First bike - 2 stroke or 4 stroke

[gamgee]

i seriously wouldn't recommend the sports style bikes for learning on, fairing + high power 250 + complete newbie is not a good combination, you should probably be looking at something like an fxr150 (if you want a sportsbike) or a suzuki gn250 or a yamaha sr250 or if you can find one an srx250 would suit you perfectly, or a suzuki gsf250 (bandit) theres heaps of them out there i just don't really think the power those cbr's zzr's and fzr's put out is a good idea for a beginner, and 250's hold there value well anyway so even if it's only for 6 months until you get used to riding you'll be able to sell it for pretty close to what you paid anyway, and then get a faster 250, which reminds me, i really should go and get my restricted at some stage i'm about 6 months past when i could have got it

[ZorsT]

Top speed when going downhill with a VERY strong tail wind perhaps!

...other words...

They are awesome little bikes though, a hell of a lot of fun and they are great in the twisty stuff.

awesome bikes
although, i have seen 185 on my speedo.... with a back pack on...
I find powerband great, mid corner is fine for me (because I have so much more traction avalable - chicken strips to KFC)
the KR's are not as common as the RG's though....

get a 2-smoke 150, it'll keep up with most 250 4-strokes - and is cheaper to buy

[Beemer]

awesome bikes
although, i have seen 185 on my speedo.... with a back pack on...

You may have seen 185 on the speedo, but you would not have actually been doing 185 because of how far out the speedos are. I've seen 175 when riding mine, but the person riding with me was only seeing about 155 on their speedo. Keep dreaming though!

[SimJen]

2 Stroke 250's are not really suitable for learners. They are usually really light and nimble with amazing brakes and wicked powerbands. Having said that a restricted 2 stroke isn't that bad with only 45hp or so as long as the rider isn't crazy. I had a derestricted 60hp NSR250SP for many years and rebuilt it once or twice. As long as you treat them well they will last. Try rebuilding a 4 stroke 250 yourself.....its not a simple job. Two Strokes pull down in half the time, a lot less moving parts so much less to go wrong. Most failures are caused by owners using crap oil or not warming the bike up before riding. Incorrect jetting, too lean/or rich can cause seizures/plug fouling respectively.
I used to ride mine in traffic a fair bit but you get used to fanging it from lights - lights.
Just have to change your way of riding slightly......its also not wise to sit on constant high speeds (vary throttle to allow more/less oil through).

[mikey]

go for the two stroke, youll have more fun learning, an youll learn quicker. an cheaper to buy.

its like learnign to swim, if you get chucked in the deep end, you either sink, or swim,
if you piss (haha) around in the shallow end trying to float an get your precious head under the water it could take you years.

[gamgee]

its like learnign to swim, if you get chucked in the deep end, you either sink, or swim,

and what happens if he sinks? as almost certainly will happen if he buys a 2stroke 250 as a first bike

[Damon]

When i got my first bike it was a CBR250r, which was ok, went fast enough, handled ok, but my mate bought an RGV250 and it was just embarising.

I wouldn't recoment a 150, no offence to those with them, but you'll grow out of them pretty fast, a CBR or ZXR are a good choice if you dont have any riding experience or are not a hoon, but if you do some experience or can see your self blasting in and out of twisties then nothing goes past a RGV/NSR, they do have a higher running cost, we re-coned my mates one in a friends garage for about $500 and once you've done it the first time it'll only take you a couple hours after that.

[SimJen]

Best bet is to talk to people that know something about each. So many people have an opinion based on s/hand knowledge.
I have had a 90 CBR250, 9? CBR250RR, NSR250SP and had many mates with TZR250, RGV250's etc.
I can say IMO that the fourstrokes were pretty boring and overweight to ride with lack lustre brakes and suspension. Two Stroke race reps always have better suspension (proddy racing) and decent brakes (4 pot instead of 2 pot sliders on the CBR's), as well as more power.
Reliability is not much of an issue if cared properly for. Like someone said $500-600 will be new pistons/rings. Only other service item for motor is changing gearbox oil at 5000km intervals.
With a fourstroke you'll be doing that and valve shim checks.....works out pretty similar cost wise.

[ZorsT]

You may have seen 185 on the speedo, but you would not have actually been doing 185 because of how far out the speedos are. I've seen 175 when riding mine, but the person riding with me was only seeing about 155 on their speedo. Keep dreaming though!

yeh the speedos are way out...
I "cruise" at an indicated 120, and only just keep up with traffic

[Spaz]

I can say IMO that the fourstrokes were pretty boring and overweight to ride with lack lustre brakes and suspension. Two Stroke race reps always have better suspension (proddy racing) and decent brakes (4 pot instead of 2 pot sliders on the CBR's), as well as more power.

He has a point, I am looking at 2 strokes for all those reasons.
If you lean toward the hoon side of riding you will probably get tired of 4 stroke power pretty quick.
The main problem I think you may have is getting used to how traffic treats you, not checking their blind spots, pulling out of intersections in front of you, all that kind of stuff (not to mention, boy racers trying to lane split you back). once you understand and are used to other drivers, your inner hoon can come out safely between lights and your 2 stroke will be fine.
IMO, you can learn how to ride a bike, on any kind of bike, just how easy you learn is another thing. From my experience, you'll get road savvy easier on a GN. You may also get tired of the slack power in about 3-6 months.
I think it depends on how easy you want to learn to ride, over how much cash you want to spend swapping bikes.
good luck.

[spada]

From my experience, you'll get road savvy easier on a GN. You may also get tired of the slack power in about 3-6 months.

Yeah thats pretty much the key to this thread. I say get something that is really easy to ride to start with and move on later . I obviously have a Spada but I owned a NSR for about three months. It absolutely creamed the Spada. I had been riding for about two years on the spada before I bought the NSR and it was a big step.

As to those that say that 4 strokes are crap for power bands and the like your sort of right. Yes the brakes are better and so on. But when your first learning you don't huge power coz you'll just go too fast for what little experience you have. You don't want awesome brakes to stop coz you'll just end up locking them up and decking it. I'm sure if you searched for a poll as to peoples first crash this would be one of if not the highest cause of first accidents.

Any way moral "get the easiest bike to ride to start, then go in steps." You'll be a better rider for it.

Good luck with choosing