2012 Kawasaki Ninja 250 from Norway
The Kawasaki 250R Ninja is great fun, and provides excellent value for money!!
Nothing has gone wrong yet, but the break-in-procedure of the engine is still going on...
I have hit a false neutral between the 5th and 6th gear, on average once every 50 km, roughly. This seems to have improved after an oil change at the first, 1000 km, service.
It is very fun to ride, nimble, and surprisingly fast taking the limited engine size into account. Up till now I have an average of about 64 miles per gallon, on my daily 80 kilometres commute (0-10 degrees C), in mid-Norway.
I'm very impressed with this bike, so far, even though I have previously owned big bikes, including a Kawasaki ZX 11.
Would you buy another motorcycle from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 3rd May, 2012
30th Jul 2013, 06:50
The 250R has now about 11700 km (about 7300 miles) on the meter, and the engine is running even better than last year.
I stuck to the official break-in procedure in the manual, though I know there are plenty of discussions about how it should be done.
I experienced up to several daily false neutrals during my 80 km daily commuting, but these have become much rarer as the bike has been in use for more than a year.
Lots of pleasure using this bike.
15th Sep 2013, 14:42
Update: Today the 250R passed 14 000 km on the meter. Still no problems, not even a broken light bulb. The original IRC tires are also still on the bike, and not worn out... The bike continues to impress me...
28th Apr 2014, 13:10
The same bike passed 18 000 km (about 11200 miles). The original IRC tires are still on the bike, but the rear tire should be changed any day. Chain and sprockets are soon worn out, I'm afraid. Apart from that, zero problems.
11th Aug 2014, 20:54
At about 19000 km the rear tire was changed. Chain and sprockets were changed at the same time. The main bulb for the headlight has also been replaced.
22010 km today. No other replacements or repairs, so far.
16th Oct 2014, 21:47
26020 km today. No real problems, but I notice that the gear shifts receive some "resistance" at times, especially at the higher gears, from 4th to 5th, or 5th to 6th.
The highest gas consumption to date was registered today; 0.42 l / 10 km (first time over 0.4 l/10 km, and I think I have never been below 0.36 l/10 km, even during the break-in period, going at max 40 mph).
30th Nov 2014, 16:47
26810 km yesterday. I remember that the workshop mentioned that the steering head bearings might need some work soon, both at the 18 000 km and the 24 000 km service.
22nd Jun 2015, 11:31
30800 km today, and just picked it up after the 30k km service (~19200 miles).
Original front tire and brake pads were changed.