opinons on a new motor bike anyone?

tdvit

Hi there,

I have decided to ditch the car in favour of a motor cycle. cant handle the traffic anymore. I have read the motor cycle FAQ's on boards and is very informative and helpful

I am only applying for my provision bike license for the first time at the moment and I am looking around at my options for the kind of bike to get. I want to stay in the category 2 bikes to keep my insurcance cost down. I'm not really a fan of racing type bikes, I kind of like the chopper type bikes. The Yamaha Virago 125 is nice enough and seems like a good sturdy bike and falls in to catergory 2 with the insurance companies. However I am only new to all of this and just wondered what other peoples opinons are on first time bikes. Can anyone offer me any advice? Am I wiser to buy from a garage as opposed to privately?

thank you

a_ominous

Welcome to the dark side

Give us an idea of budget, commute (types of roads + mileage).
If you're riding in 30mph limits, the Virago is probably okay. But since it's powered, acceleration is poor and you might be putting yourself at unneccessary risk on dual carriageways. My first bike was a 125 Marauder and got me through the initial learning curve. But I changed it after 2 months for the reason above.

I'd buy first bike from a shop. Unless you know what you're looking for/at or have a mate who does, don't go private. Just for peace of mind. When you know more, then you can go the private purchase route. Shops will offer a warranty which the private seller won't.

Book some lessons for your first week. If you buy from a shop, you could get the bike delivered and have a trainer meet you at your gaff.

Helmet, jacket, locks, boots, trousers. Reckon on about 300-400 to get started. I would say it depends on the bike. Sports bike => leathers + expensive lid, locks and possibly an alarm. But not in this case...

HTH
-ao-

spockety

Pretty much echo what ominous says above.. be sure and factor in a few hundred quid for training, and definitely at least 300 for a helmet, jacket, gloves, and trousers, at LEAST!

You are making the right decision, and you will wonder how you EVER coped in a car every day. Even in the rain you'll be laughing.

I personally wouldn't get a Virago mind you, they are hideously underpowered. In category 2 you could get something like a Yamaha TW125, or a TDR125, or a Honda Varadero 125. All of them will have more poke than the Virago I'd say.

BTW, apply for your test asap as well, it is very easy.

You will outgrow your 125 within about 4 months, it happens to everyone, after that, my money's on a honda BROS 400.

Enjoy!

tdvit

thank you my friend

OK I live in lucan and will be travelling towards ranelagh everday. so roads are pretty good. i have driven motorcycles before so I am confident on the driving front. A friend of mine knows a lot about motor bikes and has offered to check them out with me.

How would I be putting myself at unneccessary risk on dualers with the virago? I dont really understand what you are saying??? the 125 marauder looks nice alright, I would defo consider that. But you dont seem happy with 125's in general because they are not good for bigger roads? what would you suggest?

a_ominous wrote:

Welcome to the dark side

Give us an idea of budget, commute (types of roads + mileage).
If you're riding in 30mph limits, the Virago is probably okay. But since it's powered, acceleration is poor and you might be putting yourself at unneccessary risk on dual carriageways. My first bike was a 125 Marauder and got me through the initial learning curve. But I changed it after 2 months for the reason above.

I'd buy first bike from a shop. Unless you know what you're looking for/at or have a mate who does, don't go private. Just for peace of mind. When you know more, then you can go the private purchase route. Shops will offer a warranty which the private seller won't.

Book some lessons for your first week. If you buy from a shop, you could get the bike delivered and have a trainer meet you at your gaff.

Helmet, jacket, locks, boots, trousers. Reckon on about 300-400 to get started. I would say it depends on the bike. Sports bike => leathers + expensive lid, locks and possibly an alarm. But not in this case...

HTH
-ao-

Chalk

ive had a virago 125 for about 2 years now.
after a few months youll definitley want something with a bit more go.
the bike has never given me a single problem tho,
im not very engine minded so i like not having to do anything to keep it running
the only thing i didnt like is that when i tried to have a mess about with it myself, i found that haynes dont do a manual for it, not sure if this is standard for smaller bikes tho.
the only reason im still on the virago is that the insurance is insane on bikes
im hoping to upgrade soon anyway , probably to a bros like spockety said.

basically the virago is a good first bike, easy to learn and comfprtable. low maintenace and cheap to run
it a bit slow and might have you crying as kids on skateboards whizz past you tho:P

edit///

just sen your post about the motorway
the bike itself is heavy and underpowered
when a truck whips past you at 60-70 the wind can give you a a good kick
have been knocked over a foot off course in soem situations
i generally avoid the motorway but to get to work have to do about halk a mile of it and its no fun in the rain/wind at all

tdvit

thanks fella's. but just how slow in the virado. whats its top speed? im not looking for anything super fast. just want something reliable, cheap and comfy but I dont like the idea of being past out by kids on skate boards :eek:

a_ominous

How would I be putting myself at unneccessary risk on dualers with the virago? I dont really understand what you are saying??? the 125 marauder looks nice alright, I would defo consider that. But you dont seem happy with 125's in general because they are not good for bigger roads? what would you suggest?

