I did read the above sticky threads but it shouldnt be much harm to post this because bikes are a big responsibility so why not gather all I can before I decide whether I jump into the world of cycles.

I am young and many people want to ride cylcles for there own reasons. I have owned many honda vehicles already and I am 18 years old and I love to build these things and cruise the streets with friends. I have been doing some research on bikes and I do relize the risks are endless and its a much greater responsibilty. I love cruising and that doesnt mean fast and I just imagine riding a bike to be such a freedom and great thing to experience because I just can. I want to take my girlfriend on the back and ride the streets but I dont really know where to start on my first bike and what information I should be researching. I enjoy speed and the rush of my cars but I understand a bike is a much larger responsibility and I would love to try it and need some help choosing one. I read your sticky above for beginner drivers I just like first hand responses on anything you think I should know and also some first rides to look at.

Im 5'11 145 pounds also.
I am really interested in the Kawasaki Ninja 250 but what young kid isnt for a first bike. Am I foolish for wanting a sportbike to start with?

 

well, first of all a motorcycle is a big responsibility. even if you have owned many honda vehicles in the past, and your 18 and you like cruising around with friends, thats all good just do your research on bike and know the risks and that is a greater responsibility. cruising on a bike is a great freedom and experience as you can imagine. i know you want to throw our girlfriend on the back and ride around on the street, but you have to know where to start and what information you need to research. owning a bike a big responsibility, i you havent already read the sticky posted above for beginners but also like you said first hand responses are great incase anyone has anything that you should know. personally i am in the same boat but im 26 and im planning on getting a 1000rr for my first street bike. i do have a dirtbike ground as a kid and am mechanically inclined. the only experience i have riding on the street is riding a 450 LTD for a day, and also riding my dirtbike on back roads. i hope i was help to you

 

Yes, its a big task to even jump into let alone try.

 

I can't answer the question of whether or not you should start riding on the street. That is up to you.

For me, the answer is no way. On the street you can't go very fast, and you are always looking over your shoulder worrying about getting run over by an SUV being driven by a maniac.

I think riding on the racetrack are what motorcycles are all about. Then again, that is only my opinion.

As far as the Ninja 250 goes, I would say that you will be bored with it in a month. It doesn't have much power. Get a 600 like everybody else. They are popular for a reason. Not too big, not to0 small, not too heavy, and plenty of power.

 

You also may need the muscle to get out of trouble.

As for sportbikes and new riders, I think the idea of removing all the plastic is a really good idea. For the first several months or so. The plastic is probably one of the most expensive part on these bikes.

 

Um, dont get a 600, in any case look into a GS500. You will become a better rider being able to be proficient on a slow bike before you progress onto a bigger bike.

I started on a GS500 and consider my self to be faster than plenty of people out there on 600's, on the other hand I started enduro on a 400cc, beacause I felt my street and track experiencie would translate into dirt and whatnot, now a days, many people I know are faster on their 250s than me on my klx 450.

What im trying to say, is I did it right the first time, and took a big leap when I started to enduro and while I have not a horrible accident or had trouble using the 450 with prudence, I just feel I would be a better rider had I started on a 250.

 

I got a 600cc bike for my first bike, I was thinking of getting a 1000cc one, but I landed a good deal so I got it. Also over here you cant do a motorcycle license with a 250cc, too little power, has to have more than 34kw, so most driving schools have 600+cc bikes to begin with.

I'm not going to jump on the "get a 250cc bike max" bandwagon, because I dont believe in that, you can kill yourself just as well with a 250cc bike than with a 600cc one, maybe even more so, when you dont have the power to get out from some situations where you need the power.

So far I have roughly 4000km on a bike and havent had one issue with safety due to power. Its just nice to know that you have power when you need it, such as when joining other traffic on highway or if you're in a crossing and go for it and then see that theres a car coming fast that you can haul *** out of the situation.

As for removing the plastic, chances are if the plastics are totalled the bike is too, thats when you deal with insurance, leave them on, they're there for aerodynamics, highway riding sucks without them, but hey thats my choice, I wanted a fighter look.

