What is your build? If you are over 6 feet, go with the 650 otherwise you are going to look weird and feel weird on that 250...also have you considered buying used for your first bike....not to put you down but you will probly drop it since its your first bike...so for a used ninja 250 you can probly find one for under 1500 bucks if your lucky....just a thought, oh and if you get a chance, you might introduce yourself in the new member intros, welcome to the forum!

 

I am 5'8 and 145lbs. Both those bikes are used I just managed to find those fairly good deals on them! I'm just trying to figure out what the smarter of the two will be. Those are def the two bikes I narrowed it down to! Also, how do I get the bike back to my house or to a mechanic for inspection since I do not have a trailer nor want to pay the 300 or 400 for a shipping service since its only 30 min away from me? Do I just drive it back on back roads haha?

 

I would call a buddy with a truck or ask the seller if he wouldn't mind riding it there and give him a ride back.....I thought ninja 250's go new for around 3500, so maybe that isn't such a great deal....If you go the 250 route I would suggest looking for something a little older that might be half that price, again a first bike will probly go down.

 

The 650 will do better on the freeway if you are doing a lot of that type of travel, but the 250 will do fine for shorter trips.

The 250 will be easier to ride on surface roads in-town. It will also get better fuel economy.

Check the insurance rates on each before buying. There may be a big difference.

 

Why not the 500? other than the dated looks it's probably as easy if not eaiser to ride than the 250 though the 650 is also pretty easy to ride. My pick for a first sportbike is and will always be a Ninja 500 or the Suzuki GS500 over anything else.

 

I was eyeballing the Ninja 650 I just posted on it in the KAWA section. I am 6'1 340lbs and I felt very comfy on it. I am looking for my first bike as well. The ones that I were shown were the...

ER-6N (a naked Ninja650R or so I understand)
GSX650F
SV650SF
and a V-Strom 650.

 

I think a guy your size would fit well on a V Strom IMO.

 

The Vstrom was the only one shown that I didn't care for. I am 6'1 and could barely put my feet flat on the floor.

 

I think the Ninja 650R is a great first bike, especially for a bigger guy. The seating position is pretty upright.

 

I'm 6' 250 and I just bought a 650r as my first bike. I love it. I think it's very comfortable. It's plenty quick enough and I think it looks great.

 

+1

Completely agreed, I bought the 650R for my first bike as well and enjoyed every minute of it. It had enough power to keep things interesting yet it was very manageable.

The upright seating position was very comfortable around town but a slightly lower riding position for highway cruising would have been preferable. One could always by new bars for that though.

I'm 6' and weigh 150 pounds by the way. If you're a shorter rider you may find yourself standing the bike up on your toes however.

 

Although the 650 is a manageable bike and a competent rider should have no difficulty in its use, I think that the experience gained by learning bike skills on a 250 is invaluable. When a new rider is competent enough to say, I have mastered my 250, they are a pretty good rider

 

The max speed on the 250r is well over 100mph. Any freeway/expressway in America is max 70-75 mph. So, you can expect traffic to not be over 90. It will be able to handle the 90mph every once in a while on short trips.(hour or so)

However, when riding around town, the 650 is designed for one thing: to go fast. It isn't designed to go 45mph, so it won't perform as well at that speed since you'd only be in 1-2 gear the entire time. It may even put more stress on the bike since you're in such a low gear.

As you may know(but if you don't) a gear is designed to operate in a specific range of speed, if you haven't hit the bottom speed for that gear it won't ride as easily and you will wear the bike out, of course that may also mean riding in highish RPMs of a lower gear. So, either way you are putting wear on the transmission, which may cause problems as the bike gets older and has more miles.
The 250r is designed to do at 50mph what the 650 does at 100mph.

Just something I have researched(I don't have a bike yet, but the theory seems sound enough) and thought it would be something to keep in mind.

 

However, when riding around town, the 650 is designed for one thing: to go fast. It isn't designed to go 45mph, so it won't perform as well at that speed since you'd only be in 1-2 gear the entire time. It may even put more stress on the bike since you're in such a low gear.

As you may know(but if you don't) a gear is designed to operate in a specific range of speed, if you haven't hit the bottom speed for that gear it won't ride as easily and you will wear the bike out, of course that may also mean riding in highish RPMs of a lower gear. So, either way you are putting wear on the transmission, which may cause problems as the bike gets older and has more miles.
The 250r is designed to do at 50mph what the 650 does at 100mph.

Just something I have researched(I don't have a bike yet, but the theory seems sound enough) and thought it would be something to keep in mind.