The problem with a 125 cruiser is this: you've filtered to the red light. Waiting in front of cars, lights go green. Then it takes _aaaaaggggggeeeessss_ for the fri(king thing to get to 30mph. Car drivers will go through you for a shortcut. My bro had a GS125 which had same power as Marauder 125 but was 25% lighter. BTW my commute is also along the N4, and I found the 125 under-powered. I do see small scooters on my route, but they tend to use the bus lanes.
I think the TDR125 or similar might be better. It's tall seat gives good visibility. It's light and narrow so could allow easier filtering. Just don't use the cycle lanes along the canal I did go looking for a 250 traillie but nothing doing at the time. Have a look in the Buy and Sell too to get ideas of current prices.

seamus

tdvit wrote:

thank you my friend

OK I live in lucan and will be travelling towards ranelagh everday. so roads are pretty good. i have driven motorcycles before so I am confident on the driving front. A friend of mine knows a lot about motor bikes and has offered to check them out with me.

How would I be putting myself at unneccessary risk on dualers with the virago? I dont really understand what you are saying??? the 125 marauder looks nice alright, I would defo consider that. But you dont seem happy with 125's in general because they are not good for bigger roads? what would you suggest?

I drove a marauder for about 2 years. Looks good to non-bike people, they think it's cool, but not very much poke at all. Most of my driving consisted of Lucan -> UCD, and the bike showed considerable strain after a while. Services will be more frequent. The bike was badly burning off oil, due to the amount of driving I was doing with the throttle fully back, straining to keep her at 50mph on th edual carraigeways.

So now I have a Varadero. Lovely bike. Much more stable, much more powerful, and seems to be easier to keep clean too (probably the lack of chromed bits). Still group 2 though. I'd be driving something bigger if I wasn't being screwed for insurance.

If you go for a cruiser, try to go for a twin cylinder. It'll stand better to you in the long run.

The Varadero is quite expensive, but as others have said here, it's more expensive for a very good reason. Price has dropped recently too. A TDR 125 is a little more powerful again than the Varadero, but it's two-stroke, so requires more careful use and maintenance. Still a nice bike though.
Most powerful in the group is the NSR125R, which is a restricted racing-style bike. I don't like it for its skinny, stripped-down look, and i's irritating engine noise, but plenty here would disagree.

tdvit

what about the Yamaha Virago 250? would this be much of a step up in power. sorry if my questions are remedial

arch20000

My first bike was a honda bros 400. I had a lot of experience with old scooters and the like so it wasn't such a big step.

I recommend you take the plunge get a 400cc but get lessons and good safety gear. A bike like that is great, once you have learnt how to drive, you have a good bike that you can do long and short hops and also you can blow other motors away if you want with all that lovely front tork!! Otherwise you've got a showy choppery 125 with the looks but little else.

You can pick one up (Honda Bros) for less than 2 grand. Bray honda centre and some of those other importers used to sell them.

Seriously though, get the lessons and do the test. It's easy to get carried away when starting out. Remember watch out for all those sloppy car drivers. It's amazing how bad some car drivers are and don't even see bikes.

best of luck

Boggle

I was hoping to be able to get a bike next year (mainly for summer use) though I'll be in the same situation as the thread starter. Whats the insurance situation for a beginner these days? I know you cant have summer insurance (i.e. 3 month) so what kind of numbers would I be looking at? (I'm 25 by the way not even a provo on a bike yet)

seamus

Boggle wrote:

I was hoping to be able to get a bike next year (mainly for summer use) though I'll be in the same situation as the thread starter. Whats the insurance situation for a beginner these days? I know you cant have summer insurance (i.e. 3 month) so what kind of numbers would I be looking at? (I'm 25 by the way not even a provo on a bike yet)

Go to bike shops, most will do insurance through AON, so have a chat to someone there to get an idea of the insurance you'll pay in each group.

tdvit

guys what are you thoughts on a yamaha SR 125? I just found out a guy in my job is selling a 00 for 800 quid. I have no other details on it yet. when I get some I will post.

edited

i got this mail from the bloke selling it.

It’s a ‘00, with 35,000 miles, maroon, It needs a service which is why it’s so cheap. – E800. That includes a padded jacket, 2 helmets, lock, rain cover, and boots if you’re a size 10.

Krusty_Clown

tdvit wrote:

It’s a ‘00, with 35,000 miles, maroon, It needs a service which is why it’s so cheap. – E800. That includes a padded jacket, 2 helmets, lock, rain cover, and boots if you’re a size 10.

That's quite a high mileage for a 125cc bike (approx 9k miles per year).
Be very cautious when buying a bike with this kind of mileage. you don't know what might need to be replaced in the short term.