I'm looking to buying a motorcycle but have a few questions.?

A 250 is a good starter bike. There not extremely powerful and they have enough power to do what you want it to do. I would suggest taking the Motorcycle Safety Foundations class. They offer all the time and they train you on 250s. Its a little expensive but it will help out with your insurance and give you valuable knowledge on how to stay out of trouble. just my 2Cents

First and foremost, take a motorcycle riders training course. It will help you learn properly and safely. Here in Oregon we have a state sponsored course called Team Oregon, your state might have the same. Good luck!

This is a GREAT in-town/city bike. It rides smooth but with the stock tires you do feel more of the road. Going high speeds 80mph or so you do have to hold the bars more. This is a forgiving bike and the learning mistakes you make on a 250 chances are you won't hurt yourself. Make the snae mistake on a 600cc+ then yeah you might me saing *Ouch*. I have a 05 Ninja 250 and a 06' Gixxer 750 and I love em' both.

I highly recommend taking a motorcycle safety course, there is a lot more to riding a bike than straddling, twist the throttle and let the clutch fly. A safety course will teach you the theory of riding. I rode for 15+ years and still took the course, walked out still learning something. In taking a safety course, they should teach you to use the clutch, if not, an easy way to get used to it is by sitting on the bike, running, feet as flat as possible. Turn the throttle to about 2-3k rpm and very easly letting out clutch, NOT all the way just to get the bike to want to move. Keep doing that till you are comfortable with the "feel". The trick is to keep the rpm's up 2-4k and very slowly letting out he clutch, don't "pop" the clutch, could more commonly stall the bike or worse, bring the front end up (this depends on bike HP). Just remeber, respect the bike and watch out for the "cages" (cars). As for a good alternative to a "cage", with gas prices up, bike are always better, but remember, a "cage" is always better in extreme cold, rain, etc. Just my opinion, take it for whatever it worth, but if this is your first bike, I have seen to many people that did what you are going to do and regret they did not get a bigger (powerful) bike. After they got used to the bike, it was to slow or just not enough power. Just last year on a winter toy run, there was a rider that just purchased a 250 Ninja in the summer and already wanted to sell it, because she wanted a bigger bike. If you plan to ride on the highways, that extra power will only help you, I don't know how many times tooling along at about 60-70 mph and to avoid a bad situation, I was able to accelerate and get out of the situation. I would look into a bigger bike 500cc or larger, you will get used to it and be comfortable riding it, it just like anything, give it time. On the other hand, if you say to big in the way of it height, then there are add-ons that you can purchase for less than $150 that can lower the bike to a good height for you and still keep it safe for riding. So that could be another alternative. Your body size does not matter, most pro riders are small in body size and weight, (makes them faster), yet they can control the biggest of bikes. I hate to see you get a bike that seems your speed now and regret it later, purchased a bike that is a little bigger now and get used to it. Resale value on a used 250cc is not good. FYI, I ride an R1 and 300+lbs, can keep up with the best of them.

A 250 is fine, but a dirt bike is better. Learn how to ride before learning how to ride in traffic. Take classes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Before you get the bike you should check the local laws concerning motorcycles. In many places a normal driver's license isn't enough, you have to take a course and get a special license to show that you are qualified to ride a motorcycle. There also might be limitations on the make and cc of the engine.

NO NINJA they are far to complex and Insurance is skyhigh. Look at a Cruiser style. Like Hondas and etc you will find as you learn 250 to small get a 500-800 Kawasaki Vulcan I have a 800cc and love the 40 mpg.