And her twisted sense of humor. Don't know WHERE she gets it...
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Daughter's New Toy
- Thread starter Downeaster
- Start date
And her twisted sense of humor. Don't know WHERE she gets it...
That plate would never get past the Texas license plate censors.
She said BMV here never batted an eye.
It went right over my head!
Put a B in frot of the word eight
My first twin was a '67 Triumph 500. Took my girlfriend for a ride. She asked if I could just drive it around in first gear. That went over my head. Naive I was......
Did you do as she asked?
If not you missed a chance for a very good night.
Those little Ninja's surprised me the first time I rode one. All the fun of my old DS-7 without all the jets and fouled plugs. I ride my '04 250 quite a bit.
It's insured and registered and being stored in my garage (now that I have room after moving all toys to the new shop) for the Winter.
If I catch a decent day, I intend to test drive it for sure!
Her first road bike was a 250 Ninja which she rode for a couple of years and then sold and bought the Yamaha Bolt. While the low seat height of the Bolt was good, the weight and cruiser handling was not and the engine was a major pooch in stock form, so she wound up selling it.
Missed riding a lot so when this 400 Ninja came in at the dealer, she snapped it up. With the supply issues everyone is having, their inventory is somewhere between sparse and nonexistent, so she didn't try to quibble over the price.
If I catch a decent day, I intend to test drive it for sure!
Her first road bike was a 250 Ninja which she rode for a couple of years and then sold and bought the Yamaha Bolt. While the low seat height of the Bolt was good, the weight and cruiser handling was not and the engine was a major pooch in stock form, so she wound up selling it.
Missed riding a lot so when this 400 Ninja came in at the dealer, she snapped it up. With the supply issues everyone is having, their inventory is somewhere between sparse and nonexistent, so she didn't try to quibble over the price.
I've heard nothing but good things about the 400s. Hopefully you can sneak out and give us an opinion
61° and wall-to-wall sunshine this afternoon, so I took The Vibrator for a little spin.
What a peach! The semi-crotch rocket riding position wasn't as uncomfortable as I feared altho coupled with the granite seat I wouldn't want to ride it all day.
Lil' sumbitch scoots! After 5 miles of secondary road to get used to it a little and warm it up good, I turned onto Route 1 and let it eat. The road tips downhill at that point and on the FJ if I go WOT and bang the gears, I'm just touching triple digits by the bottom of the hill. The Ninja hit 85 and was still pulling with another gear to go. 12,000 redline and it's happy to go there any time you want.
I found that it feels happy around 5-6000 RPM which is a hair over 60 MPH in 5th. Never really found the need for 6th, altho it's torquey enough to cruise at 55 in 6th. I expect it get's pretty good mileage under those circumstances. I did a 5th gear roll-on from 50 while passing a car and it pulled hard right up to 75 without a downshift.
Handling is VERY tight. Absolutely no hunting or feeling of it wanting to wander or shake it's head. It's much closer to the ground than my FJ and it was a little unnerving to pitch it into a corner the first couple of times, felt like I was WAY over in knee-dragging territory. Again, absolutely rock solid whether accelerating, braking or neutral throttle.
One of my unofficial benchmarks for handling is how fast I'm comfortable slaloming in and out of the dashed line in the middle of the road. The FJ gets to be a handful at much over 40. The Ninja was nailing it at 50 and with a bit of practice I think I could do it at 55.
I'm VERY impressed. WAY more bike than the 250 version she started out with a few years back. With a more comfortable seat, I could see myself riding one of them.
What a peach! The semi-crotch rocket riding position wasn't as uncomfortable as I feared altho coupled with the granite seat I wouldn't want to ride it all day.
Lil' sumbitch scoots! After 5 miles of secondary road to get used to it a little and warm it up good, I turned onto Route 1 and let it eat. The road tips downhill at that point and on the FJ if I go WOT and bang the gears, I'm just touching triple digits by the bottom of the hill. The Ninja hit 85 and was still pulling with another gear to go. 12,000 redline and it's happy to go there any time you want.
I found that it feels happy around 5-6000 RPM which is a hair over 60 MPH in 5th. Never really found the need for 6th, altho it's torquey enough to cruise at 55 in 6th. I expect it get's pretty good mileage under those circumstances. I did a 5th gear roll-on from 50 while passing a car and it pulled hard right up to 75 without a downshift.
Handling is VERY tight. Absolutely no hunting or feeling of it wanting to wander or shake it's head. It's much closer to the ground than my FJ and it was a little unnerving to pitch it into a corner the first couple of times, felt like I was WAY over in knee-dragging territory. Again, absolutely rock solid whether accelerating, braking or neutral throttle.
One of my unofficial benchmarks for handling is how fast I'm comfortable slaloming in and out of the dashed line in the middle of the road. The FJ gets to be a handful at much over 40. The Ninja was nailing it at 50 and with a bit of practice I think I could do it at 55.
I'm VERY impressed. WAY more bike than the 250 version she started out with a few years back. With a more comfortable seat, I could see myself riding one of them.
Perhaps they'll add a Retro version like they've done with the 650. I remember the little 250 Ninja's, one of our riding club members got one for his daughter when she started riding. Cute but, a good learner bike. I imagine the 400 is pretty peppy. Modern day Honda 350
I had that exact thought. I was stationed in the Philippines when they came out and I thought they were a rocket!
