What to buy?

[SMOKEU]

I want to buy a performance bike of no more than 250cc and no more than $5,000. I was thinking about a CBR250 or an RGV250, but I can't make up my mind as to whether I want a 2 stroke or a 4 stroke. I don't want to end up doing rebuilds every 10,000km though. I will be using the bike all year round mainly for getting from A to B, but I want something quick.

[YellowDog]

Mate, just draw up a shortlist and then test ride them all.

The right one for you will make itself obvious!

[=cJ=]

You pretty much can't go wrong with a CBR 250 (either the MC19 or MC 22).

They're quick enough, heaps of fun, mine has had only one show stopper which was the fuel pump (easy fix btw, just grab a replacement from repco).

[CookMySock]

Where do you see yourself in 3 years? Do you want to handle a large powerful bike and know how to corner and stop? Any clown can twist the fear lever and fuck off at lightspeed on it - so you need to learn how to do the basics, and that is corner and brake.

The RGV is a weapon. I submit you are better off with something a lot less intimidating. 50% of learning to ride is about keeping your feelings in check so you have brainpower left over to go outside your comfort zone and actually LEARN something new today, and riding some rocketship at lightspeed
will actively prevent that unless you slow right down, and then whats the point of having it?

The CBR, FZR et al are fine, but you will spend a lot of time learning to play a song on the gearbox, coz you kinda have to, instead of learning discipline and accuracy with the bars and brakes, like you should be. Unless you get a really tidy one, you will also spend a lot of time fixing it, instead of learning on it.

Forget about speed and acelleration with your learner bike if you want to learn about speed and accelleration. Think "steering with the bars" and "learning to brake properly into corners."

Also take a look at minimoto racing. This teaches you a lot of the basics and, and grows your balls in a safeish environment, and its fun.

If it were me, I'd buy one of the larger fully-faired learner bikes, because it feels and corners like a large fully faired bike. Later on, you just buy one with a bigger motor and you are already in the game.

Or you could forget all this crap, go buy the RGV, learn how to fat it hard in a straight line, get a bad fright in a corner, and then sell it a year later. AKA "I tried motorbikes but they aren't for me."

IMO.
Steve