New to Motorcycles 3K to have it all, unreasonable?

Meloco

Meloco

Meloco

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Joined
25 Dec 2005
Posts
1,275
Location
Kent
Evening!

I am all setup to be obtaining my full bike license towards the end of this year. I was wondering if having a budget of £3,000 is an unreasonable assumption to think I can have decent kit and bike (600cc?). This would not include the Insurance, Road Tax etc.

Looking online it seems that a motorcycle by itself might consume all of this cost, and decent kit to be around £1000?! Am I being a total novice and getting coaxed by daft equipment?!
 
depends what bike you want,r reg zx6 can be had for around £1.600/£1.800,im guessing at £800 for insurance and the rest can be spent on clothing,look at cheapish stuff like spada and wiese
 
I'd say during winter you'll get a superb 600 for around 1500 quid 2000 tops & good kit will set you back around 500 quid as long as you don't go mental & buy over priced brands.
 
Many thanks for the replies, but where should I be looking? Most of the motorcycle garages seem to sell second hand bikes at a fair premium, and obviously online I am unsure of buying because of buying a bike at 1.5K but then spending an extra 1K for tyres, Chain, etc etc.
 
Personally I would work out what bike I want then join there forum/Forums do my research & then look in the For sale adverts on the forum checking the posters history to see if it's been good to him or not.

Or Bike trader/Ebay etc

Either way you will want somebody with you with some experience to check the bike out for you.
 
You should be easily able to get a bike and kit for £3k if you're not factoring in the lessons, insurance and tax and what not.

Have you got anyone that you could view a bike with?
 
That looks alight what Foxxy has linked to. The only thing I'd possibly suggest if I were to get that kit, is once you've done your CBT and what not, and you know you like biking, look at getting another helmet. Go somewhere you can try one on, and get one that fits properly, because there is a good possibility that buying your first helmet online, and it fitting correctly, is pretty slim. It'll be always good to have a spare lid as well!
 
Foxxy said:
Have a look at this forum post

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18447940
Click to expand...

Thank-you very much for that link, I think I have a similar deal at my local bike garage at the moment as well for Spada gear.

I've passed my CBT last wedensday, and just passed my theory today! So I am still moving forward as planned with the full test by the end of the year.

In regards to the motorcycles, I really don't see me being able to find someone to go with me to the other ends of Britain where some of the bikes are advertised. As I said before my local bike garage seems to have bikes that are miles out of my affordability (average being 4K per bike over 250cc). I really want a 600cc/650cc Suzuki Gladius, but that may be too hard to come by on the second hand market it seems(ebay)!
 
Meloco said:
Evening!

I am all setup to be obtaining my full bike license towards the end of this year. I was wondering if having a budget of £3,000 is an unreasonable assumption to think I can have decent kit and bike (600cc?). This would not include the Insurance, Road Tax etc.

Looking online it seems that a motorcycle by itself might consume all of this cost, and decent kit to be around £1000?! Am I being a total novice and getting coaxed by daft equipment?!
Click to expand...

I was in a similar position to you and got everything (safe kit, a great 600, tax, insurance, lessons and tests) for near enough exactly £3000. But I'm a freak when it comes to bargain hunting and buying stuff without going over budget so I spent many months looking for my bike and then pounced at the right moment!
 
Also consider eBay for 2nd hand kit (apart from helmet). Lot of people take up biking, buy expensive kit then give it up. I bought a set of Arlen Ness leathers for about £200 (£700 new)
 
I've bought almost all my gear through eBay, mostly shops and always new, and have to say buying last Years kit is a good way to save money as it's usually heavily discounted and just as good as this years.
 
I think that something like the Thundercat would be better than a ZX6R, simply because you tend to find them looked after better.

A mate of mine picked one up with 17k on the clock, 1 owner full service history for about £1.700 and that was from a dealer.
 
Thank-you very much for all the replies. I am constantly hunting on the above websites!

One theme that seems to be very common is that no matter what bike I may buy, to keep it locked up for the winter? Corrosion during this time will de-value any bike and possible ruin it, racking up a sizeable bill ?
 
Just depends how much you look after it. Corrosion during winter is mainly due to the salt on the roads, bit of a pain but if you have the time then just give it a quick wash down.

Won't ruin it, just won't look pretty anymore :p If it does get to that stage, bit of high-temperature paint on the downpipes and it's good to go again!
 
Meloco said:
Thank-you very much for all the replies. I am constantly hunting on the above websites!

One theme that seems to be very common is that no matter what bike I may buy, to keep it locked up for the winter? Corrosion during this time will de-value any bike and possible ruin it, racking up a sizeable bill ?
Click to expand...

No, when looking at £1500 bikes, running it through winter will barely devalue it at all. look at zx6r's, zx7rs, thundercats, srad gsxrs, cbr600f etc. If your worried all it takes is a rinse down with a hose after each ride to get rid of the salt etc, though prevention being better than cure, coat it in acf-50 beforehand.

bare in mind a £1500 cbr600f will be older than the equivalent kawasaki or suzuki which would sway me in their direction.

Gear you can easily do well in your budget, but bare in mind if you are going to be riding in winter you will want winter/all weather gear as opposed to a full set of leathers right now.
Try helmets on in a nearby store, fit is everything, literally, if it doesn't fit poperly you may as well have a barbie push bike helmet on, get someone in store to help you out and insure it fits properly. Some people find that their head fits into certain brands well and not so well in others.

At this value avoid dealers, £3-400 ish will be dealer margin, screw that. If you have any bike mates, get them to come with you. Where do you live?

edit: ah you live in kent, can't help you at that end of the woods....
 
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