Good UK Bike community sites?

[Romanov]

As you know Im going for CBT and DAS soon but does anyone know any good bike sites in the UK? Especially with active forums of meets etc, I tried MCN but its rubbish this has good forums but not so bike sprecific so if you know some good sites I can drool at bikes let me know!
thnx
Romanov

[Romanov]

while we are at it Im torn between getting the Honda CBR600RR or the Suzuki GSXR 600 k4 both nice bikes but Suzuki is currently getting all the votes for perfromance and stability. 600RR is very good too but people moan its got no pull in the low rev ranges and only really wakes up at 10k revs. Any ideas on what 600 I should get?

[TeePee]

If you are just doing your CBT then the last thing you have to worry about is pull in the low rev ranges. Even after riding one for a couple of years your riding will not be at a stage in which you will be able to use the performance available to you. As for bike community, get yourself into the local branch of the IAM!

[Tumble]

well from personal experience.. (sat on the back of a CBR 600) the claim that it's got nowt low down is a load of testicles.... sitting at 30mph, in top, the engine's doing just over tickover, about 1200 revs perhaps... a big twist of the loud bit and it flies to 70 in about the time it takes to fill one's trousers quite thoroughly.. lovely machine. I would have felt much safer (provided I had sufficient licencing) doing 160 on the 600 than I would doing 60 on me 125 TZR.... scarily reassuring ride for a quick thing... The Suzuki probably does just the same tbh.... albeit with a better gearbox, unless Honda have sorted their clunky gearboxes they've had since forever...

[Devilbod]

Honda every time for me - perfect first bike because they can take a lot of abuse.

Biker websites - www.noddingdogs.org - Caution this is completely unmoderated and abuse is of the adult nature, but has a very nice design once you get used to it more like a IRC chat than forums.
Another one is http://www.visordown.com/forums/
Box Hill, is a good meet on a Sunday - it has a weebie http://www.boxhill.co.uk/ with a forum - worth a look.
Or theres Ace cafe http://www.ace-cafe-london.com/ which has a poo website.

[Devilbod]

I should have added, I've got a Hornet 600cc and it did have the flat spot but it was only noticable after about a year of riding the bike (i.e. when I go used to it).
It now doesn't have the flat spot - getting it stage one tuned, and a race can gets rid of it.
Also the CBR600RR is said to have the best handling that you can get out of all the 600's.

No contest for me

[Rave]

I'd get a Kawasaki ZX636 personally, but all the modern 600s are superb bikes, I'd be happy to own any of them. They are scarily fast too, believe me you won't be worrying about a lack of pull low down when you ride one for the first time- I suspect you'll find the bike you do your direct access course on will feel pretty damned fast the first time you ride it!

Rich :¬)

[Romanov]

Ive got a feeling your right about noticing these things as a starter person and its true that alot of people have said the CBR has road manners for the new rider whilst the suzuki is less forgiving.

Yep DAS is scating the hell out of me but hey its all instructed so hopefully they are gobba get me thru

Boxhill!!! - Its just down the road from me!!

thnx for the lnks and comments

[Devilbod]

A mate of mine had a Gixer 600 it was an older model but he said it was heavy work on the wrists, making long journeys a bit of a pain. Wonder if they've sorted that out?

[Shogun]

Any idea what cc bike you can have when your 18? Thinking of getting one when i go to uni....

[Devilbod]

Basically in a nut shell at 17 you can do you CBT, a light bike test and a full bike test but you can't ride anything over 33bhp until your 21, but you can restrict a bike to 33bhp.

So that means anything up to a 125cc (14.6bhp) with a CBT.
The CBT only lasts for 2 years - by then you have to have done a Full car or Bike test or you get a year ban (?). And I'm not 100% sure but I don't think you can carry passengers or use the motorway.

There is the Light Motorcycle licence which means you do your test on a 75cc (a scooter) and is probably cheaper, but your still limited to a 125cc(14.6bhp) but you can carry people, use motorways and get rid of the 'L' plates.

With a full test your looking at 250cc and a few 400cc, but you can get anything restricted to 33bhp with a kit, so you can get a FireBlade if you want and restrict it but thats just funny , but I would be very supprised if it doesn't damage the engine over time and make it almost impossible to ride
With a Full Motorcycle licence, your doing your test on a 125cc then you can carry people, use motorways and get rid of the 'L' plates. Then at the age of 21 you can ride anything.

