Advice on "first bike" comparison

Not this week!

--Nick.

 

Oh well.

--Nick.

 

Nick wrote

The ER5 springs to mind as a learner legal 500.

That sounds cheap.

It goes:

dash dash space return
words

 

Pearls before swine old bean.

 

Simon Atkinson wrote

I fear so, in which case I predict an information bottleneck.

 

I think I have the solution for your 'Stars in their eyes' gig - Mystic
Meg.

 

Simon Atkinson wrote

I rather fancy purple highlights. Dramatic that is.

 

A 250 is the smallest bike you want to be doing motorways with. I've
done them on a CG125, and lots of people get to cut you up and it takes
ages to get anywhere.... not fun.

Loz did motorway work on his 250, and he was pretty much flat out all
the time I think. I would have thought that even a 33bhp bike would be
better on a motorway than a little 250 with 20 bhp.

 

Verry 'you' if I may be so bold.

 

<snip bike choice woes>

CB250N, or a less lardy/faster CB250RS

I had the former after my A2 test. 28bhp (on a good day), goes 'round
corners, 80mph max, usefull but not over-powerfull brakes (Better than
a CG, worse than any modern 500). Fried rectifiers lead to interesting
power characteristics. It Will Be Worn Out.

Cheap as chips to buy and to run, takes well to dropping, loads of
spares from breakers, cheap insurance.

Boring, though, and you can get a lot of better metal for not much
more.

The CB450S exists in restricted form, and is a cracking bike, if
thirsty. Quite rare, though.

As others have said, 500 with a restrictor kit is probably the best
bet, as you have two bikes for the price of one, as you don't need to
buy another bike when the A2 lapses..

CB500 / CB500s are favourites and nice to ride, the new CBF500/600
have brilliant writeups in the press overe here in .de, and they can
be had with ABS, which is something that ought to be considered
(matter of choice, some like, others diss, no experience myself). All
can be had with 33bhp kits.

My suggestion is to buy a sub 33bhp rat for 200 quid, ride it, sell it
for 200, get on a new bike and dent tank with dropping jaw as you
realise what differece there is between a 20 year old bike and a new
bike.

If you like chrome, get a Hardly Snortster 883, take it to a dyno and
get a print out. (Allegedly more power, not often found with more than
33bhp in stock form in the wild). Be prepared to be laughed at.

All IMHO, YMMV, caveat emptor etc.

Johannes

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I see a purple 498cc 33bhp restricted one
on ebay BuyItNow @ £1,895 - not sure if that's a good price or not
though

Mmm. I think that a CB 500 is more likely to be my purchase. I'll
keep an eye out on flaEbay to see how much they go for. On a 3k
budget I should hopefully be able to get the kit (helmet, etc),
insurance, bike and even a restrictor fitted.

Hopefully.

Ahh, but it's just my name now, as there's no need for a sig seperator
(no sig). Plus when I did have a sig sep no one liked that in here
either.

--Nick.

 

My first bike post DAS was a CB500, it was a brilliant first bike, I
heartily recommend it to the house.

Re: learning, I went from having never really ridden a bike to passing the
test in 5 days (aged 40). It was, as you say, a real leap of faith as bikes
are very different animals to cars. It was one of the best things I have
ever done though, very satisfying. Also, bigger bikes rock mightily, but
smaller bikes are a scream too (my lad's NSR is a luvverly little bike).

--
Dan L (Oldbloke)
My bike 1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr
M'boy's bike 2003 Honda NSR125R
Spare Bike 1990 Suzuki TS50X
BOTAFOT #140 (KotL 2005), DIAABTCOD #26, BOMB#18 (slow)

 

I can only seem to find models from 1983.

Damn, those round headlights are UGLY!

This is the option that I'm warming to.

With my fear of skidding, an ABS option may be better for me.
However, I should really have a bike without ABS to get over the fear.

I have looked at a "restrictor kit" on ebay and it appears that all
the whole kit is, is a bunch of four or so metal washers. Is that it?

