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I'm a newbie to steet motorcycles. I had a Honda XR200 (4 stroke dirt bike) about 15 years ago but have never owned a street bike before. I took the MSF class 5 years ago and as I was getting to buy my motorcycle the transmission went out on my Subaru so I had to purchase a new car instead of the bike Now that the car is going to be paid off soon it's time to start looking for a motorcycle again.

As much as I would love to spend $10000 on one it's just not logical at this point. I have a 9 year old daughter who had to have braces, I'm a newbie to the street so I'd hate to lay down a $10000 bike, and I think it would probably be best to 'get my feet wet' with something with a little less power.

I'll be using it for my daily commute (6 whole miles), running errands, going to the lake (20 miles away), and to be honest just to have fun riding around on a motorcycle

Even though I'm 6'2" and weigh in around 200 pounds I'm thinking that the Kawasaki Ninja 250 my be my best bet. It's super cheap ($3000), has some power but not too much, gets 70 miles to the gallon, comes in a variety of colors, seems to hold it's resale value pretty well, looks sporty, seems to be pretty easy to maintain, and seems to be more comfortable than the cruisers in the same power/price range.

Can anyone give me your opinions/comments on whether you think the Ninja 250R would be a good newbie bike for me?

Thanks.

TripleB

It was my first bike. I put 16,000 miles on it before I got something else. It's a fantastic bike to start with.

If you want to see a list of some others, check out this page:
www.CaliforniaBikeNights.com/learn

But, yes, the Ninja 250 definitely has my vote. In fact, just about everyone who rides it agrees that it is a great, fun, safe and practical bike to start with. The people who say it's NOT a good beginner bike and you need "something bigger" tend to fall into 2 categories:
1 - Motorcyclists who have never ridden one.
2 - Salespeople who want a bigger commission.

Go sit on it and see how it feels to you. I'm about 6'0 225ish, and it felt very comfy for me. I never owned one, but I have ridden one, and it would be a perfect introduction to street motorcycling, especially for what you want to use it for.

I love the little Ninja. If it hadn't promised myself to have only one bike at a time (a couple of years ago there were six in the garage), I'd run out and buy one for zipping around town. If your mission is local riding with some occasional highway work (and lots of MPG), it's hard to beat the EX250.

i have had mine since november now and i love it im about 6'1" and 220 or so too, so i think it should fit you. its definitely the place to start. its lots of fun with a bit less risk than a 600ish sport bike. if i were you i would pick up a used one. you can get a 2000ish ninja 250 for about 1500.

1. 14k redline
2. 6 gears-- that you'll actually use!
3. affordable
3a. reliable
4. insurable
5. fuel efficient (like i really care but it's nice anyway)
6. not exactly high on the theft rings' to do list
7. old school looks
8. speaking of looks, there's a whole handfull of stock color choices
9. think how much fun it will be to outride squids on their 600cc starter bikes
10. valentino rossi didn't start on no supersport

i want one

1will wrote: 9. think how much fun it will be to outride squids on their 600cc starter bikes

I hate to say it, but that happens... I thought it was just fantasy but it does happen.

dieziege wrote:

1will wrote: 9. think how much fun it will be to outride squids on their 600cc starter bikes

I hate to say it, but that happens... I thought it was just fantasy but it does happen.

I've seen it happen. Then again, I've done it on my bike too *shifty eyes*

Luv my 250!

i bought one for my fiance to learn on and it will do her well for this year and probably next as well. I ride it sometimes, and it's a heck of a lot of fun.

This is also a good bike to learn some of the basic mechanical things about bikes too since they haven't changed a lot since the mid 80's, which is another reason i bought it, so that i could learn to be a bit of a mechanic.