Is 250cc enough for me?

[bajakirch]

Two weeks and change until I start my MSC course and I can't wait. I've been spending much of my idle time browsing craigslist, ebay and other sources looking for the perfect buy for my first bike.

One thing I've noticed is that there seem to be a fair number of newer 250cc bikes available for what I consider to be good prices (sub $2000). I had dismissed them as too small for my needs, but I'm wondering if I should reconsider.

The bike I eventually purchase will be used primarily for a commuter. I live approximately 25 miles from work and most of the ride would be at highway speeds. I'm 5'10" and 185. While I don't expect to be taking the bike on weekend trips, it would be nice for if I could take my wife as a passenger, and she's about 5'3" and 135.

I've been primarily looking at bikes in the 650-750cc range, with the occasional glance at a 500 or even a 400. Am I prematurely dismissing the smaller bikes?

[primalmu]

A 250 would be fine for you, power wise. Heck, I'm 250 lbs and my 250 cruises just fine at 55. My bike, a Suzuki GZ250 (20 HP), has a weight limit of around 350 lbs. Acceleration, if driven fairly aggressively, will outpace most cars in the city.

Its highly recommended that you don't have any passengers until you have at least a year of experience under your belt. The handling of a bike changes drastically when you add a passenger. Not only does the added weight affect acceleration and braking, but the distribution of weight changes the way the bike handles.

[Schneiderman]

Yeah, wait a while before taking a passenger. It really does throw off everything about the bike's handling.

Have you been looking primarily at cruisers? I'm not certain that a 250 cruiser like the rebel would meet your needs. If you want something sportier, the Ninja 250 would do everything you ask. If you like a cruiser though I think you should go with something between 500cc and 800cc.

[bajakirch]

I'm not really drawn to the cruisers or sport bikes. I've been looking primarily at the sport-touring or dual-purpose bikes.

[Schneiderman]

If you want a real dualsport (and if your wife doesn't mind riding on it) I'd say you should go for one of the Suzuki 400's. The Ninja 250 looks like a sportbike but feels like an adventure/sport-touring bike, just like the Ninja 500. Either one would do the job well.

[Dodsfall]

You may want to trade up to a bigger bike later on for 2-up riding. You will learn a lot faster on a smaller bike, and that's the most important thing right now. Give yourself time to really get to know how to ride safely before adding a passenger. The last thing you want to do is drop a bike on her!


Resale or trade in on a starter bike will be no problem at all, so don't feel you are missing out on anything. If you look through the forum here, you will find several excellent recommendations for starter bikes.

[Wayward_Traveller]

I didn't even ride anyone 2up including my son my first season back to riding just to make sure I was confident again in my skills.

My wife really wants to ride my new bike with me but I told her it probably won't happen this season.

I have to get used to the extra weight and handling of my bike first, it really does depend on the bike, some bikes are much easier for 2up like cruisers etc with really low seats.

But for me, my new bike is over 200 pounds heavier than my old one with a full tank and it has a higher seat, so I am going to give it some time.

[TigerHijinks]

You'll probably have a better idea about what a 250cc can do after you take the safety course. As far as I know most courses use 250s.

[hy_tek]

I am a larger guy at 6'3" and 260#. Would I fit on a Ninja 250R and how is the insurance cost for this bike I see it has the "R" designation which seems to mean higher insurance rates from what I have read here. Perhaps that is only on the larger engines.

I need something to learn on but I don't want to be a bull on a tricycle kinda thing either.

[bajakirch]

Stopped by a local bike shop today -- my first visit to a dealer. This guy specializes in rebuilding used bikes and selling them. He is also a Ducati and Hyosung dealer. In the course of the conversation, he was talking to me about a new 250 he had in stock. When I told him what kind of riding I'd be doing, he expressed concern that riding a 250 with the kind of highway miles I was intending could cause premature wear and shorten the bike's life.

I understand his job is to sell me, and upgrading me to a larger bike means a bigger sale for him. But I also made my budget clear, and the larger new bikes were far out of my range.

He also mentioned they were experimenting with a gear replacement to reduce the RPMs on the 250, supposedly for people just in my situation.

Can he be trusted, and will a gearing change be helpful?

