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Kawasaki Ninja 300

JPK said:
Still not sure I see the value proposition based solely on power/weight. You can buy a Ninja 650 with double the HP and 10% more weight, and you don't have to wring its neck on the straights. It's still a very noob-friendly bike that's not high-strung like a SS. Why would you want to start with a 300 and then try to mod more power out of it?
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Pretty sure its more than 10% weight, last i heard ninja 650 wet is around 440, compared to the 385/390 for the Ninja 250. Ninja 250 is far more nimble around the streets, obviously it has no power for the straights but it can still hit 90 fairly easily. That is decent speed for lot of the back roads around here.

And while it does not make sense to mod the 25 power wise, it ties in with the comment i made above about riding a slow bike fast rather than a fast bike at 1/4 of its capability on the streets. I feel like a 300 with weight weight around 385 with high 30s rwhp is plenty of power on lot of back roads if you know what you are doing, i dont see why you could not keep up with 600s or even 1000s, atleast until you see some straights :laughing

You also should factor in the cost, 650 probably cost 3000 more than the 300 out the door. If you are looking for a fun beginner bike why get the 650? the new 300 probably meets all the requirement for a fun beginner first bike, so why would i spend 3k more on the 650?
 
JPK said:
I'm not saying that one is "better" than the other - they're clearly different bikes - but if the value proposition is power/weight and fun in the twisties I'd argue that I'd rather try to strip 40 pounds off a Ninja 650 than try to mod another 20 HP out of a 300. You can lose ~10 lbs just by ditching the stock exhaust. If you go with aER6n instead of the Ninja 650 you easily lose another 10 pounds in body work. A few more mods like a Li Ion battery, and you've got a bike that's nearly the same weight as a 300, with double the HP, and FAR more low-end torque. That's a far funner bike in the twisties in my book.
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i dont know if you can lose almost 50 pounds off the 650 to get it around 300/250 weight but yeah i guess i can see your point, but then again the 650 looks like crap :laughing
 
JPK said:
Still not sure I see the value proposition based solely on power/weight. You can buy a Ninja 650 with double the HP and 10% more weight, and you don't have to wring its neck on the straights. It's still a very noob-friendly bike that's not high-strung like a SS. Why would you want to start with a 300 and then try to mod more power out of it?
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First off, perhaps the $3000 price difference has some influence over one's decicision???? Nobody seems to have metioned that in all the debate here, and that certainly matters to all of us who don't have a money tree in the back yard.

Buy the bike you want. It may not be the bike your friends want, it may not be a bike that has the best "numbers".....but if it is a bike you like, then you will have fun on it.....and you will eventually try and convince everyone it is the best thing in the world cause that's what humans do. We seek reinforcement of our purchases by recommending what we ride to others....:teeth
 
Teddy said:
First off, perhaps the $3000 price difference has some influence over one's decicision???? Nobody seems to have metioned that in all the debate here, and that certainly matters to all of us who don't have a money tree in the back yard.

Buy the bike you want. It may not be the bike your friends want, it may not be a bike that has the best "numbers".....but if it is a bike you like, then you will have fun on it.....and you will eventually try and convince everyone it is the best thing in the world cause that's what humans do. We seek reinforcement of our purchases by recommending what we ride to others....:teeth
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I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything here. I've owned a Ninja 650 in the past. Great bike, but I don't plan to buy another, and I could really care less what anyone else chooses to buy. I thought we were just... you know, discussing here. :laughing

The point on price is valid, but that's not what was being argued. Saying you're buying the Ninjette because it's cheaper is different than saying you're buying it because Hp/weight-wise it's "funner". Anyhow, I really doubt that once you throw in ABS, FI, and slipper clutch it'll still be $3K cheaper. What I DO know is that when I was shopping for a first bike, the Ninja 250 had a wait list and GP Sports was happy to rape everyone for over MSRP for it, while I was able to get a sweet deal on a Ninja 650. The real-world OTD difference was FAR less than $3K.
 
Jiggles said:
I just finished installing a k&n air filter, full race exhaust and jetted the carbs on my 250 :twofinger
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You should let me ride your bike to compare to mine so i can make a better argument in this thread for modding the 250 :teeth
 
mel3535 said:
You should let me ride your bike to compare to mine so i can make a better argument in this thread for modding the 250 :teeth
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How about I give you some dyno runs instead?

Here was stock this past tuesday and then on thursday I'm going in for another run with all my mods. I've got the power where I like it right now and so I'm going to test the AFR and see how close I've got it. I'm shooting for 12.5-13.0 If I'm out of that range I'll tweak as necessary but I likely won't get a third dyno

The biggest difference a full pipe will make is that instead of dropping off at 10.5k it will peak around 12.3k so even if you don't gain that much in terms of max hp you get a much sexier pull up to redline

img007-2.jpg
 
Not sure why people are complaining about a 250 being slow. The reason why people like 250s (that have the means and ability to ride larger bikes) is BECAUSE they are slow. It forces you to maintain your momentum.
 
mel3535 said:
i dont know if you can lose almost 50 pounds off the 650 to get it around 300/250 weight but yeah i guess i can see your point, but then again the 650 looks like crap :laughing
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not the 09's-2011's..i think they look fine.if only the rearsets are not like that
Ninja-650R-graphic.jpg


one that looked weird is the 2012's specially the naked er6:laughing
 
lolwut?? My 650 was a sexy little bitch
 
Jiggles said:
24.9hp :D
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yeah that seems kind of low, i thought they dyno around 23/24rwhp stock

a3x said:
not the 09's-2011's..i think they look fine.if only the rearsets are not like that
Ninja-650R-graphic.jpg


one that looked weird is the 2012's specially the naked er6:laughing
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You are crazy Al, that bike looks like crap to me, i just do not like the way 650 look.
 
Love the look and I think the additional grunt would be great to have too. Many who haven't ridden smaller bikes forget to think of it as a step up from the 250, not to the next level, like to the 600/650. Think of it as a factory bored out 250.

Add the better suspensions, EFI... what's not to like? :)
 
a3x said:
not the 09's-2011's..i think they look fine.if only the rearsets are not like that
Ninja-650R-graphic.jpg


one that looked weird is the 2012's specially the naked er6:laughing
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I dropped maybe 10 lbs of low-slung weight by changing the muffler and rearsets, but added about 10 lbs up high with a Corbin and Givi rack. :laughing
 
It was officially launched today. Here's the launch site:

http://ninja300.kawasaki.com/

specs: http://ninja300.kawasaki.com/Specs

White and Black offered in the US, plus a green/black special edition. Price is $4799 for the normal ones, probably $4999 for the SE. ABS is only offered on the SE, for another $500.
 
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