A2. Ninja 250R?

Hi all,

What does the panel think about the Ninja 250R for an A2 licence 17-18
year old medium build girly please? She doesn't want to use my CB Two
Fifty for some reason? [1] :-(

Is it a reliable lump?

Is she going to get insurance on it (I think it's group 9?).

FWIW, approx weights dry.
Skipper ST125 ~ 108 kg (kids)
Wuyang 125 ~ 110 kg (loan)
CG 125 ~ 120 kg (school)
CB Two Fifty ~ 132 kg (mine)
Ninja 250R ~ 152 kg (wish list)
R100RT ~ 200 kg (mine)
XV750 ~ 230 kg (hers)

All the best ..

T i m

[1] Or go back to her scooter other than taking her Nan's ashes-casket
out for a pillion ride. She died before she got the chance to do so
propely and gave her the money for the scooter in the first place.

 

Hate to say it ('cos it implies persuasion of a female) - but what's
wrong with the CB250? Perfect for the job, I'd have said!

 

Well, my thoughts exactly, especially as a stepping stone, at least
till she's ready (as in experience and her own funds) for something
/better/?

I think she's got ideas about going out with some (older) mates who
all have bigger bikes and at least being able to cruise at motorway
speeds?

The problem is we don't really have new or fancy bike money to spare
(we could find it) nor would I be so happy at looking after an 8V
injected lump compared with 4 tappets on the little CB?

And she's also been given an old 1.1 Festa (just to get her through
her test) so we don't know how long this 2 wheel passion will last?

All the best ..

T i m

 

Mmm. All the more reason to push her towards the CB250. If she's
*really* keen on the bike route, she'll go for it.

Me - what do I know? Only a step-dad, me...

;o)

 

I think so too. However, I don't want to quash any enthusiasm she has
by making her take the CB if she really doesn't want to (and I don't
think she's that anti, just a bit of a dream for the 250R that she
might just have to wait for)?

Yep, me too (to her 10 year older sister). I'm still not sure which
role is the more difficult!

All the best ..

T i m

 

Wake the **** up, the pair of you.

This girl is 17/18 years old, it's blatently obvious she doesn't want
to ride something that looks like it got lost on the way to the
Heartbeat filming set. This is 2008, bikes have injection and 8 valves
to make them more reliable and better performing/fuel efficient. If she
turned up for a ride with her mates on something that looks like it
came off the ark she'd be laughed off the streets and all hint of
credibility would be gone forever. It's bad enough her dad follows her
around in his car when she does ride, poor fucking kid must be
embarrassed to hell and back.

FWIW a friend of mine has just bought one, she's 5ft 2 and very slight
built and recently passed her test, - she things it's wonderful and
much easier to ride than the Yamaha R125 she pxed against it.

Ninja 250Rs are made as a 33bhp machine, so they don't feel starngled
and have a proper upright riding position on a bike that looks very
sporty. To my mind they are very affordable and I reckon the resale
value is going to be very good when they filter onto the used market.

 

LOL. Well, what she wants and what we can afford / justify aren't the
same thing, unless the justification goes WAY past image that is.

But, FYI, if it's not the 250R she also likes old British bikes, her
favourite so far being my old REB 350. Try fitting that into yer
pigeon hole then! ;-)

It also makes them more expensive / complicated when they go wrong.

What's the old saying .. "beggars can't be choosers ... ". I have the
CB 250, not because it's the best bike in the world but for my
occasional use (and especially in these financially unstable times)
it's one of the most cheap / economical / functional bikes about. A
couple of weeks ago it took her and I from Nth to Sth London and back
and I'm not sure anything bigger would have done it much quicker or as
economically.

I guess that matters to some people. Luckily her mates aren't that
shallow. The only difference between her on the CB 250 and the 250R is
about 3 grand.

I'm glad you are keeping up with the story and (as it happens) she's
pleased to do so (and the car was only a temporary measure). Please
don't try and judge others by your own standards. ;-)

Ah, some actual answers at last <weg>, that's good to know, thanks.
Would you have any idea how much she pays for her insurance please? Do
Kawasaki still do their 'K Care' or similar do you know?

