My son just graduated from college bought a Kawi 250 for his first bike. (He's the kind of kid that likes to know how to do things slow before he does them fast) I gotta say that it is a pretty cool "first" bike. It's light and nimble with reasonable power from 0 - 60 but not so good from 60 on up. It's motor is pretty smooth too. I was thinking that there would be so much vibration that you would need to re-torque your nuts after riding one. I don't think it is "freeway worthy" but for learning the way a bikes controls work it's pretty darn good. It's really kinda fun to hop on for a quick trip to the store or to just ride around on for a while.

On top of being a good learner, they're cheap as hell and you can pretty much get all your money back after your learning experience is over. In my area anything from 2002-2007 models all seem to sell between 1400-1700 with less than 10,000 miles. They also get around 60mpg. If gas ever goes to $4.00 or higher per gallon I gotta believe that the baby Ninja would be a pretty good commuter bike if you don't have to take a freeway to work. FYI, $3900.00 + for a new one seems a bit much to me, but used, a real good value.

It seems a little weird to me that none of the other manufacturers have gone after that learning-sport bike-first bike category. I thought I read somewhere that the baby Ninja was Kaw's best selling bike. Could be wrong on that.

That is all, and everyone have a safe weekend!