Bought my first bike.....

Soldato
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As title really, ive bought a megelli 125m its 2008 and its done 3000-3500 miles and been serviced twice and its got new tyres. Cost me £1100 and insurance was £460 full comprehensive.
Im picking it up wednesday so ill post some pics if your interested, im really excited and cant wait to ride it home, i also got thurday off so guess what ill be doing all day:)
 
Soldato
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Never heard about it till i googled it . British built so cant be bad . Better than all these crappy imports . Suprised its a 2 stroke though . Only problem with getting summit that aint mainstream is getting parts etc .

But enjoy and have fun !!

Persil
 
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I also plan to get myself a Hornet .. I bought my first bike exactly 1 week ago.

I bought a brand new Honda cbf125. I asked them to sell me a restricted hornet until I pass my DAS -- and the Honda garage refused to sell me the thing ('If I sell you one of those with your (lack of) experience, even restricted, I'll be reading about you in the local paper in a week!!!!')

I also plan to keep the 125 for 3-6 months then do the other test. Wow, are you my dopplar twin? After 3 months apparently you're hungry for more power (don't feel it at the moment!). Also much longer on th 125 and you teach yourself bad habits which have to be 'unprogrammed' when preparing for the DAS - so paradoxically it makes it HARDER to get the DAS if you've been on the CBT for a long time!

OK -- some advice from a noob in exactly your situation. in fact, unnervingly exactly!

1) If you can already drive cars and have done for a while .. take the theory test now. Don't bother revising. You'll pass it very, very easily.
2) Do not feel you HAVE to do what the other bikers are doing with regards to overtaking and filtering. I spent the first 3 days behaving exactly like a car. Sure, you don't shave any time off your journey -- but honestly -- until you're more confident .. sticking in traffic is fine.
3) If the bike conks out, then it seems like the battery is dead because the starter motor won't fire -- the problem is simply that you've forgotten to change it back into neutral so the bike is 'protecting itself' by not letting you start it in gear. Don't call the garage and get them to come round to 'fix' it, then get all embarressed as they kick it into neutral and just start it up!!! That would be aweful. And yes, I did precisely that. And yes, they laughed at me!
4) TURN OFF YOUR BLIMIN INDICATORS once you've done your manouver! And learn how to fill up with petrol before you're very low - ideally at home (obviously no petrol there but use your imagination!) -- so no-one watches you (again very embarrassing) spending 10 minutes trying to figure a way to carry your helmet, gloves, wallet, keys AND filler cap simultaneously, and continually dropping one/two of the aforementioned items!!
5) I have been riding for 1 week and already checking my blind spot has saved me once -- from side-slamming a cyclist. When you're changing lane or turning (involving leaving your lane) I can not emphasize enough to check your blind spot. If you stop bothering, sooner or later you will wake up in hospital with a punctured lung and 7 fractured ribs .. or maybe not wake up at all :(

Thats all for the moment. I've got exactly the same plans as you and am at the same stage of my riding career (well, 1 week in front of you) -- so I can advise from the perspective of a brand new biker. If there's any further way I can help ...?
 
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Associate
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brtiboy4321, if you hadn't passed any test (which I assume was the case when you went to buy the hornet) then you'd not be legally allowed to ride the bike, restricted or not. I don't think it's the technically the garage's responsibility to check you're allowed to ride what they sell but it would be pretty remiss of them to sell you a bike knowing the second it leaves their forecourt you'd be uninsured and unlicenced.

If I misunderstand, and you had passed the 'restricted' test then you should complain to the salesperson's manager, because there's no reason for them not to sell you a bike - why would they refuse the sale? Very strange.
 
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brtiboy4321, if you hadn't passed any test (which I assume was the case when you went to buy the hornet) then you'd not be legally allowed to ride the bike, restricted or not. I don't think it's the technically the garage's responsibility to check you're allowed to ride what they sell but it would be pretty remiss of them to sell you a bike knowing the second it leaves their forecourt you'd be uninsured and unlicenced.

If I misunderstand, and you had passed the 'restricted' test then you should complain to the salesperson's manager, because there's no reason for them not to sell you a bike - why would they refuse the sale? Very strange.

I don't know how old britboy is but I've come across a fair few dealers & garages that look down their noses at potential customers either because they are perceived as "too young" or something else equally silly.
I'm 23 and have been turned away many times for test rides, despite having a ~1000cc twin of my own and a full licence for a few years, and many more miles under my belt in those years than some riders on 1000cc superbikes do in 10 years! Triumph in Twyford said, verbatim, "Sorry, Sir, we do not believe you have the money to buy this bike even if we did let you test ride it" :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: So it doesn't come as much of a surprise to me if some idiot salesman decided against a sale for no other reason than he thought britboy (or anyone else) wasn't experienced enough to ride whatever bike it was.
 
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brtiboy4321, if you hadn't passed any test (which I assume was the case when you went to buy the hornet) then you'd not be legally allowed to ride the bike, restricted or not. I don't think it's the technically the garage's responsibility to check you're allowed to ride what they sell but it would be pretty remiss of them to sell you a bike knowing the second it leaves their forecourt you'd be uninsured and unlicenced.