Also I consider a bike an investment, which I dont want to do every other year when I feel like I've "overgrown" my bike, my current one will suffice quite long thats for sure.

 

You can definitely kill yourself equally as easily on a Ninja 250 as you could on a CBR600RR, so don't think you will be any safer on the smaller bike.

The only thing I can say about the Ninja 250 is that it is lightweight at around 375 pounds with fuel. However, the CBR only weighs about 400 pounds with fuel, and switching to an aftermarket exhaust will save 20 pounds. Then it weighs about the same as the Ninja does. The big downside to the CBR is the price. At over $10k dollars, it is more than twice the cost.

 

I'm not gonna waste a whole lot of time. Let me just say that both me and Blindstuff started riding around the same time, and we decided to start "small".

No offense man, but 4000 kms is nothing.

Also, to the OP: why do you want a sportbike if you like to "cruise"? Sportbikes aren't the only kind of bikes, there are many more bikes that are better for crusing.

Then again, most people at that age want a bike just to show off. And a sportbike stands at that.

Rethink your priorities and your true reasons to buy a bike, then get back to us.

BTW, here are some pics of a brazilian kid that was your age and got a "gixxah" 1000...

 

Well style is a factor in my choice and im sure it is for almost anyone, and I never said I just was looking into sport bikes I have been looking into all I just read alot of articles that seemed to be based upon the 250r and thats the only bike I read the most about. I also heard the Rebel is a good starter and I am looking at anything. The freedom of riding a bike and the danger is a rush i want to experience and I want to drive places and visually appreciate them. A bike just seems much more free than my car another way to experience life. Something different and exciting.

 

None taken and that was actually my point, that as a beginner, some would say I should have a 250cc bike or I'd kill myself, but I'm still alive and unharmed :D

 

i agree with bsmith ... you can 'die' just as easily on a smaller bike.

To answer your question, no. You're not foolish to start with a sportbike. If that's the style you like, then that's what you should go for.

It's not the size of the bike, it's the respect that you give it. Ride safe.

 

At 18 y/o, 99% of male Homo Sapiens will not "respect" a bike.

Heck, I have been riding for 2.5 years and I still don't "respect" it sometimes.

You can die slipping on your bathroom, riding a bicycle...the thing is, picking a 600 Supersport as your first bike will increase your changes of eating **** through the roof, compared to a smaller bike.

And let's not even start about riding skills per se...there's a reason MotoGP guys go through all the smaller cc series.

 

go take the msf course.

if you complete the course and your ready for a bike, go ninja 250.

its an awesome starter bike, and 99% of the time you can sell it for what you payed for it.

 

yeah and theres a reason F1 drivers go through slower series aswell, its because theres limited space for riders in the series and a whole lot of want. I wouldnt compare MotoGP with anything to do with the streets. I'm just saying if the crowd you're going to ride with sport 600cc's, you're going to be left out one way or the other, either they're going to diss your bike (fine if you can take it, but what 18yo wont get butthurt about it) or they'll just out accelerate/perform it. (I'm not saying the rider should outperform himself and cause problems, I'm just saying that to ride with a pack, you have to be able to ride with them (NOT SQUIDS DOING TRICKS)).

Personally from my point of view, its not straight line speed thats going to cause problems, thats easy a bike tends to stabilize with speed thanks to the two gyroscopes that rest it on the ground, its the corners and turning that will aswell as other objects (cars and such) flying towards you from the front, the back, the sides.

Also here a 250cc bike is considered a bike for juveniles, who havent reached enough age to get an unlimited license and I do alot of long distance riding, I'd probably shoot myself if I had to do that on a 250cc bike. Obey the speedlimit and dont push the envelope and any bike is good, wether it be a 600cc or 1000cc imho.

 

Wow, someone has low self esteem.

 

LOL Senna, Schumacher, Prost, Raikkonen should've gone straight from karts to F1.

