CW RealTime: 2008 Kawasaki Ninja 250R - First Look

One of Kawasaki’s bread-and-butter models has been its Ninja 250R. It’s lightweight, with a low seat height and a motor that coaxes about 30 hp out of a quarter-liter of displacement with dual overhead cams and a 13,000-rpm redline. That made the littlest Ninja a popular—and for the most case, the only—choice for those who wanted a 250cc motorcycle that wasn’t a cruiser, standard or dual-sport. Because of this popularity—and a price tag that hovered around $3000 for eons—there were few changes to the model for 20 years.

Kawasaki released pictures of a redesigned Ninja 250R last year; since then we’ve been itching to ride it. We now have our chance: Online Editor Gabe Ets-Hokin is in San Diego right now for the U.S. press introduction of the new bike. We’ll be posting tech info, riding impressions, photos and video in our liveCWRealTime forum. Check it out!