I have use the zxr250 for a year now and the advice I can parted is get a good condition one. If by luck you got a bang up one, $$$ Mine is the last production model and only registered in 2001 so lucky me Most model in the market is in 1997. Get a friend who knows and have ride a zxr250 before when you go shopping for one. If you ride 50/50 on the highway and city, zxr250 and the new ninja250r is the choice. I would recommended the Naza Blade 250r but due to lousy service from Naza and problems with the bike, I would say no to this bike.

The ER6N is a nice choice too but not so much in a city trafik. Nice looking bike with good speed. But still kena tapau at Ulu Yam and bukit tinggi by zxr250. Hehe!! Believe me when I tell you even R1 got tapau by zxr250 in sharp short corners. Will lose out when you are in highway only by the liter bike power.

Maintainance wise, every bike is the same. Take good care of it and it wont let you down. I have seen friends bike that look like sh*t and the owner said the bike is like sh*t. The truth is the owner treat the bike like sh*t. If you treat an R1 like that, it will look like sh*t too in no time.

Do a google of "zxrians" and you might find a big group of zxr riders. Hope this helps.