Nice. The old Z250 no ABS correct?

Since you want it for touring, and a beginner bike, a 250 twin will be a good start, or a 390/400 single, or stretch to Honda CB500.

These are relatively lightweight beginner bikes. Not sure what's your height.

Once you start to ride distance, the 250/390/400 will be insufficient.

Thanks for the feedback and advice. My height is about 172cm.

I initially wanted to start real world riding with FZ150i (cheapest option 3-5K) or Z250SL/Z250 (5-8K), probably ready 1-2k for repairs. But these older bikes don't have gear indicator nor ABS.

I am fortunate to ride a bike without ABS at my riding school once (1 whole lesson using a Z650 with ABS malfunctioned due to their foreman installed the front tyre terbalik, therefore the ABS encoder is not at the same side with the sensor. I noticed the ABS light lit up all the time, but I tried the same speed and braking force when doing the emergency braking section, unfortunately I jatuhbodo straightaway. Then later I tried to do the braking without ABS carefully, the braking distance almost doubled (probably i don't dare to apply much braking force too).

Then come MT-15 (new ~13K), makes me heart itchy wanna get new bike. Comes with gear indicator and ABS.

I was considering Dominar 400 too since it is almost the same price as MT-15. But, I have no riding experience, so I should be getting a lightweight bike to learn to navigate in traffic first.

I tried sitting (not riding around) my friend's R15, I don't like the leaning position. I guess naked/touring bike for me.

My long run plan would be 500-650cc, or even the X-ADV if I am tired of shifting gears.

i have always advocated that ABS is a good thing and can save one's ass during an emergency. however, i think in your case where you crash the moment you take the ABS out of the equation points to a bigger problem with the fundamental skills or understanding about the science of riding.
that being said, your braking distance doubled is probably because you were afraid to squeeze the lever since you have fallen before. what I suspect is that even with the ABS bike ABS you were not triggering the ABS but merely more confident in using the lever fully.
so ABS is good, but you should learn how to work the bike properly without it. after all, having to rely on it heavily meant that you are being hamfisted with your controls and unless you work to gain the finesse on the bike, the bigger bikes will come bite you in the ass sooner or later.

as for gear indicator... i am at two mind about this. it is nice to have and beginners tend to think that they need it, but i feel that it is not absolutely necessary. not having an indicator meant that you will have to learn to feel your bike a bit more.
if you do get a bike with a gear indicator, try riding around a bit with the indicator taped over and you might discover yourself listening and feeling the bike more than you would otherwise.

i would say get the smaller bike. you have no experience, don't understand the flow of the traffic and the act of riding is already going to be stressful, no point making it more difficult with a bigger and heavier bike.
there are bound to be people who tell you that you will soon grow tired of the bike and perhaps you might, but even if you do sell the bike after a year or two you only take a hit of a few thousands. you probably suffer more in big bike depreciation during the same period
I seen many riders who get on big capacity bike as their first bike and are so fearful of riding that they detour just to avoid filtering in traffic. on a smaller bike you are more likely to have the confidence to ride in all kinds of traffic and having the exposure will accelerate your learning.
ofcoz everyone is different, there are also many who jump straight onto a big bike and ride through KL traffic like a boss within a week so everyone's experience is different.

my point is. if you feel that your comfort level is on a small bike and you plan to get one to learn the traffic, then don't let anyone else tell you otherwise. if you panic, fall or scratch a car due to failed filtering, those people are not going to chip in for your repairs.

not sure what you mean by "I did press it very hard every time I do the emergency braking section" but you should be squeezing hard and fast, but progressively. this goes for all aspects of riding a bike from throttling to steering. like i said, its probably a matter of confidence on the brakes.

get the bike with ABS whenever possible, but don't neglect to work on smoothening your controls. it is indeed true that letting the rear tyre lock is indeed better than front lock if your are coming to a rest. but rear wheel lock is also a recipe for high-side at highspeed, so it is important to understand the context of the riding. anyways, the best is no tyre lock at all (unless you are offload) which is where the ABS comes in.

nope. not every new bike has that. like i said, gear indicator is good to have, but new riders may become too focused on them that they become slow to learn to read their bikes. so like i said, if your bike comes with an indicator, might be a good idea to tape over it when out training to get a feel of not looking at the indicator (provided it has a separate neutral indicator that is). you don't really "memorize" your gear. its a case of shifting up when you are past the torque peak or if you are past a certain RPM and shifting down when you feel the gearing is too high.

don't be mistaken, i think gear indicator is great to have, but it can hamper riders learning if they become unduly reliant on that. and many new riders do become overly focused on their gear position. look down only if you are uncertain, not at every gear.

if i were a complete new rider looking at my first bike, i will probably pick up a single cylinder. they are typically lighter, cheaper to run and i actually like the thump exhaust note. also it leave room when it comes to upgrading to a twin. but that's me. the Z250 is a perfectly good bike.

anyways, just ride safe and never stop learning the skills.

I meant I just squeezed hard and fast (4 fingers), not swueezing progressively though. I let ABS keeps me straight as the wheel still have grip and won't slip sideways. But, I agree that progressive application of everything is important when riding. I will keep this in mind.

Same with the gear indicator. The main priority is riding the bike, eyes on the road and fingers ready to brake any moment. Gear indicator is just secondary or tertiary priority.

Very appreciative of your feedback.

Do share more experience for safe riding. Cheers!

