Hi from Florida!

My name is Alex, im a few days from turning 22 years old and I'm really looking to get a Ninja 250 very soon, i was hoping on getting a 04-07 250 for the price (1500-2300 maybe) but unfortunately i do need financing as i emptied my bank account out paying for this semester of college (starts next week).

I do plan on using this as a commuter not for racing (i have a turbocharged car for that ), so I dont feel that I'll be craving something bigger. Work & School is 6 miles away(stop and go), and i have a weekend job as a caterer thatrequires me to driveanywhere from 20 to 40 miles one way. So having a car that gets 25mpg and requires 93 octane is killing me at 4 dollars a gallon, not to mention i hate to drive it everyday and in Florida heat it feels like abuse.

ANY ways, i finally had a chance to get down to the local dealer here and they said they didnt have ANY 250's and that the wait list for them was 8 deep, new or used.

They had a couple lightly used 500's for $3400 and $3900, looked nice, they told me they got pretty good gas mileage on them and were still pretty easy to learn on.Thats a little more than i was looking to spend but i suppose its swingable.

So my basic choices are as such.

1) Go to a bank and get a loan then take cash to a craigslist listed ninja 250 (there's like 10 locally)the price rangebetween all the bikes islike $1500-2300.

2) Go back to the dealer and see what kind of kickass deal they'd be willing to offer me for either 500 (maybe they'll knock a few hundred off or throw in some free gear)

3) Scour dealerships that arent quite so close in desperate hopes i get get whatever 250 they have.

Deciding factors in order are 1) Price 2) Economy 3) Noob Forgiveness 4)Availability.

A little backgroundabout me. I'm 6'0" and 180lbs.Very experianced in standard transmissions,motorbikeexperiance is limited to a couple up the road run's with friends cycles but i have extensive experiance with ATV's that were standards and most of you know that they are very similar to bike trans. They were also fast ATV's too (500cc Predator and Banshee) so i have a little experiance in hanging on for dear life.

Long post i know but i hate to leave out details that i know will be asked

 

If you go with a 250R, buy the lowest cost one that is in OK shape. So many people here have posted that they ride the 250 around for a while, only to want something with more power. This isn't a knock on the 250R, but once you get the riding bug, you are going to feel left behind. And by reading your post, I assume you like power and speed![8D] Those two properties are much more fun when on two wheels IMHO.

 

About two months ago I was in the same boat. Didn't want to finance but wanted a bike. I shopped around. What I found was that the 250s in 07, 06, 05 and earlier were marked down because of the 08s coming in that are new and improved. I got an 06 with 2600 miles on it in the bright yellow that I wanted for 2300. Out the door for about 2700. that inclued TT & L . However, they also had an 07 in black and an 07 in red for 2600. But I didn't like those colors so i got the 06. I do know that the 08s are 3500. My 06 was in tip top shape, I got if from a dealership so I know they went over it with a fine tooth comb.

Also, I don't know the exact gas mileage or insurance for your area but I pay 300 year for liability and that includes uninsured motorist.

Since I only rode dirt bikes Years and years ago, I am new to the street bike area. I got the 250 because it was a smaller engine and easier on the newbie. I'm SOOO glad I did because on day 2 I decided to go Ditch Riding... NOT ON PURPOSE!! I thought I was coming to a curve to fast and hit the front brake to hard. Locked up and ended up nose down in a DEEP ditch. Broke some cosmetic stuff and a handlebar, but I have to honestly say, there was no better way for me to learn to take care of my bike. SInce then I have taken apart the front about 3 times and changed my own oil and fixed the tension in my chain and so on... sorry to ramble but the point i'm trying to make is that If i was on anything with a bigger engine I probably would have broken my neck. So, I'm glad to have the small stuff for now. But I will say, in about a year or so, I will defantly be upgrading to a larger engine.

Almost forgot, I went to a local dealership's website here in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and read tons of feedback for the 250 from other riders. They varied in height and weight. I looked at www.calmesmotorsports.com then look under rider reviews. I am only 5'2 and 200 lbs. Don't laugh I don't look like a complete dumpling but the 250is a comfortable fit for me. I wonder if the arm reach on the bigger kawaski's would be difficult for me.

 

If there are any more dealers in your area, shop them as well. None of the dealers close to my house (<15 miles) have ANY 250s of any year, but I found a dealer in Irving (25 miles away) that have several black and several silver '07's that they're selling at what I would call 'fire sale' prices.Another dealer about 80 miles from my house has a blue(my first color choice) at around the same price, butI found itto be too far away.

Considering a new 08 is OTD for around $4300 in this area, I thought $2953 OTD for a brand new black '07 was a pretty good deal so I snapped it up. Shop around at some not-so-closedealers before you settle on something you didn't really have in mind. (500).

 

Alright so pretty much what i thought, go for the cheapest used 250 possible.

soi was ----> <------ this close to getting a personal loan from my local bank while i was in there today and for some reason my gut told me not to. Instead i went to the local gyro spot (its a greek town) and got some food.

While i was eating a guy at a differentdealer (that i had emailed yesterday) called to say he had about 7used ninja 250's and pretty much just said it was up to me to pick the color. I told him ifi had a choice i'dpreferred then black then blue, but after that i really didnt care as long as it wasnt pink. Green is the important color to me, as in, which will save me the most green and which i could get my paws on first.. LOL.

He told me that there was 3 in Florida, a red one and two green ones, the othersare in the warehouse in New Mexico.I said just give me which everflorida oneis cheapest. He's gonna call me later today.

I'll keep you updated!

Thanks for the help guys!