Help in choosing my first bike

SmoothyG

Hi,
i will be buying a bike in the near future, i always wanted one and am sick of the traffic trying to get from dublin to my kerry after work on a friday.
As i dont know anyone who has a bike, i really do need the help.

I saw a Honda rebel i liked, because of the sitting position and because i only have a car licence so i am restricted to 125cc i belive. the rebel was the only bike i saw at 125cc that looks good. (i'm not interested in a sports bike)

I read the threads on the equiptment ill need so i only need help with the bike choice, maintenance And where to get lessons.

Any help much appreciated.

Noelie

you should be able to get a 250, a friend of mine was driving a Bros 400 on his provisional.

SmoothyG

Oh and i forgot to ask, can some one please give me a price guide to go by so i dont get ripped off.

SmoothyG

Noelie wrote:

you should be able to get a 250, a friend of mine was driving a Bros 400 on his provisional.

do you mean a provisional bike licence?
because my car licence specifcly states 125cc or less

tk123

A 125 might be a bit underpowered going from Dublin to Kerry every week? Anyhoos you can get a provisional for the bike and you'll won't be as restricted..

Noelie

Sorry thought you had a Provisional Bike licence, you should get a provisional bike though, i think you only need to go to the tax office with photos and they will add it onto you car one, it won't even cost you anythingand will give you a lot more freedom in what you can choose.

For lessons you can try this guy if you are in dublin, i used him for my pretest and found him to be very good.

sutty

Right first off, your car licence means jack all in terms of a bike. If you have a "M" Licence you can drive a 50cc or less. You will need to get a "A1" or "A". "A" Allowing you to drive more than 125 on your prov. If you are going for crusers, they are heavy bikes and if you can aford the insurance, you can easly get a 650cc bike of that type. The heavier the bike, the more CC you can have with out needing a restriction.

As for what bike you want. Go sit on some. See how they feel. Then come back with the short list. We can more than likely tell you if they are good, or have problems. But as said, a 125 is under powered. A cruser of that CC will just be able to do the speed limit on motorways. But thats only on a good day. So you may end up causing an obstuction that somepeople just cant sit behind (this could be dangrus for you) A 250 would be a better bike to start off on. Just will cost a small bit more on the insurance.

Pigeon Reaper

Dublin to Kerry on anything less than 400cc is nuts! I used to do Dublin to Galway on a naked 250cc which ended up dead due to the engine exploding. It's too much for a small bike. In winter it's a nightmare. There where times I could barely get off the bike when I arrived in Galway. If anything get a deauville or something like it and restrict it to 33hp. At least you'll have some weather protection. The wind whipping at you for a few hours is very tiring and you can then loose concentration. 125 & 250cc are great for the cities but on the open road with a truck running up your arse it's another matter.

Tomohawk

Please please go and read the sticky notes above the motobike forum before posting. The amount of hearsay and misinformation about motorbikes in Ireland is unbelievable!! :eek:

I saw a Honda rebel i liked, because of the sitting position and because i only have a car licence so i am restricted to 125cc i belive.

do you mean a provisional bike licence?
because my car licence specifcly states 125cc or less

Is this an Irish full or provisional car licence? I've have heard of too many idiots riding around on bikes with provisonal and full car licences without the proper motorbikes (ie bigger cc machines than they are legally allowed) and therefore riding with invalid insurance. go to the goverment website and start from there if you cant be bothered to do some basic research on the internet.

darkbeatz

First of all forget about using a 125 getting to kerry its madness.

If I were you I would choose a bike that is in category 2 for insurance like a suzuki gn 125 or something. you should pick up a 01/02 for about a grand with low enough mileage. Just make sure you bring someone who knows about bikes when looking at it. You should also post up on www.biker.ie and get some feedback there. Check out the buying and selling section there too aswell as www.advers.ie

Garibaldi

TBH, I used to ride my 125 Aprilia Pegaso from Dublin to Kerry on a regular basis, and it was never a problem. It tends more towards the trail bike end of things, though, so probably not the OPs cuppa tea.

Yizzer all just a bunch of girl's blouses!

art

I used to go up and down to Limerick on an RD 125 - maybe it was just the fact that I was always trying to keep it at 70 but I used to be totally frazzled after each journey. /*looks back at my younger self shakes head */.

