some friendly advice please,

gabgab

Hi guys,

I am looking to get into biking, as I am fed up with the torture that is traffic. I have looked into some rider training, am lined up to go out with a firend of mine again who raced motocross who showed me some basic skills. I was nervous, and crap, but felt better for having done it,

I am looking at a
Varadero 125
Hornet 250
Bandit 250

I would like a BMW 650, restricted for insurance purposes but my budget is not even nearly doable,

I am 26, no experience, and need it to commute, about 12km in and out of rush hour, anyone got any suggestions on bikes I should look at??

Thanks for reading,

murphaph

forget about the 125's. bite the bullet and get a 250 so when you do you test (asap) you'll be able to use it to sit the full A test as opposed to the silly and pointless A1.

You will be grateful for the familiarity of your own 250 come test day rather than borrowing a school bike. Once you pass your test and are over 25, Carole Nash will quote you on their emerald vintage policy which means cheapo insurance so long as you don't mind riding bikes like this

I was where you are and I did the above and am quite happy.

gabgab

Hey thanks for the response, how does the policy fair out cash wise??

I have a mate that is doing a load of cosmetic work with farings and stuff with a bros, these are similar enough bikes are they not??

murphaph

I pay 380 yoyo a year for an unlimited number of bikes, TPFT. Once the bike is 15 years old it's allowed, no matter how fast it goes! Riding other (newer) bikes is allowed so long as they are owned by someone else etc.

3 free recoveries a year and cover extends across EU IIRC.

A bros is very different to the VFR but is a good bike and learner legal (if you're bothered) but is a 400cc (well, there's a 650 but they're rare) and insurance will be more expensive for you on your provisional. I dont think the bros came out until after 92 so wouldn't qualify for vintage insurance of course. You'd need to sell it and buy something else.

Best bet is a low group 250 tbh, stick it out until you pass your test and renew insurance and get a 92 sports/etc. bike in england. Plenty of good 92 bikes on ebay for small money. Enjoy.

Edit: it's 2008 so any 93 bike now qulifies!

colm_c

murphaph wrote: »

I pay 380 yoyo a year for an unlimited number of bikes, TPFT. Once the bike is 15 years old it's allowed, no matter how fast it goes! Riding other (newer) bikes is allowed so long as they are owned by someone else etc.

3 free recoveries a year and cover extends across EU IIRC.

A bros is very different to the VFR but is a good bike and learner legal (if you're bothered) but is a 400cc (well, there's a 650 but they're rare) and insurance will be more expensive for you on your provisional. I dont think the bros came out until after 92 so wouldn't qualify for vintage insurance of course. You'd need to sell it and buy something else.

Best bet is a low group 250 tbh, stick it out until you pass your test and renew insurance and get a 92 sports/etc. bike in england. Plenty of good 92 bikes on ebay for small money. Enjoy.

Edit: it's 2008 so any 93 bike now qulifies!

Don't you need a full license and 2 years NCB to get classic insurance?

faceman

OP welcome to the wonderful world of biking! Your best bet is to probably stick with a 250 for now. Stick to a light bike too. If you are living in dublin then you wont really need anything bigger.

I dont want to sound like yore ma or anything but do wear the protective gear every day no matter what the weather. There is plenty of quality and fashionable gear available nowadays anyway.

Try and do quality training lessons. The lessons you will get to pass your test are basic enough.

murphaph

colm_c wrote: »

Don't you need a full license and 2 years NCB to get classic insurance?

No. CN are quite flexible on this matter, or were at the time anyway. I had 1 year NCB and passed my test midway through my first year, come renewal time they offered me the classic option.

SlabMurphy

gabgab wrote: »

Hi guys,

I am looking to get into biking, as I am fed up with the torture that is traffic. I have looked into some rider training, am lined up to go out with a firend of mine again who raced motocross who showed me some basic skills. I was nervous, and crap, but felt better for having done it,

I am looking at a
Varadero 125
Hornet 250
Bandit 250

I would like a BMW 650, restricted for insurance purposes but my budget is not even nearly doable,

I am 26, no experience, and need it to commute, about 12km in and out of rush hour, anyone got any suggestions on bikes I should look at??

Thanks for reading,

STAY AWAY FROM A BANDIT 250 - CRAP and that's the advice I had from different 2 mechanics a few years ago. 600 Bandit etc is sound but the 250's were a disaster ( you don't see many around though you'll see plenty of 600 and 1200's, sasy it all about the 250 ). Hornet 250, CB 250, Bros 400 would be fine. But STAY AWAY FROM A BANDIT 250