Sister is looking into a cheap bike, I know little about bikes

[Ecky]

Well a Honda 250 wouldn't be carbed, and I think raw performance is less of a factor (for now) as she probably would've been happy with the sport-bike looking Chinese bike that tops out at 60mph.

More importantly, I checked the local Craigslist and found a few used CBR250R's in the range of $2700-3500, and a few older carburated Ninja 250's at around the same price and no Ninja 400's.

At the same price the Honda looks like a better bike. Will try to talk her into a cruiser though.

[a8ksh4]

The Kawasaki 250s are good bikes. I've owned a couple of them. They typically need a simple carb adjustment, even new from the dealer, to make them run just right (can read about that on ninja250.org), but then they're great for miles and miles.

[jkv357]

The CBR250R is an excellent starter bike if she likes the sport bike look. A Ninja 250 is excellent as well, but there may be a bit more maintenance to do with a older (carbed) model - nothing major (usually) if it's running.

I never recommend purchasing a new bike as a first - especially a 250. Many people think they "outgrow" a 250 almost immediately and sell it to "upgrade" - at a big loss. If you buy and older model be prepared to do some maintenance - tires, fluid changes, adjustments, all commonly get neglected.

Of the two, the CBR has some advantages for the new rider IMO, but either would be a good choice. Make sure she has money for full gear and signs-up for a MSF training course. You won't find any Ninja 400s in the US.


Jay

[user removed]

At $2700 a CBR250R would be a good choice, since it has already lost 1/3rd of its original price in depreciation. If you could find a fairly low mileage Rebel for half that then that would also be a good choice.

Either would give her a good chance to see if she really wants to ride a bike in traffic. Many people have an incident that scares them enough to quit riding, and if that happened then she could get out of the bike with very little loss of money.

If she keeps riding either bike would serve her well and long enough to move up later if she wanted to do that, and either would get great mileage.

regards
Mech

[roosterk0031]

Just happened across the Suzuki GW250 neat looking, twin cylinder FI. Kind of a naked sport bike so issurance maybe cheaper than the plastic covered ones.

[sendler]

Originally Posted by Ecky

Certainly the Honda is more expensive, but is it worth being ~twice as expensive?

Absolutely. The CBR250R is the perfect riding bike for anyone that is not too big and heavy for it. She would have to have it (any sport bike) lowered and they also sell an aftermarket minus 1" seat now. Buy a used one for $3000 if not financing.

[roosterk0031]

Local 2012 CBR with 1000 miles for $2700, it's a good time of year to buy used bikes.

[sendler]

Actually, she is small enough to fit well on a pre gen Ninja250 which will be worth about $1000 now that the 3rd gen Ninja300 is out. The carbs are easier to tune than the 2nd gen as there is no cat.

[Christ]

Grab a pre-gen Ninja 250, they're easily able to get 60+ MPG right out of the box with a stock tune.

Let her learn to ride and get used to controlling the bike before she starts getting into "other" ways to save fuel, but there's a guy on here who's able to get 100+MPG at times on his Ninja.

I rode mine like it was a super sport and still got ~65MPG with it even with the throttle pinned open almost 100% of the time.

[darcane]

+1 on the early Ninja 250R. These are fantastic bikes to learn on and you can find them cheap all day long.

There are two kinds of motorcycle riders: those who have crashed, and those who will. And most do in the first six months. Get something cheap to learn on that you won't get upset about crashing. More imporant is buying good gear (note: good doesn't always mean most expensive) because gear is a lot easier to replace than skin. Once you've got some experience, then worry about the bike that you REALLY want (which may be the baby Ninja you already bought).

I ride a Ninja 650R now, and while I never owned one, I've ridden the 250R as well. It was a hoot to ride, even as an experienced rider.

Since inseam-challenged women often buy them, there are a lot that have been lowered already. It's fairly easy to do if you find one you like that isn't lowered, but you will need a kit to do it.