Enough of the chit chat, you know it all now
When are you booking your CBT?!
Edit: Join http://bikechatforums.com
Enough of the chit chat, you know it all now
When are you booking your CBT?!
Edit: Join http://bikechatforums.com
By the way, if balancing the bike is your biggest worry, id advise against starting with a sports one. You will be crouched down in a position that most people find much harder to balance (to begin with anyway) compared to something like a touring bike.
A touring bike will offer much more of an upright position. This is going to be much more comfy around town (lets be honest - you aint going to go at enough speed to get in the racing position on a 125) and finding your bearings on the bike.
Don’t choose a bike that looks “cool” over one that you find comfortable – you will regret it as soon as you come to your senses.
Go to a bike shop and sit on a few. A bike is all about you.
I'm Mozzer on there mate, and you?
Sorry to go OT but might be relevant for OP too...
How much would a CBT usually cost? are lessons ~ £20 per hour like with cars?
Would I need to send my driving licence back to the DVLA get bikes added on? + the fee for getting it changed?
If your already 21 before you start, can you do direct access as part of the A test?
Are bikes still worth considering, knowing its going to rain a lot for the next 6 months, and If i had one, it would mostly be used to get to work...?
And how do you stop your work clothes getting compleatly soaked?
Lastly how much should insurance cost with 1 years car NCB (irrelvant?), on a 125cc 14.6hp bike?
Taking each of your questions in turn:
CBT will usually cost between £80-100 for the entire day, including bike hire but excluding any damage waivers.
Updating your license doesn't happen until you pass a test, (CBT not included) and is included in the test fee (they give you all the paperwork)
Bikes are worth considering if you don't mind riding in the rain. If you get decent overtrousers to go over any armoured bike trousers & a waterproof jacket you will be home and dry. I would recommend changing at work if you do ride however, as most clothes (with the exception of jeans) don't get on with Motorcycling apparel.
The no claims wont be irrelevant, but wont make a lot of difference. For my 125 this year with a years bike NCB it was 327 TPFT (Honda Varadero), but I have passed my test. First year on a CBT only (ie no license) was £700 (however the bike is worth 2k, accessories 250 or so, and I was 17 and from essex)
If you are 21 before you do the test you wouldn't be doing the A category license, but DAS which is a slightly different kettle of fish.
Dave
Just to take issue with this - its usually only private sellers who will allow you to test ride the bike with a large damage deposit, Honda main dealers (near me at least) won't even allow me to test ride a CG until im 23. (same goes for CBRs FMX, Hornet etc)
Same issue for my Dad when he bought his bike - because he hadn't held his license for a year (or two in some places) he couldn't test ride the bikes. Therefore he bought blind, ended up with a Suzuki Bandit which whilst was ok, wasn't the best bike he could have chosen (plagued by a vague front end)
Second bike the dealers were quite weary, but with some documentation (mainly for ID purposes) they let him test ride a CBR1100XX which he then placed an order for. This does bear in mind that he is 45 and has been driving since he was 17, riding since 43 - so quite a difference in the way you get treated, at least at dealerships
Dave
hey guys, gotta jump in with a few things here.. Everything about the licence has been covered, just a few things to add about the other bits...
Firstly.. The Aprilia RS125.. Stonking little bike! IMHO about the best 125cc Race Rep you can get! de-restricted they'll reach 33bhp, and 0-60 in around 6 seconds and on to 3 figures! enough for you to lose your licence before the signature is dry! But along with this imense little 2 stroke engine, its a little bit delicate. You need to have some manner of mechanical sympathy to get the best from them, decent oil and decent plugs and an optimate.. along with the ability to pay for / DIY a top end re-build every 10k klms.. but the rewards from a 2 stroke are so much more than a 4 stroke.. the buzz as the powerband kicks in and screams off in a cloud of smoke is amazing! and something that once felt will never be forgotten! i'm 6' 4" and the wrong side of 15stone and it still gave me a great thrill to ride!
Clothing.. Budget for the best clothing you can afford. Never use a 2nd hand helmet.. you may find helmets on web shops varying from £30 upwards. You need to try a helmet on before you buy. Remember that the helment may save your life! Dont scrimp on it! Ask yourself how much your head is worth. £30? £100? £200?
Personally I wear an Arai Asto J, rrp £475 (when new). When I bought it, it was the previous years McCoy race rep so it only cost me £275! And thats a top of the line helmet, for the price of a middle of the road one!.
I commute 100 miles a day on my bike (Yam FZ6 Fazer) and wear 2 piece textiles, and a 1 piece oversuite in the rain. I have heated grips and an Autocom intercom system (for plugging the iPod into!). I throw my trousers and work shoes into the top box (used to use a tail pack on my old RSV) and get changed at work. I hate it when I have to do it in the car! It takes 45 mins door to door on the bike, and 5 minutes to get changed, or 1hour 15 mins in the car!
