FOAK: Newbie rider - Bike recommendations please?

Booked my CBR for June 5th. At the moment I don't have a bike of my own, and
I have never ridden before, so I need recommendations from you guys if you
don't mind.

I've been considering a few options, bearing in mind I'll be going down the
Sports route once[1] I pass the test:

1) A 125cc sports rep (CBR 125, Aprilia, Cagiva, NSR 125)
2) A restricted bigger bike (VFR 400 et al)
3) Do the entire DAS on a school bike then dive straight in at the 600cc
level.

Option 1 is winning in my tiny mind at the moment - Buy a 125cc rep,
practise like a bastard until tested, (and maybe even longer, depending on
confidence levels) then maybe a 400 to gain confidence with higher spec
machines before going to a 600.

Option 2 was mentioned to me by a friend who took that route a while ago.
I'm not entirely sure it would be legal though? Anyone put me right on that?

Option 3 seems to me like a one way ticket to A&E, and is not really the way
I would think to be sensible.

Eventually, I'd love to get my sweaty paws on either a GSXR 1000 or
Blackbird...... If I live long enough!

TIA


Dave




[1] IF!

 

No, you haven't.

 

He may have, depends if he goes with option 3.

 

Well, firstly you should work on your observation - your footnote has
pissed off while your back was turned.

I went for the Aprilia RS125, rode it round for 20 months and about 20K
miles. Moved onto a restricted SV650S, got used to that just in time
for the restrictors to come off, kept it for another 2 and a half years
before getting the 955 I have now.

I think it was a good route to go, spending time on a bike that was
designed to have 33bhp, instead of something overweight, overbraked and
over engineered for the power it had. At least, that was the thinking.
The changeover meant that when I jumped on the SV it accelerated faster
up to a point, then felt pretty gutless (I can say now). The SV is a
great first middle-sized bike if you don't fancy jumping straight on a
sports bike.

The only downside with this is the race-rep will be very expensive
if/when you drop it (it's likely you will, no matter how hard you hope
and try not to) in comparison to some commuter thing like the Honda
CG125.

If you can hold off on your sports bike aspirations for a year you can
get a years practise/falling off done on some old snotter, then use
your newfound No Claims Discount on something a bit more presentable.

 

in message

[snip]

Go the DAS route cos' once you've passed you will be able to ride anything
rather than be restricted to bikes of a certain power (not sure what the
limit is, around 45bhp ISTR, DSA site will tell you) for two years.

Also I think I learned a lot (about myself rather than riding) from doing
DAS a few years back. I'm not a 'natural' rider and the intensity of the
course pushed me to my limits and confirmed that, yes, I really do want to
ride a bike. If I had pissed about on a 125 I think it would have very
quickly lost the attraction and I would have settled down into viewing it as
simply a convenient and cheap form of transport, harbouring wishes of riding
something bigger when I could be bothered to get around to doing the test.

Word of warning though. IMHO DAS is probably one of the the most efficient
ways of obtaining a 'licence to kill' ever designed. Getting a license
through DAS should not be regarded as official recognition that you are a
good rider, but rather that you are now capable of going out on your own to
learn ... safely. I have learn't sooooo much more since doing mine. Go for
it.

 

I did Option 2 and ended up in A&E anyway, just try not to ride around
like a tit too often.

I passed my test on a 125 and took option 2 (bought restricted
Kawasaki ER-5) but if I had more confidence at the time I would have
done option 3.

When you do your CBT see how you get on. I explained what I was
planning to do and had my sights set on doing DAS, but after a couple
of half day courses I just didn't have the confidence on a bigger bike
having zero experience previously, and a very iffy sense of balance.

I said that I'd buy a 125 and ride around on it for a while until I
was ready for DAS, but they explained that I could do my test on a 125
and ride a restricted machine, which I'm currently doing. Now that
I'm used to it, and I've got over 4,000 riding miles under my belt in
two months I know that I'd handle a larger bike to DAS standard with
some extra training, so if I ever felt that way inclined, I'd do an
Accellerated Access.

Do your CBT, if your instructor feels that you're ready for it do DAS
or a couple of half day courses and then DAS. I regret not doing it,
but even a restricted ER-5 is great fun compared to a car.

 

Not go over 30mph?

 

In uk.rec.motorcycles, Slider amazed us all with this pearl of wisdom:

What happens on June 5th?

