The Ninja 650R?Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R wrote:So, is the 650 a beginner bike as I've heard from magazines and other sites?
I owned one, for 5 days before I totaled it in a crash. It was my second bike (I am counting the spare bike of my Dad's that I road for two years as my "first" bike)
The 650R is very fast. It has over 70hp, and weighs less than 400lbs. I personally would never recommend it to anyone who's never been on a bike before. It rides very smoothly and is easy to control, so it's easy to get intoxicated by it and ride it beyond your abilities. Which is exactly how I crashed mine.
A lot of magazines and people in general tend to lump the Ninja 650 in as a beginner's bike because although it's powerful, it's nowhere near as powerful as super sport bikes with over 100hp. But, at the same time, it's way more powerful than small cruisers, the ninja 250 and 500 and the GS500F, etc etc.
So really it's a grey area/intermediate bike. Some people get them as their first bike and are ok. Most people seem to graduate to them as a second bike.
And besides, the Ninja 650 has a full fairing and will be very tough to find one for less than say $4500. If this is your first bike ever, you will drop it. Trust me. On the 650, that's potentially an expensive blunder.