Another motorbike thread

Vanilla

Vanilla

Vanilla

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18 Oct 2002
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I realise there are quite a few motorbike threads around but I thought i'd start a new one because i'm special.

Finally thinking of getting on the bike bandwagon. I'm thinking of taking the theory, Hazard perception and then CBT and DAS in one. I probably wont do the DAS course until next year but will get the theory out of fthe way soon.

I have a number of questions -

* I'm thinking of starting on a 600 for a first bike (R6, CBR600, GSXR600). Some people say this is too much, others say it depends on what you do with it. I just can't be bothered starting on a 250cc, selling it, getting a 400cc, selling it and then getting a 600cc.
* Although I want to start on a 600cc a lot of people say get a cheap old 600cc because you may well drop it. Anyone here not follow this advice and went straight onto a relatively new bike, such as a 2007/2008?
* insurance costs. Yes I will do some quotes but i'm wondering what the damage would be - 28 years old, 6 years NCB.

What are your experiences of the DAS course, the test? Care to share?
 
600cc good idea for first bike, especially if you're comfortable with the weight. Plenty of recommendations around, in this forum and others.

I bought a new bandit 650 a few months ago because I had the cash and it worked out to cost little more (over a few years) than buying used, and for that difference a new bike was well worth it. However not sure it's so good if you're thinking about finance - you'll probably be better off with a used one.

Some insurers allow you to use car NCB on bike. But if not even at 28 you shouldn't have much trouble on a 600. At 20 my insurance (no NCB, first year of riding) was about £550.

Due to age, I did the restricted test. I've not tried to do a turn in the road on a GS500 (common DAS bike) but I'd probably have struggled if I tried it on my bandit. However the test overall is pretty damn easy. The turn in the road (and slow moving traffic - they're similar things) are the hardest parts, but the rest is mostly common sense. Passed first time after about 8 lessons and a sunday afternoon by myself on a bike rented from the place I was learning with. You won't be able to borrow a bike by yourself if you do DAs though.
 
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For the training, just bang through it all in one. Take a week off work and get it done, it's the best way. That week you're thinking about riding and learning and all of that all the time so you learn loads. I enjoyed it as well.

Get whatever bike you want for your first bike. Bikes are about fun, not 'I'd better not get something nice because I might drop it'. As has been said in another thread recently, you WILL fall off, probably more than once, if you ride for any length of time or ride often enough.

While I was working locally, I had one bike for about a year, didn't get a mark on it, then with my second bike, I had a little spill on some diesel.

Then when I started working 20 miles away I got knocked off twice in a year, because of the sort of road I was on.... it happens, it sucks, but there's no need to not have something nice because you're scared you'll hurt it.

Get the bike you want, if you want a 600 sportsbike, get one, because you'll only be sat there wishing you had one anyways.

My dad's been riding since the dawn of time and hadn't crashed (on the road) since the 70s, then he bought a bike and stacked it after owning it for two weeks. He knows what he's doing, but we all fall off! It happens. You can hurt yourself on anything, and a bike will only go as fast as you tell it to.

The price difference between a 2007/8 bike and a slightly older one isn't huuuuge, anyway, but personally I don't see that much of an advantage in really really recent bikes. Most bikes are pretty low mileage, they age pretty well, and most sportsbikes are well looked after, £4k will buy you a really nice example of pretty much any 600 you could name.

Insurance is cheaper than you think, my first bike was a Z750 and I think it cost me about £400 TPF&T, then I got a Fazer 1000 which was about the same, a little more I think. Cat 1 alarm helped though no doubt. When I renewed it recently I think it's gone down to about £280? I pay about £25 a month, so with the extra for paying monthly I suppose that's probably about right. 25, three years bike NCB.

Getting an RSV Mille soon so my insurance will presumably go up a bit, but I don't think it'll be too bad. Might go fully comp on this one if I can stretch to it.
 
No reason what so ever why you cannot start on a 600, your on the throttle - ride like an idiot.. fall off :) That been said I jumped straight on a R6 07 and never looked back, all of the 10 lads I ride with did the same.

The thing to realise is that you will fall off, one way or another - we all do, I have! Saying that there is nothing wrong with getting an older bike for the experience, they have plenty of poke and if you do drop it, there is plenty of parts going spare etc etc.

@ 24 I pay around £400 TPFT, but I am due for renewal next month.

Oh and whatever you decide, dont cut corners on kit - Its the only thing between you and the road :D
 
Also, my Fazer is half faired and has crash protectors, but when some berk ******* me off it it still got written off. Most bikes will be an insurance write-off if you have a good bit of biffo on them, faired or not. If it's not the fairings it'll be the frame and engine. And the bars and the lights and the footpegs and the stand and indicators and mirrors and blah blah blah.
 
Hi,

I done the all in 1 course, cost about £650 and done it over 4 weeks.

I went for a CBR600. Cost me £1400 but it was a great deal. It's really easy to ride, forgiving in the corners if you special it (and you will!).

I'm 25, 7 years car NCB but that meant nothing. Fully comp still only cost me £400.
 
+1 for the SV650. I did my DAS, waited 12 months and bought an '08 (shameless pimpage)

Insurance is very circumstantial: I paid ~£450 fully comp @ 26 in a band 'C' area with 0 NCD. Something to note is you cannot use your car NCD at the same time on the bike, and I think a lot of insurers won't accept car NCD on a bike policy - and vice versa.

