motorcycle world, Y U Make my life easy....

What is your budget? if a new bike is in the budget I would go with the Honda CBR 250.

If you find one a Yamaha SRX250 is a great bike, very light and easily up gradable, think TT 250-350-500.

A ninja 250 can be bought cheap and are still plentiful.i had to work on one of these and the maintenance is a lot more difficult.   

Quote from: BaltimoreGS on January 03, 2012, 09:03:44 PM

Quote from: Kijona on January 03, 2012, 10:16:39 AM
What about a Honda Shadow 250? It's a 250 parallel twin.

Are you referring to the Rebel?

-Jessie

Honda Nighthawk CB250. For some reason I thought it was called the "Shadow". D'oh!

Quote from: Twisted on January 03, 2012, 09:38:11 PM

Quote from: J_Walker on January 03, 2012, 09:30:00 PM
Guys she kinda wants a sports bike. Something with fairings.. what about bikes that can be lowered?

Just about any bike can be lowered. If she wants a bike with fairings you can't go past a Ninja 250.

+1

The old Ninja 250's were great bikes and can be had dirt cheap and the new one looks great!

As far as lowering, you can lower anything.  A 5 foot nothing friend has a GSXR-1000 that has been slammed to the ground to fit her.  We tried riding 2 up to dinner at bike week on it and the suspension bottom out over the smallest bumps   

-Jessie

Quote from: Kijona on January 03, 2012, 11:42:14 PM

Quote from: BaltimoreGS on January 03, 2012, 09:03:44 PM

Quote from: Kijona on January 03, 2012, 10:16:39 AM
What about a Honda Shadow 250? It's a 250 parallel twin.

Are you referring to the Rebel?

-Jessie

Honda Nighthawk CB250. For some reason I thought it was called the "Shadow". D'oh!

250 nighthawk is kinda rare in USA...no longer in production....but nice bike with "standard" riding position.  Not particularily low seat height......Seldom seen on craiglist

250 Rebel has same engine but is "cruiser" riding position...lower seat, very upright position.....very common bike is USA...very common amoung women for first bike....Maybe 20 to 30 examples on craigslist within 50 miles......$1000 for older ones and up to $2000 for near perfect from  2004 or so...and $4000 for '10's 11's and 12's



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Good threads with some thoughts on lowering the GS500 and the EX250/500 bikes for a short gal or an old man   

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=40074.0

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=55197.0

Quote from: twocool on January 04, 2012, 05:01:50 AM

Quote from: Kijona on January 03, 2012, 11:42:14 PM

Quote from: BaltimoreGS on January 03, 2012, 09:03:44 PM

Quote from: Kijona on January 03, 2012, 10:16:39 AM
What about a Honda Shadow 250? It's a 250 parallel twin.

Are you referring to the Rebel?

-Jessie

Honda Nighthawk CB250. For some reason I thought it was called the "Shadow". D'oh!

250 nighthawk is kinda rare in USA...no longer in production....but nice bike with "standard" riding position.  Not particularily low seat height......Seldom seen on craiglist

250 Rebel has same engine but is "cruiser" riding position...lower seat, very upright position.....very common bike is USA...very common amoung women for first bike....Maybe 20 to 30 examples on craigslist within 50 miles......$1000 for older ones and up to $2000 for near perfect from  2004 or so...and $4000 for '10's 11's and 12's



Cookie


Cookie

And don't forget the Rebel has a disc brake up front instead of the drum found on a Nighthawk.  I have a 1993 Nighthawk 250 I bought dirt cheap when the MSF was selling off some of their training bikes years ago.  The rear suspension sucks, the brakes are marginal and it struggles to get my fat ass to 70.  Those negatives aside, that is the most reliable bike I have ever owned!!  It sits neglected in the garage for months and always fires right up when needed.  I have never had a need to see the inside of the carb, there is no oil filter to change and it has screw type valve adjusters.  Nice bike if you can find a decent one cheap   

-Jessie

She's never ridden before and she's vertically challenged. And she wants a 'sport' bike. You need to find her something light and/or that you can lower ~ I wouldn't start on the GS500, although with some experience it would be OK.

Personally, I would start on a small dual-sport so she can drop it without feeling (too) bad about it and costing a bunch of money. Might be difficult to find one that is low though. My 5'2" wife could never find one she fit on.

If all you're going to do is putt around town and stay off the busy fast roads during non-rush hour traffic, you could check out a CBR125. Rides like a mountain bike with a motor. Very light and manageable, and you should be able to sell it for close to what you paid if you don't damage it. My wife started riding again on one and we didn't lower it or anything for her, although you probably could ~ google/eBay lowering links and CBR125.

