What bike should I get?

[ready4whatever]

Buy something basic and cheap to learn on; e.g scorpio vtr250 or another gn there nothing wrong with them. gain your survival skills then upgrade to something with more swag. good luck and welcome to Kiwi Biker

[cheesemethod]

Get a perm!
Actually you should get a GN250 and you might have a bit left over for gear too. I'm 6'1 and 90somethingkg, and I can happily ride Auckland to Whangarei in one go without feeling sore. I've found mine a great learners experience and they can do corners at some pretty respectable speeds. Plus hoes love the chrome

[Laxi]

GN250..... corners..... speed

???

[cheesemethod]

They're a small, light bike with plenty of rear tire and a flat torque curve. Ditch the plastic factory tires and they're great in the twistys.

[Conquiztador]

Welcome aboard KB.

Go to the shops and ask what they have under $2.5K. Sit on them. Ask for a testride. Then go with your gut feeling. And before you spend your money have someone with bike knowledge to look her over.

Or use the shops to figure out what you really do want. Then get one on TM for less.

Just remember that the 250 is not for life, only until you get your full and you upgrade. Said that, at 15 two years will seem like a lifetime...

Two second hand bikes I would personally stay away from (someone else has already taken them to the km's they can handle before a serious rebuild is needed):
- The Chinese GN250's. (The earlier Japanese ones are bullet proof and you recognise them from that the Japanese ones have wire wheels)
- Hyosung 250. I still have to be convinced that Koreans can make other things than cheap 50cc scooters...

[ducatilover]

They're a small, light bike with plenty of rear tire and a flat torque curve. Ditch the plastic factory tires and they're great in the twistys.

GN250's are the devils spawn. I had one and did 10000km in three months, it was shit, slow, did not handle even with sport demons [it was decked out everywhere]. With the better rubber I fucked the swing arm bushings and ground the pegs to nothingness. They are horrid and pathetic. A road legal dirt bike is a far better option. I would rather have a rancid pustule growing in my arse than own another GN250. The torque curve is not flat, it is non-existent.

[cheesemethod]

GN250's are the devils spawn. I had one and did 10000km in three months, it was shit, slow, did not handle even with sport demons [it was decked out everywhere]. With the better rubber I fucked the swing arm bushings and ground the pegs to nothingness. They are horrid and pathetic. A road legal dirt bike is a far better option. I would rather have a rancid pustule growing in my arse than own another GN250. The torque curve is not flat, it is non-existent.

I must be an idiot and suck at riding then, cause mine seems to work just fine. Yes, it could do with a bit more power, I won't argue with that. I suppose I'll start bagging the shit of my GN when I become as cool as you.

[ducatilover]

I must be an idiot and suck at riding then, cause mine seems to work just fine. Yes, it could do with a bit more power, I won't argue with that. I suppose I'll start bagging the shit of my GN when I become as cool as you.

Hit a nerve did I? Don't take it as a personal attack
I was saying what I thought of my GN, from my own experience. Mine was an 04 [chinese assembled] which may have not helped it's case.

[Ender EnZed]

Get a Spada.

[cheesemethod]

Hit a nerve did I? Don't take it as a personal attack
I was saying what I thought of my GN, from my own experience. Mine was an 04 [chinese assembled] which may have not helped it's case.

Sorry dude, it's just insulting a man's bike is worse than insulting his wife lol. Actually I do see things from that perspective sometimes, it just gets old on here. Mine's a '06 chinese one that I've done about 20,000km on so far and all I've had to spend on it is oil and tyres. The chrome is shit but other than that the thing is pretty mint. I just think that they're a great bike for learners because there are too many squids going around comparing top speeds with 6 months riding under their belts. I'd rather pick up a near new GN250 (I got mine for under 2g with 4000km on it) than fly around on a dodgy old sports bike for 4g that could potentially fall apart any moment. Case and point of that was seeing a nsr 250 with L plates parked in a fence down the road from my parents place a month ago, the skid marks would suggest he was doing well over 100km/h in a 70 km/h area. Just seems to me that going fast is the only important thing to a lot of learners these days, and it gets them hurt.

[SMOKEU]

Buy an FZR1000. Cheap, fast and deadly; what more could you want in a learner bike?

[ducatilover]

Sorry dude, it's just insulting a man's bike is worse than insulting his wife lol.

You can see why I don't have a wife then....
Perhaps I got unlucky with mine, I had quite a few electrical problems too, which as it turns out, are not covered under the factory warranty And I brought mine in june 05, it was an august 04 bike with just under 1500km [got it for 2700 and a good deal on gear to go with it]
I paid 3700 for my Spada when I wanted to get back on bikes after the inevitable crash for riding the wrong bike like a fuck wit, that gave me a better run than the GN. Untill it started going horribly wrong after 3 years of me riding it.

Get a Spada.

Mine did well for what it was. Apart from all the things that went wrong...
The oil feed to the camchain tensioners are prone to getting partially blocked and this wears them, letting them warm up on the side stand also wears the cam lobes.

Buy an FZR1000. Cheap, fast and deadly; what more could you want in a learner bike?

Oh no....we couldn't recommend that

[Ender EnZed]

I paid 3700 for my Spada when I wanted to get back on bikes after the inevitable crash for riding the wrong bike like a fuck wit, that gave me a better run than the GN. Untill it started going horribly wrong after 3 years of me riding it.

Mine did well for what it was. Apart from all the things that went wrong...
The oil feed to the camchain tensioners are prone to getting partially blocked and this wears them, letting them warm up on the side stand also wears the cam lobes.

You paid enough that it should've worked. I only did 20000km on mine but nothing went wrong. I'm guessing you ride fairly high distances based on

10000km in three months

The OP is 15 and probably isn't commuting to...Wellington...Napier...you didn't ride that far that fast on a GN for fun did you?

Hey im going to go get my learners next weekend (im 15) and i was wondering if you guys could give me some ideas on what bike i should get. Im 73 kilos and 6' tall. Ive only ridden my dads gn250 in a alley way so i dont have much experience.

thanks

FWIW when I was 15 I bought a Spada for $2700, spent plenty on regular servicing at a shop, and sold it for $2400 immediately after getting my full. My view of the 250 market is that, in broad terms, singles are a bit gutless and 4 cylinders are a bit pointless. 2 strokes are scary and sound like they're melting. I would reccommend any (4 stroke) twin that doesn't break and cost you time/money. I certainly didn't have any bad experiences (other than crashing) with a Spada.

[ducatilover]

You paid enough that it should've worked. I only did 20000km on mine but nothing went wrong. I'm guessing you ride fairly high distances based on
The OP is 15 and probably isn't commuting to...Wellington...Napier...you didn't ride that far that fast on a GN for fun did you?

It started shagging out after three years [as stated] and 50000km [the Spada] Which isn't bad
I got mine fresh from Japan in 06 with 24km on the clock.
I was commuting from rural Eketahuna to Palmy every day, and a few hundred km in the weekends on top op that [so 170km a day, plus many more] It wasn't fun....nor was it fast haha

[2nd2last1]

hey man...

r u in hamilton??? I'm 17 and just got me a gs500e thats pretty cool to step up from a 250. I had a GZ250. Like a model up of the GN i think that did me fine for my learners etc. I would take a look at the Honda CBR250's, the suzuki GSX250 or RGV150(if ya want something smaller) or RGV250, the Yamaha FZR250 or the GPX250... all a pretty cool looking, reliable bikes.