So My Test Is Booked, Now What Bike Do I Get...

Hi All,

First off, Happy New Year to everyone!

And now onto business, I've finally gotten around to booking my bike lessons
and test, theory's end of this month, CBT & DAS end of next month
(woo-hoo!). Now I have about £1000 to spend on a used bike and was hoping
for some recommendations.
I am after something which is:

Cheap to insure,
Cheap to run
Easy to maintain,
Decent build quality,
Unfaired or minimal fairing,
Not particularly 'nickable'
Can be thrown around country roads at weekends.

I realise I'm asking for quite a lot here but I've always been an awkward
SOB

Any suggestions anyone can offer, either on the bike front, or with regards
to the test, would be great!

Many thanks

Dan

 

CG125

 

Dan Ricketts wrote

A very old bike

A bike which is Sorned.

A two stroke

A Honda

Anything without a fairing

A middle sized engined bike over 10 years old

You already have a chronic lack of experience.

The big trick to learn is not how to fall off, this comes naturally, but
how to minimise the damage when you do.

Also have a read of the ukrm ffaq

 

Dnepr MT11.

 

snip

snip

Insert 'Back Protector' to that list ...... probably directly below
helmet

Oh, and you need a fairly reasonable helmet you could do worse than look at
Shark's triple laminate ones ...... They're not as good as Arai but they're
less than half the price if you shop around.

As for Bike fkn ambitious spec that but you just *might* find an old
........ oh **** what is the unfaired version of a Honda CBR 400 motor in a
steel frame called? I'm thinking CB 400 but then thinking that's the old
parallel 4 which is not really what he needs. Its a CB something is it a
CB4? A grey import circa 1990 - to '94 or so.


--
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).

 

Well, some interesting points raised so far.

I was looking to spend about £500-£600 on clothing/helmet/back
protection/etc. Perhaps my requirements are a little too picky (I did say I
was awkward!). To narrow it down a bit I'd have to say the most important
ones are decent build quality & something I can have a bit of fun on in
between the daily rides to and from work. I appreciate 'thrown around
country roads' possibly wasn't the best choice of wording, so allow me to
rephrase: 'A motorcycle which I will be able to drive on country roads and
have fun on when I have gained sufficient experience so as not to present a
danger to myself or anyone else', i.e. something that will grow with me as I
become more experienced (within the limits of what I have to spend). I was
thinking of something around the 600cc mark which would last me for at least
the next 3 years or so. As far as insurance is concerned, third party fire &
theft on a '93 diversion 600 runs to about £200 (how does a diversion fit my
criteria?)

Any sensible suggestions would be appreciated

Thanks

Dan

 

A Bandit's a good start but you won't find a decent one for £1000

 

I got a GSXR600 and paid for it over three years. Insurance is only 275 quid
FC a year and its not *that* likly to get nicked.

It does have a fairing mind. Other than that, I think its what your after.

--
Gavsta.
GSXR600K1
Z750 Race Bike
R6 Race bike (shared)

e: gwilby [at] stoof [dot] co [dot] uk
msn: gavsta2k [at] hotmail [dot] com
Web: http://www.stoof.co.uk

Currently Playing - "Eminen - Encore"

2794 tracks, 7.8 days, 11.23 GB.
20 gig 3rd Gen iPod.

 

FFS why not put knee sliders on the list; they'd go well with his CG 125.

I'm don't even agree with your order of priority.

Helmet - There are decent, good value polycarbs and low end fibreglass.
Jacket - I'd recommend a mid range textile type e.g. Bering.
Waterproof and has basic armour.
Gloves - Bose and Bering I've had for years were cheap and VFM.
Boots - Docs or army surplus will do to begin with.
Trousers - jeans will do but if you can get a pair of leather trousers
all the better. Don't forget get ones for motorcycling
not fashion ones

Waterproofs - these are *really* important; a decent pair of leggings
should be ok if you get a reasonable textile jacket.

Army surplus' are a good source of thermal under clothing and scarves.
Try to start with a reasonable, basic set of gear and build up from
there. Still not cheap though... but could be done for ~£325.

 

Apart from the bit on jeans, I'd agree with this. Dont think it has to
be purpose bike gear. It does a job, and if there is other stuff that
does the same job and is cheaper, get that instead.

At risk of starting something, what is the difference between a 60 squid
MTR and a 400 squid Arai?

 

Andy Bonwick wrote

I dunno. I have had a couple of clips on the ankle in London Traffic I
am grateful for the armour I habitually wear there. On the whole I
think that armoured boots have saved me more pain than anything else,
other than my Yerrat of course.

 

The name at a Guess

 

Whinging Courier wrote

I would have suggested 340 quid and the name. And I would be at all
surprised if the dearer one were only certified to a lower standard.

 

Kawasaki GPz500 - minimal fairing with reasonable performance,
light-weight and narrow - so easy to handle. Look for a post-94 model with
17" wheels and many other improvements.

Kawasaki ER-5 basically the same bike without a fairing and a detuned engine

Dave

 

Andy Bonwick wrote

I think this may be something to do with posture. On My Ole VT I could
use the protector to give meself a bit of lower back massage, which was
handy on a long ride. The same with the MZ. I don't even notice it is
there on the bindit but then again the longest ride I have had is only
about an hour so I don't know yet.

 

Andy Bonwick says...

Maybe you should speak to Matthew Fox from Wootton, my sister's brother-
in-law. He broke his back in a bike crash on his 17th birthday back in
1988, and is now confined to a wheelchair. I've known others suffer back
injuries on bikes too.

 

Andy Bonwick wrote:

My brother's mate put himself in a wheelchair when he came off but the
lesson he learned was not to carry cans of coke in your backpack.

 

I hurt my back lifting anti-ballistic containers in 1994 - does that
count? I had a bike at the time and couldn't ride it until they'd
fused a couple of vertibrae together.

 

John Higgins says...

It was a Coke can that did for Matthew's back, it was in the ditch he
ended up in.

 

Simon Atkinson says...

I have 3 vertibrae fused together in my lower back, I dropped a 350LC on
myself in the shed.