need help choosin a bike!

[ducatilover]

im not looking so much for speed, i've never ridden before so dont exactly want to kill myself!!! just wanting something that handles well (what use is speed without handling?) that will be reasonably reliable. so guess two strokers are out of the question?

my advice: dont go near a gn250 they dont handle good. zxr250..... my idea of an ideal 250 they go fairly well and i think they are faster than the fzr250.... get a vtin like a vtr or something they are nice'n skinny and go alright too

[bigbadwolf]

what do u guys think of this?

http://www.trademe.co.nz/structure/a...sp?id=42197968

[Zed]

what do u guys think of this?

http://www.trademe.co.nz/structure/a...sp?id=42197968

Looks like it's been well used. High kms, missing some parts, has been repainted which would suggest it has been dropped?? I'd give it a miss.

[bigbadwolf]

one other thing i've got to consider, i'm approx 6 foot, will any of the above mentioned bikes cripple me for life?

[sheep]

I too will be in the market shortly for a nice 250cc beginner bike. Ive been riding a mates GN250 around town (hmmmm .... ) which I know I shouldnt be doing until I have my learners this month - so I know a wee bit about basic bike handling & what I like. And I also know that whatever sports bike Im going to get, it will be more newer and peppier than the GN.
I know for a fact that the same mate also has a 650 Suzuki Savage which has a hell of a lot more torque which I enjoy - but then its fun to rev a bike as well & have a steady delivery of power.
Since Im really a car boy ... is comparing 4-stroke bikes & 2-stroke bikes a bit like comparing a 3.0L V6 smoothness & torque in power delivery to a turbo 1300cc Toyota Starlet's peaky and noticeable rise in power as you move up the rev range?? Also I wont be looking at spending alot of money as a motorbike for me at the moment will only be a toy of sorts for comuting on a nice day & at weekends. So if I was going for something older (say late 80's early 90's) would I be safer to go for a 4 stroke rather than a risky older 2 stroke?? Thanks for the help everyone

[clint640]

A word on the TZR: they are fast but the motors are handgrenades. Not stupidly expensive to rebuild if you do the work yourself tho. Not really what I'd call a learner road bike unless you're coming from an MX background.

Cheers
Clint

[Ixion]

..
Since Im really a car boy ... is comparing 4-stroke bikes & 2-stroke bikes a bit like comparing a 3.0L V6 smoothness & torque in power delivery to a turbo 1300cc Toyota Starlet's peaky and noticeable rise in power as you move up the rev range?? ..

Nope. Two smokers is two smokers. Nothing to compare them with in the cage world. No two stroke cages now, since they dropped the Trabant.Your analogy might be more like a ZXR250 compared to an SV650. Two smokers is something all their own. You either love the bastards or y'hate them.

[sheep]

Okay - well I think Im gonna have to venture down to the local motorcycle dealer & have a few test rides to find what I like & experience 1st hand the different feel between diff models. Cheers

[Aitch]

Best advice I got when I was loking for a bike was to go on LOTS of test rides. DON'T go into the shop with any preconceived ideas, you may just be suprised by which bike you fall in love with!!!
Oh, and don't be afraid to take the first bike you try for a a second ride...go pester some used bike salsepersons! They love to see you ride away with their stock...(Hey, why not try a new bike or two at the same time?)

[kerryg]

250cc as you know is the biggest bike you can ride legally on a learners licence. Older high mileage 250cc sports bikes are likely to have been flogged by young fullas ready to move to bigger bikes, wringing the last bit of performance out of them. They are also expensive (you'll buy a good 400 cheaper than a 250 sport bike). If it was my kid I'd say buy a GN250 or trailie or an SRV250 or something like and learn to ride and don't worry about getting onto a sportsbike until you've got your full licence, and then go get an FZR400 or something like that if you're into sport riding

[bigbadwolf]

another thing i have to consider, i'm probably going to be doing a decent amount of open road riding (even on my learners)... wouldnt bikes such as GN250's be a bit too gutless for that?

[sefer]

One thing I'll suggest if you do end up going for a sport bike is don't get too hung up on the plastics if there damaged (but DO check for other damage that might have happened at the same time!).

I brought my zxr250 with plastic damage to the side, along with some cracks in the front fairing, and each of the four times I've slipped over on my gravel drive and dropped her (lesson 1: make sure you have good footing on gravel) I've been very glad of the fact, as instead of having to go " Oh Shit, that's going to cost shitloads to fix " I can say " hmm, doesn't look any worse", even on the time I actually did cause a new crack.

[bigbadwolf]

i'm in a bit of a predicament: i don't have access to a bike to learn on, which means i hardly have a clue how to ride, which means i cant test ride any bikes to learn on!! its a vicious circle...

is the mainland driving school course any good? its just that it costs $200 and thats money that could go towards buying myself decent gear... are there any good options in christchurch apart from that?

[peter8231]

I'm a newbie, but have been looking at the same question recently (waited and got a bigger bike instead though). A friend of mine has a Bandit (Suzuki GSF250) and it seems like a good compromise for a 250 - certainly not shite like a GN250 (I hate singles). A twin would be the way I'd go for a 250 road bike though due to the greater torque, e.g. a Honda VTR 250 - they're a bit bigger than the Bandit too. Likely to be looking at $3.5k for a good one though.

[hXc]

dont get the gixer
i have owned one, they are shit
suzuki made a 16 vlave 4 cly 250 cc engine that revs to 18,500 rpm
BUT
it has shit twin carbs:slap:
crap electrics
a painted steel frame
shit shocks
the valves carbon up, mine ran 25 psi across 3 cly and 125 across the 4th
it should have had 150+ across all of them!
also the engines disintergrate (flywheel etc...)
the GSXR 250 RR is worse

Hmmm and what year was this suppos-ed piece of crap?