Uhm... I own a 650r, as does PJL, maybe he can comment on this too, but I disagree with your statements here. The 650r is quite comfortable cruising at 40 or 45. You select your gear accordingly. I usually use 3rd or 4th for those speeds, or if its really flat and straight, sometimes 5th, but never 1st or 2nd. 1st gear at 40 mph is practically redline if I recall correctly and using 2nd is just wasting gas if youre cruising. If you're in 6th gear, yeah, the RPMs will be lower and if you're a big guy or going up a hill, you will lug the engine, but that's any bike. And to say the 650 is designed to do one thing: "go fast", I would say is incorrect as well. Its not a true supersport. Its a sport/touring bike. More of a multipurpose bike than you probably give it credit for. It runs a 12.08 1/4 mile...for a bike, that's not really FAST. Most 600's run mid to high 10's. Its just a good all around bike that mostly looks the part of a true sport bike, but also has a relaxed demeanor at the same time. Its comfortable, gets great gas mileage, has an upright seating position, yet you can hug the gas tank too if you want, etc. Its a great first bike in my opinion, but I may be a little biased because it WAS my first bike. I'd do it all over again if I could...I do not regret one thing about buying this as my first bike. And yeah, I'm pretty glad I didn't get a 600 inline four, although I'm looking to upgrade within a year or so. BTW, Ive got 8,000 miles on this bike and its not boring in the least...to the OP, if you get the 650 over the 250, just respect it, it does have more power, but its still rather forgiving and you wont "outgrow" it very fast. They hold their resale value rather well too, being that the newer 250s are priced so high now...sorry for the novel, I'm done now...

 

I did some research on the exact ratio of each gear, so you know. It doesn't say the exact speed, but it does give you an indication of what the acceleration will be like. That way you can make your own decision.

The first number is the number of teeth on the gear before it, the second is the number of teeth on that gear. So, 39/15 will be 15 teeth coming from 39 teeth. Then I have the speed range of each gear. The first number is the speed at 1000RPMs, or the speed the bike will travel when you just let go of the brake(of course, as we all know, the bike will most likely stall out after 1st or 2nd gear at 1000 RPMs at a standstill, so the second number is 3,000 RPMs, the RPMs you drop to when picking up a new gear. The third is the max speed at each gear. (My source is unsure as to the max speed since it varies from bike to bike, plus going faster may damage the bike, because you enter the red zone in terms of RPM.). As you know, larger to smaller=more torque but the engine works harder. smaller to larger makes the engine not work as hard(like on a bike with multiple speeds big disk is easier to pedal)

Here is the kawasaki ninja 250r 2008
Gear ratios: 1st- 39/15 (2.8/9.1/34.3)
Gear ratios: 2nd- 34/19 (4.1/13.2/49.8)
Gear ratios: 3rd- 31/22 (5.1/16.8/63.3)
Gear ratios: 4th- 29/25 (6.2/20.4/76.9)
Gear ratios: 5th- 27/27 (7.2/23.6/89.1)
Gear ratios: 6th- 25/28 (8.1/26.5/100+)

As you can see, 90mph maxes out 5th, in 6th it is 11,000 RPMs. 80mph is 11,000 in 5th and 10,000 in 6th. Both are before the red zone.


Kawasaki ninja 650r(aka. ER-6) 2006-2008
Gear ratios: 1st- 39/16(4.7/15.2/9.7)
Gear ratios: 2nd- 36/21(6.6/21.6/56.4)
Gear ratios: 3rd- 32/ 24(8.5/27.7/72.5)
Gear ratios: 4th- 30/27(10.2/33.3/87)
Gear ratios: 5th- 28/29(11.8/38.3/100.1)
Gear ratios: 6th- 23/27(13.3/43.4/113+)

**please note, the stats for the 650r only go up to 9,000, so the speed is much higher in each gear if the bike goes past 9k. However, it may be due to the 650 having a lower RPM range for more torque.

As you can see, the 250r will have less of a chance at stalling out in slow moving traffic than the 650r. And if it is true that the 650 only revs to 9k then you only see 10mph difference in top speed.

Anyway, those are my deductions. You can make your own based off of that info.

 

Hey guys I ended up getting a 250r so far so good seems like a great bike I have been learning a lot!

 

Ah, I didn't read this far when I made my last post. Congrats!

 

Good to hear. Have fun and be safe.

