hello gang,
To preface,
im 23 years old , been riding <150cc bikes for 8 years (legally and illegally ) , been saving up money for a downpayment.
Im studying 140KM away from home , and i would like to come back home every 1.5 months ,
My daily commute currently is 80km everyday on mostly highways , and i would move closer to campus on next semester but i would still like to come home to KL every odd month or so.
my parents are saying i should get a CFMOTO 250 (around 17k), while it pains me so much that i can get a used ,2018~2020 Ninja 650(Pre-TFT display) for under 20k.
I do have a B Full license , i've been acclimating myself by riding my older brother's Versys 650 (quite heavy imho), this bike also can be quite scary at 80% throttle so i wouldnt be doing that.
Im also heavily invested into Sim racing ,so this will be my outlet for going fast , not in real life because i am aware of the dangers and aware of the pain(financially and most importantly physically) of every crash.
From my experience in sim racing, i think my car control skills are good , i know what to do when the car is understeering, rears locking up, whats gonna happen if i drive like a goon on cold tires and the limit of cold road tires vs slicks but i will be sure to be humble when riding because i know that riding and driving are 2 very different skills.
But they wouldnt listen to me about buying a used bike for the sake of reliability , even though i've done my due diligence and researching about kawasakis 250/650 platforms and how i've read multiple forums on how they've lasted for more than 100,000kms (650cc). Although im unsure on how the 250cc would last for .
The reason for this is that during this semester , my current bike a FZ150 has broken down twice , one being block went kaput and the other occasion was coil problems . Mind you , the bike was made in 2007 , it will be turning 18 years old this year of course shit is gonna hit the fan at some point.
The fz would do highway speeds , 100kmh at 8000rpm / 10,000rpm redline , therefore i dont think that is good for the engine .For comparason sake , a kawa 250 is gonna do 110 at 6k rpm , kawa 650 at 4k rpm.
i've also looked into the costs of owning these vehicles , the things that i can see is that the oil filter and engine oil are roughly the same costs , however the differences is the insurance + roadtax and the chains and sprockets price are different for 250 vs 650.
Im also planning to keep this bike for a very long time , so i would need to learn on how to do all the periodic maintenance and general taking care of it.
I also think that i am quite handy with tools , i am able to do an oil + filter change on my current bike (Fz150) quite comfortabily although things like valve clearence , fork services i dont think im able to do myself.
Ultimately , i think it just pains me to pay a fat price for a CFMOTO while i will always know that i can get a much better bike for the same price but im running out of ideas on how to convince them.
This post has been edited by Yash Qhayumm: Jan 24 2025, 09:43 PM
Used kawasaki vs new CFMOTO