a lot. cheapest now maybe XJ-6?

benelli tnt 600
kazasaki z8, zx6
yamaha r6, xj6, fz6
honda cb600, cb650
suzuki gsr750

ermmm benelli

ermm the infamous skru enjin cabut

u should listen to benelli tnt300 inline twin that sounds like idk.. not so 2 cylinder.

if it is fitted with a good aftermarket exhaust, they all can be orgasmic

yes ive thought of that before. however my purchase was influence by the way i ride the bike for long distance. i just having trust issue with the reliability of benelli thou the sound even from stock exhaust was good rather than r25. my r25 have been went and forth from kl to penang for 8-9 times since i bought it and still going great.

the only thing about 250cc on a long journey is the uneasy feeling that sometimes i did push the bike too far and yeah 250cc is just 250cc and i do have to stop often for filling the tank or because i do abuse it on the highway recklessly.

for long journey you should ride adventure/touring bike.
versys perhaps.. big tank + tall windscreen

IMHO the current top lineup would be R25 and ninja250 from kawasaki. although i would gravitate more to the R25 tho.
On the R25 power delivery is more linear from medium to top thus stable pull all through the meter to top.

Meanwhile kawasaki wins at the top end. If u do like to stay at the top end A LOT by all means go kawasaki.
if u prefer balance its a safe choice to settle for R25.

Ninja 250 or Z250 basically depends on your preference, outlook different between naked and fairing.

im not the adventure/touring bike kindda guy to be honest. i like riding my bike aggressively and for me if i were to upgrade i'll be looking for supersports bike/superbikes. i had that thought in mind for couple of months now however due to my current expenditure i have to hold the thought 1st.

xj6
z800
cbr650
tnt600
cb400
gsx750/600
r6
cbr600
zx6
etc

try Honda CB400 with VTEC.. even with a mere 400cc, because it is 4 piston n vtec.. the acceleration is outperform in most in it class, the sound is huuuuuu...

Cb400 actually not available in malaysia if im not mistaken. And the price, well lets just say i rather buy a 600cc sportsbike for that kind of amount

can buy used from singapore then.. of coz no new here.. if there is, yeah quite expensive then..

Ah that would also be a no no. Singapore bikes are a bit hassle to deal with unless u work in singapore or u frequently travel back and forth to singapore.

Actually back in the mid 90s, MSC in PJ did import quite a number of 400cc bikes including the CB400 SuperFour.

I too owned a Malaysia registered GSXR400-RR imported by MSC. Back then these bikes would set you back around RM25k-RM30k, just under the usual 600cc models at around RM40k. 750cc race reps (remember those?) went for around RM45k... and in the mid 90s, 400cc bikes were often just mini versions of the 750cc race reps. Between my GSXR400-RR and the GSXR750 W-series everything was the same, down to the Mikuni slide carbs, just smaller. It was exquisite.

The advantage of 400cc bikes is cheaper roadtax and cheap parts in Singapore. Towards 2000, tons of 400cc bikes were being scrapped in SG and you could get all kinds of used parts for very little money. I had a complete set of spare body panels and rims.

Anyway... a lot of 400cc bikes were illegally running on SG & Thai plates, so our legit 400s were very special and very rare.

Nowadays... the era of the screaming miniature 4-cylinder race replicas had long passed. Nobody even talks about them anymore.

AAAAAAANYWAY...

Some good news showed up yesterday for those who want a 250cc commuter/tourer bike but are too ashamed to ride anything related to China.

Paul Tan reported that the 250cc Kwakka X-Versys is being launched. Looks very decent, especially with a 17-litre fuel tank which should see very good range in between refuelling. Because it wears the Kawasaki badge, it will cost more than the KTNS R3... but still, a great commuter/tourer option.

But I think Kawasaki should be thankful that the local Keeway Benelli ppl are plain bloody lazy, otherwise the new Benelli TRK502 would surely tapau everything. Absolutely gorgeous adventure tourer looks and a fukking humungous cross-country 20-litre tank.

http://www.cycleworld.com/2017-kawasaki-ve...vel-bike-season

Here are more interesting 250cc - 310cc adv choices coming (if they actually come to Malaysia...)

Suzuki V-Strom 250
Kawasaki Versys 250/300 (as ZZR-Pilot mentioned)
Honda CRF 250 Rally (hmmm, wonder why they didn't outfit it with panniers)
BMW G 310 GS adventure

Could be really fun to see these qtr ltr adv bikes running around but with the economy in 'safe mode', it'll probably be tough to see any of these being introduced.

versys 650 best for touring.
I don't recommend 250 bike.

I'm riding ninja 250, the clutch & weight is puurrrfecct.
Tried friend's z250 & r25 also not as good, r25 abit light until like kapcai.
250 bike can go quite fast .. went 160kmh before but after 110kmh it feels like stressing on the bike, abit hurting. My ninja 250 consider premium 250 bike, so I doubt the list you put there is any better.

250 supersports are in the 160-180 region, limited only by gearing and rpm

R25 easily can peak 180-190 with only rpm limiter stopping you