Hi CBRForum!
 

Turned 18 a few months ago and I’ve been saving up for my first bike. The local dealer has brand new non-ABS CBR300R’s for $3000, which seems like a good deal. My dad has had quite a few Hondas, so I’m already mostly familiar with maintaining them. I’ve mainly been looking at either a CBR300R or a used CBR250R, but I’m not sure how much I could save going for a used 250.

I’ve also been getting my first set of gear together in preparation. Already have everything except a helmet and pants, any suggestions on affordable riding pants that fare well in humid 100F weather while providing a lot of protection?

Welcome!

If the 250 is clean and priced at $1500 or so, I would consider saving the money and going that route. You will be able to recover most of it when you want to move to something bigger and go to sell it. A new bike for $3000 is nice and all, but it will never be worth more than $2000 on resale.

As far as gear, the best way to combat heat is to keep moving. It only gets hot when you stop.... Do you have a cyclegear store near you? They have lots of gear that's a quite a bit cheaper than some of the big name branded stuff. It's not the best stuff out there but it's a good bang for the buck to get you going.

I took a quick look at 2011-2013 250 models and it appeared that they go for 2200-2700; am I looking in the wrong place, or too recent of a model? What’s the cheapest you think I could get an ABS 250 in good condition?

That's way too much for a 250 of that age when you can get a new 300 for $3000. If you can't get one for much cheaper than that, get the new one.

That’s what I was thinking. I’ll keep looking and see if any good deals pop up though, $1500-2000 would be reasonable imo, especially if I can find an ABS model