 

As you can see, the 250r will have less of a chance at stalling out in slow moving traffic than the 650r.

how can a motor that has more low end torque be easier to stall? i tried to get moving with only the clutch at idle on the 250 and it laughed at me while immediately dying.

the 650's will actually move at idle clutchout. so therefore a 250 will stall more easily than a 650.

anyway, if you plan to actually keep this bike for more than a couple months, get the 500 or 650.

 

how can a motor that has more low end torque be easier to stall? i tried to get moving with only the clutch at idle on the 250 and it laughed at me while immediately dying.

the 650's will actually move at idle clutchout. so therefore a 250 will stall more easily than a 650.

anyway, if you plan to actually keep this bike for more than a couple months, get the 500 or 650.

No, I know for a fact that the 250 will move on it's own in idle. Just because you evidently let the clutch out too hard doesn't change that.

You evidently got better at clutch when you went from a 250 to a 650 so your experience would be biased.

 

well it has been a while, i'll see if my homegirl will let me ride it again next time we go for a ride. regardless, if you have to feather the hell out of it for a couple seconds to get it to move from idle doesn't exactly make that a useful thing. if i botched a launch on mine i could still get away with it, not so for a 250.

 

New guy with same thoughts

Figure I may as well post here since my concerns are exact same it seems. I am also new and just finished my Team Oregon BRT class. I'll have my endorsement by the end of the week and am itching to get a bike. Never rode anything other than 49cc Honda Spree (scooter) in high school 15+ years ago, I'm 5'-8" ~ 210lbs (looking to lose some though!).

I had been thinking 250, but my instructor suggested a Suzuki SV650 which I really don't think I like the look of. I know it is vain and silly but I don't like the look of the exposed tailpipe. In looking at the Ninja 250R I realize that is the same type, but figured if I get the 250 I'd be looking to upgrade next year to something bigger whereas if I went to a 650 right away I'd plan to keep it at least two years (hopefully).

Basically I am looking to buy new most likely because I've been checking Craiglist and other ads and there just isn't much out there in my area and what is isn't less expensive enough to take the chance of buying used when I know very little about bikes thus far. In other words, why pay $3800 for an '08 (or used '09) when the MSRP on an '09 is $3995?!

After reading this thread I looked at the 500R and you're right it has seriously outdated looks. If I am going to buy new the last thing I want is a bike that looks 3 years old. Again I know it is vain, but if I was just riding for mileage and convenience I'd be getting a scooter.

I haven't sat on or test rode anything so I guess that'll be my first test, but I guess I'd like to hear more thoughts on how quickly I'll tire of the 250 if I go that route? Am I going to want to upgrade by the end of Summer? And yes calls to the insurance will be tomorrow and may determine a lot... Sorry for the long post!

 

I just got a 2007 Ninja 650r for my first bike on Saturday, and im loving it! I am tall (6' 4") so the 250 was a bit small for me, but its a great bike. Lots of nice power, but nothing crazy, and its a beautiful bike as well! Hopefully you'll like the 250, and be safe!

 

I have been here before on this thread and I havent changed anything in my mindset from my original post. A cage driving into you or vice versa at top whack on a 125cc scooter can be just as terminal for the m/c rider as a cage knocking you off a 650cc machine doing the same speed. If you put "vanity" to one side and think about the "reality", which is a , totally inexperienced rider, mounting what is a reasonably powerful bike and taking off into the wild blue yonder, you would have to say," there is more chance of the learning , hurting".

I am a very experienced rider who learns something new about me and my riding, every time I take a bike out.

My son owns a CBR250RR. On the odd occasions he trusts me with it and lets me out on it, I have a complete " yeehaa". I wouldnt want to ride 250 miles on it. It would hurt. It would also certainly have all the power, handling and jollies of a more powerful bike.

A man told me something once that I just about live my life along the lines of.
"EVERYTHING AFTER BUT IS BULLS**T."

Are you experienced enough to take the 650 and learn all those skills necessary to survive, would be the question I would be asking myself!

Good luck , Take care, no-one else will do it for you.

 

Glad to read some more info on this thread, the more I read the more it seems there's almost an even split on this subject of starting at 250 or bigger.

I guess I'll just have to ride them both and see what feels most in control. About that I am curious what is proper etiquette, is there any, when test riding bikes both at dealerships and from private dealers? I have seen plenty of private ads that say something along the lines of "test ride with cash in hand". I would expect and like to be able to take something at least up to the 40mph range and hopefully through most of the gears, however being an inexperienced rider I don't know if that would be appropriate - especially from a private owner? Needless to say I don't expect nor want to take cash around with me.

 

I think you may find that "test ride with cash in hand" means, "you bend it you pay for it" or " someone wants some degree of trust, security, before you ride their bike.