CBR 125 vs Ninja 250 | GTAMotorcycle.com

CBR 125 vs Ninja 250

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Anti Hero

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I just got my m1 not too long ago and i am taking the safety course in May, and i just want to know in your opinions on which bike i should start on. I know the CBR 125 will be cheaper to buy and insure (since i am only 16) so if I buy it i will be able to ride as soon as possible, but at the same time i dont know how long i will like it before I want something bigger. So should i get a CBR 125 or wait and get a ninja 250?

Thanks
 
the cbr125 is a good bike to start with. If you cannot afford the 250, I would start riding now with the 125, instead of waiting to save up money for the ninja 250.


Anti Hero said:
I just got my m1 not too long ago and i am taking the safety course in May, and i just want to know in your opinions on which bike i should start on. I know the CBR 125 will be cheaper to buy and insure (since i am only 16) so if I buy it i will be able to ride as soon as possible, but at the same time i dont know how long i will like it before I want something bigger. So should i get a CBR 125 or wait and get a ninja 250?

Thanks
Click to expand...
 
The difference for insurance would probably be $50-$100 and the cost of the bike would about $1000-$2000 for 125 vs 250.
I would HIGHLY recommend that you give insurance a call and ask how much each would cost before buying the bike as your rate for the first year would be around $3500 to $4000.
 
The 125 is a good bike and I really enjoyed my time with it. Check with insurance....for me (31/m) the difference was $100/year to go to a 250 from the 125.
purchase price is about 1000-1500 higher for the 250 over the 125 from my experience.
 
Thinking of my own kids, I think college or university tuition would be cheaper than insurance for a 16 year old. Call around and see what kind of quotes you get before pulling the trigger on any bike. Please share your experience.
 
Or you can do the more reasonable thing, and wait until you are done college/university...
At that point, if you will be doing lots of highway, go for the 250; if it's a city commuter, go for the 125.
 
Go for the 125 if it's what you feel comfortable with interms of cost and riding ability. I have been on 125's and can say they are great for city driving but don't expect to get on the highway. Once you are ready to go on the highway you'll have to upgrade.
 
If you are intending to ride over 90km/h, the Ninja 250 is the way to go. Acceleration after 90km/h on the CBR 125 is painful & not linear. Makes for unsafe highway riding. Part of the learning experience is having experience handling the bike at higher speeds and having control of the bike at those speeds. You will never have that experience on a CBR 125.

The Ninja will be marginally more expensive to insure & will be around $500-1000 more than the CBR 125. I've been on both of them and I can tell you that the comfort, safety and learning experience of/with the Ninja is worth the $750-1250 more that you'll spend.
 
They are both good starter bikes and I have lots of each in my fleet. I actually like the 125 a bit more as a starter bike.

99% of people who have them trade them in after a year when they outgrow them.
The 125 is cheaper so getting into one is easier, parts in case you do have an incident cost next to nothing! (try $22 for a rearset!)

Neither is going to be a great bike for the highway or for two upping.... that being said you really shouldn't be doing too much of either your first year anyways.

If you have the extra money to spend on a Ninja 250 its a great bike but expensive for parts, etc in comparison... if you don't want to spend that much get a 125 its a much cheaper bike to maintain and buy.

If you have any questions about either feel free to PM me.

Thanks!
Fawaz
 
I see plenty of 250's going for under 3000 in the used market, low km's and in good shape. Get a good used bike, its your first you'll drop it anyway. When I shopped for insurance I didn't find a price diff between cbr 125 and ninja 250.. ? maybe my age.. dunno.

When you go to sell the bike in a year you'll probably get close to what you paid for it.

If you can do the maintenance yourself then either bike is cheap to maintain...
 
The biggest difference is that you'll outgrow the CBR125 in no time, but you could actually keep the Ninja 250 for quite a while, if not indefinitely. The Ninja 250 will do highway speed, is a peppy little monster, and some people are happy with them and don't upgrade. You'll even find a lot of experienced riders who own bigger machines that keep a Ninja 250 in the stable just for the fun of it. :)
 
Thanks everyonefor all the advice, but I think I am going to wait until I take the safetycourse and get a chance to try out the cbr 125 and see how I like it. I’mhoping then have a ninja 250 there as well.
 
Ninja or CBR 250 are the general consensus.

I'm tempted to pick up a CBR125 to putt around town.
 
Well I just gotmy m2 from learning curves, and I got to try out a CBR125 and it was better thanI expected. Even if it was a bit small, I like how it felt and drove. So I maypick one up sometime this year. Also today my buddy let me take his bike outfor a ride (he has a 2004 v star 650) and it was very fun and comfortable toride, so my question is what would be the differences in price to insure aCBR125 compared to something like a v star 250 or a Honda rebel 250(also if you guys also have any other bikes you would like recommend that would be great).
Thank you
 
difference will probably be just a couple hundred bucks. You'll be much better of going with a 250, however a cruiser 250 will be more like the CBR 125 on the top speed but more torquey.
 
Anti Hero said:
Well I just gotmy m2 from learning curves, and I got to try out a CBR125 and it was better thanI expected. Even if it was a bit small, I like how it felt and drove. So I maypick one up sometime this year. Also today my buddy let me take his bike outfor a ride (he has a 2004 v star 650) and it was very fun and comfortable toride, so my question is what would be the differences in price to insure aCBR125 compared to something like a v star 250 or a Honda rebel 250(also if you guys also have any other bikes you would like recommend that would be great).
Thank you
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Why don't you call the insurance company and find out how much you need to pay for each of the bikes. I am curious to see how much is it for a 16 yr old. I am 24, got my m1 half a year ago, clean driving record. I called TD, statefarm, and Jevco, its about $3000-$4000 a year for 250 or 600cc bike.
 
I had a cbr 125 and a ninja 250. So i can advise you pretty well. They are both fun bikes. the cbr is alot cheaper on gas, yet the ninja is alot more fun and you can keep up with groups rides. not to mention the ninja 250 is great on the highway. If your just putting around town and dont plan to go on any major highways go with the 125. if you wanna have more fun and do highways and twisties and all the fun biker stuff get a 250
 
2motors said:
I had a cbr 125 and a ninja 250. So i can advise you pretty well. They are both fun bikes. the cbr is alot cheaper on gas, yet the ninja is alot more fun and you can keep up with groups rides. not to mention the ninja 250 is great on the highway. If your just putting around town and dont plan to go on any major highways go with the 125. if you wanna have more fun and do highways and twisties and all the fun biker stuff get a 250
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essentially the 250 has balls, while the 125 has yet to hit puberty...think of it that way.
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