Motorbikes..

[brainbug007]

Having now ridden for 9 months on a 125 I'm now considering taking my test and upgrading my bike. I'm torn though between just taking the restricted A2 test (limited to < 33bhp bike around 250cc) for 2 years or paying a bit more to take the direct access test and going for a bigger bike straight off (I'm thinking around the 600cc mark). I'm wondering roughly what the difference in things like mpg will be like between the 250cc and 600cc range bearing in mind I mostly use my bike for commuting and my 125cc is quoted at 70mgp but I'm geting well over that at 150-200mgp depending on how I ride. I'm also thinking that having a taste for it now if I buy a 250cc I'll only want to upgrade again later and maybe it'd be better to just buy a good bigger bike this time round that will last and save myself some cash further down the road? Also can anyone comment on what the difference in performance is like between a 250cc and 600cc? I'm planning to get a cruiser if that makes any difference and I'm not bothered really about top end as I don't really drive over 70/80mph on motorways etc.

[bertie_bas205]

If its for commuting and speed isn't yer thing stick with the 125....

I have a gixer 750, I'm not a speed freak, more of a power freak...

Its not that cheap to run, fuel wise and for parts....

e.g, brakes from Suzuki, £300/disc + £30ish for pads.

Saying this, ye can't beat the freedom and the buzz of a bigger bike....






Bertie.

[brainbug007]

Ya it's more the inability of the 125cc to go up hills or get over 50mph on a dual carriage way thats got me fed up and wanting to upgrade.

[bertie_bas205]

Ya it's more the inability of the 125cc to go up hills or get over 50mph on a dual carriage way thats got me fed up and wanting to upgrade.

What type of 125 is it??

There are some real nippy 125's out there now..

I bought the Girlfriend a 125 Supermoto, it'll never get on the back wheel up through the gearbox but for learning on, reliability, economy and "does what it says on the tin" its ideal....

She too now wants to move to a bigger bike, not to go quicker but to keep up at 60 and have the ability to overtake slow moving vehicles without needing 4 mile of road to do it ( ye need to ask her about the "slip streaming" effect of a bus)....

The thing is when i was looking for a 125 for her, the bigger bikes, 600's etc where coming in at the same price as a new 125...






Bertie.

[brainbug007]

It's a yamaha YBR 125 Custom I have which quotes a max speed of 65mph but even going downhill i've nearly really got far above 60mph and even then it took ages to get from 50 to 60 and the poor bike was screaming and quite close to the redline :( Ya I was planning on going for a used bike when I upgrade as my YBR is a 2011 plate with only 2k miles on it so I should hopefully get 2k back on it towards the upgrade. I quite liked the look of they hyosung gv250/650 (http://www.hyosung.co.uk/range.php) . From everything I've read about them they sound good as they used to manufacture for susuki and the quality of them is just as good if not better than the jap bikes but without having to pay extra for a big brand name.

[bertie_bas205]

I'd go to a good, honest dealer... Even if its just to test drive before ye buy.

theres alot of good bikes out there, even the imports are comin at it....







Bertie.

[davedew]

I did my restricted test when I was 17, then rode around for two years on a smaller bike. Good way to get experience. Couple of years out then bought a Honda XLR250R Jap import for a bit of off roading / commuting.

Got fed up of that bought a Triumph TT600. Difference is massive. Ability to break any speed limit in second gear without even thinking. Trouble was I didn't ride it enough so when I did it was like I was on a race track.

Got rid of that in the end when my son was born. Somebody other than myself to think about. Decided to build the roadster so that we could both enjoy it when it gets finished.

As said before, cost of parts & servicing if you go to a dealer is a lot on the bigger bikes.

[monsterob]

I would take the direct acess test and then pick something mid range around 400-600 ccs i had an rvf400 as my first bike it was fantastic enough power and handled really well wasnt bad on fuel either. Done the faster stuff and gone back to around 80hp now as thats plenty. Good commuters have always been bandits hornets etc even some of the lower spec ducati monsters can be good commuters but the parts arent the cheapest. :o

[brainbug007]

All good advice, thanks guys and keep it coming :) I'm definately not interested in something that does 70+mph in second gear :eek: I'll keep that kind of fun for the roadster ;) I'm really want a cruiser over a street or sport bike and something that will comfortably do 70mph and not struggle to do things like overtake. I can't really seem to find much though as it sounds like a 250cc might not be powerful enough for that with a good one having around 30 bhp. Strangely alot of the 400cc cruisers I looked into had even less than that!

[TQ_uk]

I'm with monsterob on this one, though not sure how the laws have changed since I did my direct access (way back in '97).

I had a Virago 535 as my first bike which I found gutless within a few months of riding. Had sportbikes ever since (mainly GSXRs) but as others have said if economy is important go for something 'commuter'-ish and common (Bandit, Fazer, Hornet, SV etc) all which will be plenty fast enough.
Or even CB500, ER5/6 etc

Oh, and personally I'd avoid any 'grey' import 400s (eg Bandit 400) as parts can be an issue.

[Jimmyd]

Once you go up the cc's you are going to use more fuel, however, it very much depends on how you ride it. My VTR1000 does 18 mph if being ridden hard!! Being very very careful it would do close to 40mpg. Either way I'd do the direct access.

J

[K4KEV]

Bluddy hell I can out run a VTR1000 wi just me legs:eek:

[robo]

Ya it's more the inability of the 125cc to go up hills or get over 50mph on a dual carriage way thats got me fed up and wanting to upgrade.

