Total Motorcycle Community Forums

I've read and heard many suggestions on the Ninja series from kawasaki. Especially the 250 for beginners but the 500 and 650 are considered beginners too. I ride a 150 scooter and i'm taking the MSF next month.

If i do decide to get a motorcycle, are these worth a look when choosing a bike considering i'm 5'6" 140-145lbs?

5'6 - theres a shitload of options available to you, but yea that Ninja 250/500 is pretty low so it should seat you fine. It'll get you around town and back again.

If you REALLY want a good bike though. . .SV650. Fuel Injected AND has a digital display. It's all futuristic and "poo poo".

When you take your course, you'll find out lots that only makes sense to your "O Ring".

You'll feel countersteering at speed, counterweighting a u-turn, feathering the clutch and the rear brake for slow speeds, mashing the throttle in first/second/third gear....

I trained on a CBF500. 50bhp and plenty quick. It's a bike that could last you some time. SV650 is a more powerful (76bhp) and a sharper steerer.

Hopefully you'll get to try a mid-size bike to get a feel for it.

Enjoy!

Yes, definitely a good choice. I upgraded from a 125 scooter earlier in the year to a Ninja 250 and am very happy with my choice. I am a tad smaller than you and the 250 is a perfect fit for me. I have sat on the 650 and find it a little bit big for me, but everyone is built differently.

Ninja 500-R is a great bike that you can ride at 5'6". You'll be able to hang on to it longer than the 250-R, most likely. Both the 500-R and 250-R are reliable and easy to fix minor things. The 500-R is fairly indestructible too. Mine has 12,000 miles on in in one year. New brakes, new rear tire, nothing else but gas and oil needed

--Dave

The ninjas are nice. I had a used 2001 250 first season (didn't put on many km) and sold it next season and got a 2006 250 on which I put on close to 7000 miles. Love that bike, still have it actually. Rode with friends and I had the smallest engine bike but I had no probs staying with them. Got the Ninja 650R this year and it's great. Glad I put the time/mileage into the 250 tho and didn't jump onto the 650 right away. I'd suggest sitting on both the Ninja 250 and 500 if you are considering those for a first bike as both feel quite different (tank is longer on the 500), the price is great too. The 650 also sits different than either of those two.

Take the MSF. After you take it, I think you'll know what you'll be comfortable with. I have a 250 right now and I can honestly say I'm glad I didn't get anything bigger - I still have issues with clutch control and there are a lot of mistakes that would be exacerbated on a bigger bike.

I've realized, what they say is true - you can start out on a bigger bike with no issues. They can all go the same speed and whatnot. However, acceleration is a huge factor. The starter bikes, basically, it's not an issue with speed or handling; it's the twitch factor. If you make a mistake on an EX250, you can recover pretty easily. On a bigger bike, you might have already hit the curb or worse by the time you try to react.

But hey, that's just my two cents - I haven't been riding long so take that with a grain of salt.

I thought there were only 2 bikes. Ninjas and Harl............

My friend at work has a ninja 500. Little old it's got 18k miles on it. He's on vacation for a week so i might sit on his and walk it a bit to get a feel for a 500. My other friend has a 650 Suzuki but doesn't let anyone touch it

Thanks for the advice.

I started on a 250 rode it for about 500 miles and sold it for $100 profit!! You just cant go wrong just dont drop it lol... I ride an 06 zx-636.. I absolutley love it.. very comfortable and was an easy transition.. just know your limits..