How do I sell this? (bike purchase)

matt100

matt100

matt100

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Firstly, Olly, stay out of this ;)

I'm really starting to get quite worked up about the idea of having a motorbike...

I know my wife doesn't like the idea for lots of reasons a) I'm more likely to die b) I already have 9 points (maybe 6, I'll keep you posted!)

I don't have a licence to ride a bike currently but I'm told the direct access test is about to get much harder so if I'm going to do it I need to do it now.

I currently drive £19k's worth of Focus ST (well its worth about £16k now which is about what I owe) which I'm going to ditch shortly because I'm piling the miles on it and its mine because I get £10k pa car allowance and I don't want to blow it all on the car.

I was thinking of getting a mondeo ST220, 04 plate for about £9k but what I'm thinking now is do my direct access and buy a Yamaha R6 and a dull car assuming I can get my kicks on the bike.

Something like a diesel Mondeo zetec S for about £5k and the bike for £2k (ish) plus an investment of £1k on kit and tests.

I need to sell this idea.... is there a way or do I just say "I'm 30, I'm bored, I always wanted to do this so live with it"?

just look at it....

2006_Yamaha_R6.jpg


I know for £2k it might not be that sexeh but it'll be very very close.

EDIT: 2000 model... like I said, close :)

Yamaha_Yzf_R_2000.jpg
 
badbob said:
My dad had a head with a biker...the other bloke is now in a wheelchair for life :-(
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Do you mean head on crash?

EDIT: didn't see the pic, lovely!

either way you're not helping, one of my friends best mates died in a car crash. Its just life, or death I guess and as my road policing copper mate pointed out, everyone has to die sooner or later.

2nd EDIT: just thinking whats the point mentioning the bursting into flames? Surely once they'd collided the chances of the biker being within 100ft of that bike were basically nil?
 
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Just get the bike started riding last year best thing i ever did.
You really can't realise the power to weight ratio on modern bikes until you ride one.
Something i think you should try once you get on a bike their will be no going back to cars, well for the summer anyway.
 
Just go for it, that's what I'm doing somepoint next year. You have until October '08, iirc, till the direct access course changes and becomes harder so plenty time to get the wife onside :D
 
Budget more than £1000 for the test and kit. The DAS will cost in the region of £400-£500 and decent kit costs more than you might think. I'm going to make an assumption that may not be correct, but I reckon you'll be going for full leathers, which for a reasonable set are £700+. A decent lid (assuming Arai or Shoei) is £200+ easily.
Gloves will be £50 minimum. Boots £100 minimum. A decent lock and ground anchor (assuming you want to keep the bike) is £100. Other odds and sods will really mount up.

You might be the thrifty sort who doesn't go for the big brands, in which case those costs can be reduced, but it still isn't cheap.

As for the justification, why do you need to justify it? Just do your DAS (you don't have to buy a bike straight away) and take it from there.
 
If it's any help, here's a brief run-down of what I have spent so far:

Leathers - £500
Textile jacket - £60*
Textile trousers - £100
Boots - £160
1st set of gloves - £50*
2nd set of gloves - £80
Lid - £160*
Knox back board - £90
Ground ancor point - £50
Cat 4 (I think) chain - £90
* Purchased together with a bit of discount.

A few odds and ends like ear plugs and fluids for the bike, comes in at just under another £100.

Training for me - well, I paid £590 for a 4 day DAS course, but failed the test, so I re-booked the test with the same people, but added a day training to that as well, iirc that was £270.

I spent exactly what I planned to on the bike, which may be a lot for my first, but it was what I had budgeted for - 2006 Kawasaki ZX636 £4995, insurance was what I expected (i.e. silly price) - £915 fully comp with breakdown cover (I'm 26 with no bad things).

I had the bike in for it's first check-up since I owned it, the 4000 miles one, which cost about £120, and I have filled it up more times than I can count ;)
Getting about 120-130 miles before reserve, that's a mixed bag of riding, and the reserve is good for about 30 miles; only ever once taken the bike that far into reserve.

Other than that I have spent a couple of hundred on mods for the bike (tail tiday, rear hugger/set cover thingy, double bubble screen) but the main thing is, I do not regret one thing about doing my DAS or getting the bike :D

Scort.
 
emailiscrap said:
Budget more than £1000 for the test and kit. The DAS will cost in the region of £400-£500 and decent kit costs more than you might think. I'm going to make an assumption that may not be correct, but I reckon you'll be going for full leathers, which for a reasonable set are £700+. A decent lid (assuming Arai or Shoei) is £200+ easily.
Gloves will be £50 minimum. Boots £100 minimum. A decent lock and ground anchor (assuming you want to keep the bike) is £100. Other odds and sods will really mount up.
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I got my AGV stealth for well under £200, some literally brand new condition but used (just the once iirc) Dainese leathers for under £200 from ebay. I did buy Alpine Stars tech-road gloves which were just over £100 and my Sidi Vertigo boots were about £140 new from ebay again.

