Newbie; 250 or 600 to learn best? Opinions?

New to the sport and just as new to riding motorcycles. I am considering moving from a 600 to a 250 for less "pucker factor" while having fun and learning to race/ride. I am a late bloomer and did not ride at all as a kid or anything. I am about 148lbs. and close to the ground, I have been told my build would suit the smaller bikes. My experience...what I was able to pick up over the last season. Which was shortend(blessed actually) by our second son being born. Thanks in advance to everyone who offers some advice!

I have a friend that had the same problem with his 600.I advised him to get an sv650,but he found a Honda CB1 400cc and I race prepped it for him.He learned alot on that little bike.I still have it in my shop ready to race if your interested in it.he'd prob take 2k for it. Danny Dominguez..(405)210-0398

A 250 what? There are 250s, and then there are 250s. An RS or TZ is an AWEsome motorcycle, but not newbie friendly. There's lot of preventative maintenance you need to learn on those things. Aprilia cup bikes, if you can find one, is a nice bike and more turn key. Or, you could join the EX250 guys, but before you do THAT, consider just going mini racing 'cause the 80s are lighter and faster and the NSRs are cheaper and a lot better handling.

Or, if you're not adverse to learning the maintenance routine and how to do the jetting and tape the radiator and all the things you need to know to run a GP bike, I'd go with a 125 before I bought a 250.

Danny's friend's 400 sounds like a killer deal.

Uuummmm...
Have you considered an SV650? Good handling, not too throttle sensitive, cheap to operate, crash pretty well too.
Just my 2 cents.

Patrick

I started out on an F4. I still race it and I haven't had any bad moments with it. Other then a near lowside at Cresson (damn off camber turns). Suspension was too hard. My brother is about you same size, as far as weight goes and he races the same bike. Its just like picking a street bike, pick what you're comfortable with.

SV 650, the new ones are fuel injected. They are great learning tools and will go as fast as a bigger bike. This is taken from something Steve Davis wrote about the last MLD at Hallett, comparing his SV to his GSXR 750.
"To put the 25.1 into perspective, my best counter-lap ever at Hallett was a 1.24.88 on the SV650 in 2001, my first year as an Expert. That bike made about 50 less horsepower than the 750."
You can learn on any bike, but you will learn faster on an SV.

SV riders are like blondes. They have more fun. We have some blondes too, like Kevin.

I still don't know what you mean exactly by "a 250", 'cause to me, 250 spells TZ250 Yamaha or RS250 Honda. I don't think the newb would be well served on any GP bike due to the wrenching and tuning knowledge that has to be learned on them. You want a turn key bike to learn on. Only turn key 250 I'd consider, myself, is the Aprilia Cup, aka RS250, but not to be mistaken for the Honda RS250. There's a HUGE difference in the bikes, like 35-40 hp just for starters.

SVs are turn key and would allow you to learn to RIDE, not wrench. Another bonus for the SVs in sprints is all the classes they can run, more track time. Similar can be said for the Aprilia 250 if you don't like the SVs for their size. I can't imagine being too little for an SV, though.

Please forgive my confusion, by 250 I was indeed referring to the TZ, RS, Aprilia Cup bikes, and thanks for clarifying that they are not as user friendly for someone to learn on. Everyone in this club makes it look so easy no matter what they ride...so I had to ask. The "turn key" tag pretty much hits the nail on the head for me as well as looking for a forgiving model of sportsbike. Thank you all for the SV reference, I'll be looking to work something out for next season.

I agree with Mr.Dominguez & Mr Dorsey the deal with Danny sound excellent and the sv's are a good learning bike.I would say of the two is just that of the two sv650 or the 400 on the other hand mini's like the 50's you learn a lot from them to. Good luck with your decision and hope to see you at the track.
#411 sv650