Friday, April 23, 2010

Good Bye Baby Ninja!

Well, the Ninja 250 aka "Baby Ninja" is gone! I sold it last weekend to a university student who wants to learn how to ride. It was kind of a sad moment as I built rebuilt this for my son and felt a very close attachment to the machine. For those of you who read my blog, you will remember the Ninja 250 Project.

This really was an excellent bike for my son to learn how to ride on. He rode it for about 4 months last summer and got great enjoyment out of it. Now, he is ready to upgrade to my 2002 Kawasaki Ninja 500...he just physically outgrew the Ninja 250.

So, with a small tear in my eye and a lump in my throat, I watched my son jump on the "Baby Ninja" for the last time as we prepared to deliver it to it's new owner.



Good-bye "Baby Ninja"!

Friday, April 2, 2010

April 2nd and I Got to Ride!

Today's weather was exceptional and I got a chance to ride. It has been an unusual spring and this is the earliest I have ever had my bikes out. Today's ride was a trek along the Saint John River and the Mactaquac Headpond. You will see from the pics below that ice is still in the headpond, so it adds a unique perspective to riding at the beginning of April!


Click on the pics for a full view of images






Before heading home, I stopped at Pokiok Stream and got a pic of the fast running spring water.



Simply put, a great ride for the second day of April!

Selling the Baby Ninja

Well, the time has come to sell the 1997 Ninja 250 aka the "Baby Ninja"! I have mixed emotions about selling this bike as it was purchased as a project with the intention of rebuilding and giving to my son.



Well, the rebuild did take place and it was a blast fixing this bike while at the same time teaching my son about motorcycles. My son learned how to ride and spent last summer cruising around on the Ninja 250. As a father, I am glad to see that my son has picked up the same passion for motorcycles as I have; he still needs to work on the mechanical ability part, but that will come.

I have two reasons for selling the bike, first, my son has sprouted up to six feet in height and is still growing...physically, he has outgrown the Ninja 250. The second reason for selling the bike is that I have a 2002 Kawasaki Ninja 500 that my son would like to upgrade too and appropriately so.



Selling the Ninja 250 also leaves me in a bit of a dilemma; I did not realize how much fun I had riding the Ninja 500 last summer! Ya, I enjoyed cruising the highways and the back roads on the VStar 1100 Classic, but the Ninja was just outright fun to ride around the city. Back to the dilemma, I have it in my mind that I should have another sport bike, I have been actively looking but have yet to find something that really peaks my interest while at the same time fits within my price range. I am sure something will come along.

In the meantime, if I need a fun fix, I will just borrow the Ninja 500 from my son.

Until next time, ride safe!