The CBR250 mc22: to upgrade or not to upgrade?

[RocKai]

I rode mine straight away when I bought it last weekend. Riding at night is scary as hell when you don't know your light switch was on fog light (LOL!?!). For a 250 I find that there are plenty of speed and grunt in corners and overtaking cagers on 5th gear and hit the powerband (10k-12k rpm) will give you plenty of horse. The cons are its lightweight in the wind and not enough grunt on the straight but apart from that, it's forgiving for the first 2 years of riding I reckon. Then you move up when you feel like it, just don't bin your precious Cibby. Good Luck

[wildcat_lgf]

of course the other part of the equation is that all 250's are overpriced (due to supply/demad, etc)...

when I got my full, I upgraded as I didn't want to pay high prices for a 20y/o 250, when I could get a much newer (non-250) bike for about the same (and I got a good deal)...but I would be almost as happy with a 250 again (or even my mighty mito!)

But the smaller bikes are a lot of fun - and less likely to get you into trouble (except the FXR150 - they are painfully slow to ride and handle badly compared to a CBR)

but of course re-sale will be better on a 250 as well.

[fatzx10r]

skip the 250, and upgrade to an 04 zx10r asap

[Dirty_Harri]

Hey guys,


I've been riding every chance I've had since getting the cibby, practicing hill starts and cornering- It's like learning how to drive a car again for the first time, frustrating but exciting! I changed the oil yesterday afternoon and after finally getting the sump plug off it seemed the oil was dribbling out as opposed to spouting. So I decided to get a cable tie from thee bf's eletrical supplies and jam it up the sump to see if I could loosen a potential blockage. As a consequence my blue jeans are now black. I just sat there like a stunned mullet whilst the oil spewed out over me. :slap: idiot

Anyway, the bike is now fully functional with the speedo drive finally in action. The downside however is now I know i'm only going 45km/ph around corners.

[OnCam]

im sure your meant to push the starter with the kill switch in OFF for a few seconds to help drain the oil..

keep practising on the corners, you can push harder than you think.. try to look through the corner where you want to exit and not 5meters infront of you an keep your arms relaxed.

[Ragingrob]

And make sure you take the Dip stick out when you do the oil, will flow out much faster.

[Chrislost]

im sure your meant to push the starter with the kill switch in OFF for a few seconds to help drain the oil..

no, NO NONONONO! NO!!!
Go for a short ride, get the bike up to temp, then go home and remove fairings, hot oil sucks but at least ya wont spill it on yourself again...

Hey guys,
Anyway, the bike is now fully functional with the speedo drive finally in action. The downside however is now I know i'm only going 45km/ph around corners.

Who cares! go as fast as you read the corner, not what the speedo says, in fact, NEVER LOOK AT THAT DAM THING or you will get distracted/worried.
and RIDE YOUR OWN RIDE, who cares if you get to the pub 5 minutes late, the que will have gone.

[NOMIS]

Wait, you haven't even got your first 250 yet and you're asking this lol?? Learn how to ride first, ask questions later!

Agreed, or you can sell the mc22 and get a r1 in a months time no problemo - now if any one gives you advice like that dont listen ..

Is this a old thread because im sure you have your bloody bike

[R6_kid:Me]

I wondered if there was much point in upgrading to a 400/600cc once I have my full. I'm pretty light and was thinking that it might be best for me to stick with the 250's. Are there any thoughts on this? Perhaps benefits of 250's vs bigger engines?

Ask this question to yourself when A) you have your full licence, and B) you have ridden something bigger than a 250.

Your naivety with respect to motorcycles is shining bright at the moment. You are at the beginning of a very long path and there is a lot you will learn along the way that will allow you to answer this question for yourself when you get to the time that it needs to be asked.

Not only are there different engine sizes, there are different engine designs, which all have good and bad/not so good points. To stick to your first bike you will limit your ability to experience motorcycling to the fullest, and it will more than likely cost more money in the long run.

Even the last of the CBR250's is getting on to be 15+ years old now, they are highly strung for the displacement (engine size), and parts are only becoming more scarce. As the engine ages things will wear out and will need replacing, and being a 250 it is more than likely to have had a few owners thrash the tits off of it at some point.

When you are in the position to (legally) consider a bigger bike there are many things you are likely to gain over a 15 year old 250cc bike. You will get more power, better suspension, better parts availability, better reliability, better ridability... and the list goes on.

My suggestion is get on with riding the 250 while its 'all you have' and take the opportunity to ride other 250's with different engines - singles, parallel twins, v-twins, two strokes etc. Also try different styles, the first time I rode a Motard I was hooked - I never thought I'd want anything other than a pure sportsbike before that.

Basically there's a great big world out there and limiting yourself to only experiencing one small part of it would mean that you are missing out on a rich, diverse, thought changing experiences that could lead you down much more exciting paths.