Yup, she read that bit out to me previously, along with all the other
'good points'. However, how much would those sporty plastics cost to
replace I wonder (TFPT only)?

And that might be when we can genuinely afford / justify one (second
hand). If in the meantime she finds 3 grand for the bike and another
grand (+?) for the insurance she can have what she wants!

All the best ..

T i m

p.s. Don't get me wrong, once she's demonstrated to us and herself
that 1) she can handle the CB250 (weight) well and 2) she continues to
be interested in biking, there's nothing more we would like to see
than her with her dream bike. I only had to wait 30 years till I got
mine!

 

Wake the **** up, the pair of you.
Yeah, but the point is it might all be different tomorrow when she
wakes up and decides that the Fiesta is the first rung on the stairway
to heaven...

 

You've just reminded me of a girl I went out with who had a tattoo of a
ladder on the inside of her right thigh.

Classy bird.

 

Funny you should say that ..

The Fiesta has been bounced off pretty well everything by it's
previous elderly lady owner and I don't think there is a single
straight panel on it (the Ka she replaced it with lasted exactly one
day before she tore the side out of it on a wall and a further week
before she burnt the clutch out).

But, in spite of not showing any previous interest in cars daughter
likes this one and I don't think that's just down to the fact that it
was free (but I'm sure it helped). ;-)

It's certainly not that it's white (her least favourite car colour).

All the best ..

T i m

 

Are you absolutely *certain* you belong on UKRM?
I mean - you seem *entirely* pleasant and friendly...

;o)

 

This is true if they do go wrong, but they rarely do.

 

There - that's better.

 

No, you are probably right Pip, but I'm not even sure where it leaves
the home mechanic for doing stuff outside even the basic service?

My mate has a 99 Avensis in with a bizarre engine fault. Take it up to
3k and it revs up and down on it's own like a punk at the lights. So
far we have scoped the camshaft sensor, crankshaft sensor, both coils,
all 4 injectors, the air temperature sensor, the throttle position
sensor the MAP sensor, lambda sensor and the battery / alternator.
It's going to cost £65 just to test the ECU and if it's faulty, well
.... :-(

If he had to change just the lambda and MAP sensors it would cost over
£400 (Toyota parts).

And all this time the owner has no car .. (well he has another but you
know what I mean).

All the best ..

T i m

 

*Belong*, probably not Grumpy, tried to get sense from ... sometimes!
;-)

To really belong I think you have got to have thrown yer thou down the
road a few times whilst pissed out yer brains and being chased by the
cops. Towing a camping trailer with an old and loaded BM, yer daughter
pillion and yer wife riding her XV750 - camping all around the UK
doesn't really earn any badges. :-(

But in spite of much of the bluster I know many of them have hearts of
gold! ;-)

All the best ..

T i m

 

Sounds like a lot of wasted effort compared to taking it to a dealer
so they can plug their diagnostic kit into the ECU, read the error
code, and identify what was at fault from it.

 

Would their diagnostic kit be better than my mates Sun Modis?

He looks after many ex 'dealer serviced' vehicles .. like the recent
30k MR2 where only one face of each disc had actually been in use from
new (inside face had just a 1/2" wide mark around it).

Brake drums that had never been off in 60k miles with weeping
cylinders and shoes down to the metal. :-(

A dealer changed 'noisy clutch' that was actually a faulty water pump?

Nope,I'd much rather take my vehicles to an old school but up_to_date
mechanic [1] than to a main dealer fitter any day. ;-)

All the best ..

T i m

[1] Although luckily I've been able to service all my own vehicles to
date.

 

All of which matters far less to a teenage burd than the fact that it looks
drop dead gorgeous, especially in black.

 

Everybody else is sorting the bikes question out, but I just think this
is a wonderful thing for her to do for her Nan.

 

Check the EGR valve?