Searching for a Motorbike. Which one to get??

hackfish

I'm going to buy a motorbike.
Any suggestion to what kind of motorbike to get.
I'm searching for something of 125....
may be a scooter....

Can anyone give me tips or suggestions of what kind of motorbike NOT to get... which ones have good reputation... etc..

Thanks guys!
Gracias!

seamus

What age are you? What are you primarily going to be using it for?

What style do you prefer? Cruiser - e.g. Harley-Davidsons, Racers - the standard leaning over one, or something in between?

All bikes have their good and their bad points. As for reputation, well, if you've heard of the manufacturer, it's probably fairly reliable. Just like with cars, if you've never heard of the manufacturer, and it seems way too cheap to be true, then it's probably a heap of ****e.

Have you your eye on any particular bike(s)?

rymus

Insurance wise.. if youre not too delighted about the prospect of riding a turbocharged hairdryer, then your best class of bikes are 125cc cruisers. I think theyre practically all group 2. Suzuki Intruder (sigh, my first love) and Yamaha Virago are lurrrrrvly. Suzuki Marauders are single cylinder and therefore not exactly speedy and Honda Shadows are in group 3, despite being a 125 and belonging to the mini-cruiser family. <edit> How could I forget the baby sister of my current bike... the 125cc Yamaha Drag Star. Ohh, suit you sir, ohh!</edit>


Theres probably a few more decent 125's out there, just cant think of any.

Youre going to get fleeced for insurance if you choose the likes of an NSR 125, and NS80 or one of those hilarious Aprilia 125's that sound rather like XR8X's.

Ya couldn't go wrong with a cruiser... cheap insurance, comfort, and the ladies love shiny chrome

ToxicPaddy

Rymus,

Im 28 with a full clean driving licence for about 8 years, 4 years no claims bonus on a car...

Any idea on how much id pay (rough estimate) for insurance on a 125 cruiser type bike..??

Was looking at the 125 Dragstar a while ago.. nice bikes btw

Tox

krinDar

Originally posted by ToxicPaddy

Im 28 with a full clean driving licence for about 8 years, 4 years no claims bonus on a car...

Which has absolutely no bearing on motorcycle insurance.

Any idea on how much id pay (rough estimate) for insurance on a 125 cruiser type bike..??

Tox

Assuming you only have a provisional license I would guess it could be around 1000 euro.
Ring Carole Nash (1800 298 550) for a real quote, they seem to be a little more forgiving to provisional riders than Hibernian (1890 33 22 11).

rymus

Originally posted by ToxicPaddy
Any idea on how much id pay (rough estimate) for insurance on a 125 cruiser type bike..??

I'm gonna guess that you're looking at around €600 Comp or about €200 TPO on a 125cc (group 2). I presume you mean full clean license for a car, which obviously doesnt transfer over to a bike. You'd be back on an A or A1 provisional but the test is simplicity itself. No claims bonus wont transfer over to a bike from a car either.

Now that I know youre all asking where oh where did I get my figures from - http://www.rossmotorcycles.com/insurance.html Not exactly 100% accurate. It says I, a 22 year old male, should be paying €1257 for TPO on a group 6 bike when in fact Im paying roughly €850. So there ya go...

Silent Bob

Originally posted by krinDar
Which has absolutely no bearing on motorcycle insurance.

Odd the way that no-claims from car insurance has no effect, but as soon as you make a claim on anything BOTH premiums will increase :rolleyes:

seamus

Originally posted by Silent Bob
Odd the way that no-claims from car insurance has no effect, but as soon as you make a claim on anything BOTH premiums will increase :rolleyes:

It shouldn't. The status of your car insurance should be exclusive of the status of your bike insurance and vice-versa. If you've insured both thru Hibernian, then they're using that position unfairly (and illegaly I assume), by using double standards. If they increase both premiums after a claim on one, then you have the right to claim all monies from back premiums based on either no-claims bonus during the time you've been insured.

