Kawasaki Ninja 250R Motorcycle Reviews on Cycle Insider (6)
Avg. Rating

This was a gift to me from my daughter. It wasn't driven for five years until I moved to Vancouver Island to a town called Sooke. The ride here is absolutely amazing as all the roads are hilly and loaded with curves. This bike is absolutely amazing. My son rides an R1 and really enjoyed taking my bike for rides. He says it is absolutely a great ride - handles the hills and curves and has lots of power in the upper rpms. What a truely great time I have with this gift. Since I am a retired man, guess what I do to spend my time?

The Ninja 250 is a really cool and nimble bike. It's been around for quite a while now and really has not changed much, but why change such a good thing? I mean, for being a 250 it may not be an adreline rush on wheels but it's fun, great on fuel, and reliable. The bike is great in the twisties or back roads, and fairly smooth on the highway. This is a great bike for beginners that want a sporty type bike for a relativley low cost. Even if it is laid down you can buy so many parts for it off the net instead of being raped by a dealer. Overall, this bike is fun and extremely durable, a very good choice for a first bike as well as a fun addition to an experienced rider's garage.

I just got my '02 Ninja 250R used. It is the Kawasaki green color just like the one pictured. It is a great bike for me, a newbie motorcyclist. It handles well and is great for riding around town. I live on the East side of downtown and have a 20 minute commute to the West side during busy rush hours both times. One tank of gas lasts me over two weeks and I typically get over 65 mpg in the city!!

I had a bike when I was younger and literally rode it to death (rings went bad). Last 3 years or so I've been wanting a bike and have pretty much been set on the 250r for the last year or so. Bike rides great. It took me a bit to get used to turning since I hadn't ridden in years but it still was not hard, just different for the first time or two out. Basically I'd recommend it to anyone. It's been windy so still have yet to break the 80mph barrier as I value my life. Drive smart, live long... you know. Anyway looking for a bike? This will work incredible for you. Enjoy.

I will start out saying, I love this bike. I didn't go to the dealership to get one, but after looking at some different bikes, I was leaning on the sport bikes. I went to the dealership to get a Kawasaki KLR 250 dual-sport. I am glad I didn't. The sale that the dealership was running on Ninja's, was for the 2003's. There were none left when I got there, and they had only one 2004. As I was leaving, the salesman, told me that he had a 2002 Ninja 250 for sale. He had bought it for his wife and she didn't like riding. He had 700 miles on it and rode it to work from time to time. I went to his house that night and bought it. The best money I have spent in a while. It is plenty big enough for me and the power is totally enough for a grown man. My friends and I just got back from a 4000 mile road trip leaving GA, going through AL, MS, LA, TX, into NM, to CO, and back to GA. The Ninja passed with flying colors. It gave super gas milege, handled well (even on rough TX back roads), would cruise all day at 60-70 mph. It will go quite a bit faster, but we were just cruising and traveling. I was the only guy in our group of six riders that was on a sport bike. I would top off my gas tank when they would stop, but I never put over 2 gallons of gas in it at a time the whole trip. I would suggest to anyone to take a good look at this bike, it is a keeper. The green color is nice too, that's the color Kawasaki's are supposed to be!

I have the Canadian aerodynamic version, (pearl-gold color) of the Ninja 250 which looks a lot better than the Reagan styled USA model. Have received many compliments on the bikes looks from lots of females. Has a very useful centrestand, gives about 70 mpg and is quicker than most cars. Is light and very nimble. I have had several 300 mile rides on it, and it is comfortable, I am 6 feet tall. Am used to larger bikes - 1100cc Honda Aero, 1300cc Yamaha Royal Star and 1500cc Kawasaki Drifter, so this is a real change, cheap on gas and insurance. It is not really made for 2 up riding unless you have a very petite girlfriend (mine's 85 lbs). You must use you body weight on windy days as this is a light bike (about 360 lbs wet). Also looked at Ninja ZX6, but I would have to ride it way too fast to keep the engine happy. For example, at 50 mph the Ninja 250 is turning 6000 rpm and you can just imagine how fast that would be on the Ninja 600. Since most of my riding is on country highways - 40 to 55 mph, the 250 is just right, with the Ninja 600 I would have to gear down to 4th or 5th gear or drive in 6th at engine speeds that would be very slow for a 600cc sportbike (ie. 50 mph = about 4000 rpm), almost lugging the engine, and sounding very blah. I prefer to really wind her up and the 250 Ninja really sings past 10,000 rpm. Addictive. You would just be going way too fast on the Ninja 600 doing that, and driving in the low gears defeats the purpose of a six speed tranny. I should also mention that the Ninja 250 will go all day at 70-75 mph on the interstate highways, if that's your thing. Also looked at a Ninja 500 but it is just too ugly. All in all, the Ninja 250 is great bike for any rider.