First 250 - Bandit or otherwise?

[maggot]

So I'm looking to upgrade from my lil two smoker into something with a bit more balls and a lot less stench. I've had my eye on a GSF250 from Red Baron, at a reasonable price.
I've been riding for about six months, and I probably won't do the upgrade until I'm on my restricted.
I'm just wondering if anyone would recommend otherwise, or if the Bandit seems like the way to go?

[AllanB]

Get a real bike - get the Hornet 250.

Or the Bandit.

Or a Yammy fazer 250


All IL4's all pretty much the same, all fairly closely priced.


If you find a clean example at the right price and you like the ride go for it.


You'd think there would be a pile of 250cc V-twins available but I'm either brain dead tonight or can't think of any.

Oh there is a Kawa twin thingy - the vertical twin 250R - a really nice bike that looks very much like it's big brothers.

Or a Ho-bag 250 V Twin. Popular and pretty cheaply priced used.

[Gibbo89]

So I'm looking to upgrade from my lil two smoker into something with a bit more balls and a lot less stench. I've had my eye on a GSF250 from Red Baron, at a reasonable price.
I've been riding for about six months, and I probably won't do the upgrade until I'm on my restricted.
I'm just wondering if anyone would recommend otherwise, or if the Bandit seems like the way to go?

hey there maggot,

i've just bought my first 250cc. do you want an inline four naked bike? i.e why you went for the bandit?

naked inline 4's

bandit
balius
zeal
hornet

naked twins:

hyosung
vtr

and then the ninja which Allan mentioned (faired and parallel twin).

whats is your budget? as that rules out things like the hornet which are a bit newer than the other inline fours as they are a bit newer in general.

when are you going to get your license? as maybe it could be worth waiting for your restricted then you can get a bigger bike if you wanted?

[Gubb]

Can I have your RGV?

[maggot]

hey there maggot,

i've just bought my first 250cc. do you want an inline four naked bike? i.e why you went for the bandit?

whats is your budget? as that rules out things like the hornet which are a bit newer than the other inline fours as they are a bit newer in general.

when are you going to get your license? as maybe it could be worth waiting for your restricted then you can get a bigger bike if you wanted?

Yeah, really after an inline four.
I'm not so much into the fully faired either, much prefer the naked look.
I'm looking at spending upto about 4k at the most, buying secondhand. I won't be buying for a few months yet, it'll almost definitely be after my restricted, which is up in a few months anyway.
I'm basically just checking out my options, eyeing up all the pretty bikes, getting my drool on and making some plans on what I'll go for.

[maggot]

Can I have your RGV?

Can I have money for it? :P

[Gibbo89]

Yeah, really after an inline four.
I'm not so much into the fully faired either, much prefer the naked look.
I'm looking at spending upto about 4k at the most, buying secondhand. I won't be buying for a few months yet, it'll almost definitely be after my restricted, which is up in a few months anyway.
I'm basically just checking out my options, eyeing up all the pretty bikes, getting my drool on and making some plans on what I'll go for.

alright, if your pretty keen on the idea of a 250cc sooner, compared to a bigger bike in the not too distant future. then these are a few on trademe that fall into your category:

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-295507087.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-292070895.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-295892716.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-294544419.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-291778165.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-295984084.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-293333807.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-247388562.htm

they are all good looking bikes. i think only 1 was from red baron. so every other bike would most likely need a pre purchase inspection etc (or whatever you feel comfortable doing in a private sale). the 91 honda cb in there somewhere is the cbr250 naked version i think. which also is in a dealers if i remember correctly.

hope some of that helped.

[Hiflyer]

Bandit's and hornets are the way to go! (Slightly biased here haha)

Pretty much the only difference is the Hornet is slighlty and I mean very slightly faster than the bandit, but the larger tyres mean they can be a bit more expensive to replace.

Bandits are excellent though, my flatmate has one and they're prettymuch bullet proof. Very reliable and fun to ride!

[maggot]

alright, if your pretty keen on the idea of a 250cc sooner, compared to a bigger bike in the not too distant future. then these are a few on trademe that fall into your category:

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-295507087.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-292070895.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-295892716.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-294544419.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-291778165.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-295984084.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-293333807.htm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-247388562.htm

they are all good looking bikes. i think only 1 was from red baron. so every other bike would most likely need a pre purchase inspection etc (or whatever you feel comfortable doing in a private sale). the 91 honda cb in there somewhere is the cbr250 naked version i think. which also is in a dealers if i remember correctly.

hope some of that helped.

Funnily enough, I had all of those on my watchlist already, minus the CB and the Zeal
But thanks heaps anyway.
The Bandit from Red Baron was what I've had my eye on, and I went in and checked it out yesterday. It's a niiiiice bike.
Just gotta start saving my pennies now!

[Gibbo89]

Funnily enough, I had all of those on my watchlist already, minus the CB and the Zeal
But thanks heaps anyway.
The Bandit from Red Baron was what I've had my eye on, and I went in and checked it out yesterday. It's a niiiiice bike.
Just gotta start saving my pennies now!

sweet as, good luck with the saving.

[BabyBandit]

Hi Maggot,
being biased and all, I would say go the bandit. I had one right from a week before I got my learners until I got my full three years later, and it never let me down, except when I tried doing some work on it, without any real knowledge of what i was doing. Once the qualified mechanic fixed up my stuff ups the bike ran like a dream. the vtr is a nice bike as well, but hey with a call sign like babybandit there's only one way to go....... GSF250 yeah ba...by

[_john_]

What about a Hyosung gt250? Iv just brought the new 2010 EFI one (might be abit out of budget?) but its a fantastic bike. V-twin with 28.5 hp, light and big tank ticks all the boxs for me. Get out there and ride them mate

[CookMySock]

I would be tempted not to mistreat a 250cc inline four bike, because if it spits the dummy you can forget fixing it - not for what you will want to spend on it anyway. You might get a replacement engine for it, but that's just another can of worms.

The twins are much cheaper to work on, particularly the air-cooled ones. eg hyo (2x) piston and ring set $120, replacement cylinders $100 each, so its not costly for parts, and it's only an afternoons' job to swap them over or make that two afternoons if you've never done it before.

Point being, decide if you want a throwaway thrasher or a keeper.

Steve

[GOONR]

I would be tempted not to mistreat a 250cc inline four bike, because if it spits the dummy you can forget fixing it - not for what you will want to spend on it anyway. You might get a replacement engine for it, but that's just another can of worms.

The twins are much cheaper to work on, particularly the air-cooled ones. eg hyo (2x) piston and ring set $120, replacement cylinders $100 each, so its not costly for parts, and it's only an afternoons' job to swap them over or make that two afternoons if you've never done it before.

Point being, decide if you want a throwaway thrasher or a keeper.

Steve

I can't find anything in this thread that would suggest he would mistreat his ride. Granted it may have been mistreated in the past but you take that risk with any used bike, I was lucky and knew the previous owner of my bike. I have a bandit and love it, it does everything I want it to do and is a very forgiving bike for a novice. I also think (biased maybe) that it is a better looker than a naked hyo.

[st00ji]

i reckon any IL4 250 thats survived this long has proven its thrash-worthiness