I had a crash in a car in 2001, and I didn't tell Hibernian when I went to insure my bike, so claims on cars shouldn't make a difference.

batman_oh

hilarious aprilia rs125?
obvioulsy u have never been to see race 2 strokes, they sound ten times worse, the sound from the aprilia is due to it being a 2 stroke in a high state of tune, and is by far the quickest production 125
frankly id rather have my teeth removed with a pliers than drive a cruiser 125, they are sooooooo slow and offer no fun at all, u cant even have fun in corners, at least the aprilia allows u to piss people off, hammerin cars and bein able to corner like a nutball
sorry it was my first bike and to slag it off in favour of the most borin things on the road seems silly

a_ominous

Also have a look at this thread

rymus

Originally posted by batman_oh
hilarious aprilia rs125?
obvioulsy u have never been to see race 2 strokes, they sound ten times worse, the sound from the aprilia is due to it being a 2 stroke in a high state of tune, and is by far the quickest production 125
frankly id rather have my teeth removed with a pliers than drive a cruiser 125, they are sooooooo slow and offer no fun at all, u cant even have fun in corners, at least the aprilia allows u to piss people off, hammerin cars and bein able to corner like a nutball
sorry it was my first bike and to slag it off in favour of the most borin things on the road seems silly

Ahh I was waiting for someone to defend the magnificent 125cc hairdryer.

Cruisers are slow? Ever see a 1100cc Drag Star? No? that's probably because it was a blur as it was passing you... Even on my 650cc drag star I can beat beamers (and anything else I've come across) off the traffic lights.


Ohh and nobody that had ever driven a cruiser would describe them as offering "no fun at all".

If pissing people off is all you're looking to do then away with ya. I'll close with... "girlies love the chrome"

Fabritzo

Yes Cruisers are slow, hence the name. If I had a 650cc engine under me I'd be expecting to beat BMW Touring cars off the mark

seamus

Originally posted by batman_oh
hilarious aprilia rs125?
obvioulsy u have never been to see race 2 strokes, they sound ten times worse, the sound from the aprilia is due to it being a 2 stroke in a high state of tune, and is by far the quickest production 125
frankly id rather have my teeth removed with a pliers than drive a cruiser 125, they are sooooooo slow and offer no fun at all, u cant even have fun in corners, at least the aprilia allows u to piss people off, hammerin cars and bein able to corner like a nutball
sorry it was my first bike and to slag it off in favour of the most borin things on the road seems silly

Get back under that bridge, you.

No-one's gonna take the bait.

Cruisers = Comfortable.
Cruisers = Chick magnets.

That's all that needs to be said on the matter

batman_oh

well woop dee do
i also have an aprilia rs250, it does 0-60 in 3.4 seconds and quarters in 12.4
it can beat porsche 911 turbos, ferrari 360's and lambourghinis off the line, my rs125 can beat beamers for gods sake
so an 1100cc bike can overcome a 125 in a straight, thats an incredible achievement, try takin on my rs250 which has more power than a dragstar 1100 and weighs about half what it does
ive driven a 125 virago and hated it, the honda ns1 is much faster and more fun
accordin to bike magazine the dragstar 1100 is 'hindered by a dull engine and no ground clearance'
they are really really slow compared to a sports bike
so this blur, how is it fast if it gets annihilated by a 250?

RoadRunner

2strokes shift. I wouldn't mind one of them on the road.
I've got a kx250 offroad and that shifts. It mightn't pull birds but if you are driving bikes to pull birds then you are retarded.

how much insurance would I pay for a rs250. age 24. never had a road bike before. only provisional licence.

batman_oh

they are group 10 by hibernian so if in dublin u would pay a fair bit, if u have a country address not too bad, try carole nash for a random quote, they should quote u given ur age, they are not that bad when they feel like it
the best thing about the rs250 is the fact that nobody else has one on the road really, so i get some mad stares from people wonderin what it is, plus the kick is quite nice from the powerband!

rymus

Originally posted by seamus
Get back under that bridge, you.

No-one's gonna take the bait.

Cruisers = Comfortable.
Cruisers = Chick magnets.

