(Reply I sent to a rec.motorcycles request for info on the EL-250):

I had one and was quite happy with it, although after 3 years I had a chance to upgrade to its slightly bigger brother - the 550 Zephyr, and did so.

The bike is also sometimes called the HS250 or the EL250-HS - they're all the same. Also, except for a colour difference, it's sold in Asia (and, I'm told, in Europe) as the "250 Eliminator". It's very popular over there. You see herds (flocks?) of them in Hong Kong, where they are all black. North Americans tend to look down on them, or so it would seem from occasional comments in rec.moto, because of the "small" displacement.

I think North Americans feel that bikes should be either sport bikes or Harley clones (i.e. either real fast or real heavy). In Japan, where I learned to ride, 250 is a fairly big bike and 50-70 cc bikes are common. The biggest problem you'll have with this bike is the prejudice against 250's by other riders. That gets to you after a while.

Anyway, the EL250 is a very nice starter bike. Handles well, light, good mileage. Unlike many 250s, it *looks* like a motorcycle, not a moped or a dirt bike - real tires, etc. Actually, I guess it went well beyond "starter" bike for me - I commuted every day on it and took it for 1000 Km rides now and then in the summer.

Also, it's fast. I took it out on the highways at 120 Km all the time and it did fine, although the revs were much higher at that speed than on a bigger bike. It is, however, a bit light for windy highway use - reacts to the air gust from trucks etc.

The tank is a bit small, so although the mileage is good the range is only about 150-200 Km.

My only complaint is that it is slightly small (physically) and I'm slightly large, so it's a bit crampy for multi-hour drives, and there's not a whole lot of space to strap on bags.