[misterdub]

If you're not sold on the 250's (I wasn't either after I took the MSF course and spent a weekend on one) -- they have some smaller framed, lightweight 500-650 bikes. I'm not sure about the dual-sport or sport-touring, but if you're willing to learn on a cruiser I can wholly recommend the bike I got: Suzuki Savage.

It handles highway speeds with no problem and it's really light (relatively speaking). During the first week or two, when I made a mistake, it was light enough that I could recover without dropping and forgiving enough that a little mistake didn't turn into a big mistake.

That said, you're significantly lighter than I am so a 250 may work well for you. I just felt like the Rebel I was on in the MSF course didn't have enough oompf to get me out of trouble if traffic if I needed it. Towards the end of Day 2 of the MSF course, you'll have the bike up to decent lower speeds and see how it handles with you on it. Consider it a free two-day test drive of a 250 -- after the class, you'll know if a 250 is too small or just right for you.

[PassioneDucati]

I´ve asked myself this question many times. I plan to learn to ride on a Kawasaki Ninja 250R, but most of my buddies started out on 600s and they all told me I´ll be fine.

A 250 is definetly fast enough, but in your case I think a bigger bike would be better. Although the 250R is very fast and sporty, it wasn´t really designed to eat up highway miles and I imagine a bike that small could get quite scary with a passenger on board.

Besides, you said you didn´t want a sportbike. I´d look in the 500-800cc range (depending on your budget).

[artyboy]

If you want a newer dual sport then the KLR-650 is probably the easiest to find a good deal on. I've seen quite a few of them for under $3k that were just a few years old. A lot of the older metrics can be had for really cheap and as long as you know what to look for or you're not afraid to turn a wrench you can get a really killer deal. The biggest issue is finding one with a title.

[Nurid]

have to say guys, I been looking at getting a bike and this thread really helped me. I am in the same boat as the poster. I want a small bike to learn, but I really want to ride a crusier. Misterdub, I really like that savage you recommended.

Thanks guys!

[Cheebz]

My first bike was a 250 rebel. I've only been riding a couple of months so im still a newb. After about 3 weeks with the rebel i knew i needed a bigger bike. Im not large by any means Im just tall. The rebel was uncomfortabley small and though it had the bare-bones utilitarian speeds that could get you there I wanted excess. I ended up getting a 1987 Honda Magna 700, I love it but it is old so it needs extra maintenance and care. If you go for a bigger bike you can still find mid-size cruisers in your price-range but they will be slightly-greatly used and you will need a set of wrenches. Just remember the price you pay for a used is only the beginning. If your willing to settle for a 250 it will definitley be cheaper then a 1987 honda magna :P

besides that My 700 has WAY too much power for a newb like me. I abuse it and it is going to bite me in the ars someday. My friends also started on 600 sports but every single one of them has had at least one accident and one of my friends has totaled his bike. Sporties are simply too much of a temptation for new riders.

[ancient11]

Everyone is different, so it is hard to say.

I weigh 300lbs (298) and my Ninja 250 will cruise all day at 80 and 90mph and not straining at all. I recently made a trip from Hartwell, ga -to Atlanta,Ga -Chattanooga Tennessee -- Nashville, Tennessee -- Louisville, Kentucky -- Indianapolis, Indiana -- Chicago, Illinois and on up into Wisconsin and back to Georgia on a ninja 250. I wouldn't want to try it on a rebel or any other 250 for that matter but the little ninja did a great job.

[2Wheels]

All I have to say is if you decide to go with a 250, don't underestimate the 250 regardless of it's light weight.....I did and now I'm paying for it with a hospital bill and some very large cuts on my face and neck from a barbed wire fence and a morbidly large cut on my leg as well as a crushed knee and road burn.

[hsartteacher]

2wheels, I hope you recover OK! What happened, is it in another thread?

[PassioneDucati]

2Wheels, I saw (and commented on) the thread about your injury. I had no idea it was on a 250.

[Faster = Better]

Originally Posted by primalmu

Its highly recommended that you don't have any passengers until you have at least a year of experience under your belt.

Boy did I ever jump the gun on that one. My first passenger was a highly drunk female... so drunk that she wrapped her legs around me rather than putting them on the footpegs. She also fell off the bike when I pulled into her driveway.