More 2011 Kawasaki's.

[alanmcorcoran]

Originally Posted by dhgeyer

Alan: loved that video! The guy did the 50CC (50 hours coast to coast) on a 250! Cast Iron Cajones and then some!

Yeah, he's so laid back and yet, a monster of a ride! I bet he has sold a lot of Ninja's.

[mrlmd1]

A lot of the problems with the Ninjas have to do with the mentality of the younger riders who just have to try and mod the hell out of it thinking they will gain more horsepower, etc, with aftermarket exhausts, freer flowing air systems and changing carb jets. Each mod leads to it's own set of problems where the bike just doesn't run right. If you get a stock Ninja, it'll be fine, don't look at a modded bike. Mine is a 2006, stock, 4200 miles, runs great as is, and is as reliable as anything else including my older 10 yr, old GZ or my 2005 S50 - as "bulletproof" as you can get. The problems with the CDI have been caused by the modding done and was something that somebody looked at to try and solve other problems. These things are solid state and sealed and usually don't fail by themselves, the owners are looking for solutions to the problems they themselves have created and some "bright" guy came up with the idea of a bad CDI and everyone else jumped on the bandwagon to replace theirs or get an older model to fit.

[dhgeyer]

Can't say anything about the new model. The older one was what we had, and it was definitely in the "bulletproof" category. I don't care as much for the looks of the newer model anyway. I sat on one of the new model, and the seat was pretty hard, not that the old one was a living room couch!

Another nice thing about the little Ninja that hasn't been mentioned is the riding position. It's really more like the old "standard" or "UJM" riding position than a real sport bike. Feet under, slight forward lean, good weight distribution. I could do much longer rides on that than on a Rebel or even the beloved GZ250.

[Water Warrior 2]

:2tup: A big + for the unmodded bike. Years ago I would try minor mods with cages and finally gave up and slammed the hood closed. Some bikes will not take to modding unless you have a bag of money and can afford professional expertise. You may change the appearance to your own personal liking but it also make the bike unsaleable when the time come to move on.
An unmodded bike is an easy sale unless you find that special buyer who just has to have your creation no matter what you did to it.
The above opinion is that of an old guy with a large overly ugly Vstrom with a sweet unaltered engine. :biggrin:

[dentheman]

Suzuki FINALLY posted a $3,999 MSRP for the 2011 TU250 (a $200 increase from 2009). The 2011 Ninja 250 has the same MSRP. It seems to me that the Ninja has much more to offer for the same price. Tubeless tires, liquid cooling, better hi-way speed, 2 cylinder engine, etc. But I think the TU nearly makes it all up just on ease and cost of maintenance; screw type valve adjusters vs shims for example. Then there's the TU's fuel injection to consider, and its old school styling also appeals to me.

The thing is, when I get a motorcycle it is liable to be something that is not even on my list now, but I do have to pick out one or two models in anticipation. As you can tell, I am anticipating getting a new or used Ninja or a new or used TU. But I will see what happens when the time comes.