Hi guys, tumpang tanya here. I'm a kapchai rider for almost 10 years. Recently thinking about changing my bike and upgrading to go beyond kapchai level, so then I started researching online and ends up stumbled into here.
So I am completely noob at these higher level bike, and is like the OP, kinda eyeing a bit on the R15 based on my research (budget range, review, look and feel), then now I noticed you guys teased about the MT15 coming out soon, will that be a better choice compared to R15 if I am to use it to commute to work everyday (if no MCO la, now company let WFH)? My work place is about 16-17km away from my current home (both in Klang Valley), so daily 30+km ride la... I'm used to riding kapchai and saw some feedback that the R15 isn't the most comfortable for day to day city riding, so need some opinions...

Also a few other questions:
1. Roughly how much cost increase to maintain a 150cc bike like R15 / MT15, compared to kapchai?
2. I usually only bring my kapchai to cheap Indian shop change black oil once about every 2 months and let them "service" (like take a look at it or put some oil at the chain without paying that kind), if I change to a better bike where should I bring my bike to "service"?
3. Any other tips / things good to know for a noob like me that want to transition into a higher level bike?

Terima kasih in advance first...

if your primary reason is for commute and you want something with more poke, those clutch 150cc kapcai are quite nice.

1) the cost of ownership is not going to be all that much, you spend more on tyres but that's about it.
2) the "service" you mention kind of look like lube chains? so u mean to say that you don't even lube your own chain? actually you are best served if you learn some basic maintenance and lubing chain is the most basic or all basics that all bike riders should learn. i don't know where you stay so I can't advise you, but these 150-ish cc Yamaha are not exotics so any mechanic who is not utterly incompetent should be able to keep it in good condition.
3) in terms of power they are really no difference from a higher end kapcai and you gain more technology aid over the kapcai. the only difference would be riding position and slightly heavier weight. also if you are looking for those with clip-ons you lose some steering angle too. other than that its really very easy to get used to. u be riding competently in no time at all.

The R15 will be a bigger difference compared to the kapcai than the MT15 mostly due to riding position. i might have mentioned that the R15 is aggressive but that is me referring to a completely new rider. its kinda like getting into a road bicycle as a first bike without even riding a BMX before. but in your case you have ridden for almost 10 years so the R15 would probably not feel that aggressive. but no point talking about it, just swing a leg over the bike at the shop and see what you feel about it.

if you like the looks of the MT15 then it is probably going to be a better bike for commuting. but to me it is way too hideous to consider. for me its a case of "if you gotta be that ugly you better be fast"

To commute but also want to experience something different than kapcai, before gets old...

1) I see, then should be manageable
2) Admittedly yes Anything I just go to outside shop, I personally only know how to tighten some screws or change the mirrors if broken but nothing much beyond that, didn't keep any lube at home... Will definitely take your advice and try to do it myself next time. So anyway what I was trying to say is like is there any extra "service" or regular "check-up" needed for these kind of bikes? Take it as I am comparing it to servicing a car, like I would need to bring my car to let car mechanic inspect and see if there's any problem with it every half year (then sometimes perhaps do alignment la, change some parts la etc), but then for my kapcai it was really just bring to change the black oil and lubing the chain, unless I spotted something broken / not functioning properly... So it's actually just the same for these pricier kind of motorbike?
3) Yea the riding position is one of my concern after did some reading up online, but you're right, should probably just go try it out to compare and feel the difference once MT15 are out... Personally I would prefer R15 that kind of look as well, but MT15 doesn't seem too bad to me either as it's already an upgrade and do looks cooler than my kapcai, so it seems a fine choice if it's indeed more comfortable to ride
4) By the way, is second-hand bike worth looking into?

Oh and I'm from Puchong actually. Thanks for the reply!

4) if the condition is OK, then no issue. I bought used bike too. But need to check thoroughly before dumping the money to salesperson.

ya. don't worry that much about the maintenance. its not that much. these budget bikes and have budget maintenance. but really, get some chain cleaner and lube, even those cheap ass one is better than not having any at all. cheapest is kerosene + gear oil combo, but i think its too much trouble. so u can look for cheap degreaser with high kerosene content in aerosol can for cleaning the chain and a spray on lube. once u get a little more hands on with your bike you will find maintaining it cheap and cheerful

not much in terms of extra services beyond wear and tear items including brakes, chains, sprocket, etc. basically the engine is meant to be workhorse, i believe its the same engine found on the Nmax, my point is its not a super exotics engine that revs to 15000rpm.

secondhand bike is worth it if you find a good one. but the question is difficult to answer since there are many more variables such as mileage, condition, price, etc.

as a rule of thumb for small capacity bikes i tend to prefer buying new since i rarely find used ones that meet my criteria, but I have also bought small capacity bikes used because they are mint and the price is great. so yes. if you shop around you can find good secondhand ones worth the money. in that case definitely go for it.

puchong is huge, but i believe there are plenty of decent mechanic you can find. should not be an issue.

R15 is a stepping stone to full sports bike, if that is what you aspire to ride in the future.
Most people will give up after few years, but few will stick to it for a very long time.
Those that switched, if they choose to keep riding, will more likely go with touring or adventure bikes.

It is up to you, really.

Bike maintenance are not as tricky, if you're not picky.
Go through the owner's manual before a purchase, and ask as many questions as you like.

Alrighty guys, thanks again for the inputs! Think that's all I needed to know

@NeoAxL and @RicoT...may i know which bikes you end up with?

My relative have a benelli 150s for sale. Registered year 2021. Still have warranty. Rm 5400. Anyone interested?
Bike in superb condition, like new. He upgraded to a car.