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I was at a dealership saturday looking and riding a few bikes. After a few hours of speculation and 30 mins of riding or so i still couldnt figure out which i liked better, the Ninja 250 or 500. The 250 was nice and easy and quite forgiving of my n00bness with the clutch. The 500 was nice but a little more picky. The speed and pick up on both was fine, i liked the 500 there because if i have to hold onto this bike for a few years i think the 500 would be more pleasurable as to it being a little more beefy. Now i was only riding around the unpopulated residential streets near the dealer, and even there i was fairly herky jerky and doubt that will be good on a main street. So i guess my question is. Is a 500 to big to learn on and ride around a big town as a beginner, the 250 was much for comfortable to ride and even just sit on. Seems as if ive answerd my own question. None the less, for a new rider in LA what would you sugest the 250 or the funner 500. Oh, i guess i have a question as well. Can a 250 such as that hit good highway speeds or 75-70 mph? Also, what kinda mpg do bikes such as these useally get. Thanks for any help

JWF

waaadaminute... they actually let you ride a bike? Which dealership is that? Is this the norm? What happens if you fall and scratch the bike? The one dealership I went to doesn't allow you to try the bike before you buy it. And there is also nowhere to rent the bikes I am considering buying.

I learned on a '78 CX500 which was top-heavy and had "wooden" brakes. The Ninja 500R is a fine beginners' bike. You'll wanna get rid of the 250 within a month or two and will be kicking yourself for not getting the 500.

ya, well it was a kawasaki dealship in hollywood, as for riding the bike, i rode a used one that was dinged up already, as for if i had dropped it. I donno, i probably got a little special treatment as the manager is one of my dads clients. If thats the norm i dont know, probably not.

JWF[i/]

ZooTech wrote:I learned on a '78 CX500 which was top-heavy and had "wooden" brakes. The Ninja 500R is a fine beginners' bike. You'll wanna get rid of the 250 within a month or two and will be kicking yourself for not getting the 500.

getting the 250 and being bored of it in a few months would be really lame, so if thats the case then the 500 definatly seems like the choice


JWF

oh hey you're from LA? Cool! I'm moving there in january. And since in LA you *need* to have a vehicle, I decided to get a bike.

As for the bikes, I would recommend you get the one *you* feel more comfortable with, since ultimately *you* will be riding it. You will also learn faster on a bike you're more comfortable with. If you ride the 250 for a few months and get bored of it, you should be able to resell it easily since the beginner bikes are in high demand (but that's just what I read, so take it with a grain of salt).

I was wondering myself about the highway use of 250. (just look at my previous posts on this forum) The impression I got is that 250 can theoretically do 75 mph and more, but it gets quite a workout from it. It cannot accelerate from 50 to 80 very well, so cars will start tailgating you and won't be able to do anything about it. The other problem is that ninja 250 is so light that you'll be affected by the crosswinds a lot. I can attest to that -- I rode ninja 250 at 50 mph and crosswinds made it rather scary. I actually moved to the center of the lane (which you are not supposed to do) because I was afraid of being pushed over. Of course ninja 500 is only about 80-90 lbs heavier so I'm not sure how that would help. Basically, as far as I can tell, you'd be a lot better off with a 500 on the highway. 250 can do it but not quite as well.

Anyway, clutch control is the hardest thing to learn on a bike (especially for me since I never drove a stick). What really helped me a lot is I rented a 250, took it to an empty parking lot and practiced starting and stopping. Did that for hours. Then practiced slow speed turns, for a few more hours. By the end of the day I was able to handle the clutch.

Another thing I would recommend is riding gear. I fell at my motorcycle course and scraped my knee pretty badly. And I'm glad I did! That made me realize the imprtance of proper riding gear, so I got full set of kevlar mesh (jacket and pants), as well as boots, gloves, and full-face hemet which I already had. Mesh is designed specifically for hot weather, so even in LA heat it should be rather comfortable. When riding the bike on the street, I felt a lot more confident knowing that if I fall it will hurt but I won't have to scrape my "O Ring" off the pavement. Or, as my instructor said "I will fall and hurt my "O Ring" but at least i'll still _have_ an "O Ring"!" If I feel confident, I am, in fact, less likely to make a mistake and fall. It's a psychological thing.

Which brings me to my last point: you should take the motorcycle safety course if you haven't already. As someone else put it, you get a year's worth of experience in one weekend.

hope that helps. Good luck.


Eugene

I am so smart ... s.m.r.t.

*Edited by Tech.

It's a "family" forum, ok