Kawasaki Ninja 250cc and 600cc

Killa_ken

Killa_ken

Killa_ken

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Been looking into buying one of these, they are pretty cheap here ($3000 brand new from the dealership), and the insurance for me is $70 for 6 months.


I've also seen a used 2007 model which was a Kawasaki Ninja ZX6R in matt black :cool:

This would be my first bike, so does anyone have any recommendations on other bikes or any advice about these bikes?
 
There will be a huge performance difference between those 2 bikes. My first motorbike when i passed my test was a Fazer 600, it was just right for me. I think a Ninja 250 would be fun, but i think they are around 25hp, so it would get a little boring after a while.

I have heard a lot of good things about the Zx6 Ninja, supposed to be a very quick bike!
 
You'll generally hear that Kawasaki aren't up there with the build quality of the other 3 big Jap manufacturers. I'm not sure how they are with the Ninja 250 though.

I'm assuming you'll be wanting a sports bike for your alpha ratings? Just make sure you'll be able to ride it safely.

I personally would suggest a big v-twin a la TLR1000/RSV1000, because they are pure win, but you may not be after that style of ride. Help us out here :p
 
go for the 600 just remember to take it easy , in the longer term you will want more power/ speed from the 250 , Hell i wanted more than my first bike had after about a month or so owning it (kawasaki ZZR 600)

You will always want more than you have, you just need to discipline your self.
 
I was thinking the 250cc would be underpowered. I've driven a friends Yamaha R1 which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Im after something that looks like a racebike, not after a traditional looking bike. It need's to be noisy too :D

I will have a look at Honda, but what is the other big jap manufacturer?
 
Killa_ken said:
I was thinking the 250cc would be underpowered. I've driven a friends Yamaha R1 which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Im after something that looks like a racebike, not after a traditional looking bike. It need's to be noisy too :D

I will have a look at Honda, but what is the other big jap manufacturer?
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If you look at Honda i can highly recommend the CBR 600 F, i have the 2005 model and its a fantastic bike. Great amount of power, yet with a lot of mid range available.

Have a look at Suzuki aswell, they have a nice range of bikes. Mainly the GSXR :cool:
 
I have a 2007 ZX6R and have seen a 250R up close and had a sit on it. The 250R really looked like a budget bike and felt pretty cheap even compared to my DRZ400 that I had at the time which is also a cheap bike.

The ZX6R is a very fast bike and if you were to get one you would need to be careful obviously. But if you ride it under 9000rpm it's quite easy to ride.
 
i would say the 600 is too much of a bike for your first bike. Either you will take it easy and then get cocky on it and end up in trouble with little experience or you will not ride it within a yard of its capability and it will effectively be wasted.

Dont get me wrong if you get on an AIM course the 600 will be within a new riders capabilities.

In my opinion riding experience is gradual and i would always recommend someone to always go within their limits rather than going for the fastest available. Id say a hornet, fazer, bandit or SV650 would be a better choice and you would probably enjoy them every bit as much. 6months to a year on one of those and you will know wether the 600's are within your range.
 
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sharpygsxr said:
or you will not ride it within a yard of its capability and it will effectively be wasted.
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You don't have to ride it within its capability to justify getting a 600. I never take my bike to the limit. Hardly ever goes above 10,000rpm for prolonged periods of time. I just like to have the power there if its needed. The overtaking power is huge on a 600. I find the 600 is the perfect compromise.
 
Killa_ken said:
I was thinking the 250cc would be underpowered. I've driven a friends Yamaha R1 which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Im after something that looks like a racebike, not after a traditional looking bike. It need's to be noisy too :D

I will have a look at Honda, but what is the other big jap manufacturer?
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The big four jap manufacturers are Yamaha, Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki.

The competing sports bike lines are the YZF-R, the CBR-RR, the ZX-R and the GSX-R. However, there are other manufacturers worth taking a look at, such as Ducati, Triumph (British, win!), Aprilia, KTM etc.

Have you seen the KTM RC8? That looks nothing like the traditional bike ;)
 
Without knowing your budget, what you license allows you to ride and what sort of riding you want to be doing its hard to give much advice.

But as you mentiond a commuter bike and a supersport 600 in the same sentence I don't think you know what you want!

I would say forget the ninja 250, just buy a second hand CB500/GS500 which make good first bikes. Or go for something like a CBR600F or thundercat which are both great all rounders.

