my first post here and a few questions

[crshbndct]

i am about to embark on my motorcycle experience

background:
i am 24yo(25 in january), Have had a full car license for about 6 years. I have owned a 400hp v8 commodore, a 380hp skyline, a supra powered 1973 corona and numerous other high powered cars. my only traffic infringement is 115km/h in a 100 zone passing a truck, and my wife is always telling me to drive faster. i follow with a 10+sec following distance, and i (without trying to sound smug) am one of the safest, most cautious, and boring, drivers i know.
i regularly enjoy taking my car to a racetrack and giving it absolute death, but reserve these antics for the track only, i have seen 2 of my best frinds killed through excessive speed on the road.

i like the idea of a nice cruise up to kerikeri or summat from whangarei where i live. i have around $8-10k to spend on a bike (not financed fortuanately). i am going to keep this bike for about 2-3 years, because, despite the fact that i can get my full bike license in as short as 9 months from now, i feel that a more sporty 250 will be more than enough for me for a few years, and i reckon that 2 years is the least i want to ride before i am ready for something like a 600cc supersport.

Having looked around and read a lot of posts about which 250 is best, i ave decided that a cbr250rr is probably my best bet. i imagine i could get a very nice one for around $5k, which will leave me with about 2k for gear, and $1k for the next part of my question.

i am planning to buy a second hand fairing in any serviceable condition(cracked, dented, plastic welded whatever), and fit it to the bike (preferrably the whole lot, headlight surrounds, bit that sits under my arse, engine covers etc) and keep the good fairing for when i want to either sell the bike, or after a year or so when i am more confident of not dropping the thing every time i go out.

is this a good idea? having a second fairing that looks like shit and i am not too worried about repairing, just the basic duct-tape-and-pop-rivet-aluminium-plates treatment to keep it on the bike and to keep the wind off my knees?

this way i get to ride a sporty bike (dont like naked ones), albeit with a shitty, bodgy looking fairing, and i am able to progress on to a better bike and keep the small'un as a commuter for later.

i will be using the bike for commuting as well as the odd cruise, mainly because the gas prices nowadays are ridiculous.

[steved]

Welcome to KB. Your idea sounds fine. Fibreglass fairings for the CBR250 are about $650 from JustFairings. They are white and don't include a screen but not too much of a hassle there.

[MSTRS:Me]

You seem to have it covered. You worked that out well. And welcome to the garge

[crshbndct]

just noticed that there are late model gsx250's available from suzuki.
do you think this wuld be a better option than a cbr? because i would much rather spend 5grand on a 2 year old/8,000km bike than a 15yo/45,000km one.

[zadok]

Welcome to K.B mate. It sounds like you have plenty for a nice bike with a good fairing. There are a few K.B's up your way. I can see a nice bike run coming up for you.

[MSTRS:Me]

just noticed that there are late model gsx250's available from suzuki.
do you think this wuld be a better option than a cbr? because i would much rather spend 5grand on a 2 year old/8,000km bike than a 15yo/45,000km one.

(from a gixxer fan) CBR's are arguably the better bike (cough - did I really say that?) and the prices you quote reflect that.
Edit: - I am referring to the 250cc bikes only.

[TerminalAddict]

I'm facing the same dilemma.
I know precisely JACK about owning a bike, and to me, a 2 year old one for $4-5 sounds much better than a 15 year old for the same money.

However, many people here have interesting arguments against the gsx250, and my local shops tell me to steer clear of them.
Still I can help but feel like I'm getting shafted paying $4-5 for a 15 year old bike.

I have $3k right now which I thought would be sufficient to buy something about 5 years old .. .I WAS WRONG

Feeling kinda defeated by all this unsuccessful shopping

[crshbndct]

oh ok thanks for that.
the old cbr's must really be a piece of work to be that good.
still hunting around for a while though, i want to shop carefully.

[John]

Those GSX's are a big hunk of crap to put it blunt, cbr/zxr/fzr/gsxr are the way to go try keep the KM's around the 20,000km mark max (although most are tampered) the 250's have high strung engines that if not looked after need a rebuild at about 60thousand or 80thousand - as for binning it, if you spend all the time procrastinating over crashing, you wont enjoy the ride, cheap fairings cost a bitchload to, you would probably pay just under $2,000 for a ragged set for a CBR, although you could get some fibreglass ones from www.justfairings.co.nz, although they are still pricey and dont do a full set IIRC - but you seem to have it under control, there is a crapload of 250 riders + bigger bikes now so plenty of ride mates

As for the money thing the 250's hold their price, as long as they dont change the Learner system to power/weight then you will be able to sell it for about the same as you bought it for.

[zadok]

Those GSX's are a big hunk of crap to put it blunt, cbr/zxr/fzr/gsxr are the way to go - as for binning it, if you spend all the time procrastinating over crashing, you wont enjoy the ride - but you seem to have it under control, there is a crapload of 250 riders + bigger bikes now so plenty of ride mates .

......Huh!?

[John]

......Huh!?

gsx = inline 2, gsxr = inline 4

[TerminalAddict]

does that mean the same can be said for zzr/zxr ??

[HDTboy]

Definately, ZZRs are very slow, ZXRs are less slow.
You might want to sell your 250 in less than 2 years, I'm wanting more power after 6 months

[GR81]

think of the GSX250 in car terms...

GSX250 = honda si vtec/vtir
CBR250 = more of a typeR

GSX is still fun to ride... but if you wanna go quick... the CBR would be a better idea for you.

having said that, i thoroughly enjoy riding my GSX around... its still a lot of fun

[White trash]

Good thinking on the 250 with rough fairings buzz. It'll also suit if you're into getting out on the track and building skills. Go and see Sarge at Colemans, they've got a good range of 250 sports machines right now that I'm sure will do the trick nicely.

There's also nothing wrong with GSX250s, they're just a little less performance focused than the Jap import, inline four machines. They are, however, a good deal more comfortable and being later model, less expensive to run.

Welcome to the site, hope to see you 'round some day.