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Was sitting at a local Sonic having a coffee and talking with one of the car-hops when a guy pulled up on his CRB600R. Apparently he works there because he got off his bike, said hi to me and went in to get his paycheck.

My carhop friend came back out and told me, "He's in there talking smack saying that you're only riding a Ninja 500. He laughed when I told him it was a 250 and said something about a scooter."

I wa still enjoying my coffee when he came back out and looked at me and said, "Nice bike."

"Thanks."

"Kinda small, ain't it?"

"It'll go fast enough to kill me--anythng over that is, quite literally, overkill. Besides, it's my first bike, not my last."

"Shoulda started on a 600 or 750 or something. They're better."

"By better, do you mean faster or is there some inherent value in having a bigger engine and more weight to manage while you're still new to riding and learning? This 250 gets me around town just fine, has enough power to get moving when I need it to, and stops and turns on a dime. What's so much better about a 600? It'll pull the front tire off the road and then you're riding a 500 pound unicycle?"

"It's just a better bike is all."

"On the track, I'm sure, but here in town it does the trick pretty good and it's actually a lot of fun to ride."

"I doubt it. Too slow."

"Meh, feel free to buy me a bigger bike if you're so unhappy with it."

"Yeah right. Whatever."

He then got his gear on and jerked the bike pretty badly trying to take off quickly in the parking lot, and then almost spilled making his right-hand turn back onto the street. My friend came out laughing because apparently that was pretty much on par with his usual exits on his bike. He tends to almost dump his bike a lot according to her and some of the other people that work there. Either jerking in the corners a lot when he leans the bike or spinning the rear wheel on a take-off or stuff like that. Maybe I'll loan him my 250 when I get something else.

But they are better right? Haha jk

I started on a cb250 and got a lot of the same commentary. However, unlike the ex250, the nighthawk lacked disc brakes and was buzzy as hell. As far as the engine size, it was quite fine. The ex is a much more solid choice and a great bike overall, as I'm sure you know. We'd all do well to take a step back from this American "bigger is better" stuff and ride what we can handle, not what makes our @!$% look bigger.

I find it funny how people who have only experienced one thing can have an opinion on both.

I was having a conversation with a guy who was an ex racing pro (Said something about having a A rating I think? I just said cool ) at the ducati dealership about a week ago.

I said "Let me ask you in your opinion, does it make sense to start small and then go big?"

He replied "It makes sense to start small, go big, then go back to small again." He explained to me the way he got better was to move back down every couple of seasons and then go back up. He says that it helps you re-learn just how far you can push a bike because the light ones are so easy to manuver.

He also talked about how he out-maneuvered all of his friends on the 250 when they were on 600s. He said "They pass me in the straight aways but as soon as the turns come up I overtook them"

Think maybe he's "compensating" for anything???

Yah know what they say, big bikes are for people who can't make little bikes go fast.

Unfortunate, but you'll get that from time to time. While not exactly the same thing, I got a few remarks about how ugly my FZR was (boxy tail section and whatnot).

But the look on their faces when I fired her up was so worth it.

Congrats to you for not being a squid and dumping your too-big-and-pretty bike in the parking lot... multiple times.

i think it's just funny. the guys at work razz me about it, but they all know what i'm aiming for and i know they're just having a bit of fun...and they're all happy that i didn't get a big heavy cruiser as my first bike because they'd all cry if i ever dropped it.

a few of them have actually expressed an interest in taking the 250 out for a spin because they heard it's a fun bike. they don't want to take it for a spin at work, of course--there'd be too many witnesses.....

Was it this guy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhLKg4DRoLo

wow. where do they find these people?

HA HAAAH!!! Nice job Ray!! EPIC FAIL

For some reason when people make comments on how "inferior" your ride is they never offer to step up with the cash to buy you something better. Absolutely nothing wrong with those Ninjas. They are good solid dependable bikes. Maybe it's a generation thing but I think it's extremely rude and in poor taste to comment negatively about someone else's ride. I'm not talking about the good natured smack you get from your friends, that's a given with the crowd I hang out with.