 

I might have a BlackBird for sale soon. The bloody thing never leaves my
patio. Seems a waste.

It's a special anti-Gatso model, by the way.

--

Paul.
CBR1100XX SuperBlackbird
BOTAFOT #4
BOTAFOF #30
MRO #24

 

Dave did scribe:

Umm, CBT perhaps?

I did 1) and 3)

I did the CBT and bought a 125 (though nothing flash) Then I rode the
125 around whilst waiting for a theory test and actual test date to
come through.

Then I had lessons on the three Sundays preceeding the test, using the
bike school's bikes (CB500).

Then I bought me a Bandit.

My reckoning was that this got me out on a bike straight away, whihc
was handy as I actually did want the thing for transport purposes.
Also, I got quite a lot of practice riding, so the switch to 500cc was
not too difficult for the test.


--
John (jsp)

SV 650
Black it is
And Naked

 

Spot on.

--

Paul.
CBR1100XX SuperBlackbird
BOTAFOT #4
BOTAFOF #30
MRO #24

 

Martin Watts did scribe:

DAS is not necessarily any more intense than going the non DAS route,
is it?

--
John (jsp)

SV 650
Black it is
And Naked

 

Christofire did scribe:

It was there when I looked.

--
John (jsp)

SV 650
Black it is
And Naked

 

I did Option 3, mainly because I wanted a bike and couldn't be arsed to ****
about with 125's or a restricted licence.

Rode a CB500 for a year, which is more than enough bike for a newbie (IMHO),
then bought the Zephyr on a sort of belated impulse.

If you do DAS, there is no law that says you have to buy a ridiculously fast
bike, you could start off with something sensible, and have the advantage of
being able to test ride more powerful stuff as and when you feel like it.

--
Dan L (Oldbloke)
My bike 1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr
M'boy's bike 2003 Honda NSR125R (Going)
Spare Bike 1990 Suzuki TS50X (Patio Ornament)
BOTAFOT #140 (KotL 2005), X-FOT#000, DIAABTCOD #26, BOMB#18 (slow)

 

[snip]

Something more akin to a bike test, than a bike itself.

 

In uk.rec.motorcycles, Slider amazed us all with this pearl of wisdom:

Yes, I see that now. I think he'd be better off with a 250 and learn how
to ride that. I don't think I'd want to own a big restricted bike.

 

I am 3/4 of the way through doing the above, except I'm planning on
going straight from a 125 to a 600 after I've done my DAS. The only
thing I regret doing to some degree was buying a shiny new 125. I think
fear of dropping it set back the development of my riding skills by
several weeks at least, as I was too scared of denting my new pride and
joy, or thrashing the engine to bits, etc, to start to learn to ride it
properly. As soon as I started thinking "**** it, let's have a laugh on
this thing" I started to feel a gradual improvement.

Definitely buy a second hand 125 rather than a new one, and if you want
to learn as fast as possible, buy an old shitter that you're not worried
about dropping a few times. I ignored this advice, and I think I was
probably wrong to. Still, I *do* have a bike that I really like and,
touch wood, I haven't managed to trash it yet (came close a few times
though, especially in the first few weeks).

 

Did my DAS last moth , before then had not riden a bike since I fell of
a gpz750r when i was 17 (20 yrs ago). I went straight for a VTR1000
Firestorm, 02 model. I am having great fun but i have not opened her
right up yet. Dont beleive the dropping it scaremongering I know plenty
of people who have never dropped their bikes, and Hey you live and learn
dont you.
Have fun dont ride like a twat and most of all have fun.
PS did I mention have fun?


--
______________________________________________
Ken
Life is like a pubic hair on a toilet seat!
Sooner or later your bound to get pissed off.
*Remove knickers to mail me
______________________________________________

 

And a CB500 is cheap to maintain and fix when you break 'em.

 

Really? Wow.

I thought everybody crashed at some time or another. Anybody here never
dropped it? Not even a little bit?

--
AndrewR, D.Bot (Celeritas)
Kawasaki ZX-6R J1, Fiat Coupe 20v Turbo
BOTAFOT#2,ITJWTFO#6,UKRMRM#1/13a,MCT#1,DFV#2,SKoGA#0 (and KotL)
BotToS#5,SBS#25,IbW#34, DS#5, COSOC# Suspended, KotTFSTR#
The speccy Geordie twat.