Chrome = Rust.

--Nick.

 

Nick says...

You'll only skid if you use the brakes incorrectly. If you're that
bothered about it, take advanced training once you get your licence.
They'll be able to identify any shortcomings in your riding and train
you accordingly. To be honest, you've got to try bloody hard or be a
completely hamfisted twat to lock the wheels in normal riding.

Everybody here passed their test on bikes without ABS, and only a very
small handful of us now have bikes with it, personally I hate the idea
of ABS and linked brakes. Take a good look through old posts and count
how many people fell off because they locked the wheels, and you'll find
it is a very small number of those who even crashed. Most of us stayed
upright, even most of the newbies.

Just get out there and ride the fucking thing, the more you worry about
what will happen, the more likely it is to happen. Confidence is all
important when you're riding a bike.

 

It varies. Some bikes are like that, others are little black boxes
that play around with the onboard computers.

Either way, it's not the kit you're paying for, it's the certificate
from a professional installer saying that it's fitted and the bike is
limited.

FWIW with regard to your test, I did a 3 day course in the mid 90's in
order to pass my test. All I'd ridden before that was a half day CBT
course.

Passed first time and found it easier than my car test. Scared myself
silly on my first bike though as I got a 60bhp race-rep 400[1]. Which
was a bit of a change from the 12bhp 125 I'd learnt on.



[1] I did it before DAS[2], so you did you test on a 125 and got an
unlimited licence.
[2] 2 or 3 months before

 

I've never got on a bike with ABS, and I've only ever had one car with
ABS. It's just an irrational fear. Over the past week I've been on
muddy roads with an instructor and slammed on the brakes and still
didn't manage to skid.

That's what I intend to do next tomorrow and up until test time on
Thursday. I just need to build up my confidence.

--Nick.

 

Nick says...

So what are you worrying about?

 

Skidding! Like I said, it's an irrational fear. It's like my fear or
closed water tanks. That's irrational too.

But when one expands on the fear of sealed watertanks (the kind that
live in the loft) if one actually looked to see what was in the
drinking water, one would probably find skeletons from dead birds,
scary quantities of limescale which has turned black and also a load
of algae. So perhaps the sealed watertank fear isn't all that
irrational after all. Can't do anything about it.

But for skidding, that is something I can do something about and I'm
sure it's just going to be confidence building that saves the day.

--Nick.

 

[Nick taking the test]

And the same for me and a number of ukrmers. I'll freely admit to be a
complete numpty at CBT stage and not getting through first time. As for
the test preparation nothing clicked until the day before the test. I
was the first person for their test on the day and got through first
time.

I understand the "fear" bit very well but you'll only saddle yourself
with additional cost by buying and then having to sell the 125 and then
face more fear later when you come to take a test on a 500. Why not just
opt for one lot of fear all at once? ;-)

 

Totally.

BUT

If you *do* still feel the need for 125 get a Trailey - type like a Yam DL -

They're taller (which for you is good) they can do more (they have *limited*
off road capacity which is more fun than on road when both events are rather
low speed. And being Trailey type they are designed to stand up better /
cheaper to being dropped - Polyethylene bash guards instead of plastic
fairings etc..

Warning - They are *very* nickable. A ****-off great big *massive* chain is
your only hope. You're looking over 150 quid. You want it tougher than
hand-held bolt croppers can cut. And you always fasten it to something very
tough and solid or they'll just lift up the bike & the chain and take both.
Weave the chain through the *back* wheel and if you can the frame too -
so buy at *least 1.8 meters of chain. (Otherwise you'll be the proud owner
of a front wheel still chained to something heavy)


--
Nidge
ZX6R J2 Stunning in zit yellow. KX 125 MX 'I'm snot green -fly ME'. A few
bits of CB500S in Norwegian Parrot blue. BOTAFOT#63 BOMB#5

'Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand'.
Homer (Simpson).