All the Duels – The sport in the sauce two and a half! – Unfairly shunned

Sport in a sauce two and a half !

All the Duels - The sport in the sauce two and a half! - Unfairly shunned

No murderous bridle, no superfluous weight, no fear of putting the handle in the corner … These days, these two little sporty 250ccs are a real breath of fresh air. Let’s go for a fun face to face !

Unfairly shunned

Unlike Italy where the legislation is more favorable to them, in France, the 250 cc are not very popular, mainly because they do not seem very rewarding for the beginner who has just obtained the motorcycle license..

Indeed, the latter, who trained for weeks or months, on a machine of 500 or 600 cc, could not bring himself to go down in displacement … And yet, for young people under 21 years old, subject to the 34 hp limitation, these machines represent an excellent opportunity to learn and gain experience.

Unlike a 600 cc, taller, heavier and often poorly constrained at 34 hp, the 250 delivers all its power and takes advantage of its lightness and ease to reassure the neophyte. It is also a guarantee of safety and reasonable insurance premiums.

When two and a half rhymes – finally – with sexy !

Another reason for its mixed success in France, the 250 cc category is mainly represented only by utility machines: scooters or small city dwellers, in short, courier bikes. However, the two machines of our face to face break with this monotony.

If the Kawasaki shamelessly evokes its big sporting Ninja sisters, the Yamaha plays the uncompromising supermotard card. Their tangy colors also contribute to this joie de vivre. Their presentation is very rewarding, especially on the micro Ninja which attracts the very respectful salute of all the other bikers, far from suspecting that it is not necessarily the monster they imagine…

Lightweight and accessible

The WR imposes a little less: it is so slender that it can easily pass for a 125 cc. Nevertheless, a discerning eye will quickly have noticed a few details such as the impressive inverted 46 mm fork, the big wave disc front brake and the racing tires to confirm that we are indeed in the presence of a real moth. !

Even bikers who love large displacement rediscover, aboard our two grasshoppers, the pleasure of driving a light machine with thin tires: 100 and 130 mm on the Ninja, 110 and 140 mm on the WR 250 X.

Dry, the green flirts with 150 kg while the blue does not even display 130 kg. It’s the weight of a small 125 cc but with more than twice the horsepower.

The Kawasaki is thin and reassuring for all sizes with its seat height of 775 mm. This is less the case for the Yamaha whose seat rises to 895 mm! Admittedly, this puts it out of reach of less than 1.70 m but its featherweight and its suspensions which settle once on board finally make it quite accessible. !

The WR offers a natural position, classic for a trail, which favors ease and maneuverability with its wide handlebars. The Ninja also offers a very pleasant position, not at all sporty type despite its name. Moreover, in the Kawasaki catalog, the little Ninja 250 R is stored with the roadsters, and not with the sports cars.

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