Your 250 suggestion would be?

[MSTRS:Me]

If your crooked elbow caused you a problem on a ten-speed then you will NOT want a sprotboike. The low handlebar position of their clipons will give you gip. Aim for a relaxed neutral style of seating like the Hornet, VTR, Bandit etc - ie Tourer styling

[Daza]

Thanks everyone for your advice and the welcomes to the forum! Its a Great site!

I will wait until after i get my learners L and then look around- Trademe has alot of bikes and ive seen a couple of Hornets on there, i think one was in the 4k ballpark. It seems bikes dont depreciate as fast as cars do, so i guess i wont lose too much when i sell it once i'm ready to get a bigger bike down the track.

[Phurrball]

Shamelessly stolen from an earlier thread...

The suggestions here may add up to a little more than 3K...although it may be possible to find a naked IL4 250 for that coin if you look and get lucky.

DON'T FORGET TO KEEP SOME COIN ASIDE FOR THE BEST GEAR YOU CAN AFFORD.

I can only second what has already been said re trying out all the options if possible.

The VTRs I've looked at (briefly) don't seem to have a tacho, which seems odd. Look around and see if you can find a Kawasaki Balius (Naked bike with zxr250 engine), or an FZX Zeal as a comparison as well (May be some of these in Akld)

Have a look not just at a VTR250 if you're looking at naked 250s, but also at some of similar ilk like a 250 Hornet, 250 Bandit, or a FZX 250 Zeal, or even a Kawasaki Balius (if you can find one).

All these bikes seem, more or less, to have engines very close in spec to those from their racey, fully faired siblings. (someone correct me if I'm wrong here) They probably don't go as fast outright, but are more likely to have a more relaxed riding position and be a bit more comfy. Most of all, go with what suits you - and if your doing that sort of distance, make sure you save some coin for the best gear you can afford - you won't regret that - it'll last beyond your 250 riding days.

My $0.02.

(SNIPPY) It seems bikes dont depreciate as fast as cars do, so i guess i wont lose too much when i sell it once i'm ready to get a bigger bike down the track.

That'd be the artificial demand caused by the 250cc learner regulations...250s go for silly money.

[SilentDtH]

"Hi" and "Hornet" are the two words that I have for you! Like what has been said, spend $5k on a Hornet, look after it, and sell it for $5k.

[Scorpygirl]

Welcome to KB. Hope you enjoy it and good luck with finding the right bike for you!!!

[Insanity_rules]

Hey there and welcome,
My advice is ride as many as you can and find out whats good for you. I'm a honda head personally and have had a good run, but you cant go too far wrong with any major make these days. There aren't too many real lemons out there.

[Deviant Esq]

Hey, welcome to Kiwibiker.

Really, there are so many 250s on the market it's not funny - so unless you know what you want right off the bat, there are so many different options it can get confusing. You've got a big advantage though - you're going to be able to walk into a bike shop and actually be taken seriously as you're not going to look like a teenager kicking tyres or wanting to joyride. Have a look at a few, test ride those you like the look of...

A Honda 250 is a great option. Lots of people on here love Hondas...
They're reliable, got good power, but most importantly, they're really easy to ride, generally speaking. Even some of the most recent Honda Fireblades have been described as being really easy to ride.
So, if you like a naked bike, a VTR250 is a great option, as already mentioned by Onearmbandit, and as mentioned by nearly everyone else, the CB250 Hornet is a great bike too. Different engine; it's an line 4 as opposed to the V twin of the VTR, so it'll need to be revved more to get to the power, whereas the V twin of the VTR has more torque lower in the rev range.
Click on thumbnails to view larger images.
VTR250:


CB250 Hornet:


Here's another cool little 250 - Suzuki GSF250 Bandit. Not very common, but good bikes:



Good luck, hope this helps!

[Roj]

Welcome to the site, can't add much that hasn't already been said, take as many as you can for a test ride, my son has an older VT250Fg, didn't cost much, plenty of torque and comfortable to ride.

[Speedracer]

Hiya,
31yr old newbie
good 2nd hand 250cc bike to buy (In the $3000 price range).
12-15 months
won't outgrow too quickly
four stroke

I recommend the Honda CB250RS and the CBX250RS for learners. They are simple bikes, 1 piston, not much to go wrong. They take a lot of punishment for a 250. If you drop it, or it falls over (mine has blown over in the wind before), all you get is a scratched exhaust and possibly damaged front indicators. Drive on...
And they are easy to maintain. They have centre stands.
Got my first bike, a CB250RS with 110,000kms on it, and the CBX with 47,000km.

These bikes are less than $3k but since you're a learner it's probably better to save your $ just in case you drop it. And you'll have more $ saved for the replacement. If you can put up with a top speed of 100-120ph that is...
I thorougly enjoyed the CB250RS, did on average 400km a week of totally pointless driving, managed 10,000km on it before someone pinched it *after* it broke down due to excessive maintenance

I drove invercargill to picton with a 2 hour stop in chch on my CBX just before christmas. Sat on 110-120 most of the way. At least it's hard to get speeding tickets on them... And what better than 11 hours of pure CBX fun

[McJim]

There have been some good comments - unfortunately people seem to have moved a long way from your $3,000 price range.

