[Shadow89]

Hello everyone,

My name is Luis and I have stumbled upon what I believe is a great website for beginner riders. I have been doing research on motorcycles for a while now. I read the 250cc beginner post and I thought that I could extend and share my knowledge on motorcycles if I joined this website.

I knew along time ago that I wanted to be part of the motorcycle community but never was properly introduced to it. I knew a few people who were frequent riders and I decide to approach them to get suggestions for a first bike. Being that they all had experience under their belts all of them suggested something small. In their eyes small was 500cc+. They told me that it was a good way to start because it’s not as powerful as a 1000cc+ and that it won’t be as boring as a 250cc. For a while I was convinced that the best thing for me to start off with was a nice 600cc; they made it look very easy and very fun. But the day came when I knew a 600 was way too much. My thoughts for a first bike was a Yamaha r6 but when I saw them in person and saw the intense throttle on them I knew I had to start off smaller. 2008 came and Kawasaki introduced their new remodeled Ninja 250r. It was incredible; nice body style, resembles a more sportier super bike but yet it had only 250cc. I saved up money for a year and only recently I had enough to buy a 09 Ninja 250r. I couldn’t have been more happy with my choice. I’ve had it for about 2 months and I already have around 2350 miles on it. I’m glad that I got the idea of trying to start off with a 600cc out of my head.

I highly recommend anyone thinking about getting on a motorcycle with little to no experience to start off small. 600 motorcycles look and sound great but they aren’t meant for beginners. Most used 600’s, or the ones that I have seen, have a rebuilt title. I think you can use your imagination as to why that is.

I would also like to get feed back or suggestions on a second bike. I’m not thinking about upgrading this very moment but I really want to do some research and see what my options are. After this bike I have to look into the used section due to the financial pinch my Ninja put me in.

[SafetyFirst]

Hey, welcome to the madness!

Nice to see someone on here from my old stomping grounds of Michigan. I grew up in metro Detroit, and spent time at school in the center of the state.

The 600cc debate is on-going. I’ve gotten crap from guys on 600cc sports bikes before for the 250, whatever. Maybe they learned fine on a 600 I4, but that’s not me. I still believe that when I first started riding, I literally would have dropped an I4 in no time. I think it’s cooler to have a bike you can control without learning things the hard way through banged up knees.

My first car was a Toyota Tercel 5-speed, and that thing was a hoot to try and milk the power out of. Small, mildly aggressive engine, light weight. Just like my Ninja 250.

For a bigger bike, maybe a Suzuki SV650S, Ninja 650 (which is parallel-twin like the 250, so it’ll ‘sound’ about the same to you), or maybe an older 600 I4 sportsbike which can be had for decent money. I can tell you one thing, if I make the jump to the latter, I’d keep the 250 around. I like that thing too much, and it’s a classic of late 80’s sportsbike design. Also to give myself an out if I realize I bit off more than I can chew.

But for now, I’ll stick with the 250. It can keep up with any other bike on the road, provided the bikes your riding with are going a sane speed. If they aren’t, probably not worth chasing anyway, if you get what I mean.

[Shadow89]

Hey Safetyfirst,

I’m actually surprised to hear someone from my area. I also grew up in Detroit but now currently reside in Lansing. I can tell you one thing about the Ninja 250, there’s no way in hell a hybrid/fuel saver of a Honda or any other make that can go from Lansing to Detroit on 6 bucks. (Around 85 miles).

After I read more of the 600 articles it does seem to be a little chaotic. A lot of bikes have been suggested. The one thing that I have noticed in all my time of motorcycle research is that people focus too much on the cc number. People should actually look closer at the specs and see strokes and cylinders. For example, the Ninja 650 vs. Ninja ZX-6r. Like you pointed out the 650 has a parallel-twin but as for the ZX-6r runs on 4. 650cc vs. 600cc? Obvious who the winner is, no? Not to all.

My current research on bigger bikes is still in it’s early phases. I did note the Ninja 650r and the SV650s. I also was looking into see if I could get a older, 2001-2009, 600 4 cylinder and just remove some of the body. That way if I do drop it or something happens I really don’t have to worry about dropping 300-500 dollars on body work. Without some of the parts it’ll resemble a stunt bike. Once I get more experience I can then worry about the appearance of the bike.

[SafetyFirst]

Cool, I grew up in the sticks (back then) of New Hudson/South Lyon, then moved to Novi.
Got a few college buddies of mine living in Lansing, I know that city a bit.

Getting on the exit ramp of memory lane, someone on here went through the trouble of doing all those calculations. The big deal with the I4’s is the HP/weight figures. A run of the mill 600cc sportbike has as more HP/weight than a top-of-the-line sports car.

As for taking off the fairings… I actually had so little faith in myself at first, I was thinking of doing that on my 250. But I left them on, and decided that taking them off was just writing myself a blank check in the back of my mind to drop it.

[owlie]

Here is the link to Eternal’s cool beginner bikes spec sheet.

[Author]

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