Beginner Bikes

conorgriff

Hey guys, I'm about to buy my first motorbike and I've done some homework as to what bike I can buy but since I'm sure I'm not the first guy in the world to be doin this I was wondering if my questions have been comprehensively answered already. Is there a list somewhere of factory-restricted bikes which I can drive on a provisional A license? I just wanna know my options before I decide what to get. Cheers in advance for any help

Idleater

conorgriff wrote:

Is there a list somewhere of factory-restricted bikes which I can drive on a provisional A license?

I think as long as you have an A provisional rather than A1, you can drive any Factory Restricted bike on that licence. i.e. that is the whole point of Factory Restriction - that they are legal to drive for that licence category.

As for a complete listing, I think most of the bikes from the main manufacturers (Kawasaki, Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha) can be ordered in FR guise.

I don't know what type of bike you are looking for but just ask in a bike shop where you see a bike that you like if it comes in FR mode.

I just got a F.R. SV650 and it is great. Bandits are all over the place too S/H. Honda CBF has a wait on it but is gettable. Then there is the new Yammy MT03 which looks like the new Kawasaki er6, in the same class.

Some of the more mental bikes even come FR - I don't know about the R1 or Blade but the Gixxer600 and ZX636 can. Someone on biker.ie is selling the Gixxer S/h too if you were looking and I saw a 636 in a shop in town.


L.

conorgriff

Hey nereid cheers for the reply, is your SV650 restricted to 33bhp? Aren't they a group 10 or 11 bike? Is it your first bike or have you got a full licence etc? I'm applying for my provisional A licence and so I need to ride a bike under 25kw, I'd love to get an SV650 but figured they'd be too powerful. Anyone else know if the SV650 comes either restricted to 33bhp or under the power:weight ratio necessary for a beginner?

Idleater

The bike is new, and is factory restricted (properly in the ECU rather than washers in carbs) to 25kw according to my Vehicle Registration Cert. The full power one is 77 hp or something and only 165kg which is pretty good. That is group 11 and the FR one is 5 or 6 dont know which.

It is not my first bike, but my restriction runs out in January hence the FR bike. I also have a Royal Enfield that I did the DoE test on and I traded in a honda BROS to get the SV.

The SV drives great and because most of the power is low down in the rev range, it does not suffer too much from lack of power. There is a lot of torque (more than on the four cylinder bikes) and it too is down the rev range so driving with two up and in city traffic is much easier. 2nd or 3rd will do 5-90kmph. I reckon that the restriction will kick in after the 120kmph barrier.
At the moment, 120kmph is 5,500 rpm (in 6th) and the redline is at 11 so there is a fair bit to go yet.

It is a bigger bike than the BROS (reportedly 33hp) but it is much more stable on the road, and doesnt suffer when driving into the wind either.

L.

MunsterCycling

Can anyone tell me what the restriction feels like as I was fourtunate to get my A prov before the 2 year lark came in and have never ridden a bike that was restricted.

Idleater

MunsterCycling wrote:

Can anyone tell me what the restriction feels like as I was fourtunate to get my A prov before the 2 year lark came in and have never ridden a bike that was restricted.

I can't comment 100% because I am still running in the SV but I drove an unrestricted CBF600 and it seemd to accelerate a lot faster from 120kmph up if you get me.

The restriction seems to take effect when the engine is under most load (high RPM) because it essentially chokes the air getting in so the burn is not good enough to give the full power range.

I would consider popping the restricted SV onto a Dyno to see what the graph looks like. I think it would be very interesting - especially since it has a lot of torque low down (the full power dyno chart looks like this I guess). This is one thing I have noticed, the 0-100 time seems to have been unaffected (or only slightly impaired), again with limited testing because of the run in. Off the lights, keeping changes below 5000RPM with smooth progression of the throttle, it will out accelerate any car.

Don't know if this helps you at all.

L.

MunsterCycling

Cool thats kind of what I meant. Had a spin on an XJS1200 last year, when a bike can continue to lift its front wheel in 6th then you know you have some horses under you. Scary!

BTW My first bike was an AX100 stroker, ah stopping one of those was like applying for planning, slow and risky (unless you are in the Dublin area and have a brown envelope handy);)

conorgriff

how much did the sv cost ya? was it bought from new?
is it the 650s(with fairing) or just the regular 650?