motorbike for new rider

Greenboi

Greenboi

Greenboi

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Joined
29 Sep 2006
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1,237
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Liverpool
Hey all, looking for a little advice :)

Im 18 at the moment, coming up to christmas (obviously) and my birthday is in feb, so im thinking of getting a motorbike.

Ive been driving my car now since i was 17 (will be 19 in feb) but my insurance runs out and i simply cant afford the near £1500 insurance price any more.

So, im looking at getting a bike as the cost of insurance is much cheaper, and it would be faster to do my commute probably.

What bike would you guys reccomend? im 18, so i cant have anything over a 125cc, and id liek something fairly cheap and reliable (and fast!)

Any help at all, or advice, is appreciated!
 
at 18 you can have something over a 125 but you need your A2 licence, youll need to do a CBT either way (sorry I didnt give any actualy bike reccomendations :D :P
 
Well, if you get your full A2 licence squared away, you can have over 125cc as long as its restricted, so that will open up your options quite considerably lol. Maybe look for something like a 400 Bandit? That's the 1st bike my had, he loved it, but had to sell it when he started uni.
He got me hooked though, so I'm getting a 600cc Bandit within the next month, can't wait :D.
 
Greenboi said:
Would buying a 400cc motorbike and restricting it to 125cc be a bad idea? im assuming it would be
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you dont restrict the cc :p you restrict the power (bhp) a 400cc will handle completely fine restricted, even 600s and 650s handle ok when restricted (generally)
 
Greenboi said:
Would buying a 400cc motorbike and restricting it to 125cc be a bad idea? im assuming it would be
Click to expand...

You can't restrict it to 125cc - with your CBT 125ccs and under (about, I don't remember the exact figure) 14bhp is the only option.

On your A2 though you can restrict a 400 (or anything) to 33bhp. The 400s take it better than more powerful bikes though from what I gather, as they're closer to that power anyway so it disrupts the character of the bike a bit less.
 
Okay, im looking at a kawasaki ninja zxr400, its 400cc.. would buying this and restricting it then doing my CBT on this be a viable option? As im sure you can tell im pretty clueless and the sites ive read seem to say different things so im not sure whats right!

Or...would i have to use one of their own bikes to do the CBT on , then do my A2 test or whatever it is on the kawasaki?
 
Yeah, as mentioned, 400's are generally the better size to restrict because of the regular output not being too huge. You can then use that for two years until you can un-restrict it, or get a bigger bike. But to get anything over a 125, you have to have your full licence, not just your CBT. If you only have your CBT, you're restricted to engine size, not just output.
 
I see, thanks very much for the info so far guys :)

How much is it to restrict a bike? I have looked but again im struggling to find info on google
 
Greenboi said:
Okay, im looking at a kawasaki ninja zxr400, its 400cc.. would buying this and restricting it then doing my CBT on this be a viable option?
Click to expand...

No.

Until you have passed your test you cant ride anything over a 125.

So, book your cbt and test > pass test > buy proper bike and restrict to 33bhp
 
Greenboi said:
test as in for A2 license? Can this be done on one of their own bikes?
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Yeah, they will usually provide the bikes. The place I'm doing mine(I'm doing Direct Access, which means I can get any bike I want as long as I pass my test, but you have to be at least 21 to do this) will provide the bikes, and probably the gear for you to do your test on, if you book lessons with them. What I'm doing is
Monday - Training on 125cc/500cc
Tuesday - Training on 500cc
Wednesday - Possibly a days training on a 500cc
Thursday - Training on a 500cc
Friday - 2-3 hours training on a 500cc, then going straight onto my test in the afternoon.

All the higher costs; bike, insurance, gear/helmet(which I now have my own anyway) is included in the cost.

I'd recommend doing it this way, doing an intensive course over a few days, then you won't really have to worry about practising on your own 125.

If you do want to get a 125 though, don't bother with an AprillaRS as they are basically chav-mobiles(and a nice target for chav thieves), and the insurance reflects this, as it can cost LOADS. A few years ago when I originally got interested in getting a bike, I was looking at them as I liked the look, but the insurance was ridiculous, even for an older (few years) bike. Plus, they sounded crap, especially for what they look like lol.
 
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