VADriven.com Forums - The Ninjette

In April of 2008, I drove up to Maryland with my dad, pulled up to a cycle shop looking for a 2008 Kawasaki Ninja. For reasons unknown they were ALL gone anywhere in the area and I was met with the dilemma of buying the old style 250. As many of you know, I've been trying and thinking about selling her since the first time I really learned how to ride her... That is until I fell in love with her.

I remember the day that I walked into the back of the shop, they pulled out a cherry picker and pulled the "Ex250" crate off of the shelf. They grabbed crowbars, tore into the wooden crate, and there stood my new "Ninjette". The guy kept saying, "Now remember, take her easy, she's fast.." HA! I thought, let me just get on this thing. We trailered her back to our home in Chesterfield, unloaded her and she sat in the garage until I bought a helmet, a jacket, and some gloves from Ultimate Cycle. Yet again, man behind the counter says "Take it easy, she's fast, don't kill yourself".

I putted along in our drive way without a license for about 2 months before I went and took MSF and received my license a few months later. I rode her to and from school every day and to everyone including me she was "too small" and was nicknamed the "scooter" or "moped". Hating her more and more every day. Sure, 70 mpg's was great for a highschool student, but I wanted to be like the other cool guys and pop wheelies and do stoppies and be "cool".

Not until I had come back from Christmas break in my freshman year of college and rode her back to Lynchburg did I realize how amazing this little thing is. All day every day she is at 9-10k RPM on the highway and hasn't given me any problems. I got stuck behind an accident and took a detour that ended with my being on one of the best driving roads I'd ever been on... I thought... "Let's see what she can do"

With full riding gear, and no traffic in sight, I dropped down two gears, and let the little 250cc girl scream like a banshee! I remember my MSF instructor screaming "INSIDE, OUTSIDE, INSIDE, OUTSIDE! LOOK THROUGH THE TURNS". I lean her more and more as I get more comfortable and pretty soon I realize, I'm scraping my foot pegs as I come down on the turns! The stock dunlop tires had seen around 5k miles at that point and had been giving me some slip, so with a reluctant smile on my face I brought her back down to the speed limit.

I finished my semester, putting around on campus, came home and the first thing I did was had Pirelli Sport demons put on. After I screwed up an oil change due to inexperience and unpreparededness and general bafoonery.... I had to fix an drain plug issue, and the ole girl sat in the garage on her center stand....looking like she needed someone more. Due to deciding on not buying a car yet, I dropped $348.51 for a m6 dual exhaust from Two Brothers, overnight shipping included. When I woke up my brother came in my room and said "Some shit came in the mail for you..." I jumped up grabbed the box, laid out some white tarp and set her back up on her center stand. After fiddling around for a while, I installed the exhausts and to my surprise with no leaks! I started her up, and my dad came out looking to "Who the hell is starting my harley!"...when in fact the little 250 just got some new pipes.

I sat her down, let her run for a bit in neutral, then took her on my merry way to Leesburg to visit the gf. When I hit more traffic I found another detour, with another great driving road, even more deserted than the last one. I couldn't help but think, "She has new shoes, and new pipes, let's do this..." Dropped her down two gears, leaned into the corner as hard as I could, when all of a sudden, a man on a gixxer 600 comes FLYING by me on the straight. He slowed down to let me catch up and we started weaving going back and forth back and forth. Again, I just remembered to look through the turns and rear brake in the corners if I needed to. After a few turns I got comfortable again, and opened her up fully and let this little ninjette run to her full potential. "Manongixxer" not going to be beaten by a 250 opens up to and cuts my off in the corner, but goes inside outside, when I saw my opening I took it, ran by him and lead him the rest of the way down the road. Pulling 3-4 bike lengths on him every time.

I turned onto 17 back towards leesburg and waved goodbye to "man", when I realized how bad my mouth was hurting from smiling continuously. I thought "She does what she needs to...."

For around 2 thousand dollars you can go buy yourself one of these little work horses. Better than running harder than you can handle as a new rider, buy a ninja 250 instead. You can still have your smiles, and a little bit of soul from this pretty little girl. I've decided she will stay in the family, should I decide to part with her soon and pass her off to my little brother. But for now, I'm in love with her scream, reliability, and poise on the road.

Here are just a few shots I've collected since I got her in 08. The last shots were taken today. Hope you enjoyed.

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