Right now I would be going for a speed four if I was looking for my first bike, supersports bike for peanuts.
 
Nebzor said:
I personally would suggest a big v-twin a la TLR1000/RSV1000, because they are pure win, but you may not be after that style of ride. Help us out here :p
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I'm not sure both of those are ideal 1st bikes, and demand a lot more respect than a 600 because of the low down torque. On the other hand the latest 600s are almost as fast as those at the top end, certainly give the TLR a good run for it's money.

TLR is a big heavy bike by todays standards.. sounds great but you have to really muscle it round corners and is abit of a hand full even for a experienced rider.

I'd go for a mean green ZX6 (the new model is due out soon which will cause the older bikes to become real bargains), and as someone said here, 600s are relatively tame below 9k rpm or so, meaning it's not going to rip you head off by accident.

I'm biased though and love kwaks, just love the rawness and delivery of engines, the other manu's all have their own qualitys... just go with your heart as quality and performance is all pretty close these days.

Would forget the little Ninja 250, that sort of power will feel very slow in a short time no doubt, it's a shame it will never compete in the same class as the old 250 strokers like KR1 / RGV / NSR / TZR which all made double the power :(, it would need to be 400cc to do that.
 
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mr jamez said:
Without knowing your budget, what you license allows you to ride and what sort of riding you want to be doing its hard to give much advice.

But as you mentiond a commuter bike and a supersport 600 in the same sentence I don't think you know what you want!

I would say forget the ninja 250, just buy a second hand CB500/GS500 which make good first bikes. Or go for something like a CBR600F or thundercat which are both great all rounders.

Right now I would be going for a speed four if I was looking for my first bike, supersports bike for peanuts.
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My budget is around $3500, There are no restrictions on bikes that I can have so that's not a problem.

The bike will mainly be used to go to local places and the odd blast around the roads.

I'm just looking at some suzuki's now.
 
I wouldn't go with the ninja (big one, not the little toy one)- it's a lot of bike, expensive if you bend it and not really the easiest to ride effectively. Plus, lots of brake, quite easy to catch yourself out- it's bad enough having a noob moment with basic brakes. You're pretty likely to have some sort of bump on it, and even dropping it at walking pace will damage a lot of plastic. Are you doing an MSF course or similiar?

For the discerning US buyer- Suzuki SV650S. Lots of 'em about, cheap, very tough, great spares availability, easy to work on, easily uprated too. Very nice engine, not too much, not too little... Engine braking can be a wee bit unsettling for the noob but balancing that is that it's got drive everywhere, you don't need to keep it on the boil. Ropey suspension though, and not especially well made. Basic brakes that work. But it's the price, availability and indestructibleness that makes me recommend it.

I'm biased, I love my SV, but it's got practically nothing in common with a standard one now anyway... But the basic package is just a really nice, usable wee bike. The suspension's pretty poor but that won't trouble you in the early days, and it's not hard to upgrade (just check out some of the SV race bikes, or even the road bikes in the SV Of The Month section on SVrider.com- and I'm not just saying that because mine's in there :D) And the residuals are good, you'll always be able to resell an SV easily.
 
I said i'd hang onto my Varadero 125 when I passed my test, few months later I had a Hornet 600, people aren't kidding when they say you will want something bigger quicker than you think, it happens time and time again.
 
Gotta be a Suzuki GSXR 750 with a big fat racefit exhaust on it, more power than you will need on the road, and as noisy as you can get as requested :p
 
The first bike I actually owned (Passed my bike test way back) is a ZX6, and I love it, it's pretty nippy, never had a single problem with it. I love the feel of it, awesome bike.

Never really scared to give it some because I feel quite connected I don't wear the best safety gear but I don't feel like i'm going to come off at high speed you know.
 
Avalon said:
I said i'd hang onto my Varadero 125 when I passed my test, few months later I had a Hornet 600, people aren't kidding when they say you will want something bigger quicker than you think, it happens time and time again.
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I was the same, i had a Varadero 125. I bought it when i failed my test for the 2nd time. I was pretty angry with myself so i decided to go out and get some experience on a geared bike. Cant say it was the best decision i ever made, wish i never waited another 6 months to take me test, but more to the point....

I had the Varadero 125 for about 1 month after i passed my test, but i just couldnt stand sitting at 70mph with the engine turning over at i think was over 10,000rpm.
After that though i was restricted to 33hp, and thats still horrible riding a bike with so little power. You have to strangle the things to get any power out of em.
 
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