[vonzipper]

I’m thinking of buying this bike for my first. I can’t find a review of this bike on this site, nor the Honda Nighthawk 250. Between these two, what would you recommend? Anyone with experience with the Suzuki?

[WeaponZero]

The Suzuki is newer and more refined. Honda has sportier handling. I took day 1 of the MSF course on a Suzuki GZ250, didn’t like it much but then I’m not a cruiser guy. Took day 2 on a dual sport that i liked MUCH better.

[JackTrade]

I’ve ridden both, and GZ250 is, as WeaponZero says, more of a cruiser style….low seat, forward foot pegs. Single gauge is classic cruiser, as is peanut-style gas tank.

Nighthawk is a (perhaps the) classic standard…slightly higher seat, a neutral riding position (foot pegs right directly below you) and more nimble handling. Twin gauge pod setup, though one is just lights (though Honda adds a quite nifty when-to-shift indicator in the form of markers on the speedo that indicate the speed range for each gear…I love a good low-tech solution like that).

But they basically have similar performance, so I’d say its whichever style you more prefer. Both are pretty basic designs, so you shouldn’t have any reliability issues I’d wager.

[Rab]

It just depends whether you like the cruiser style (where your feet are more forward) or the more upright, standard style (where your feet are below you).

The Nighthawk, being a “standard”, is probably a little easier to control at low speed due to the riding position, but either would make a great first motorcycle and they have similar performance.

You can find lots of “rider impressions” (I won’t call them reviews) at http://www.powersportsnetwork.com under “Rider Reviews”.

I think 2008 was the last model year for the long running 250 Nighthawk although they still make the Rebel (which has a cruiser style but the same engine the Nighthawk had).

P.S. Now that I’ve reviewed this post, I notice that I’ve pretty much said exactly the same things as Jacktrade. Oh well…

[Author]

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