More info here: http://www.dvla.gov.uk/drivers/rdmcycle.htm

Here are some good 'Sports' 125cc in no order with goole pics links, not sure if they all come in under the 14.6bhp mark though, deffinatly under 33bhp:

Honda NSR 125
Honda NS125

Suzi RG125

Yamaha TZR 125

MITO 125

Benelli Jarno 125

Gilera CX125
Gilera SP01
Gilera MXR125

Aprilia RS125
Aprilia Europa
Aprilia AF1 Futura
Aprilia AF1 Sintesi
Aprilia AF1

And a little list of the types of bikes you can ride that are already under 33bhp:

Honda
Rebel 250
GB250
Steed 400
CB400
FT500
XL500S
XL500R
BROS400 I had one of these .
GB400TT
NV400C
VRX400
MAGNA250
CB250RS
CB250NH
XLR250
XLR250Degree
XR250

Kawasaki
KE175-D
Z200-A
Estrella 250
KL250-C
Z250
EL250-D/F
KL250 D7
KLX250-G

Suzuki
Goose 350
DR350S
Intruder 400
DR250S
Desperado 400
DR400S
SP400
SP370
GS250T
GSX250E
GT200
LS650F
SB200
LS400Savage
LS400Tempter
SX200
VS400
TS185ER
TS250ER
GN250
DR350SE
LS650P

Yamaha
DT175MX
RD200DX
RS200 - is a car?!
2RV250
XS250SE
XS250
XT250
SRX250
Drag Star 400
SRX400
SR500
SR250
XV250
XT350
TT250
Serow 225
SR400
SR500

I'm afraid that there arn't many sports that are over 125cc but under 33bhp, most of the Sports 250cc need restricting.

Probably a bit of over kill but if anyone knows any I might have missed put them up .

[TeePee]

Good list, I'm sure it's useful for a few people. All I'd ad to that is the simple advice from personal experience that a 500cc bike restricted to 33bhp will be far more useable and rewarding than any of the sports 125's.

[Rave]

Basically in a nut shell at 17 you can do you CBT, a light bike test and a full bike test but you can't ride anything over 33bhp until your 21, but you can restrict a bike to 33bhp.
<snip>
With a Full Motorcycle licence, your doing your test on a 125cc then you can carry people, use motorways and get rid of the 'L' plates. Then at the age of 21 you can ride anything.

Actually you are restricted to a 33hp bike for two years. I passed my test when I was 17 1/2, so I've been entitled to ride any bike I like since I was 19 1/2. Rather irritatingly my licence doesn't actually have my class A entitlement on it, only 33hp, so I'm wondering if it's a sneaky con to get me to send it back and have to pay for a new photo licence or some such ****. Anyway, if you were to pass your test at the age of 20, say, you'd have to wait until you were 22 to be automatically allowed to ride any bike; you could do the direct access at 21 if you wanted to though.

So that means anything up to a 125cc (14.6bhp) with a CBT.
The CBT only lasts for 2 years - by then you have to have done a Full car or Bike test or you get a year ban (?). And I'm not 100% sure but I don't think you can carry passengers or use the motorway.

I'm not sure about the ban- the DVLA page here doesn't mention it any more, although the CBT still expires after 2 years, so presumably you'd need to retake it. You're right that you can't take passengers or ride on motorways though.

Nice list BTW

Rich :¬)

[Devilbod]

Ah cheers rich , those DVLA pages are as clear as mud and it seems to change every year .
When I did my CBT it was the first time I'd ever got on a bike and it was on a Cub90cc , after a year I did the test on the same bike (no clutch ), then got a 400cc Bros crashed that twice, then a year later got a CBR600cc. Now got the Hornet .

[phil1965]

[RVF500]

The GSXR is a single minded racer with lights and indicators. It is a great trackday bike or one for weekend blasts. I owned a GSXR750 for 2 years and loved it. But for a first timer. I would suggest setting your sights elsewhere. You'll live longer for starters. It is also crippling over any kind of distance due to the riding position which is high pegs and a long reach down to the bars.

As tumble said. The CBR is perfectly capable of curing your constipation. And in terms of out and out performance is in the same ball park as the GSXR though is more refined about it. Much more comfortable to ride and if you want your chic on the back she'll be much happier with the pillion on the CBR. But if you want to blast then take it from me you can peg a CBR out no trouble even with race rearsets on. Sadly I can't post attachments or I would show you the result of enthusiastic cornering on a CBR.

Bottom line really is. What do you want from your bike? But I would take the time to learn to ride (which really occurs after your test) on something more mundane for a bit and then make a more informed choice. I had a Bandit 400 before I bought the GSXR750 and had plenty of fun on that. Power I could handle at an early level.