The amount of grip available on typical 125s would really put me off using them for anything other than city commuting so I'd row in with the others on here and recommend not getting a 125 and probably not most 250s of the cruiser type due to lack of power (at least that's my experience on the suzuki marauder 250)

Riding a Cruiser is very much a matter of taste, though it is probably the best combination of power and availability to a starter if you can get one of the larger engined ones. However, you just might not feel comfortable on one.

What about some of them fat ass scooters, things like the Suzuki Burgman. I've no idea though whether you can ride them on a Provisional but I imagine they'd give you a very comfortable ride when you've to do a fair distance like that?

delanest

For that kind of journey get something like a Dragster 650. Its learner legal and its lowish Insurance group.

Buy the bike, then make sure you get some training, do a course, not just one or two lessions. Don't forget about the "other" costs of riding a bike safely .....

Helmet 300
Jacket 300
Bottoms 200
Boots 300
Gloves 50
Lock&Chain 100

+ Tax

These are minimum prices in my opinion for new gear, alternatively buy good condition second hand gear but not the helmet

SmoothyG

Thanks for all the replies, i am going to go around the dealers this weekend and sit on a few, adn tomo i did read the sticky, i was asking about opinions on the rebel and similar bikes, and the maintenance which im sure the dealerwill tell me all about anyway.

can anyone recomend second hand dealers on the south side?

delanest

Thers's loads mate, where abouts are ya ?

Tomohawk

You can't legally ride a 125cc motorbike on a Irish car license. That is the law SmoothyG! Are you aware of this because from your first post it still remains unclear. I wouldn't rush out and buy a bike until I understood the licensing system in this country and secondly had gotten an insurance quote. You could be stuck with a bike you can't legally ride/afford to insure.

For information on most Dublin (& southside) dealers I suggest you get a copy of monthly magazine "Bike Buyers Guide" and have a look at the dealer ads in the back pages. The Yamaha Dragster 650 might be a good choice if you like the cruiser style. Pop along to that supermarket of a shop, Bikeworld (end of longmile road) and sit on as many bikes as you can to get a feel for them first. You may be surprised at what you find yourself liking!!

SmoothyG

I thought i was able to ride a 125cc or less on my car licence because that is exactly what it says on the licence, but having read the replies here ill trust i need a bigger bike for the trip to kerry anyway. I dont plan on buying a bike untill i have had enough lessons to be confident i like driving a bike and am happy eough to get it home from the dealer without crashing. I will need the Provisional licence to start taking lessons so ill probably go for the full licence before i buy. I dont think there is much point in either choosing a bike from what i am resricted to by a provisional or riding a bike on the road at all if im not good enough to pass the test.

Idleater

SmoothyG wrote:

I thought i was able to ride a 125cc or less on my car licence because that is exactly what it says on the licence...

You may well do.

I presume you have a full pink licence,

In the section A which then splits into A1 (<=125cc 11kw), A(<=25kw/.16kw/kg) and A, you have dates filled in the "from" and "to" columns???

If so, tell us which Ax column the dates are in and that will confirm what size bike you can drive.

L.

SmoothyG

I dont have it to hand right now but to clarify to all

It is a full irish Car licence, (yes pink neried) And yes the line indicating eqaul to or less than 125cc has a date in it, I AM POSITIVE OF THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

as i said in the last few posts.

Idleater

SmoothyG wrote:

as i said in the last few posts.

Please forgive my simplistic comments, I really don't doubt your eyesight. I only said it that way because there seemed to be an air of doubt in the thread because you have never said that you either passed a test for that category and/or applied to have that category added to your licence.

It's been a while since the days when you could just apply for a licence by ticking the required boxes so hence why the queries.

In any case, if you have that category on the licence then you are legally entitled to a 125, but like the other posters have said, a 125 is limited in terms of comfort on the long drives anyway. In other words, you could try a 125, but don't be surprised if you do like biking that you will want a bigger bike and unfortunately that will require atheory test, and an A provisional licence, and a DoE test. Unless you have A filled in with dates too - which would be handy.

Anyway, apologies again,

L.