Also, the car averages 31mpg on the motorway (with a heavy right foot ) whereas the bike does a steady 45/50mpg at the same speed! So i'm saving the environment as well!
With regard to Test Rides, if you've got your full licence (no matter how long you've had it!) and a dealer wont let you take a bike your licenced to ride for a test ride, then go to a different dealer! I've only been riding for 2 years and am 32. In the past 12 months from various dealers i've test ridden 05 R1, '05 Blade, Gixxer Thou K5, SP2, '05 ZX10, '04 Aprilia RSV Factory (which I bought!), '06 Blackbird, FJR1300, Pan, Buell, CBR6RR, MT01, '06 Bandit 650, '06 Bandit 1200, CBF600, CBF1000, FZ6 (Which I bought) and the FZ1. I love test riding new bikes! Just to see how the handle differently to what i'm riding.
My wife also rides, and within 1 hour of passing her DAS she was test riding a VFR800 VTEC, and within 24 hours of passing her DAS she'd bought a VFR800 VTEC! She'd been riding for 6 months and her VFR went in for the linked brakes recall, and the dealer lent her a Blackbird as a loan bike!
Last edited by kaillum; 07-11-2006 at 06:46 PM.
I think I get a much different response due to being a 19 year old on a restricted license, but otherwise Kalliums points are true.
BTW, how did she like the blackbird? not as good at corners as the vfr so I understand, but 0-60 in 3.13 seconds can't be argued with (Dads got a 55 reg BB in the blue they no longer do)
Dave
Once again thanks to all your fantastic replies.... loads of really useful information here!!
Going to book my CBT on friday when I get paid.
Also, 0-60 in 3.13 seconds? Daaaaammmnnnn, I need to experiance that one day!!
personally, I'm not to struck on the blackbird, the riding position just wasn't comfortable for me.. It was neither a sports bike or a tourer.. just to in the middle for my liking... Whereas my wife loved it.. riding position for her was spot on, and she loved the weight of it... when she gets bored of the VFR she will be swapping for one..
and 0-60 times on bikes are nothing really.. when you look at my FZ6, it will do 0-62 in about 4.5 seconds.. my RSV was 3.7 and a Stobbart BSB Blade will do it in about 2 seconds.. so there is only 2.5 seconds between my FZ6 commuter bike and an out and out race bike! compare that to the 0-60 times between a 1.8 litre car about 10 seconds and a formula ford single seater at around 4 seconds! you can see that most bikes will cream just about any car on the road! I get bored of playing at traffic lights with anything that costs less than 100k!
I had a look on ebay, autotrader etc.. and couldnt really find any cheap bikes - atleast not in the way there are millions of <£500 cars on ebay... plenty of new offroaders though..
I suppose its becuase they are so easy to fix - or not worth fixing. Also they are so cheap to start with compared to cars - so they dont depresheite(sp?) so much..
it really depends on what your looking for..
you tend to find that 125's (especially the honda CG125!) will hold their value tremendously! If its got tax and mot then your gonna be paying at least £700 for it! regardless of the age.. simply because they have bullet proof engines and will do 100mpg! their not the fastest or best handling of bikes, but they go from a to b 24-7-365 with very little servicing! Due to their demand as learner bikes you'll be lucky to get a cheap one!
The other bikes that hold their value are 500's. With the 33bhp licence, these are the best bikes to ride, very little restriction is required, and the parallel twin engine takes the restriction very well..
Don't waste a load of money on a 125. Better IMO to do a course that will get you right through onto the bigger bikes. You won't waste money on a smaller bike. Also smaller bikes have relatively crap brakes / lights / suspension etc etc, and just about enough speed to get you into trouble but not out of it.
Plenty of the midrange bikes in the 500 to 600 category are restrictable for about £200, or if you look on afleabay / MCN or whatever there are quite a few about already restricted.
Better to get a twin if you ar getting restricted bike as they tend not to need the insane revs just to get moving (bikes typically rev at over twice what cars do - this isn't racing, just how they work. Twins however have more torque at low revs. Soms inline 4s do too though...)
I guess you haven't come across the Honda Varadero then?
Its often not a question of funding the test to get you on to the bigger things, as I had the money but wasn't old enough to do anything like direct access. I would also say riding a 4 stroke 125 such as the varadero is a reasonably safe introduction to motorbiking - enough power to get from a to b and have some fun, but not too much that you get yourself into trouble on the first bend.
Kallium - yea 0-60 times arent that important on bikes, but it just illustrates how powerful the bike is. Admittedly dad didn't like the position much - too leant over for him (he had a bandit before that) so he had risers fitted to the bars. One thing though, your wife might find that its not as fun as the vfr through corners, its less sporty in its setup (as standard at least) than the vfr.
Dave
Yep - avoid 2 strokes. Nasty nasty nasty little engines.
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