Thinking about getting a bike

Hot Dog

Being the next logical step form a bicycle, I am considering buying a motorbike. I know very little about getting a license (the diffeence between an A and A1), actual driving a bike (are lessons a good investment?) and where to but one and how?

I was thinking of a YBR125, as it looks savage and is easy to handle. Any ideas on this? This will be for any commuting in the near future (finals coming soon - no more college!) and mostly for fun.

I am 23, male, living in the southside of dublin, likely insurance cost?

As it stands, I can drive a car, going for test soon.

bjmotors

YBR 125 are a good bike and very cheap to buy, even new! bit of a courier bike tho, so be careful if buying second hand. there group 2 insurance so wudnt be to hard on the pocket. would propably get about 65-70 flat out on the motorway.

ajmcom

A1 Provisional means you can ride anything up to 125cc
A Provisional means you can ride anything up to 250cc
A Full means you can ride over 250cc if you have two years experience

or something like that.

Id reccommend Honda Varadero XL125,

cheapest to insure and great looks.

your insurance may be 2,600 upwards with no experience

Dorsanty

I really don't understand how people don't know the licenses. The main point being that there is no CC limitation.

I could buy a Ducati 1098 (oh how I'd like to buy one!) and restrict it's power to such a level that it becomes legal for a provisional license holder to ride. Now I should be taken outside and shot if I did that but it's still legal. Also you'd probably confuse the insurance people so much they leave you on hold for an hour and then just hang up.

See,
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/travel-and-recreation/motoring-1/driver-licensing/provisional_motorcycle_driving_licences_in_ireland

Also you should bookmark that site as it's good for every bit of government info you'll ever need.

blackbird98

ajmcom wrote:

A1 Provisional means you can ride anything up to 125cc
A Provisional means you can ride anything up to 250cc
A Full means you can ride over 250cc if you have two years experience

Provisional "A" allows you to ride any size bike, once it's less than, or restricted to, 25Kw (33 BHp) power output

So, you could ride a "learner legal" 600cc bike, but not a 250cc sports bike without restriction

Wossack

good choice on the ybr group 2, same as the varadero. I'd guess-timate around 1600 euro for insurance from what you've said.

Lessons are a good investment yes. Some of the people that provide them can also provide a bike for you to train on. They can also offer you some sort of insurance discounting training course, that will practically pay for the cost of the lessons in your first insurance premium.

theres a guy called 'lethalblade' on biker.ie that is looking to trade up from his ybr125 at the moment. I dont think he's in any rush to shift it or anything, and I dont think he's got it advertised either... you can say Kal sent ya (my forum nick over there)

dont forget the cost of good gear also, helmet, jacket, gloves, pants and boots

fish-head

So if I got a 350 bike I could restrict it to 125cc?

Then could I de-restrict it?

Dorsanty

fish-head wrote:

So if I got a 350 bike I could restrict it to 125cc?

Then could I de-restrict it?

I'm riding around on a Yamaha Fazer 600cc restricted. So Yes you can.
Although technically it wouldn't restrict the cc. It's a power thing so can be done at the fuel / air / exhaust depending on how much power needs to be stripped off.

Mines a Factory restriction. Which from what I've been able to find out is most likely a restriction performed in the ECU (Electronic control Unit or engine management computer). Restricting the amount of fuel put into the cylinder. Means I can't go too much above 100mph as there isn't enough bang in the cylinders to push passed that amount of wind resistance. Still I'm on the 2 year countdown to full power these days so won't be a problem for me too much longer.

I'm currently riding a yamaha xvs650. No need to restrict it as it comes in just under the power to weight ratio, and its only got 40hp so its not that powerful anyway. But its a good first big bike to start out on.