That's all that needs to be said on the matter

My sentiments exactly, back into your box batman

batman_oh

tell u what
u bring out your 650 dragstar and ill bring out my piddly little 125 and ill race you down the wicklow gap, ill leave u for dirt, then youll see why crusiers are slow
i would bother usin the 250 cause that would be a waste of petrol
also fully derestricted rs125 has a top speed of about 110, thats pretty much the same a dragstar 1100

seamus

Originally posted by batman_oh
tell u what
u bring out your 650 dragstar and ill bring out my piddly little 125 and ill race you down the wicklow gap, ill leave u for dirt, then youll see why crusiers are slow
i would bother usin the 250 cause that would be a waste of petrol
also fully derestricted rs125 has a top speed of about 110, thats pretty much the same a dragstar 1100

This isn't about speed. Any idiot can drive a bike at 110mph down the road, but only certain people can drive cruisers and make it look cool

uberwolf

I've gotten away from lights quicker on my bicycle than a lotus before. So what?

Silent Bob

Originally posted by seamus
This isn't about speed. Any idiot can drive a bike at 110mph down the road, but only certain people can drive cruisers and make it look cool

That's a very good point, also why I won't ever be driving a cruiser!

rymus

ahh seamus.. you bring new levels of enlightenment to the motors board.. bless you, bless you my son!

Cake Fiend

To idiots blah-blahing about racing bikes (batman_oh, I'm looking at you..)

Someone buying their first bike is hardly going to be interested in racing fscking 911s. They're going to be looking for something easy to ride, cheap to run and SAFE.

batman_oh

listen ass boy, the argument i had was because it was said the rs was crap, then it was said that the crusiers were fast
you should read the thread as a whole before makin a fool of yourself in future

Cake Fiend

Yes, I'm clearly the one making a fool of myself in this thread... :rolleyes:

rymus

swwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwish!

MojoMaker

It strikes me that nobody on this thread so far really knows much about bikes.

Cruisers don't suck necessarily, but neither are they particularly cool unless you move into the 750cc+ category. Below that cruisers are annoying and (usually) quite small - i.e. slung low to the ground but not in a good looking way - hadlebars same height as seat etc...best looking cruisers by a long, long way are choppers - such as HD Nighttrain, Kawasaki Vulcan 800, Vulcan 750 etc. Bikes like the Virago or Dragstar are what we call "full dressers".

The main market for 125 cruisers unfortunately are spotty young 'uns who cannot drive bigger machines either because of financial situation or licence situation, or both. 125 cruisers look ridiculous on the road and always make me smile. I'm not trying to take the rise out of anyone here, I started on a cruiser, age 26 with a prov A licence - bought a Shadow 750 and didn't waste any time with the small bikes. Inclidentally the Shadow 750 has a mere 43hp so no restriction was needed and I could ride it legally as a newbie.

Birds like chrome? Perhaps...however birds LOVE cubes. Get a big bike mate, you won't regret it. And for God's sake...don't buy new!!!!

P.S - the Aprilia RS125 and RS250 rock :-). NSR125 doesn't :-(

seamus

Ahem, most people drive 125's cos of insurance. I could well have afforded a much bigger bike, and would buy one now, except that's there's not a chance of me affording the insurance on anything bigger than group 2.

And 125 cruisers look far better than any other bike in group 2.

Starting driving at 26, you of course wouldn't have much experience in that area :rolleyes:

MojoMaker

You obviously haven't really checked out the insurance market a great deal. There is very little difference between insurance on a group 2 bike and insurance on say a group 7 bike, not as much as you might think. For example, last year wife insures a 50cc group 1 Yamaha scooter, €400, premium for group 8 Vulcan 800cc was €825 - no ncb or driving history in either case.

125 cruisers look terrible, case of flattering to deceive if you know what I mean. Even Honda's Varadero 125 looks a better alternative. KMX 125 or 250 are a lot more fun. Aprilia RS125 is definitely no hairdryer, great bike but perhaps a little pricey. What about Bandit 600 (UK3) spec? Group 5 insurance. Also, Kawasaki ER500 is low insurance.

Best 125cc cruiser on the market is the Honda Shadow, without question.

Gmodified

Moyo,
Maybe you are happy with your insurance and there is not much difference for you when comes to insuring bikes
but this doesn't mean that the rule applies to everybody.

Just to bring you back to earth

My Brother was trying to insure 80cc NS 1 but he is not going to pay 2200 for the insurance.
He is 21 with one year NCB

and in your case

the difference between 50 cc moped and your Vulcan is 425 yoyo's from your pocket.
Maybe bigger bike will justify the premium but this also translates to over 100% increase in your premium.
Is this also OK?

