Honestly, I think it depends on you. I would get a 600; I bought a 600 as my first bike and I've dropped it a few times because it weighs a damn ton, but honestly, I'm bored to tears with it's lack of torque. I guess I tend to be a bit more aggressive than most women, but I'm not stupid. I just have a preference for more powerful bikes I guess, and after riding a litre bike I was like, that's it??. You will find that the 250 is a rather slow bike all around. My insurance is $30 a month on my 2000CBR600F4 and repair cost for dropping the bike that included a new upper cowl are less than $500. I did a lot of the work myself though so I guess that tends to save some money, but my bike looks better than when I bought it.