Keep in the mind the wee-BR only has 13hp, so it's going to have some serious limitations.

Beyond that there is really only the 250Ninja in the uber-beginner 'sport' bike category. 

I'd prefer the new for CBR250 thumper which has performance close to the Ninja 250 but with HP and Torque peaks about the same as the GS500 so it's not so peaky as the Baby Ninja.

http://www.cycleworld.com/2011/02/24/kawasaki-ninja-250r-vs-honda-cbr250r-video/

Ninja 250 was one of my first bikes and I loved it, great bike. When Heather wanted a bike we bought her the GS500, but I still wish I had found her a 250 instead, a few less hp but I think it's a bit more user friendly for someone small, plus it was perfectly stable buzzing along at 100mph all day long, the GS always felt a little questionable at higher speeds. The newer 250s look great too, I had one of the old ugly ones.

If the price for the CBR250 was comparable for you I would consider it...available ABS is a nice option

+1 to the Ninja 250. Easy to find, easy to fix, easy on the wallet.

However, I do have to agree with the crowd opinion that old Hondas are the way to go. A Nighthawk 250 may not be the sexiest bike in the world, but it is dead simple, low to the ground, and with a small rider will do highway speeds.

Has your girlfriend done the MSF safety course yet? Odds are she'll have a Nighthawk 250 there, and if she's lucky there will be the odd Ninja 250 or small displacement dual sport to size up. That would be a good place to start.

Quote from: ryott52 on January 07, 2012, 11:30:25 AM
+1 to the Ninja 250. Easy to find, easy to fix, easy on the wallet.

However, I do have to agree with the crowd opinion that old Hondas are the way to go. A Nighthawk 250 may not be the sexiest bike in the world, but it is dead simple, low to the ground, and with a small rider will do highway speeds.

Has your wife done the MSF safety course yet? Odds are she'll have a Nighthawk 250 there, and if she's lucky there will be the odd Ninja 250 or small displacement dual sport to size up. That would be a good place to start.

no she was looking for bikes that she could actually buy/afford/ride before paying almost 300 bucks for an MSF safety course... And by the way, not to correct you or anything offensive, but "Girlfriend" not wife. Not yet...

That CB400 is SWEET!! Never seen one before, I can see that bike as a CAFE RACER

What about the new yammy rf150 or whatever it's called?

I think i'll help her buy a honda CBR250. Only 7 months old and wont have all the problems an old/used bike would. here goes more money outta my pocket, Geeze Why can't I just RIDE!!!!? I'm going broke. Gonna open a paypal for donations soon.

Quote from: J_Walker on January 07, 2012, 04:10:56 PM

Quote from: ryott52 on January 07, 2012, 11:30:25 AM
+1 to the Ninja 250. Easy to find, easy to fix, easy on the wallet.

However, I do have to agree with the crowd opinion that old Hondas are the way to go. A Nighthawk 250 may not be the sexiest bike in the world, but it is dead simple, low to the ground, and with a small rider will do highway speeds.

Has your wife done the MSF safety course yet? Odds are she'll have a Nighthawk 250 there, and if she's lucky there will be the odd Ninja 250 or small displacement dual sport to size up. That would be a good place to start.

no she was looking for bikes that she could actually buy/afford/ride before paying almost 300 bucks for an MSF safety course... And by the way, not to correct you or anything offensive, but "Girlfriend" not wife. Not yet...

Woops, my bad. Let us know how the CBR works, I haven't talked to anyone who has one yet.

I learned on a '73 CB350. A very forgiving bike and very easy to find cheap parts. You could cafe it like the one in the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo... that actress was very tiny. And it's a bit sportier and tougher looking than the standard CB.

haha, you're gonna be jealous of that cbr250 and end up making her ride your gs500 haha. I've always been jealous about some of the awesome smaller bikes you can get in other countries that they don't even think about bringing to the US. My personal favorite is that zx400r, but I'd also kill somebody for some of those old slingshot framed gsxr400s. I'd make a city sized streetfighter out of one. Many I'm jealous haha.

Also, I'm in love with that new ktm duke125. That bike looks like too much fun. Small displacement bikes in the US aren't usually much to look at.

my girlfriend offended me today, Said the old CB350 type bikes we're ugly.. God damnit, I think I see a break up in our future... JK!! but still.. no I was about to be like - facepalm - "GO MAKE ME WAFFLES NOW!!"