VTR250 1998 and thrashed = $4,000 if Lucky.
Hornet 250 I've seen a 1998 one covered in rust and have arsed Japanes mods badly done $7,000
Bandits vary from $4,000 - $6,000 dependant on condition and mileage.

Look for an old VT250 Honda (Late Eighties/early nineties)

Or an SR250 (rare but reasonable) or an XT225 and stick a set of road tyres on it.

The way the NZ market is 250cc bikes fetch a premium price if they are any good - so you will have to trust to luck and trademe.

Best of luck (I had a budget of $4,500 for a 250 - had to spend $6,500!)

[slopster]

I would highly recomend the bandit gsf250 I've owned a gsxr250rr and a zxr 250. But if I had to ride a 250 again the bandit would be my choice. 90% as quick as the others much more forgiving and easier to push hard. Much cheaper too. Less bits to dammage if you crash cos it doesn't have fairings.

[xwhatsit]

I recommend the Honda CB250RS and the CBX250RS for learners. They are simple bikes, 1 piston, not much to go wrong. They take a lot of punishment for a 250. If you drop it, or it falls over (mine has blown over in the wind before), all you get is a scratched exhaust and possibly damaged front indicators. Drive on...
And they are easy to maintain. They have centre stands.
Got my first bike, a CB250RS with 110,000kms on it, and the CBX with 47,000km.

These bikes are less than $3k but since you're a learner it's probably better to save your $ just in case you drop it. And you'll have more $ saved for the replacement. If you can put up with a top speed of 100-120ph that is...
I thorougly enjoyed the CB250RS, did on average 400km a week of totally pointless driving, managed 10,000km on it before someone pinched it *after* it broke down due to excessive maintenance

I drove invercargill to picton with a 2 hour stop in chch on my CBX just before christmas. Sat on 110-120 most of the way. At least it's hard to get speeding tickets on them... And what better than 11 hours of pure CBX fun

Wooooo yes CB250RS!!! Great bikes! I've rode quite a few bikes in the short time I've had a licence, and I can say -- without bias -- that it has been the most comfortable, relaxed bike. Very neutral seating position, your elbow would be fine I think. Much more comfortable even than the two cruisers I've rode. My one has had it's fair share of engine problems due to the previous 8 owners abusing the shit out of it, and my half-cocked attempts to fix it, but mostly the engines are solid as a rock. They're super light, too, which is nice for a learner because you don't feel like you're going to drop it at traffic lights or low-speed manœuvres.

Not super-powerful, having only the one cylinder, but with such a light weight (128kg dry), each of the 26HP count. Later models had 33HP. So, acceleration is pretty reasonable by modern standards. As Speedracer said, top speed isn't exactly in CBR territory, but I've had mine to 135kph with a cracked cylinder head. UK forums tend to say 150kph is the max, but I think that's a bit optimistic.

Choose your own bike though. We're all biased here.

[Mr. Peanut]

I love 250 threads!

Get an NSR250. Think about it, no oil changes required, no valves to adjust, only two carbs to balance, very light, good handling, good brakes. And unlike 4 strokes the engine can easily be rebuilt.



It's the sensible choice.

[Speedracer]

As Speedracer said, top speed isn't exactly in CBR territory, but I've had mine to 135kph with a cracked cylinder head. UK forums tend to say 150kph is the max, but I think that's a bit optimistic.

Indicated top speed
CB250RS going down a hill, heading north out of tokaroa 150kmh
CBX250RS with a HUGE tail wind not even a downhill, 160kmh (wouldn't do above 80k on the way back, it was that strong!)

99% of the time it won't do better or worse than 100-120.

[Speedracer]

I love 250 threads!

Get an NSR250. Think about it, no oil changes required, no valves to adjust, only two carbs to balance, very light, good handling, good brakes. And unlike 4 strokes the engine can easily be rebuilt.

It's the sensible choice.

Argh!
I though exactly the same when I bought my 2 stroke NS250R. You are essentially correct, but although there is less, simpler work to do, you do it a lot more often.
Simple to work on, but you're doing it all the time because 2 stroke pistons are very fragile (one way to put it) lean carbs = burnt out piston = rebuild. Leaky headgasket = blown piston = rebuild.

I drove my CB250RS 900km with a reused headgasket after I rebuild it. It got to wellington OK, and then started making funny noises on high load (e.g. going up hills). Crawled into chc at 60-80kmh, the beast made it with NO engine damage at all! (this was back when I had no idea what I was doing... If I knew then what I know now I probably would have stopped at the nearest garage!!) My 4 stroke CBR250 on the other hand holed a piston without a second thought due to carbs not working 100%.