Ninja 250

[ramathorn]

So after a lot of consideration into a 500, I've pretty much settled on a 250 for my starter bike. Everyone suggests the Ninja 250, but honestly, I'm having a hard time getting over how unappealing it is to look at it. Even if it is just a starter bike, I want it to be something that I'm really proud to show off. That being said, is there anything that can be done to the Ninja to make it look more like a "typical sportbike"?

If it turns out that there is nothing to do to the Ninja then I do have another option. I recently came across the Hyosung 250 and fell in love with it. It's got the look that no other 250s have even though they should. Now I would never buy a bike just cuz it's nice to look at, but I've been doing research on Hyosung and I'm kind of intrigued. Despite the fact that they are new to the states, I've found that they have been very much involved in the manufacturing of engines and parts for Suzuki which is a good sign. Their track record across the pond seems fine so I'm not too worried about anything going wrong. Even if something does go wrong, they apparently come with a standard 2 year unlimited warranty from most dealers which would be nice to have. The only downside I see would be that used ones don't exist yet so I'd have to break the bank for a brand new one. So does anyone have any info or experiences or recommendations or anything about this brand? They are brand new to the states, but Honda, Suzuki, and Kawasaki were also new at one point.

[Sev]

A friend of mine works at a Hyosung dealership. In two years he said he's only seen one bike come back under warranty. A regulator/rectifier had failed. It was swapped out and the bike was good to go.

Otherwise they're solid bikes by all accounts.

[Kal]

Very difficult to find second hand over here too. as long as you take a reasonable ammount of care of them they seem to be solid bikes.

SV-Wolf had the 125 as his learner bike and I believe still has it wrapped up in his garden as a backup bike. One of the other guys stateside (divideoverflow?) had the 250 cruiser as his first bike.

The few older Hyosungs I have seen out and about have seemed to be more prone to rusting than Suzuki's normally are and there was a recall recently issued on the swinging arms but if you take care of it, store it under cover etc don't let salt get a foothold, there shouldn't be a problem.

Budget biking with a certain degree of style.

[Nibblet99]

Only bad thing I've ever seen on the hyosungs, was a product recall on the comet's viewtopic.php?t=22977&highlight=hyosung+swinging+arm

Which at least they're spending the money to recall and rectify

Apart from that, nothing. Either because they are rather reliable, or because they're rare to see.

Draw your own conclusions