i have the 250R Ninja (08) and I am happy I got the smaller displacement… for me, the steepest learning curve was in the first week or two… I wasn’t shifting very well and was dropping the clutch… i actually put it into first from neutral without pulling in the clutch… that was fun
I am now much more confident with the acceleration/deceleration/balance/shifting and I have a ton of fun in the cali mountain twisties… that being said, I will probably move to a large bike (Ninja 500/SV650S/not litre bike) after 10k miles or so. At that point, I think I will have learned what I need to be safe on a larger bike and will enjoy having the larger tires/brakes and better throttle response on the highways.
oh, and it does go faster than 80, it just screams like a mofo… i try to keep it below 80 because I feel sorry for the bike