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I thought I'd be doing a disservice to my fellow riders if I did not interject at this point and add a moment of pause to the proceedings.
From several standpoints, it is clear to me that there are three classes of people here on Xbhp.
1. People who are going to buy the Ninja no matter what
2. People who are on the fence...they have the means but lack the certainty
3. People who are definitely not in the race for a Ninja regardless of their financial position
I cannot say anything to the first group of individuals that will change their mind. To them, the Ninja is everything they wanted it to be and nothing will change that...and rightfully so.
For the second group however, there is an opportunity to introduce some balance to the discussion and that is what I am going to attempt to do here as briefly as possible.
We have seen various reason to buy the Ninja 250 of the last 1500 or so posts in this thread. Here are some reasons why you may be better served by keeping your wallets firmly in your pockets for the moment.
1. While the ninja is a competent street bike it is hard for me to digest a measly 30bhp (claimed) from a 250cc parallel twin 4-stroke motor. My ancient TZR-250 produces about 50 bhp. One cannot compare a 2-stroke and a 4-stroke but no matter how you put it...30 just isn't enough. The motor in the Ninja 250 is virtually unchanged since it's inception in the 80s....that doesn't seem like "progress" to me.
2. I am not a huge fan of fancy displays but the clocks on the Ninja are decidedly dated...like they visited the smithsonian institute and pulled out something from another era gone by. It is a shocker on a motorcycle being positioned as a modern sportbike for the masses. The new Zma has a stunning display in contrast.
3. 3+ lakh rupees is a gobsmacking amount of money for a bike in India. Yes I have a big-bike as well but it brings with it exclusivity! There are only 24 MT01s in India and the list of owners include people like Madhavan, Shahid Kapoor etc. I am one of 24! With the Ninja you'll end up paying 3+ of your hard earned Lakhs just like thousands of others. In other words - there isn't enough exclusivity for your money. In contrast, my friend has an ancient Lambretta scooter which he has painted in a very interesting shade of yellow and it turns heads at every corner...there isn't another like it anywhere! My brother has an RX135 he picked up for 8k and spent 15k on it...and it is a one-off...there isn't another like it anywhere. Sure you can spend 3L on your ninja but I doubt many of you have the headroom to do much else after you get the bike.
4. I have (read this carefully) - ZERO - confidence in the after-sales support provided by vendors like HH and Bajaj. I haven't heard too many horror stories of TVS yet but perhaps I am not looking in the right place. It will be a DISASTER for you if you find out that the service quality is poor and the service bills are on the expensive side. Again...I am not sure many of you will be able to foot 2k+ labor charges in addition to consumables. For the record - Yamaha charges 3-3.5K labor in addition to consumables and the average service bill comes to around 6-8k depending on what you do. It is an awful lot of money considering the low mileage we manage! If you are on the fence - wait to see the service costs and consumables cost before you make a decision.
5. Other manufacturers are bound to show up with their own competitive offerings and I have reason to believe that Honda will be there very soon with a 250 twin with a modern motor. Yamaha hasn't commented but they can't afford to miss out either.
The approach should be, in my humble opinion, to wait and watch and see how everything pans out. Hang on to your money...in the time that you wait you will find you have MORE money in your bag to spend...and perhaps then you can even go for something truly worthwhile - like a KTM for example.
Flame on...
From several standpoints, it is clear to me that there are three classes of people here on Xbhp.
1. People who are going to buy the Ninja no matter what
2. People who are on the fence...they have the means but lack the certainty
3. People who are definitely not in the race for a Ninja regardless of their financial position
I cannot say anything to the first group of individuals that will change their mind. To them, the Ninja is everything they wanted it to be and nothing will change that...and rightfully so.
For the second group however, there is an opportunity to introduce some balance to the discussion and that is what I am going to attempt to do here as briefly as possible.
We have seen various reason to buy the Ninja 250 of the last 1500 or so posts in this thread. Here are some reasons why you may be better served by keeping your wallets firmly in your pockets for the moment.
1. While the ninja is a competent street bike it is hard for me to digest a measly 30bhp (claimed) from a 250cc parallel twin 4-stroke motor. My ancient TZR-250 produces about 50 bhp. One cannot compare a 2-stroke and a 4-stroke but no matter how you put it...30 just isn't enough. The motor in the Ninja 250 is virtually unchanged since it's inception in the 80s....that doesn't seem like "progress" to me.
2. I am not a huge fan of fancy displays but the clocks on the Ninja are decidedly dated...like they visited the smithsonian institute and pulled out something from another era gone by. It is a shocker on a motorcycle being positioned as a modern sportbike for the masses. The new Zma has a stunning display in contrast.
3. 3+ lakh rupees is a gobsmacking amount of money for a bike in India. Yes I have a big-bike as well but it brings with it exclusivity! There are only 24 MT01s in India and the list of owners include people like Madhavan, Shahid Kapoor etc. I am one of 24! With the Ninja you'll end up paying 3+ of your hard earned Lakhs just like thousands of others. In other words - there isn't enough exclusivity for your money. In contrast, my friend has an ancient Lambretta scooter which he has painted in a very interesting shade of yellow and it turns heads at every corner...there isn't another like it anywhere! My brother has an RX135 he picked up for 8k and spent 15k on it...and it is a one-off...there isn't another like it anywhere. Sure you can spend 3L on your ninja but I doubt many of you have the headroom to do much else after you get the bike.
4. I have (read this carefully) - ZERO - confidence in the after-sales support provided by vendors like HH and Bajaj. I haven't heard too many horror stories of TVS yet but perhaps I am not looking in the right place. It will be a DISASTER for you if you find out that the service quality is poor and the service bills are on the expensive side. Again...I am not sure many of you will be able to foot 2k+ labor charges in addition to consumables. For the record - Yamaha charges 3-3.5K labor in addition to consumables and the average service bill comes to around 6-8k depending on what you do. It is an awful lot of money considering the low mileage we manage! If you are on the fence - wait to see the service costs and consumables cost before you make a decision.
5. Other manufacturers are bound to show up with their own competitive offerings and I have reason to believe that Honda will be there very soon with a 250 twin with a modern motor. Yamaha hasn't commented but they can't afford to miss out either.
The approach should be, in my humble opinion, to wait and watch and see how everything pans out. Hang on to your money...in the time that you wait you will find you have MORE money in your bag to spend...and perhaps then you can even go for something truly worthwhile - like a KTM for example.
Flame on...
)
Probiking guys were also feeling proud.
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