You should actually play with hiberniandirect.ie

rymus

Originally posted by MojoMaker
Best 125cc cruiser on the market is the Honda Shadow, without question.

Debatable... I drove one before and wouldnt go back to it or any shadow if thats what they drive like.

It strikes me you dont really know a whole lot about bikes either but thats another story altogether.

bugs

Originally posted by MojoMaker
You obviously haven't really checked out the insurance market a great deal. There is very little difference between insurance on a group 2 bike and insurance on say a group 7 bike

If you're below 25, the price between a group 2 bike and group 7 bike is enormous, i'd say in dublin, at even 22-23 you'll pay probably double or triple the price of insurance on a group 2 for a group 7. This is coming from experience of being quoted as much. Course this is based on hibernians prices.

MojoMaker

Rymus, I personally gave you detailed advice on the purchase of your Dragstar on MNet over a year ago. How do you find it? Btw - you didn't hang around long.

rymus

The 650 'star' is a lovely motor, much better than the Shadow 600 or the Virago 535, and lightyears ahead of the Marauder (yuk!).

that'd be you then... Julius

Supercell

Originally posted by hackfish
I'm going to buy a motorbike.
Any suggestion to what kind of motorbike to get.
I'm searching for something of 125....
may be a scooter....

Can anyone give me tips or suggestions of what kind of motorbike NOT to get... which ones have good reputation... etc..

Thanks guys!
Gracias!

Getting back on topic, and away from the boy racer discussions, which are completely irrelevant to somebody who's askng presumably about their first bike..

Personally would go with a Virago or a Marauder, both bike looks great (as good as it gets in this size of bike imho) , and will ease you into learning how to ride a "proper" bike, eg one with gears (my opinion :P ) .

Never ever will forget learning how to ride, took the bike up to an industrial estate on a Sunday afternoon and drove around that for about 5 hours practising stopping and starting.....and how to stop stalling..believe me...you do not want to be doing 0-60 in 3.5 seconds on your first bike, unless you've already booked yer graveyard slot .

I've been riding now about three years and occasionally i STILL over estimate my handling ability corning for example and have several time counted my blessings that another car wasn't coming around the corner in the opposite direction.

I AM saving up for an XVS650 atm (upgrade from the present Virago 125...i'm driving three years and that amount of power still frightens the bejasus out of me), but strongly recommend AGAINST buying something more powerfull just because you can .....you only get one life and 60-0 in no seconds ....is no fun at all..wait untill you have at least 6-months to a years bike driving experience behind you first, and imho..longer is better.

rymus

Originally posted by Longfield
Personally would go with a Virago or a Marauder, both bike looks great (as good as it gets in this size of bike imho) , and will ease you into learning how to ride a "proper" bike, eg one with gears (my opinion :P ) .

i couldnt agree more.. either of the above or my first love, a suzuki intruder.

I AM saving up for an XVS650

You definately wont regret it. It was the weight of my XV650A that worried me at first, a lot heavier than my intruder was. After a few hours I was well used to the extra weight though.

Silent Bob

You don't just have to go the cruiser option. You could get a Honda Varadero 125, a Yamaha TW125 or a Suzuki RV125 (viewable at Suzuki-gb)

There is a strong cruiser following on this board, so I feel I have to at least mention the alternatives.

Pimp Ninja

I'd recommend either a Yamaha YP125 (majesty) or a Yamaha SR125 I drove both bikes the YP for about a year and a half and the SR for about 2 or 3 months.

I clocked up about 20000 miles on the YP and I have to say that its the most comfortable, reliable, and easiest bike to drive that I have ever come accross. Yes it is just a big scooter, and if thats not your biscuit then fair enough. If you want something comfortable, wasy to drive, and with a little bit of extra power then go for it. I even took this bike on a journey from Dublin to Carraic on Shannon and it did it in an average travel time (for a car that is).
Unfortunately this was writen off, by a car, while I was on it. After my aeriel acrobatics I was thankfully, not as bad off as I could have been. If the bike had not been, 'scooter shaped' then my left leg would have taken most of the impact and things would probably have been a lot worse for me.

