I have been riding on the street for 5 years now, and have been down twice once was in an industrial park at night (dove into a corner and hit some dirt) and once I was fucking around locking up the rear tire to slide around and the tire grabbed mid slide and I went flying.
I cannot count the number of close calls I have had with cars on the road, they simply are willing to kill you.
As for a 250 ninja, get one if you like to piddle around town. They absolutely suck on the freeway, any crack in the road that little front wheel wants to follow, and if a truck passes you it feels like you are getting blown away. As for power they basically have none, and I mean 0 they just suck plain and simple a stock supra will beat them on the highway. And for me if the bike I am riding is not powerful enough to at least throttle out of harms way I Don't want it.
Harleys are typically slower and cumbersome, if you are into distance cruising get a busa, or a goldwing.
I started out on a ninja 600 then had several other 600s through the years, now I won't buy anything smaller than at least a 750 and nothing that is not a true sport bike. For me I like a bike to feel solid, point where I want it to point, and have enough power to remind me that I need to respect the machine. When I ride a 250 I generally flog the poor thing so hard that it feels like it is about to come apart, and by this I mean they feel like more of a toy or a motorized bicycle than they do a sport bike. Also with the bigger bikes 750cc-1400cc in the sport bike genre, they have so much more umph that you simply don't need to flog them to sustain 80mph on the freeway, and when you twist the throttle in any gear they just go, no downshifting no flogging just smooth usable power.
In the end of the day it is what you feel comfortable on, and honestly I have seen people start out on busas and be just fine all you have to do is respect the machine and be confident in what you are doing.
Hesitation kills in the motorcycle world.
