Very Newbie Question(s)

Hi,

I've been lurking to a certain extent for some months now,(much to the
detriment of my working productivity), and would like to ask you all a
few questions about stuff.

Also I'd like to apologise profusely if I'm top posting, but I'm not
quite up to speed with this USENET gubbins, but I'll get the hang of
it in a bit. But on with the questions which I have...

Having only a driving license,   I'll need the magic slip of paper so
the 1st question is....

CBT, drive about on a 'small bike' for a bit then do the 'proper'
license  or the direct access course. I think that my spending 5 days
on a bike, then getting a 500 (for arguments sake) is a bad idea,
which leaves me with another choice..

I could do a CBT and spend some time on a honda CG125 and get used
motorbikes to a certain extent. Then do the course and get a CB500 or
a kwak or summat like that.

Or.... There is an aprila rs125 which i see every day on my (push
bike) ride into work. And I have kinda convinced myself that i HAVE to
have one. Even though I know that it is, pretty
impractical/expensive/expensive to maintain.

And this leads on to my last question, as I may need to commute from
abbingdon to oxford soon, shall i buy my mate cg125 to commute on, or
do a direct access course and get a bigger bike.

I'm 23 and 11 months and 1 week, btw, which would affect the
insurance..

Thank you for your time.

Dave.

 

(ShavyDave) somehow managed to post:

<snip>

Welcome to USENET. Don't worry, you can't top-post if you start a
thread. Just make sure that when you *reply* to a thread, you put your
bits at the bottom, or like this post, interleaved to make a pleasant
reading experience for anyone who may not have seen you original post.

If you've got a couple of years road sense, I'd go the Direct Access
route, but it sounds like you're uncomfortable with the idea of going
for a big bike. Just because you've done your Direct Access, doesn't
mean you have to go out and get a Triumph Rocket III, but it opens up
your options quite a bit.

Never buy the first bike you see, and don't set your heart on one
'till you've test ridden a few to get a comparison.

You could *walk* from Abingdon to Oxford. Ask yourself what you
*really* want the bike for.

Makes little difference, you've got to bite the bullet sometime. Just
try to stay below group 10 to start with. I'm guessing, but even at
23, that should give you Fully Comp for under 500UKP.

HTH

 

On 8 Sep 2003 17:55:59 -0700, (ShavyDave) wrote:

You can't top ppost (or maybe have to top post depending on your
perspective) when starting a new thread. Just make sure that you
reply like we are

I did this cos I wasn't totally sure I wanted to ride motorbikes.
IMHO it made DAS very easy, with 6 months raod experience under my
belt. OTOH riding a 125 in / round London is downright dangerous
IMHO. Also 'proper' bikes tend to handle much better and are *way*
more fun.

<snip>
--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
Alfa 116 Giulietta 3.0l. Really, Sprint 1.7
Ducati Monster 600 Metallic
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

 

F*ck me! 800 snotters? Well, I said I was guessing.

It all comes from being the wrong/right[1] side of 35. I got a brand
new GSX750F (group 10/11?) fully comp for 350 quid with Carole Nash,
and that was my first bike after passing my direct access.

It went up to 500 after I'd bounced it down the road and had it
written off. Now with 12 months NCB[2] it's back to 350 quid[3].

[1] Depending on viewpoint.
[2] And a replacement GSXF
[3] Not to gloat, but just for info to show how truly shocked I am.

 

Wot he says. I didn't do DAS (as I've said on this ng before) because
I was too short for the instructors' bikes, and went straight to a
restricted 400. Not an ideal learner's bike, I am now finding out.
That and the fact that I feel like I know *nothing* about riding a
bike that can actually do 60 mph+, and well, accelerate, brake, etc
etc. You'd get all that with DAS, and then you can still go out and
buy a 125 if you want!

I've developed a lot of confidence problems in the 2 months I've been
riding simply by not having had the 'voice of experience' accompany me
on the faster bike.

As for insurance, etc, I'm 27, had car licence 10 years and got fully
comp for my bike restricted at 520 ukp. which i thought was a bit of a
billy bargain, all things considering.

 

Gareth is 20 and his insurance on a 600 Bandit [1] is 316 Third party
only.

[1] Insurance companies ignore the restricted bit.

 

I know, I know. Will's bike's been off the road, so we haven't been in
touch to go for a ride out with you. What you up to later this
evening? If this gorgeous weather holds and Will doesn't object...

I have been out with Will, and also with my old instructor, but it's
not the same as having the voice over the headset reminding you what
you should be doing rather than telling you what you did when you
stop.

 

On Tue, 09 Sep 2003 13:50:34 +0100, Power Grainger

First time I was out on the road without voices in my head was during
my test. Suddenly everything seemed *so* much easier......

--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
Alfa 116 Giulietta 3.0l. Really, Sprint 1.7
Ducati Monster 600 Metallic
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

 

I'm taking Lilian for a meal then to the pictures and then shopping.

I know.

 

I did do it this way and it did work for me. I did cbt in December and
got a 125 which I rode until DAS in March. I didn't go intensive, but
had lessons for the three Sundays preceding my test (1 minor fault)

That was a couple of years ago now. I did it that way because having
decided I was going to get a bike I wasn't patient enough to wait for
DAS (I also wanted it then to go to work and get off the pushbike). I
also couldn't afford the whole lot in one go. This allowed me to spread
the expense.

This is still good advice.


--
John

SV650
Black it is
and naked

 

Good[1]. So...experience of all the different flavours of roundabouts[2] and
other road users[3].

This one. Bigger bikes are more stable, an importantly, quicker than
cages[4] which (kind of lessens the risk of some daft blind fuckwit
cagedriver clipping you from behind or squeezing you into the gutter.)

Beleive me, I've just (well, a couple of months ago), gone through DAS. The
CG125s were OK, but the GS500 blew me away, and it was soo much easier to
ride.

(I have since got a 125, but that'll be derestricted soon (woo!) and was
bought to i) get experience of two strokes, ii) larking around in
fields/greenlanes, and iii) winter commuting.)

Get online quotes.

Angus.
SV650s DT125R
IMANASS#9


[1] But needs supplementing with a bike licence :=)
[2] or other junctions/conflagrations/road geography. Especially the weird
ones, like the quadruple mini roundabout someone told me about.
[3] Not just angry cages, blue-hair cages,
make-up-mirror-in-between-the-sunblinds cages, slow cages, smelly cages,
boy-racer cages[5], but also the other stuff - pushbikes, mopeds, tractors,
horses, tanks, combine harvesters.
[4] Most bikes, most cages.
[5] Why oh why would anyone spend hundreds of pounds on exhausts, gofaster
stripes, and window tint on a one litre 12 year old Vauxhall Nova?

 

Is that because you couldn't hear the examiner's instructions then?

 

No, he sent me off round the block for the emergency stop.

--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
Alfa 116 Giulietta 3.0l. Really, Sprint 1.7
Ducati Monster 600 Metallic
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

 

I was vaguley expecting to fail. Well chuffed that I didn't though

Our instructor was quite sensible. And I have to say that if I never
ride an ER5 again it will be too soon


--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
Alfa 116 Giulietta 3.0l. Really, Sprint 1.7
Ducati Monster 600 Metallic
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

 

Googled: http://www.swindonweb.com/life/lifemagi0.htm

Angus.