Originally Posted by lauren
The only bad things I have heard about the Ninja 250 are just general comments about 250s or the anti-sportbike stuff my father says (he used to ride motocross, there's no way he can make me get a cruiser). Not a lot of used ones for sale in my area, but I'm going to try to find one anyway. I'm 5'5" so that's a big part of my decision.
the view of motorcycles in the US is like any other American thing,,Bigger is better so don't pay attencion to the Squids and keep riding all along..
is kind of Funny I spend some time in europe last year riding around and in many towns a cityes like barcelona people will look at you "FunnY for being on a big bike since everybody(from old people to executives,tyo students, to fashion models,,,etc) rides 50cc two stroke scooters since they are so fast and small they fit almost anywere at any time..
taking about the Ninja 250,, I have a really good friend that races one (and ussually wins the AFM circuit),, well by now is like a 296CC and cost more than $10,000 because of all the fancy parts, he also have a Zawasaki ZX10 one of the most powerful and Fastest straight line bikes ever produce,, the funny part is that on a really twisty "real road" with Bumps, gravel, dirt, cars,, etc.. he is faster on the 250cc that he is on the 1000cc since he can keep the momentum going and the lack of mass on the bike make it handle like a Bicycle that goes really reallY freaking fast
I see people riding around here all the time in sneakers, and sometimes they don't even tuck in the laces! I used to work for a veterinarian so I saw a lot of road burn (a dog that gets hit by a car is pretty similar to a motorcycle accident: big impact then being dragged over the pavement for a while). I could see how a bad fall could eat through your skin and some of the bone in your ankle, maybe needing the joint fused or at least lots of physical therapy if you were lucky enough to avoid amputation. No thanks.
well that is why many times motorcyclist are call "organ donnors" by the cops and ambulance drivers..other more experince motorcyclist call them "Squid" kind of a Un-skill, illpreper, over confident Dumm A^^,that is also easy to recognize bacause they wear matching COLOR outfits to be bike, from helmet to shoes (when they are wearing anything)sadlly many of them don't last to long, since their riding is control by their the "Lower managment sistem" if you know what I mean..
anyway you don't need to be like them, is a bunch of summer garmets that let you ride in comfort with out much detriment in safety
I'm probably not going to spend quite as much on a helmet since the cheap ones protect just as well according to the June 2005 issue of Motorcyclist
http://motorcyclistonline.com/gearbox/hatz/ I agree that anything less than full face is pretty stupid (I like my jaw).
I desagree with that....
the DOT and the Anzi 422( I think is the number) are static test that only measure certain parameters, the europen test are far superior and give you a better criteria for the helmet selection
just remeneber the your cranium is attach to your upper body by your neck(spine) and a heavier helmet with poor aerodinamics and bad visivility is going to bring far more energy in terms of muscles, pain and possible injury, ussing a example some helmets are as cheaplly made as Huffy's other are as well made as Colnago's(but all of them rool and esencially work pretty much the same) and believe me you can feel the diference, not only the minute you put it the helemt on, but after some time when the cheap helmets falls apart and the good one only need to be wash... I'm just asking you to get a "Specialized" so your body is happy and you are safe.(beleive me sadlly I know)
also remenber Motorbike helments are a "One time use only" since they are design to spread the load of a impact into a much widder area dissipating the forces that can affect you head in the long term, this is ussually achive by a "Crumpuling" effect (I'm, sure is spell wrong) were the foam and the fibres break down so the energy is difuse.
anyway sound like you are ready for battle, so i congratulate you on your need transportation method..