vinyl, not Viagra.. How did this post go so wrong so quickly? )

The Guys over at Powersports Wraps create DIY vinyl wraps, for what seems to be all things motor sports, now have some pictures of Wrapped Ninja’s on their Blog. Apparently, no specific kit is needed just buy enough of the pattern you like and get wrapping, stretching, and cutting. The wrap in the picture above cost about $300 in materials… Exponentially less for the same designs to be done with an Airbrush.

Manufacture: Powersports Wraps
Price: Varies depending on Materials

Our lil Ninjas have been out for over 6 months now.. And people are racking up the miles left and right on these guys both on the street and the track. So, I think now is a great time to talk about the short term reliability of these bikes, and any issues we have seen or heard about.

Below are the four main areas I usually see discussed, and if anyone has anything to add, by all means, please do so.

Click Here for Additional Content and Pictures:

Guys… The Rumormill is Swirling… Searches for “2009 Ninja 250R” landing here are up 300% in the last 2 days…

I called my dealer and they said they heard July 2008. Called another Dealer and they said Aug 2008. None of which could comment on if they know of any changes. Neither of which have received a 2008 in over a month…

Anyone got any inside information? I’m sure some dealer out there has some information on when they will start to arrive. I’m just not getting my hopes up (yet) — Because if it was too be arriving soon, I’m sure that Kawasaki would update their website.. But I’ll keep watching — and if anyone hears anything — make sure you drop us a line over here!

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!

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Yay! Finally! There are officially official flush mount turn signals for the Ninja 250R! These popped up this weekend over at BikeLitez. Few specifics about the kit are available (ie. Do you need to cut into your plugs… Do you need a blink fix.. etc. etc.) But for $55 — it might be worth a set to see how they work out.

Price: ~$55.00
URL: BikeLitez.com

Last week, I posted about some of the goodies from Japan from K-Factory. Their slip-on exhaust was received with mixed reviews on it’s blued titanium look.. But now we have some sound clippage to go with the look…

Personally, I don’t think it sounds unique enough to stop everything and run out and buy it. But then again, I guarantee you’ll be the only cat in town with one of these guys on your Ninja 250 if you were able to pick one up..

Opinions? Thought?

I love watching these Ninja 250R Racing Videos on YouTube… In fact, they have inspired me to start looking for some track classes this summer. In the mean time tho, I’m going to have to settle for some office chair admiration.

This video is of some practice laps at Willow Springs in California, and it’s just fun to watch, and listen to. If you notice, some of the larger sweeping turns the rider is flat out on the throttle the whole time. To give you an idea of the 250’s Performance in this video, This rider was running lap times of about 1:45 — Which is about the same as the SCCA record for a Spec RX-7 on that track. The difference is, besides motocycle vs. cager, is the Ninja was getting 50+MPG, and the rider never needs to start a sentence with “To understand the rotary, you need to first understand rounded triangles…”

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I have been getting quite a bit of emails from people asking about 2Fiddy Tshirts, stickers, and lots of other promotional crap…

So, I’m trying to get and idea on if anyone would be interested in doing any of the following:

Possible Options:

1. Purchasing some sorta Ninja 250R Tshirt… (All Proceeds to go to some sort of charity) — Keeping in mind it will be ‘unofficial’ because I don’t need Kawasaki to have any more reason to sue me..

2. Having a Design Contest for a Ninja 250 Tshirt, where the winner gets some sort of prize…

3. Or, Just buy white tshirts and draw on them with a sharpie… Perhaps break out the Be-Dazzler.. Even the glitter paint.. Make sure we add some sort of witty slogan on the back about how ‘the bi*** feel off’…

4. None of the above. This is a stupid idea…

What do yah think? I’m really open for any ideas right now… So hit up the comment form below with any ideas or suggestions, or just to say you’d be interested…

Here is a video of a completely stock Ninja 250R running through the gears.. It’s pretty good quality, and gives a great example of the scoot that the lil 250 Has. This rider being about 140lbs tops out at about 110mph.

Now, if someone can make a video of a nicely modded 250R doing the same thing, we will send you some of the finest meats and cheeses…