My first bike was an Aprilia rs250. Very fast for someone who hasn't ridden a bike.
But it's actually quiet good little bike to learn on, here is why.
-It's light
-It come standard with beautiful golden double caliper brembos at front, brakes are really good.
-2 strokes don't have a twitchy throttle like a 4 stroke, very low power at bottom end so you won't frighten yourself with massive acceleration and you can get used to controlling the throttle with your wrist rather than your foot. Once you are more confident you can crank 'em up to the power band range and enjoy the thrill.
-2 strokes engines are very simple, much more simple than 4 stoke.
-When I was looking at cbr250s zxr's etc I thought they're just a ticking time bombs. These little bikes have gone through 4-5 different learner type owners and have done usually well over 40,000 km, most of that probably well thrashed at 18k rpm. Quiet a bit for a 250cc engine. That's like buying a 2L car that's done 320km, you know the mileage is getting a bit too high for my liking.
- Another advantage is you'll be able to keep up with your mates who have 600s or even 1000cc bikes.
-it'll set you up better for a bigger bike, due to acceleration and speed difference.
- Rs250 come with Suzuki engines (VJ22) so it doesn't have the Italian reliability issue you often hear about, parts are available and rebuilds are very easy to do.
- It's italian, looks more modern than the old 80s design cbr and you'll be riding the fastest 250 on roads.
Things to take in...
- Legislation in NZ might change for 2 stroke bikes (following AU rules), can't ride a 2 stroke if you are learner/restricted holder. Value of these bikes will massively drop then. I doubt this will happen if you already own one, but I'm not sure if they even will implement this given there is a such a small number of them out there.
- Fuel, they drink like a camel preparing to cross the sahara. 2 stroke oil is an added cost.
- Sound and smoke. They smoke up your garage like the devils walked in and the sound is zinga linga ding type, not the vroooom you get from 4 strokes. I fell in love with the sound they make and the smell of the smoke, ohhh the 2 stroke burning oil.
- They're like dating a really hot, high maintenance woman. Gota warm 'em up, wait till the engine warms up. Keep filling it up with oil, maintaining it and paying for high octane fuel. But once you have it sideways sitting at 9000 rpm through a corner and punching down the throttle and have the front lift slightly ohhh it's all worth it then.
I have been told by quite a few people that the CBR250 is a good bike . Now I have a few mates that have been riding for awhile & they are trying to convince me to buy the 250RR instead of the 250R as they think that they are better & have more power / torque etc .
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Originally Posted by nzmikey
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