Lets talk about motorcycles for a change...

[trenner]

Good comments so far.  I'd add:

Don't impose your concept of motorcycle style on her, at least at first.   

Meaning, it's important to ask her how she sees herself, and on what sort of bike.  Help arrange for her to try that kind of bike, and encourage her to find her own motorcycle personality, even if (especially if!) it's different from yours.

[thejsnide]

Although I haven't ridden the 08' model of the Ninja, I learned how to ride on an earlier 2000 model Ninja 250.   It was a great starter bike, although I didn't stay on it long b/c I had already bought the Ducati... I couldn't resist.  The only thing I would say that it is kind of bulky for a low-er power bike.  It's about the same wheelbase as my Monster.  At least your girl WANTS a bike, mine WANTS me to get rid of it...NEVER!  Good luck. 

[psycledelic]

My friend has the 250 and is really pleased with it.  The bike looks really good in person.  I found it odd that Kawasaki styles the 250 better then the 500. 

[wbeck257]

How is her riding coming?

She's doing good. We have gotten to do as much as we wanted between her grad. college, goto to china, and moving. She is still very interested in it all though.

She has taken quite a likeing to my 1974 Yamaha R5. Everytime she see's it she ask if that one is for her.

I found it odd that Kawasaki styles the 250 better then the 500. 

The 500 has the same style as the old 250. I'm sure the 500 will get the update soon.
Ducati did the same thing, updated the 695/696 before the big bike.

[rsoffar]

hey thats awesome man!

not to threadjack but my gf is wanting to start riding... but she is only 5'1-5'2ish do you guys think that 250 would have a low enough seat height for her?
she really likes the styling of my monster but after reading all these great things about that 250 it sounds like a great bike for her, if she can touch the ground that is haha.

anybody ever hear anything about those hyosung gt250?
i was kinda looking at those for my gf cause it has the naked styling of the monster which she really likes.

[mstevens]

My wife is refusing to ride the Monster. She's just too afraid she'll drop it and thinks it's too heavy for her. She got the highest score in the MSF BRC that we took together, so I don't know where she gets the notion I started with any skills she lacked. She hit a patch of sand on the Vespa and sort-of dropped it (onto nice, soft grass at about 1/4 mph) so she's certain she'll do the same with the Monster. She's got no worries about riding the Vespa, though. It's definitely not a shift vs. no-shift thing; she taught me to drive stick in college and has to special-order all her cars to get them loaded but with 6-speed manual. I think it boils down to her belief that it's my bike and she won't risk breaking it.

So, we've been thinking about a Ninja. The price is certainly right even for a new one, and there's high turnover in NH since the riding season is laughably short, so a recent used one should be even better. Then she can go ahead and crash it and get it out of her system just like I did on the Monster before I'd put 50 miles on it. I strongly suspect that if I can get her on a Ninja for a while it won't be long before she's on a Monster of her own. If nothing else, she doesn't like fairings and "all that plastic."

We'd also thought about a Hyosung GT250 since the Vespa dealer is also a Hyosung dealer and gave us such a great deal on the Vespa and the general gestalt of the GT250 is reasonably Monster-ish. It's just that I think the Ninja will be more easy to re-sell (since, as I said, my nefarious plot is get her onto a Monster or some other Duc when possible), though what I've said to her is that I think there will be lots more aftermarket bits for a Ninja.

There are lots of Buell Blasts around here, for the usual reasons. Tracy has an antipathy towards most things Harley-related, so I don't think one of those is going to happen.

[Pancake81]

Those 250's are the cats pajamas

[rsoffar]

can you adjust the ride height on those kawa 250s?
i still think it might be a little tall with a 30 inch seat height for my gf who is 5'1

[somegirl]

Some of you might want to check out our Short Rider FAQ.

I also posted a review on a 2005 Ninja 250 here.

I think it's really nice that you guys are being so encouraging to your girlfriends who want to start riding.

[Buckethead]

I think it's really nice that you guys are being so encouraging to your girlfriends who want to start riding.

I'm typically not into women who wear too much leather.

But there's something about a girl with knee sliders that just gets me going.

Besides, there's no passenger seat on the Sport Classic. If I'm going to share my love of motos, she's not going to be riding cupcake.