The SR was my first geared bike, I picked it up from the shop, drove it around for about 10 mins in a lane behind the shop and was ready to drive it home, albeit very carefully, through rush hour traffic. It was my longest, time wise, motorbike journey home from the city centre. The next day I took it along the 'causeway' between Dollymount and The Bull Island for about 2 hours, and that was pretty mush most of my stopping/starting organised.
The only problem with the SR was the lack of a petrol indicator (ie no display telling you how much petrol is left). This was combated by a 'reserve tank.' A little switch that you change over once the main tank runs out of petrol. Usually every 200 miles.

I had the SR for about 2000 - 3000 miles. After the accident on the YP my back is no longer in a fit state to ride a motorbike, so I had to sell it. I'd get back up on a bike right now if I could.. but the Doctor thinks it will be about another 2 years till my back fully heals itself.

So I heartily recommend both of these bikes as good starters.
Yamaha YP125 Majesty
Yamaha SR125

Slaanesh

I have a Suzuki GN 125'. I found this bike to be brilliant beginners bike. Has a GS100 before hand which was a load of crap It's a nippy 125, max's out normally about 70mph.

PM'ed hackfish with details because I want to sell the bike. If anyone has comments about the GN125, post them up because I would be interested to hear your opinions.

Lot's of the couriers use them.

Slaanesh.

Krusty_Clown

Silent Bob: You don't just have to go the cruiser option.

Hear, hear...

I'm not anti-cruiser (I'd love a nice big bruiser when I get a bit of grey on the temples), but I would suggest looking at the alternatives, in the 125 range...

The small-engined cruisers seem to represent the worst of both categories.. i.e.
Being cruisers, they are not very maneuverable (pardon the spelling), and being 125s, they don't have the power for all that weight..

Additionally, because of all that chrome, drop it (and as a learner, you probably will), and it wont be cheap...

Having said that, I ride bikes for myself, and not anyone else.. Go with whatever's in your price range, that feels the most comfortable, that gives you the most confidence, and for you, is the most practical. (and of course, looks the coolest)...

For me, it's one of these...

skywalker_208

Hey Slaanesh, what insurance group is your Suzuki GN 125' in?

meatball

"Ya couldn't go wrong with a cruiser... cheap insurance, comfort, and the ladies love shiny chrome"


Yeah... Ugly ones with no teeth...

ven0m

For your first bike IF you're over 21, you may as well go right the way up to a 400cc cruiser, because it's practically the same group as a 250cc cruiser & you're right up to the max. cc's & bhp you can have on your first two years as a rider....I remember my first.... a lovely 400cc Steed...... bitchin bike - was even more bitchin when I did it up - hard to tell the difference between it & the 600cc version

Kazujo

The GN125 is group 2, as far as I know it's the only bike of that style that is in group the rest are group 3.

Personally I recommend the virago 125 to learn on atleast, yes it's slow but they look great and are real easy to drive. I'm on a restricted bandit 600 now but I'd love to get a Virago 535 mmmm...

Race style bikes give me a sore back (but look sooo nice), street and cruiser all the way

batman_oh

true if ur gonna get a cruiser might aswell go for a much bigger one coz they fall under the learner category, altho my rs125 owns my mates steed 400
i like the virago as far as crusiers go, i think it looks the best but as ive said before i could never drive one, as they have nothin of what i look for in a bike

rymus

Originally posted by batman_oh
true if ur gonna get a cruiser might aswell go for a much bigger one coz they fall under the learner category, altho my rs125 owns my mates steed 400

Good lord.. its the start of this thread all over again.

So all cruisers fall under some universal 'learner category'?

Take batmans advice; get a 1600cc wild star. After all, theyre all for learners...

long story short, get a virago. The bike of choice for first timers

batman_oh

didnt say all, said bigger not all
read
and it easily owns the steed

Fabritzo

What's this Wild star u speak of? If it's learner legal, where would you put it on a wild rating scale from 1-10?

rymus

yamaha wild star... I think it's in group 6, havent a clue of the bhp off the top of my head. Wild on a scale of one to ten... dunno really.. its wilder than a virago, that goes without saying but its not exactly the craziest thing on two wheels.

I was gonna change from my 650 up to one this year but I reckon I'll wait a few years until I'm 25/26 and go down the grand tourer road.

and it easily owns the steed

Yes, because everything is about how fast you can go. Take a deep breath & try to get the image of go faster stripes out of your mind.