The most valid point regarding safety, Have never understood this 30mph for a moped and like you say the inability of a 125 to maintain a decent speed. I know things have to be limited for the novice rider but not to the point of all the traffic on the road trying to get past. When I took my bike test you only had to go round the block a few times:p :p

Bob

[brainbug007]

Ya I'm starting to come round to your guys suggestions. Sounds like getting a cruiser is only going to annoy me long term despite how cool they look. I definatly don't want something with silly speed so maybe going for a 250cc supersport is the way to go? That way it's still reasonably quick and should handle motorways ok and still maintain a "reasonable" mpg when I'm not driving hard. As well with it still being a smaller bike, hopefully the spare parts won't cost quite as much either!

[davidimurray]

Brainbug

If you never have had a go on different 'configuration' of bike then it's worth trying a few to see what suits your style. I'm presuming your going to do some commuting? If so that's similar to the decision process I went through when i bought mine years ago. First thing motorways/dual carriageways - if you're going to be doing them day in day out get a bike with a fairing and fit a nice double bubble screen - having had naked bikes before the difference is phenomonal. Secondly how big are you - if you go for a sports bike then be prepared for ass up, head down and high pegs. Some people find this very uncomfortable as to ride properly you need to support your weight and not put it all on the bars. As an example the CBR1000 gives me agonising back pain because of the riding position. Finally what is your riding style - do you want to be 'on it' most of the time or do you prefer to be more chilled out. The difference between V twins and inline four engine is amazing. My sister has a Fazer s2 and I hate riding it because of the engine - you always have to be 10K+ on the revs or you have no power available. I have an SV650S and it is perfect for me, good fairing (mine's fully), comfortable for long journeys yet if you want to have a blast you can and the torquey V twin means you can happily pull all the way from almost idle to the redline without changing gear makes it a very nice relaxed riding experience. I get about 45-55 mpg on the motorway sat at 80-90 and normally about 125miles to a tank before the warning light comes on.

[baz-r]

just do direct test route then ride whatever you want just because you have a an unristricted licence you dont have to ride a higher power bike
there are lots of good bikes you can buy just over the restriction limit but few under it and prices will be a premimum for them
im sure you will easly save the higher cost of the price in test.

[ozzy1]

I would go look at a few bikes at a shop,enquire about test rides and also get insurance quotes as this may narrow the selection.Personally ive always prefered plastic projectiles,zx7r,gsxr,rg etc.Speed freak really but i progressed through from, 125 to 250 to 350 to 750 to 900.The difference between your 125 and a 600(sportsbike) is like comparing a pushbike to a missile,.The other thing with a fast bike you are not used to is that you can approach a corner at a stupid speed without realising and then your up shit creek trying to go around it:eek:
Have a look a something like a vfr400,cheap to buy and maintain,plenty quick enough and good on fuel and the insurance shouldnt be too bad either.I test rode one of these after having a gsxr750 and was mighty tempted.

[brainbug007]

Thanks for all the advice guys, this helps loads. I'm definitely going to test drive a few at nearby dealers once I've got the test out of the way. At the moment I'm leaning towards the kawaski 250 ninja. The price isn't too bad on them and with them being fairly common I'm hoping parts won't be too bad or expensive to get. The spec sounds really good on them too at 5.5 sec for 0-60 and a top speed around 100mph so I'm guessing sitting at 70-80mps on a dual carriageway won't be painful. They also sound to have alot of nice upgrades in terms of liquid cooling, uprated gearbox, etc. I'm just under 6ft tall and weigh about 15 stone (bit of a beer belly lol) so I'm hoping the riding position won't be too bad on a sportbike like the ninja but I won't know for sure till I try one out. So far I've only had experience on a naked bike and I'd have to agree about the shield. I found the wind too much on it and put a fly screen on and that made a huge difference.

From a usage standpoint, it'll mainly be used for commuting and a bit of fun at the weekends for a year or two till I have the roadster completed :) My typical commute consists of 20 mins of windy country roads, 5 mins on a dual carriageway, then another 30 mins down city roads into the center of bristol. Which makes me think in some ways the cruiser probly won't be a good option as they're alot bigger so it wouldn't be as easy to nip thru the queues.

[ozzy1]

Try to get a test ride long enough for you to ride your usual route to work as this will give a good impression to you and also show you anything you dont like as you will be riding those roads every day.

[monsterob]

Its just screaming vfr 400 / rvf400 to me my freind ! Make sure you get a test ride on one its already liquid cooled and sounds lovely with a carbon can co. twin exit pipe on it .

[robo]

How about the best of both worlds

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6rX874LEhzs/TiTidMTnvMI/AAAAAAAAAVQ/NmZyOrPiBec/s1600/f1479+trex+-1.jpg

Bob

[brainbug007]

Lol nice idea bob but I wouldn't really be able to get through the traffic quickly :(

[brainbug007]

Really starting to like the look & sound of the 4th generation 250 ninja, there's alot of really good reviews of them that sound perfect for what I want :)

http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/motorcycles/2012models/2012-Kawasaki-Ninja250R.htm

http://www.topspeed.com/motorcycles/motorcycle-reviews/kawasaki/2010-kawasaki-ninja-250r-ar72522.html

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/bikereviews/searchresults/Bike-Reviews/Kawasaki/Kawasaki-250R-Ninja-2008-current/

[bertie_bas205]

That looks like a good wee machine....

Im maybe thinking i should've went for a newer lighter machine.

But boys and thier toys and after 4 years of chasing i ended up with what i wanted......

http://i342.photobucket.com/albums/o438/Bertie_bas205/027.jpg





Bertie.

[robo]

Try to get a test ride long enough for you to ride your usual route to work as this will give a good impression to you and also show you anything you dont like as you will be riding those roads every day.

My mate did exactly this, he trollied into the local bike shop and they offered him the chance to use anything they had that was second hand. He tried a few and ended up with a giant scooter which ended up with him bearing the brunt of the piss taking on the boys curry night out. But in fairness it gave him a chance to try before you buy and he got what he wanted.

Bob