You are right the costs soon mount up, but I wouldnt go spending £700+ on leathers straight off when you could be kitted out in proven gear for a reasonable budget if you look around.
 
moss said:
You are right the costs soon mount up, but I wouldnt go spending £700+ on leathers straight off when you could be kitted out in proven gear for a reasonable budget if you look around.
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Agreed - no way do you need to spend that much.

My kit cost me:

RST leathers - 2 piece £110 (ebay)
Richa Textiles - 2 Piece £160 - new
Caberg V2 Helmet - £100 - new
Oxtar TCS Boots - £100 - new
Gloves - £30
Winter Gloves £30

Dont get taken in by the marketing hype. Alpinestars stuff really isnt that great - comes off worse than Heine Gerrick own brand in crash tests, and a £700 one peice suite is still a world away in safety terms from what the pro racers wear. Helmets depend on the fit and not the brand. Shoeis are better than Cabergs when it comes to weight and comfort but not safety (or noise)

If you want to buy the expensive kit then fine - you'll look damn cool for sure, but dont think you HAVE to spend that much, or that it will make you any safer. You'd be better off invensting the cash difference in post test training to avoid the crash in the first place ;)

As for justifying it to the Mrs - I went down the practical route. We only had one car and it was a pain sometimes so I said I was going to buy 'a cheap little bike' as a 2nd form of transport. Then, when that was in the bag and she was used to me having a bike again, I upgraded a couple of times and ended up with something decent lol.
 
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I would highly recommend not going for an R6 as your first bike as it'll be way faster than anything you've experienced before and you'll be at risk of just becoming another 'born again biker' statistic. An R6 has 120bhp and does an 11 sec quarter mile, which compared with any car will be like warp speed.
It would be a much better idea to get something more manageable for a year or so to get used to riding, then move up to something faster as your skill and confidence grow. As en ex-biker I'm no way against bikes, but you wouldn't recommend a newly qualified car driver to buy an M3 - it's simply not suitable.
 
robbiemc said:
I would highly recommend not going for an R6 as your first bike as it'll be way faster than anything you've experienced before and you'll be at risk of just becoming another 'born again biker' statistic. An R6 has 120bhp and does an 11 sec quarter mile, which compared with any car will be like warp speed.
It would be a much better idea to get something more manageable for a year or so to get used to riding, then move up to something faster as your skill and confidence grow. As en ex-biker I'm no way against bikes, but you wouldn't recommend a newly qualified car driver to buy an M3 - it's simply not suitable.
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I'm with him.

Decent kit will set you back a bit, but bargains are to be had on ebay (still need to be wary mind). I got a 2 piece Wolf Racing set for £140 and a 1 piece Wolf Kangaroo Skin for £350.

The ONLY kit you should NEVER get second hand is a helmet, they are 1 impact devices and you can't always tell they've been dropped.

I'm on my first year riding, and am on a Honda Hornet (600) which to be honest is plenty fast enough for now, the wind doesn't get to you until you really hit license loosing speeds anyway.
 
get something slower and cheaper at first , a) you have more chance of living b) if you stack it then you wont be as gutted , learn from mistakes etc c) itl still be faster than nearly any cars on the road
 
robbiemc said:
I would highly recommend not going for an R6 as your first bike as it'll be way faster than anything you've experienced before and you'll be at risk of just becoming another 'born again biker' statistic. An R6 has 120bhp and does an 11 sec quarter mile, which compared with any car will be like warp speed.
It would be a much better idea to get something more manageable for a year or so to get used to riding, then move up to something faster as your skill and confidence grow. As en ex-biker I'm no way against bikes, but you wouldn't recommend a newly qualified car driver to buy an M3 - it's simply not suitable.
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Every single one of my friends (and myself) who got into biking over the last couple of years (about 9 of us) all went for 600cc sports bikes as first bikes, touch wood everythings been fine since, although I do see your point, they do feel like warp speed at first.
I think its also down to the person riding the bike, none of us are total maniacs on the bike.
 
I got a 600 ninja G1 brand new when I passed 9 years back and i'm still walking and talking :). Missus just passed her test also and I got her a 600 hornet which is close to 100bhp but she rides it so slow it may as well be 5cc hehe, it's all in the wrist :)
 
600cc supersports are really quite easy and forgiving to ride, because the power comes in so late in the rev range its unlikely you'll hit it by mistake. Ride any 600cc IL4 and under 8k rpm it has less power than the 500cc bike you'll be doing your DAS on.

A litre bike on the other hand demands a lot more respect with the right wrist, as you get a huge amount of power right through the range.

hhmm... just typing this and thinking back to the 9 makes me want another litre bike haha
 
this is easy.

present the idea as follows.
"im going to sell the focus and buy you a micra. im getting a motorbike for myself and with the money released by getting you a micra, im going to turbo the superbike"

that really is a worst case scenario for her... so you compromise and just get a superbike and let her keep the focus

et voila
 
moss said:
I think its also down to the person riding the bike, none of us are total maniacs on the bike.
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It's good to hear that you're sensible on the bikes, but remember that the 'born again biker' is one of the highest risk groups on the road today.

Plus the OP already has 9 points on his licence, so I'm guessing that he's no stranger to 'pressing on' or taking risks.
 
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