Hi all,
I'm considering a Ninja 250 as my first bike in about 20 yrs. I thought it would be the best to ease back into riding with. I have a couple questons though. How well would it fit a 6'1" 200 guy? I'm not really hung up on looks, but I don't want to look like an over sized goober riding down the road either. Also I know these may be hard to come by. I've seen a few used ones going for over the msrp. What do they actually go for new and or used?

 

The 09s are going for 3999 new (I just picked mine up today) but they wont be out en masse until at least late October - Some people are unloading 08s to move up to bigger bikes and you just have to keep a lookout for them. I have seen 08s going for 4k-5k...probably depends on the area and the market/mods on the bike.
As for the size of the bike - it is small but I've heard of guys about your size who ride them and love them but your best bet would probably be to sit on one and see how it feels.

 

I found a blue 08 with 3200 miles for 4k. I don't know if this is a good price or not though.

 

Get the price down if you can. I paid $4,027 OTD (taxes, tags, other BS) for my new '08 Green 250R in February. Offer the seller $3,700 and see if he/she agrees to that.

 

Found a blue 09 at the dealership for $5k OTD. Seems high to me but I don't know what is typical.

 

i guess thats a typical price. i got my red 09 250 yesterday and it came out to be right at $5k with all the freight and taxes and all the other extra bs prices they throw in at a dealership. lol.

 

I got my red 09 250 on Friday and paid 4020 OTD - I think you could try to talk them down from $5k though if there is enough interest in your area for the bike then I'm sure they can sell it for whatever they want.

 

If your a new rider, you might want to look into a used 250. You might find something used you will treat with less respect, and be less worried about laying it down/droping it. The used 250's hold their value pretty well only because of the body style. They are so limited, that majority of the people that sell them can sell them for a few 100 more without any problems.

 

If you were a reasonably experienced rider 20 years ago - 5 or 6 years and 40 or 50,000 miles, you've probably got enough residual skill to consider a non-sports 650 such as the ninja, if you feel a need for a bike of that size.

Otherwise, the 250 is the best choice you could make. Do an MSF course either way as a refresher before you buy and you'll probably be OK to ride your new bike away from the dealer without worrying about dropping it.

Rob