She has her eye on the Ninja 250 or CBR 250. I can't talk her into a naked beater bike for a season. She is set to take the MSF in early May so we will see how things go.
Ninja 300 has a much lower seat height, and just enough more power to make them a bit funner (and perhaps easier) to ride
brand new carryover ones can still be had for sub $4k........... which is about what the used market is still asking
But I have customers on Ninja 250 and CBR250's with 30,000- 40,000 and even 60,000 miles on them and they enjoy them immensely with just basic maintenance and you can find used Ninja 250's for sub 2k with low miles in good condition, and they maintain that value pretty well- if kept up.
I would look at seat height and reach for ease of use before looking at asthetics, but she is going to have to like it visually too to want to ride it...
Sounds like you got yourself a decent deal on that CBR250..... Is the helmet the correct size for her..... very important consideration