jamesgrady said:
I think I've settled on the 250 because it's affordable and leaves me ample cash to spend on goodies ;0
That seems very logical. If you have limited funds it would be alot better to cheap out on the bike and get some good gear instead for your first time. Good gear is always most important, but more so for someone learning to ride. (I hope gear is what you meant when you said goodies!)
After about 8 years of riding, and through some various trades with a friend I ended up with a Ninja 250. At that time I had about 4 bikes, but tended to ride around on the Ninja 250 quite often (just to go here and there). It is a good bike, fun to ride. Only thing I didn't like about it was that it vibrates alot when going down the freeway (as it is revving rather high at freeway speeds.
I tought many of my friends how to ride on it as I dindn't care if it got damaged/droped. So the other thing I know about it is when it does get droped sometimes it is hard to restart. I've had to take the plugs out and dry them off a few times to get it started after someone had droped it. Not trying to scare you from it if you drop it, but thats just been my experience with the bike.
Alot of people say to buy a 500, which does make some sense in its own. But I believe learning to ride on a lighter bike is the way to go. You can feel alot more things on a lighter bike, things that a heavier bike will cover up. You'll be able to learn signs of how things work faster and perhaps save yourself from trouble once you start to ride a heavier bike because you'll be able to feel the warning signs with knowledge of what is to come. (alot of riders have no clue to these things as they have never really ridden a light bike)
Don't expect that the Ninja 250 is a rocket. Its not, you will learn that quickly if your desire is to twist your rist. But ridden correctly like any bike it can do some amazing things. I also reccomend that if you buy a bike like this, plan on keeping it. When you are ready, buy a newer bigger bike and just keep this bike on the side. You'll have plenty of fun with it even later and you can teach people to ride on it. A spare bike is always fun/handy and considering the price not to difficult to justify keeping around.
Good luck!
Ishii