1st bike?

Hi all,

Got my CBT next week and then booked a course for my full licence.

Looking to purchase a bike ready for when i've got my full. Have a budget
of £2000 - £2500.

Anyone recommend a good first bike round 500 - 600cc that won't punish me
too much?

Like the Honda CB500 or a CB600F Hornet.

Cheers,

Jach

 

Either would be a good choice but I think you might struggle to get a
good 600 Hornet for 2.5k

A Suzuki SV650S would be a good choice as well.

 

Hmf. CB500 - yeah, loads at that sort of money. Hornet - that'll buy you
something not so good. Or distinctly manky.

Suzuki 600 Bandit? You can get a bloody nice one for that sort of dosh.
And it's more of a "real" bike than a Honda 500 twin IMHO.

 

I'd agree with TOG on the Bandit 600. I bought one last year and it's a
capable commuter but up for a bit of fun at the weekend. A mate in work
has a CB500 and it simply wouldn't have the same weekend appeal to me
but I've never actually ridden one.

Make sure you try a few before deciding though as YMMV.

 

Molly says...

Bandits are very crashable bikes. I'm amazed at how much shit they'll
take before they're terminally wrecked. Dirt cheap to repair too. Make
sure you fit quality engine protector bars if it doesn't already have
them, and check the crankcases at their widest point for damage
underneath.

 

message

Listen to TOG he knows what he's talking about.
I got my son Gareth's for a grand. It's been great, he's dropped it,
crashed it, rear ended it. But it was easily knocked back into shape.
A great bike and good fun.

 

Thanks all. Yeh the 600 Bandit has been mentioned by biker friends also.
Whats the seat heat like? I'm a short arse ( ! )

Seen a few well priced Bandits on ebay, but need to try one first.

I'll let you now how I get on with the CBT & DAS.

Not had any quotes yet, but how much would we be talkin for a 600 Bandit for
a newbie. 28 years old living in Lancashire?

Cheers again!

 

790mm but I doubt that means much, you need to try one for size. If you
need it then there are options on lowering the seat height such as by
changing the seat unit or technical stuff on swing arms and the like.

BTW If you want to stay on the right side of UKRM people then post your
replies below what you are replying to (like I am now) and read the
UKRM CBT/FAQ. It's on the web, have a quick Google for it.

 

Eh? I thought it was Bandits that were often written off with just
subframe damage, or am I thinking of something else?

 

Older style Bandits, like mine, have the rear footrest hangers as an
integral part of the frame. If they bend in a spill then you have got a
write off. Maybe this is what you are thinking of?

 

Depends how warm your arse gets ;-)

 

That's it. They switched to mounting the pillion pegs on their own
brackets and that cured it.

 

"Insurance write off" and "not repairable" are not the same, usually.

Or is it truly terminal?

 

As posted elsewhere on this group, I am selling my Fazer to make way for a
new VFR. It was my first bike and has served me well.

I've just ordered a new (pre-reg) VFR800 from Taz in Peterborough. They
offered £1800 for my Fazer as a trade-in, which I think is about fair, given
the low price of the VFR when compared with the price of used models from
dealers. If anyone on UKRM would like to take it off my hands, I will accept
the best offer received (of at least £1800 of course!) in the next couple of
weeks.

Yamaha FZS600 Fazer
Black
Reg 04/08/98 (S plate)
37000Kms (23000 miles)
Datatag, Hugger, Belly pan, D/Bubble screen.
2 previous owners.
Taxed and Tested until September 2004.
Serviced February 2004, including new brake pads front and rear.
Rear tyre will need replacing soon.

I live near Lincoln if you wish to come and view or test ride (with full
security).

 

sweller says...

Not normally. The footrest bracket is just a vee made up of two small
diameter tubes that bends when it goes over. An insco will write the
bike off for requiring a new frame, but 5 minutes with a blowtorch and
som brute force usually has it straightened out. It's rare that the
damage is transfered to any other patrt of the frame. Aside from that
small thing on the earlier Bandit 600 they are extremely strong bikes
and most damage can be repaired quickly and cheaply, if you have engine
protectors.

If you don't have engine bars and it goes down a bit heavily on the
right, you can smash the ignition pick up cover. Behind that cover is
the oil pressure switch which is susceptible to being ripped out if
knocked. That is much harder to repair and usually means there's a
damaged lower crankcase as well, hence my comment about looking for
repaired cases.

 

Rope says...

It's still there on pre 2000 bikes, but easily repaired.

 

rb secured a place in history by writing:

I've had both. The CB doesn't look like a 'real bike' in the way that the
Bandit does, but I actually preferred the CB to ride, more fun to thrash
and handled marginally better. You need to ride them, it's too close to
call for me.

 

In uk.rec.motorcycles, Jach said:

Go for a Bandit. They're cheap to run and cheap to repair.

I used to get knocked off mine about once a month and used to crash
about as often, the last one finished it off for me though

 

In uk.rec.motorcycles, Lozzo said:

Isn't it the same with the exhaust bracket? I remember after a couple of
crashes the rubber on the can clamp bracket thing rubbed on the swingarm
and needed a firm arm to bend it back again.

Without engine bars, I think mine when I had it would've lasted about
three weeks.

Pretty they ain't but engine bars can and do save a lot of work.

 

"Whinging Courier" wrote in message ...

Thanks all for your advice and experiences. Do you recommend the "naked" or
"faired" version? Will be used for work (nice days) and weekend visits to
the pennines.. just up the road from me

I've heard alot about people being knocked off their bikes and involved in
accidents. Are your knocks due to your own error or other motorists?

Cheers,

Jach