Recommend me a bike

tommyhaas

Just looking for a bit of advice, Im looking for a first bike and was thinking of an rs50/rs125, but now considering any kind of 125 as im undecided as to what kind I want. I wont be using the bike for commuting, just wanted one as a hobby, and one that would be relativly straight-forward for working on, as part of the reason I want one is to learn about bikes by working on it myself. Im not too woried about insurance groups etc. Any suggestions?

Tigger

tommyhaas wrote: »

Just looking for a bit of advice, Im looking for a first bike and was thinking of an rs50/rs125, but now considering any kind of 125 as im undecided as to what kind I want. I wont be using the bike for commuting, just wanted one as a hobby, and one that would be relativly straight-forward for working on, as part of the reason I want one is to learn about bikes by working on it myself. Im not too woried about insurance groups etc. Any suggestions?

Budget?

cantdecide

Age is relevent, too.

tommyhaas

Yea was thinking of spending about 2-3k, but would be willing to spend a bit more if I saw something I particularly wanted. Also, Im 29

cantdecide

Why don't you go for something bigger dude? There's little fun to be had on most smaller bikes. I started on a 600 and 5 months later I was on a restricted 1400.

tommyhaas

tbh, I just assumed that without a full liscence that I would have to start at the bottom as no one would insure me. Did you find it difficult getting insured on that?

cantdecide

There is quite a bit to come to terms with when it comes to biking.

In brief;
You can drive an awful lot of bikes legally on a provisional provided you either buy them "factory restricted" to 33bhp or buy a full power bike and restrict it to 33bhp usually at a cost of about €300.

The factory restricted bikes are largely considered to be tamper-proof and you therefore often enjoy cheaper insurance. Aftermarket restrictors are largely considered to be completely tamperable and therefore you may find them harder to insure. You will find that it is very difficult to insure 'faired' (ie sporty) bikes even though you would legal to do so if restricted.

On the basis that within reason you can get on the road in any bike you want, you will find what will help the insurance cause is to go and get ROSPA training from an approved instructor. Without too much trouble, you can receive an insurance 'assessment' to a grade 2 standard (highest achievable on a prov license). The day's training and assessment cost me about €400 and that is considered to be quite expensive.

My history is that in FEB 2008 (at 26 with virtually no riding experience), I got my first bike (restricted bandit 600) and a learners permit (had to do theory test, btw). AON insurance quoted me about €500 on the basis that I got a grade 2 assessment. I did the day's training on my instructors bike and went back for a further morning's training after which he gave me my assessment cert. I rang the insurance and activated the policy. I applied for the driving test for as soon after my six month period of not being able to complete a driving test was up (silly rule on learner's permit).

Having had a very good grounding in the training, I made a point of getting as much hard practise in as I could. I decided to ask the insurance company if they would insure my GSX1400 and they did. I had one further pre-test lesson. My instructor told me I was sound for the test and I passed after the 7th month.

I'm not claiming to be a fantastic rider, I was just proactive and got through the hardship pretty quickly. My 2 year restriction is now nearly over.

The first question what kind of bikes do you like??

tommyhaas

Thanks for that. Originally I wanted something like an rs, but the more Iv looked into it, the more I like the idea of getting something bigger, but im still undecided wrt what type of bike. Are the bandits difficult to work on, ie are they straight forward enough?

I was thinking about rider training alright, so il try that with aon