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Can you make a ninja 250 look cool?


redkow97

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So I was driving to work today, and actually turned OFF my headlights on the way in. That alone was enough to give me hope of nicer weather to come.

Anyway, my street bike is 99% sold, and now I'm getting a hankering for a little street scooter to bomb around on, and let the wife play with so she doesn't lose all the skill she gained in the MSF course.

I'm thinking someone's old, beat-up ninja 250 fits the bill nicely. I want to spend less than $500, so i'd count on rashed fairings, and plan to remove them anyway.

The thought is to remove as much weight as possible, make it look semi rat-rod-ish, and then gear it down -1/+3 so it tops out around 80mph, but is lively fun around town. At most, I'd commute the 12 miles to work, so long highway rides aren't a concern.

Is there any way to make an EX250 look cool?

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I remember back in 2008 an ex female member here was on her new 250 while rushing to Columbus. We were at a high cruising speed on US35 and we toned it down because with stock gearing she was hitting the limiter at 90mph she was saying. I don't know how true that is, but if it is, 80mph on -1/+3 old geared $500 250 sounds unattainable.

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I remember back in 2008 an ex female member here was on her new 250 while rushing to Columbus. We were at a high cruising speed on US35 and we toned it down because with stock gearing she was hitting the limiter at 90mph she was saying. I don't know how true that is, but if it is, 80mph on -1/+3 old geared $500 250 sounds unattainable.

EX250's don't have a rev limiter, so I'm going to have to call BS.

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I remember back in 2008 an ex female member here was on her new 250 while rushing to Columbus. We were at a high cruising speed on US35 and we toned it down because with stock gearing she was hitting the limiter at 90mph she was saying. I don't know how true that is, but if it is, 80mph on -1/+3 old geared $500 250 sounds unattainable.

I can run mine at around 85, but there's not much left in it up there.

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-1 in the front is plenty on a small displacement bike, and easy to change back.

If it's 16T going to 15T, that's 1/16 less top end.

If it could do 100mph, you'd reduce it 6.25 mph.

Best stock top speed could be anywhere from 80 to 120 mph, depending on the weight of the rider.

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I'd say street fighter it out. Weld a plate under the seat and mount all the electrical stuff under there. Remove the air box and add the pod filters. Get a gel battery and mount it under the gas tank. Cut off any unnecessary part from the frame and repaint it. Get digital gauges and due duel round headlights.

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-1 in the front is plenty on a small displacement bike, and easy to change back.

If it's 16T going to 15T, that's 1/16 less top end.

If it could do 100mph, you'd reduce it 6.25 mph.

Best stock top speed could be anywhere from 80 to 120 mph, depending on the weight of the rider.

There's no way in hell any ninja 250 is hitting 120 unless it's hit from behind by a corvette.

And weight has almost no affect on top speed. It has a dramatic affect on acceleration, but not on top speed. Top speed is determined by aerodynamics and horsepower. An EX250 has like 28hp(?), so whenever the wind is pushing back with the force of 28hp, you've reached top-speed for that bike.

a 200 lbs rider and 80 lbs rider both still only have the same 28hp on the same bike - the only difference is that the 200lbs rider might be SLIGHTLY less aerodynamic; but that's based on surface area, not mass.

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EX250's don't have a rev limiter, so I'm going to have to call BS.

You saying there is no speed barrier huh? The 250 goes infinity speed? :wtf: I never rode one, but she said it was hitting the limiter at 90 give or take a few and that was stock gearing. All bikes have a max speed they will make it to if pushed.

I can run mine at around 85, but there's not much left in it up there.

Exactly, now take an even older one probably and install -1/+3 gearing and it will have a very low top end, or you can not calibrate it and it'll look super fast.

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It revs infinity? I don't care how many revolutions per minute it can do. In my post I said the limiter (speed limiter), referring to it's top speed. The bike only will go so fast.

once it revs past X, the cdi does not know what to do anymore, and it just fires randomly. its not like on a modern bike where it knows what its doing when it pulls the spark

you could make an argument that physics is a "speed limiter", and it kind of is. but when a bike runs out of power or something, thats different than when a bike is electronically set up to not go any faster than X

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I understand. Reads like we just have our different definitions of limiter on the top end, because a bike not pulling speed anymore is the limiter to me because that's the bikes limit of speed. Limiter is more related to electronically limited I know that, so I should have just said "top speed limit" instead of limiter, sorry.

-1/+3 is a very low top end though on an old 250 is the 2008 does 90.

Edited by NinjaNick
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no i get what you are saying... i mean there is lots of stuff that affects top end speed... like physics, aero etc whatever.... but i wouldnt really call it a "speed limiter". id say its gear limited, aero limited etc...

but it would be different from say, my car, where the computer wont let it go past 104, even though it still has more rpm left in top gear.

Edited by John
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No, you cant make a 250 look cool

and on your top speed question unless you are limited in speed by the gearing you may actually increase your top speed when gearing down as you will be at a higher RPM when at the same MPH. For most bikes higher rpm = higher hp.

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No, you cant make a 250 look cool

and on your top speed question unless you are limited in speed by the gearing you may actually increase your top speed when gearing down as you will be at a higher RPM when at the same MPH. For most bikes higher rpm = higher hp.

i'm going to have to question your math there... Example?

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