Tips on getting my first bike?

JoeJC

Hey, I'm thinking about getting my first motorcycle and am just looking for some suggestions on what a good first model would be. cheers

Wossack

cg125

Odysseus

Personally I think the DT 125 makes a great first bike.

BigCon

My first was an XV535 (Virago).
Great bike, couldn't fault it...

Nice0ne

What will you be using the bike for? What age are you?

If you are commuting in a city and don't drive out on motorway a moped would be a good start. They're cheap to run and cheap to insure, which is the most important thing about a first bike as you're liable to dump it.

If you've looking for something with a 125cc engine I'd recommend a Yamaha YBR125. I bought one this year after moving up from mopeds and think it's a very good bike.

If you're getting a moped you can pretty much hop straight on it, if you're getting a bike get some training ... it'll save you money on repairs.

Best of luck,
Nice0ne

Hotblack Desiato

Nice0ne wrote:

If you're getting a moped you can pretty much hop straight on it, if you're getting a bike get some training ...

:rolleyes:
That's like saying that driving lessons aren't needed on automatic cars.

We all ride the same roads, meet the same hazards, endure the same weather, encounter the same f***wits in cars, and feel the same pain when we fall off. 125 or bigger bikes usually have better tyres/suspension/brakes/lighting than mopeds, and can keep up with traffic easier, so one could argue that mopeds are MORE vulnerable not less.
Everyone on any kind of bike should get training - every car driver should too, and it's scandalous that the law doesn't require this.

Nice0ne

To clarify my point, if you've riden a bicycle before and know how to drive in traffic you don't require training for a moped. It's twist and go for acceleration and breaks the same way as a bicycle. With a the braking setup different on a motorbike training is probably a good idea.

Some bikers are obsessed with training which is fine if you have the time and the funds. However I wonder how most of the bikers who rant about training learned to ride their bikes??? The same training services were not as accessible 20 years ago.

Idleater

Nice0ne wrote:

The same training services were not as accessible 20 years ago.

Exactly, but since they are around today, it would be foolish to dismiss them so matter of factly.

Realistically, times change, it is very dangerous out there, and mopeds, unfortunately are bottom of the pile so to speak.

It is exactly that attitude of "aah sure, its just twist and go, sure you'll be grand" that gets mopeds and their "drivers" a bad name.

OP, if you are serious about getting into biking, maybe try a day or two in a course that has a demo bike. You will know pretty soon whether it is for you or not. After that, there is nothing wrong with starting on a "big" bike. With the proper attitude, training, and gear it can make it more worthwhile for you in the long term.

L.

Nice0ne

Training helps but it's a persons right to choose when and what training they wish to complete. Safe biking depends mainly on your attitude but also experience. No matter how much training you get you will still make mistakes, big or small, and its these mistakes which a safe biker should learn most from. Experience teaches you about riding the bike and road conditions and you don't have enough time in a training course for this.

There are a certain proportion of moped riders who don't have the right attitude, however I certainly don't place myself in this group. I'm not inciting bad driving but it's no use scaring off people just because 'you've done all the courses'.

To get back on topic, what bike you start with should depend on what you need it for and what your situation is? IMO if you're brand new to biking or you're under 25 then its much easier to start on a small bike/moped and build up from there, I know people in their thirties who weren't afraid to start on a moped. But if you have to travel on motorways then you will need a proper bike which brings up the "no Learner drivers" problem, so someone else will lecture you about that as well.

In the real world you must find what suits you best and stick to it. So whatever choice you make enjoy yourself and be safe.

Nice0ne

Hotblack Desiato

Nice0ne wrote:

Training helps but it's a persons right to choose when and what training they wish to complete.

Result = huge ignorance of the law (e.g. roundabouts, motorways) never mind safe driving practice.
Deciding for yourself that you know enough to venture out on the road is no doubt a big factor in 400 deaths a year.
A few years ago a friend of mine was killed on a bike by a woman car driver who was driving two weeks and thought she knew enough to be let loose on her own. She didn't.

Safe biking depends mainly on your attitude but also experience.

True, but without experience and without training you got nothing.
Also, training helps form safer attitudes, plenty of very experienced riders/drivers don't have good attitudes towards their own or others' safety.

No matter how much training you get you will still make mistakes, big or small, and its these mistakes which a safe biker should learn most from.

My trainer friend would say - you won't live long enough to make all the mistakes yourself and learn from them. Why not learn from the experiences of others too.
He has another way of putting it - you start off with a full bucket of luck and an empty bucket of experience. The aim is to fill the bucket of experience before the bucket of luck runs out... Unfortunately many inexperienced riders run out of luck...
Sure, most of us muddled through ok enough, and training wasn't around years ago to the extent it is now, but when it's there it makes sense to take advantage of it.

Experience teaches you about riding the bike and road conditions and you don't have enough time in a training course for this.

I don't have to fall off on ice to know that riding on ice is bad - not if I've a trainer to tell me what to look for on the road.

but it's no use scaring off people just because 'you've done all the courses'.

???
What I can't figure out is the widely held idea in this country that 'motorbikes are dangerous' but 'mopeds are safe' - there is no breakdown of casualty figures but there's no doubt that mopeds are well represented among them

Just because something is easy to ride, doesn't mean it's easy to ride it safely. Again my trainer friend says 'mopeds are deceptively easy to ride'

cmxron

Why not register yourself with Garda Bikesafe program at Dublin castle, 2 hours well spent highlighting your strengths and weaknesses on a bike and it's Free!!!

Idleater

cmxron wrote:

Why not register yourself with Garda Bikesafe program at Dublin castle, 2 hours well spent highlighting your strengths and weaknesses on a bike and it's Free!!!

But it's not aimed at beginners taking lessons.

L.

greg-h

Well I am 18 looking at my first bike and I would have to say that it is very difficult to make a foot-hold in this area.

I love dakar style bikes but due to my age it's not an option, mopeds still cost €1000 to insure And I just dont think there safe.

What I would say is that it is vitally important that all driver's under go training We have in this country an un-Aceptably high level of road death's and this system of hoping on a bike with a provisonal liscence is not safe.Although inexperienced in this area surley You should continue learning for life and this attitude of "ah sure it will be grand"need's to change

a_ominous

RE training: life's short or rather it will be. You don't have enough time or luck to make all the mistakes yourself, learn from others.