Best thing is to get onto a couple of comparison websites and just see how the quotes fall out. If you Google "Bike Insurance Groups" you'll find a useful page showing how bikes compare.
 
Vanilla said:
What are those metal pegs new riders get sticking out the sides of the faring to protect the faring if the bike is dropped?
Click to expand...

Not just new riders, nearly everyone I know uses them. Crash bungs/bobbins/frame protectors, whatever you want to call them. Well worth it on most bikes, can save you a fair bit of money/damage in a spill.

I put my feet on the ones my bike when my legs get tired because they're towards the front :D
 
i'd say go with what your heart says... biking is about buying something that excites you, how it looks, how it goes.

back in the day i went from a 125 to a KR1 250, then to a ZZR600. Both the later are tame by todays standards but at the time both fastest thing i could buy in the class.

forget buying something crash friendly, get some crash bungs on it, buy latest super duper 600 and have tons of fun... though they are silly quick, they are tame as a pussycat if you keep the revs in bottom 2/3rds of range.
 
Vanilla said:
I realise there are quite a few motorbike threads around but I thought i'd start a new one because i'm special.
eFinally thinking of getting on the bike bandwagon. I'm thinking of taking the theory, Hazard perception and then CBT and DAS in one. I probably wont do the DAS course until next year but will get the theory out of fthe way soon.

I have a number of questions - ?
Click to expand...

Hey fella, glad you’re making the jump – I did back in 2007 after years of cars, and have never looked back, even after my smash last year put my in hospital.

I’ll give my own input:

Vanilla said:
* I'm thinking of starting on a 600 for a first bike (R6, CBR600, GSXR600). Some people say this is too much, others say it depends on what you do with it. I just can't be bothered starting on a 250cc, selling it, getting a 400cc, selling it and then getting a 600cc.
Click to expand...

No problem with this whatsoever, if it’s the route you wish to take, go for it, some people even say straight to a thou is doable and I totally agree – at the end of the day it boils down to you and how you ride the bike; you control it at the end of the day.

Vanilla said:
* Although I want to start on a 600cc a lot of people say get a cheap old 600cc because you may well drop it. Anyone here not follow this advice and went straight onto a relatively new bike, such as a 2007/2008?
Click to expand...

Depends really, if you spend a lot on a new bike, be prepared to spend lots if it goes down, nature of the beast I guess. One thing this may do though, is worry you so much about binning it, you never get the best from the bike.

I bought a 06 Kawasaki Ninja as my first bike in August 2007; it was in the range I had prepared to pay at the time (4-5K) and it never put me off of riding it hard as my experience grew.

Vanilla said:
* insurance costs. Yes I will do some quotes but i'm wondering what the damage would be - 28 years old, 6 years NCB.
Click to expand...

Well, I was 26 at the time, with 4-5 years NCB on the car and the Ninja f/c was over a grand, my current bike (58 reg Yamaha R1) costs a shade over £1,200 with a year’s NCB. So it’s safe to say that my insurer fro the bikes (Express) doesn’t give a toss about car no claims :(

Vanilla said:
*What are your experiences of the DAS course, the test? Care to share
Click to expand...

It was one of the most enjoyable things I have done to date, but for gods sake, don’t let the 125s put you off – a ‘big bike’ is waiting a few lessons away and they are amazing by comparison.

Scort.
 
Vanilla said:
What are your experiences of the DAS course, the test? Care to share?
Click to expand...
Where are you based, if you haven't got a school in mind we might know of some good/bad ones?

I'll second Scort with regards to the 125cc's, it's only a couple of hours of pain and the first time you do a 30mph roll-on on the 500's you'll be grinning like a Cheshire cat :)
 
Scort said:
Well, I was 26 at the time, with 4-5 years NCB on the car and the Ninja f/c was over a grand, my current bike (58 reg Yamaha R1) costs a shade over £1,200 with a year’s NCB. So it’s safe to say that my insurer fro the bikes (Express) doesn’t give a toss about car no claims :(


Scort.
Click to expand...

mmmmm R1, pics?
 
paddy said:
Where are you based, if you haven't got a school in mind we might know of some good/bad ones?

I'll second Scort with regards to the 125cc's, it's only a couple of hours of pain and the first time you do a 30mph roll-on on the 500's you'll be grinning like a Cheshire cat :)
Click to expand...

West London.

Looking at Osterley / Heathrow for DAS course :)
 
i did a das course last year. days course for the cbt, two days training, then hit the test.

rode bikes quite a bit as a nipper, but hadnt been on one for about 7 years when i started my training. you do forget how to ride! after my traing i was no way near comfortable, the 10 year old me on my yamaha yz80 (1st and 2nd bike) would thrash the pants of me!

test was pretty easy, well i managed to pass, even with me using 2 fingers to brake instead of all four fingers(totally absurd , how do you ahve throttle control if you use all your fingers)

incidently have they got rid of that swerve test?
 
Swerve test is still there - I did my Module 1 Monday and passed.

Once you see how much space you have, the real challenge is not to take it as fast as you can, but instead just stick to just over 50 kph.
 
i did my Module 1 yesterday, passed it with no faults.. imo the swerve test is easy.. i did it on a 125, and it was a little damp.

You dont have to fling the bike as far as you think :)
 
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