There must be an awful lot of highways/straights in Finland. Over here, on the roads I like to ride, a good 250 rider could keep up with a average liter rider. Besides, it seems like if any group doesn't want to wait for you, they don't deserve you to be riding with them. When I had my CB400SF, I used to go out with guys that rode liters, liter twins, 600SS, 650 twins, etc...all kinds of bikes (sports and nakeds). We split into smaller groups with similar paces. I used to run with the guys of the 650 twins on the more straight roads, and in the twisties I even got running near the liter guys (some of them could really ride those liters, most of them just knew to rely upon pure straightline speed). And the faster riders would always wait for the slower guys.

Not only that, but both me and Blindstuff on the track, we were able to outcorner and hang with liters, on a 400 4cil and a 500 twin respectively. And we aren't Dovizioso nor Rossi. But the other guys all had started on big bikes, and only knew to crack open the throttle WOT on the straights, and forgot everything else.

And precisely in the turns is that a big bike will give you trouble. Too much entry speed, very touchy brakes, a suspension and chassis that does exactly what you want it to do (Which is totally counterproductive with a rookie rider, because he doesn't know how to properly react to a panic situation), etc, etc, etc...

I've known guys that killed themselves on a 400 4cil, and guys that jumped from a 180 scooter to a R6. Motorcycling is dangerous, but you can minimize the risks a lot starting smaller. Just my humble opinion, and what I've seen in my limited experience.

 

Kimi Raikkonen basically did go from karting to F1, he only spent 2 seasons in smaller formula cars before moving up.

 

That's a cop out, my 500cc single cylinder Buell blast keeps up on group rides just fine when I ride with the local sportsbike club and their 600-1000 supersports. Truth of the matter is that bikes with less power greatly increase confidence and build high perfomanc riding skills faster. Throttle control for a newbie is non existent on a dedicated sportsbike when a crack of the throttle is enough to unsettle the bike and send it blazing through an apex at twice the speed the rider intended. Getting correct body position, overcoming lean angle fear, and getting used to the nuances of your actions on a motorcycle chassis are all faster and better learned on a weaker, less extreme motorcycle.

I also find it ironic that you talk about long distance commuting when you ride a naked Supersport, something like a Ninja 250 or a Rebel are 10x greater at soaking up tons of miles comfortably than a sportsbike with no fairing.

Buy what you want OP, it's your bike and only you will know what makes you happy to ride everyday, but mark my words, in a year you'll be twice the rider if you get a bike with less than 70HP as your first ride, and when or if you move up to a supersport bike you'll be much more apt to ride it within the range and skill level it was built for.

 

get the 250, ride it for a year, then trade it in or sell it for a 600 or the gixxer750. if you're afraid to get anything above a 250 then thats what u need to get first, but i promise you itll get old REAL fast. if you have it in your mind and believe that a 600 is a good starter bike then get the 600. but trust me, and some people may disagree and i dont care, you'll learn a lot more on that 600 and learn it faster than the 250. plus you wont have to upgrade in a year because MOST people feel like a 600 is ample for anything they want to do, and usually it is.

 

I agree.

 

I dunno why americans seem to forget that 500 twins exist.

It is always either Ninja 250 or 600SS...go figure.

 

im just giving advice with the knowledge ive accumulated over the years, ive only ridden 600s, 750s, and 1000s. 250cc motors are only good on dirt in my opinion. the 500twin is good bike too dont get my wrong, ive just never owned one.

 

It is because they are heavier and less powerful than 600cc inline fours.

To be fair, the guys that actually race really like bikes like the SV650 because they are easy to ride and easy on rear tires.

 

We're talking about a rookie rider, I point out that 500 twins are a great option (For those that think a 250 is just too boring or "slow") and people start comparing them to 600 supersports and talking about racing.

I would get a 500 and be done with it. Has more ooommmph than a 250, still tame enough to not highside you on every corner, and will teach you a lot of great skills.

Oh, and for all those saying "you'll outgrow a 250 quickly!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mzp_TboNOSE

Most 600 riders would not be able to follow that pace.