[Tfug] [OT] WTB: motorcycle

[Jim March]

On Wed, Jul 9, 2008 at 1:58 PM, Matt Jacob <m at mattjacob.com> wrote:

> Jim, Chuck, et al.:
>
> How do you feel about the Kawasaki Ninja 250? I can get a brand-new 2008
> model for about $4000, and then I can be the first person to dent the
> gas tank or put some scratches in the fairings. :-) I've heard it's a
> good little beginner bike, and does particularly well around town. The
> only downside is that there's a waiting list to get one because it's
> proven to be very popular as of late.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Matt


I'm not a big fan of the Ninja 250.  Basically, the motor is high-strung,
high-RPM, and the valves need adjusting relatively frequently...4,000 miles
I think?  And they're shim-under-bucket so it's a pain.

That said, it's not a bike that will kill a newbie.  It's powerband is very
controllable and it doesn't have any bad handling quirks.

Try this: call a Suzuki dealer, see if you can find a GS500 (or GS500F) for
the same price.  Unless they've changed recently, that's an air-cooled
engine, lower redline, broader powerband, not that much more power over the
Ninja 250, same basic two-cylinder layout (parallel twin).  Valves are
screw-adjust and much easier to tune every 6,000 miles or whatever it
is...check prices and intervals on valve adjustments.  The GS500 has been in
continuous production since the late '80s and has been famous as a
beginner's sportbike.

Apparently the newest GS500 variants come with a full fairing.  See if you
can find last year's model (or the year before that?) still new but without
the fairing.  Or if you do get the fairing model, get them to unbolt it for
you and ride around for a while without it :).  You might flop over at low
speed once or twice at first :).

Jim
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