First Bike
 

I had been looking at the new kawasaki ninja 250 as my first bike but while looking at a dealers website a couple hours away (im in north dakota so everything is couple hours away) I saw they had an 02 f4i. Are f4i's good starter bikes? This bike has little over 10k miles and they have it listed at 2,999 but will go lower.

Basically is this a good starter bike and anything about these bikes to watch out for getting up in the higher miles? Is this a good price?
http://cdn-5.psndealer.com/e2/dealer...P1281171_2.jpg

this bike are bullet proff and will go in excess of 100k as long as they are well maintained.

As a starter bike tho all depends on you. If you have No prior riding experience then I say no 600cc sportbike is a good starter bike (tho some will debate this).

If you have some experience riding then you MAY be able to handle a 600 ok as a starter bike long as you respect the bike and dont act like a tool.

Thats a dayum good deal on that bike is seems tho, so it would be hard to pass up lol.

Thats an AMAZING deal on that bike... My first bike was a Bandit 600S. I didnt seem to have a problem with the 600 for a first bike. I did take the MSF course too tho, so I feel I was properly prepared to ride. I only had the Bandit for about 1.5 yrs then I had nothing for about 2 yrs and just bought my F4i. The power of the F4i is MUCH more than the Bandit. But I think (like stated above) if you take it easy and ride within your limits till you get some experience, you should be fine.

I LOVE MY F4i...I have been a Honda car fan for about 8yrs...and now I am a Honda bike fan for life.

Ive already took MSF and all that. I was goin to get the 250 to start out slow but i was told that f4i would be a good 600 bike. I wanted to get opinions from people who actually ride them though.

Im 23, have a career and everything so Im done with the younger phase trying to go out and kill myself. Im just thinking that if i get a 600 instead of 250 wont be able to learn as much.

Sounds too good to be true. That bikes retail value is $4k stock. $1k under value, especially from a dealer, would make me think twice before buying. Have that bike thoroughly inspected. I can already tell, even from that low res shot, that it has some slight rash and they only have one side of the bike pictured. A 600 is fine as a starter bike. Just keep it in the low rpm's when starting out. It is a really tame bike until you get over your head and ego kicks in.

You have the right attitude about this.
Let me start off by saying that I have owned both motorbikes and have great things to say about both.

The ninja250R is a fantastic motorbike, i highly suggest you visit this web-page: ninja250.org ,they are a great info source for the 250R.
I owned a black 06 Ninja250R and absolutly fell in love with that bike. I would never say that its a "slow" bike, but obviously compared to other motorbikes IE 600cc bikes it is. Do not let this fool you, I have seen skilled 250R riders do incredible things on the track, including spanking un-skilled 600 riders in twistes and making it look effort-less. I believe thats all its about...the rider. I believe thats the deciding factor.
I never raced but did upgrade almost every part that was upgradable on the 250R to help commuting, muzzy exhaust, k&n filter and breather, jet kit, galfer brake lines etc etc... also a bunch of aesthetic upgrades, fender elim, smoked turn signals and intergrated, flush mount fronts, lowered clip-ons, and so the list goes on...the 250 definatly does the commuter role as well as the "sunday afternoon cruise" role. There's a great aftermarket for the 250, especially now that it got a face-lift in 08 and 09.
I can deffinatly see why so many new bike buyers are running to get the 250R now-adays, it looks great, new fairings and the conversion of double-exhaust to single cleans up the bike even more.
I never had a mechanical issue with my 250r, but then again I did baby her...lol. me and my 250 saw 7 state lines ridin from texas to maryland, and when I set up in maryland she dident skip a beat and was me commuter up there.
A very flickable and predicatable motorbike especially for new riders. I see this motorbike grow with the skill of the rider, the common misconception of "how fast you will want to upgrade, or go bigger right away" is in my opinion crap.
And if you feel the need to go faster and do track days, the aftermarket parts line for the ninja 250R has grown so much these past 2 years. Yoshimura, Muzzy, Two-brothers and more have all hoped an the 250 wagon. There's even a GP-kit available for purchase to go the track-days route.

Anywho, I bought two f4i's about 2 years ago, sold one and currently ride a red/white 01 F4i.

I gatta say, its a great bike as well. I commute daily with this motorbike, at least 40 to 50 miles are clocked on this bike daily, I've had a chance to really ride the F4i, and have very few complaints. Its the perfect imo all round street sports bike. Has it all from a comfy riding position to more than enough acceleration and speed for me.

I would have suggested the Ninja 250R right off the bat to a new and young rider but you seem to be able to go either way here. The attitude you present seems like you could safely learn on the F4i although some would disagree with me. And you seem to have a great deal with the F4i. A shiny brand new 250R go around 3,300 here in texas, haggling a bit could bring it down a bit more too. thats a 2009, 0 miles right off the show room.
I guess the question is to ask yourself what you are comfortable learning to ride on really.

Here's pic of my beaut. All black with silver flames. 250R

Good first step taking the MSF class before getting a bike!

I wouldn't call the F4i a good starter by any means. Way too much power/brakes/suspension ... can easily overwhelm a newer rider. About the only 600cc bike I'd recommend to a beginner is the Katana/Bandit as they've got a very forgiving torque curve and are much less twitchy. Even then I'd only recommend it to those with dirt experience and that have taken something like the MSF and are large & strong enough to muscle a 500lb bike (they're heavy).

Personally, my rider resume goes years of everything in the dirt, a 98 Yamaha Razz in college, MSF then an '05 Ninja 250 for a season (about 5k miles), '98 Katana 600 for 3 years (about 15k miles + trackday) and an '05 F4i this season. I've got the MSF, 20k miles and a few years experience now and the F4i has caught me off guard once or twice (accidental wheelie leaving a stop light ... tried the normal Katana "quick" takeoff and WHOOPS!)

Another good one would be a Suzuki GS500 ... little bigger and faster than a 250, cheap and still look pretty good.

No where near 500lbs.

Thanks for the responses so far. Im in north dakota so its harder to find bikes up here. I also noticed a blemish on the picture and am waiting on the dealership to call me back with what damage it has. Both the 08 250 and the f4i are pretty close in price but its really going to come down to which one is better taken care of. Im not in any hurry to upgrade, the 600 sport bikes look nice but I know it would be a waste to get a r series bike with no experience.

actually, the 600 bandit and katana are roughly 455-460lbs, so yea, pretty close to 500lbs dry. with fuel, you get closser to the 500lb mark.
I guess what he was trying to say was that they are heavier motorbikes than say the 333lb dry 250R weight.
one of my first motorbikes was a CB750 that tipped the scale close to 500lb as well, maybe a smidgen over 500lbs. I remember that it was a inconveniance handling that much bike after being used to ride feather weight dirtbikes.