Motorbikes

[XR68UZ]

the drz400 is a dirt bike?

[XR68UZ]

how do the kawasaki zx250s compare to the cbr250rrs?

[ENVY-T]

Honda just released a new 400 motard, and I want one. 9950 on the road.

XR400?? summing. Trail bike with 17'' road wheels. Looks the shiznit. The DRZ suzu is a nice bike too, less plastic to replace when you put it on it's side.

[ducatijb]

how do the kawasaki zx250s compare to the cbr250rrs?

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Mate I had a zx250rr years ago...used to rev out to 19000 rpm...hell of a lot of fun for a learner/p plater..plenty of time to kill yourself on a big bore later on

[dansedgli]

Motorbikes are great for commuting. I had a CBR250R for 3 years. It cost me $1000 and I sold it for $800. I put 35,000kms on it during that time. It was cheaper than getting the train and took half the time.

I sold it 2 weeks ago and bought an SV650s on Friday last week. Im loving it atm. The V twin is so much nicer to get around town on than the little 250.

Get something bigger if you can and you will keep it for longer. For commuting the cbr isnt that great. You really need to wring its neck to take off quick but the choices are limited if you want a LAMS bike.

[Chooka]

how do the kawasaki zx250s compare to the cbr250rrs?

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They are pretty much the same bikes, the ZZR250 is the entry level road bike for Kawasaki up against the Honda CBR RR (don't bother with the single "R")250 FZR 250 from Yamaha, GSXR250 from Suzuki.

When I was learning there was 5 of us learning and riding 250's at the same time. I had a CBR250RR and so did one of my mates, another guy had a FZR250 and the two others had a ZXR250 and a ZZR250.

The CBR's were easily the fastest with the ZZR250 the slowest but more comfortable by a long way. the ZXR and FZR slotted into the middle being about the same.

Most of these bikes will be "Grey" imports, I got warned off them when I got mine but got one anyway. I did not have any issues with parts or anything that people said I would.

Looking at the list you will get a 600 but it will be more of an upright ride e.g. a Bandit compared to the 250's as you will not be able to ride any of the hyper 600's e.g. R6/GSRX/ZX6/CBR600 etc. this is probably a good thing as if you got straight onto one of these you will get into trouble.

I went from my CBR RR 250 to a Brand new GSXR600 and then onto an R1 and was for me the ideal progression, I had heaps of motorbike experience from starting when I was about 5 and racing super cross and motocross up until recently and I have had several "Off's" on my road bikes so it will happen.

So all the best with you decision, my pick's would be either the CBR RR250 or something similar to the Bandit

Chooka

Edited 22/01/07 09:04 PM by Chooka

[XR68UZ]

been looking around for some bike reviews and the kawasaki zx2r looks like a pretty good bike. imo looks better then the cbr's and the reviews say its a bigger bike, as im 6"1 should probably suit me more.

its also cheaper then the cbr's

[Chooka]

Can't really go wrong with the ZX2R, I am 6'2 and didn't have a problem with the CBR though. Another question it how mauch do you weigh as this will greatly effect a 250.

Chooka

[XR68UZ]

I weigh bloody 87kgs and im 18 lol. apparently im overweight according to some website. pfft.

I dont want something to crazy, more for a commuter which looks cool and still goes pretty good. I was thinking a zx2r as I think it has all of the above.

[bugster70]

Mate, the best bit of advice I can give is don't buy a 250. I haven't looked at it recently, but the LAMS (Learner Approved Motorcycle Scheme?) initiative is what everyone has been talking about. It allows you to buy larger capacity bikes when you're on your L's, as long as they don't exceed a predetermined power to weight ratio. I think NSW has a 600cc cap on capacity too, but I know when I was looking to buy my first bike in the ACT there was no capacity limit and, stupidly, a learner could have hopped straight onto a big, heavy Harley as a first bike!!! :yuck:

Anyway, I reckon you'll get bored of a 250 very, very quickly - the power is generally peaky, you have to rev the nuts off them to get their best and insurance is generally high. One of the most powerful bikes I could find when I was looking for my first bike was an ER-5, and to this day I still say it's one of the best learner bikes you can buy. The GS500 is similar but, being quite narrow in the tank, looks a little feminine for my tastes. For the posers, I know Ducati did a LAMS bike (the 620 Lite?) but that has now been replace by a larger capacity machine that doesn't meet the LAMS requirements.

The ER-5 offers much more mid range urge (far more comfortable for doing any sort of longer distance riding on) than 250cc machines and has to be one of the easiest bikes out there to ride. Some of the sporty 250's also have absolutely dreadful turning circles and can be quite twitchy and difficult to handle at slow (walking pace) speeds.

Hope that's of some help and good luck mate, you'll never look back once you start riding (unless you have kids I suppose!!! ).