Beginner Sport options?

Ninja 250 tops out at around the 100MPH.. speed limits in my area range from 55-70, 500r provides better highway safety... how is a 500 better??? I am planning on taking the MSF ..best thing I read on this post.. From my personal research...did not compare many bikes..so really a newbie that has no idea.. Many, many people recommended the 250r as a great (first) bike.. & that's not what you want to hear so you go looking at 500cc plus bikes?? Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated... as long as its not.. BUY A 250cc BIKE... SO... my two cents worth... HAVE YOU EVER RIDDEN A BIKE??? the 250cc bikes from Japan will out accelerate the family V8 car & do 100 MPH.. just how fast do you want.. If you get bored with it after a few months,,then your not riding it correctly.. a 250cc will corner as well if not better than a heavier bike.. if serviced regularly the 250 will last for 50,000 miles.. by then you will have an idea .. & could step up to the 500r or the SV650 .... & one last bit of advice..... learners drop bikes.. the more expensive the bike is to buy,, the more it costs to fix... buy reasonably priced second hand 250cc bike & learn to ride for a year... just noticed the post on ABS for bikes... LMFAO.. wonder what the bike manufacurers were thinking..riders have no idea.. lets make the bike not lock the wheels.. that way riders dont need to learn to brake correctly.. next thing will be cruise control ,stereo , seat warmers , extra wheels , passenger seats... turning the bike into a car..& theres no fun in that... think Id rather still have control of my braking...

I recommend you do take the MSF of course but you might want to do a bit more research and throw in a little math also. After the original cost, insurance for a beginner is rather steep and the sportier the bike the steeper it gets. Also recommend that you stay off the highways until you have a few miles tallied up during your learning curve. Learning to ride is easier if you're not also trying to learn how to dodge idiots that don't see you and definitely out-weigh you. Good luck in your quest.

Do not claim you want more speed for "safety" -- be honest and tell the truth, you want do be able to exceed the speed limit by at least 25 mph. More speed is just simply going into more trouble. I have been riding since 1964 and the 250R is faster than any motorcycle I have owned. I ride safe. I avoid trouble. I do not need "gear." If you want go speeding I strongly suggest full helmet, leathers, armor -- you *will* use it, hopefully you will survive. "Sport" motorcycles are for going fast, racing, and for pretending you are racing. Speed on the Track is safe. Speed on the Street is stupid. If you want a better motorcycle to start with, try a Suzuki TU250 -- a Standard.

Good for you for taking the course. It will be a good start. You will need to keep learning out on the road. You can hear about traffic and idiots in cars, but you have to learn how to be safe out there by riding as if you were invisible to cars. I recommend you get a used, ugly smaller bike that you can drop without ruining your bank account. When you feel like you really have a handle on riding, treat yourself to the bike you really want.

Forget what anyone says,buy the biggest bike you can afford.Otherwise youll end up with a small bike that you will outgrow quick.

And we have another candidate for a posthumous Darwin Award. First off, don't get me wrong. I am not anti Sport Bike. However, I strongly believe that the motorcycle should match the skill level of the rider. A Sport Bike like this is essentially a street legal racing bike. Getting this motorcycle for your first bike is like getting a Formula 1 race car for you first car. A very bad idea. Any decent Sport Bike can go from zero to deadly faster than you can say "Oh Sh**!". Take a walk through your local salvage yard. I bet you will see several newer Sport Bikes with less than 5000 miles with the forks driven up into the engine. These were once owned by young inexperienced riders like you that thought a sleek sexy Sport Bike was the only bike to ride. Think about the road rash and broken bones the riders of these bikes had to endure. A recent report from the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) found that teenagers riding super-sport motorcycles were than four times as likely to get into a crash than an older rider. Do this instead. Get an older used Standard or Cruiser style bike in about the 500cc range. A Standard or Cruiser type bike will be much more forgiving to a novice like you. A 500cc Standard or Cruiser won't be so fast that it will scare the crap out of you but will be fast enough that you won't get bored too quickly. Learn on this bike. Make your mistakes. You will make mistakes. Most new riders will lay their first bike down at least once. Ask yourself this. Which bike would you rather lay down? An older Cruiser or a nice shiny expensive new Sport Bike. Another thing about a nice shiny expensive new Sport Bike. These bikes have lots of easily broken but expensive to repair plastic parts. Laying a Sport Bike down, even at low speed, will get very expensive, very fast. After at least 1 year of riding this starter bike, you can sell it. If you take good care of it and don't beat the crap out of it, you won't lose much money on the sale. You can then put this money towards your next bike. Even a Sport Bike if this is what turns you on. One final word about when it gets time to move up to a Sport Bike. Sport Bikes are generally owned by young riders who think they are racers on racing bikes. They tend to beat the crap out of their motorcycles. So if you want to get a Sport Bike, get a new one. As for insurance, use some common sense. Insurance companies keep detailed statistics on all accident claims. They know from experience that young inexperienced riders are high risk. They also know exactly which bikes are fast. Add together a young, inexperienced, male rider, on a fast bike, and insurance is going to be expensive. Ride Safe - Have Fun Always remember this. On a motorcycle stupid hurts. 45 years riding all sorts of motorcycles. Raced motorcycles on a road course in the 1970's

Here's how I did it. 1. got a motorcycle permit 2. bought a bike a 600cc 3. started riding around the neighborhood 4. took the MSF 5. got the License 6. started riding everywhere get the 500R atleast, 250R will get boring real fast SV650 is okay to learn on IMHO the new 600cc's have power mapping switch - switch to the low setting when u start... it will be fine ---------------------------------------… add: Screw you people with the thumbs down I've put on 10,000 miles in the first year with a 600cc I bet most of you haven't done that.