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Ninja 250R, Intruder VS800, or VT750 Shadow?

8K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  Dodsfall 
#1 ·
Well, I had been looking primarily at the Ninja 250R as my first bike, and had kind of planned for that, but the more I think about it, and read around, the more I am unsure.

I am 5'11" and weigh 220. The max speed limit that I will ever encounter is 55MPH, and even that is fairly rare for where I will be driving. I will typically be doing 40ishMPH. I keep reading that the Ninja is a great beginners bike, and that is does really well for its size, and so forth, and it is a nice looking bike. I also, partially, like the idea of it being a nice, light bike. Since it will be my first and all.

That said, it has basically no storage capacity, and since I plan to use it to commute to and from work each day, and will likely want to buy at least small amounts of food and drink, it seems like I might be SOL on the Ninja. Plus, it has a ton of fairings, which means it will be more costly when I lay it down. (not saying I will, but I am assuming that it is going to happen at least once in the beginning months)

Now, the other bikes that I see for sale in my area that are within my price range are either brands I have not really heard of, which makes me wary (Qingqi, Daelim, Rieju, Hyosung, to name a new) or are older models, which also makes me wary. Not that I have anything against older bikes, but if I can get 2004 or newer, it makes me feel a bit safer since I dont know anything about maintaining them, or what could be wrong with it. I have a friend that rides that will come with me, be he says himself that he isnt too technical when it comes to the bikes.

So that leaves me looking at a Suzuki Intruder VS800, or a Honda VT750 Shadow. They are both Cruisers, while the Ninja isnt, but they have storage capacity. Both could have saddlebags attached, and they are heavier. Now, I know I said that I liked the Ninja because it was lighter, but most of the roads I will be going one are single lane roads, and with heavy big rig traffic. And with no center divider, the suction is likely going to be a decent factor. Also, I have two bridges to drive over, where the cross winds can get fairly fast.

So what do you guys think? And are the two Cruisers too big for me as a newcomer? The engines are huge compared to the sport bikes, but I have come to the understanding that it isnt as big of an issue since the Cruisers dont drive like the sport bikes...

Thanks for your help!
 
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#2 ·
You could also look into a dual sport, such as the Suzuki KLR650. You can put boxes and bags on them relatively easily. There's also midsize "sport" bikes, such as a Ninja 650R, Yamaha FZ6R and Suzuki SV650. They look sporty but aren't as "twitchy" as supersports and a lot of people treat them as commuter bikes with bags and boxes as well.
 
#3 ·
Hi there. I'm also a new rider and I'm looking at the medium sized cruisers as a first bike...Honda Shadow 750, Suzuki Boulevard M50 (800cc), Yamaha V-Star 650, Kawasaki Vulcan 800/900.

From what I've read/heard, beginners can start out on a 500-800cc medium-displacement cruiser as the engine is much more torquey and won't make nearly as much peaky HP as the highly strung sportbikes. They should be more forgiving in terms of accidentally grabbing a handful of throttle vs a sportbike.

For a beginner sportbike..a Ninja/CBR 250 would be where I would start. Otherwise I'm really liking the Shadow 750 and the M50.
 
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