If I misunderstand, and you had passed the 'restricted' test then you should complain to the salesperson's manager, because there's no reason for them not to sell you a bike - why would they refuse the sale? Very strange.


I didn't have my CBT at the time but told them I'd get it before I got the bike.

Basically, although he put it more delicately, he thought I'd kill myself and that would give his business bad publicity, and make him feel bad about selling me a bike I so obviously couldn't handle.

He told me he had sold one in his younger days, and the 'kid' had immediately thrown the throttle down and lifted the clutch and the bike had 'launched' into the middle of a main road, causing a serious accident. Also a different kid had bought something way too big and the first corner had just dropped the bike. £1200 worth of damage, with less than 0.1 miles on the clock.

So yes technically he should sell whatever the customer wants. But he has personally, in extreme cases, started making a judgement call and saying 'Nope'. It really is opinion whether you think he's right to do so or not -- but I'm very pleased with the 125 and it has plenty of power for my first 3 months of riding.

Oh, and he does a deal where if in under 6 months I want to trade-up to the Hornet he guarantees only taking £300 off the 125 'as new' price for the part-ex. He did this because I started moaning about the money I'd lose from not starting out straight on a restricted hornet.

He seemed more like a nice, caring guy than a patronising idiot when he spoke to me. And I've never regretted taking hs advice despite him altering my plans considerably ...

(final note -- he was the owner of the store -- not just a sales person who is going vigilantie without the owner knowing)
 
Soldato
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You do realise you can't ride a hornet on a cbt? You have to pass a full motorcycle test. Also not sure why you'd buy a brand new 125 when you intend to pass your test in a few months. You'll lose a packet.
 
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1) You CAN ride a hornet on a CBT legally. You just need to get it restricted.
2) Read my previous post -- I will lose precisely, exactly £300 when I upgrade from the 125 to the Hornet. Which isn't criminally bad.
 
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OK then. I stand corrected. Apologies. I hereby declare that I was indeed wrong :\

Makes me wonder why anyone, ever would get some bike restricted! I mean .. you'd never buy a ferrari and say 'can I give you money to make it only 100bhp please?'. So why would anyone ever choose to do it for a bike?
 
Soldato
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Lot of crap being spouted in this thread :p And crap dealer who wont sell a restricted bike . I cant see how a 33bhp hornet is suddenly gonna kill him after a 12bhp cbr .

Yes you need yer Das before getting a hornet . if yer under 21 you must have it restricted . If over 21 you dont (unless you chose to but why you would is beyond me)

If yer underage or very new to bikes get yer cbt out the way and get riding..a lot ... when you feel you can ride the bike without thinking about it look at summit bigger . I still know a few people who have to think what to do with gears/brakes etc and if yer wondering what the bike is doing yer not looking ahead at the idiot trying to kill you .

Learn the bike then learn the road . And get some advanced training and decent gear . !

Persil
 
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1) You CAN ride a hornet on a CBT legally. You just need to get it restricted.
2) Read my previous post -- I will lose precisely, exactly £300 when I upgrade from the 125 to the Hornet. Which isn't criminally bad.

yeah, if you pass the test it has to be restricted unless it's an unrestricted test.

anyways...

congratulations. hope you're loving it.

bearing in mind my biking history on the road is not 'brilliant' i do remember one thing i was told which must have worked which was - always assume they'll pull out on you.

i.e. go towards centre of road (right of lane) if going past a junction. then you'll have to swerve less distance to miss them. ride around with sidelights on too. somepeople find this annoying which is great - they actually noticed you!:)

have fun. be careful in this weather. i remember i had to wheelspin my CBR a few years ago to get up the drive in the snow lol.
 
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1) You CAN ride a hornet on a CBT legally. You just need to get it restricted.
2) Read my previous post -- I will lose precisely, exactly £300 when I upgrade from the 125 to the Hornet. Which isn't criminally bad.

If you'd bought a 2nd hand 125 you'd have lost nothing at all, which would have been another £300 towards training, a nice hemet or a big bike.
 
Soldato
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Makes me wonder why anyone, ever would get some bike restricted! I mean .. you'd never buy a ferrari and say 'can I give you money to make it only 100bhp please?'. So why would anyone ever choose to do it for a bike?

Because if you're under 21 and take the test you are limited to 33bhp for 2 years, therefore you'll need a restricted bike. If you're 21 or over you can take the DAS and you wont need a restricted bike at all.
 
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OK then. I stand corrected. Apologies. I hereby declare that I was indeed wrong :\

Makes me wonder why anyone, ever would get some bike restricted! I mean .. you'd never buy a ferrari and say 'can I give you money to make it only 100bhp please?'. So why would anyone ever choose to do it for a bike?

Because if you get your full license at 17 you HAVE to have it restricted for 2 years legally.

Edit; Beaten. :<
 
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