Bloody Insurance

[DanF]

I was looking to get another bike to do some touring on down to Italy and around the UK. I've loved the look of the Triumph sprint st 1050 for ages and had found some good examples to go and look at... but then I did some insurance quotes

Sprint ST 1050 - tpft £2000, FC £4600
VFR800 - tpft £1460, fc £2780
F800ST - tpft £530, fc £800

Wow for 3 bikes all aimed at sports touring with similar values but the difference is amazing. These where all just with ebike to get an idea, I tried some others but most wouldn't even cover me on the Sprint. One of the problems is I don't have any ncb due to selling my last bike over a year ago and also the bike would be kept behind a 8 foot locked fence on private property meaning it's classed as off street parking instead of garaged. Gah I hate London sometimes.

Putting down a fully fitted top end alarm + alphadot lowered it from £4600 to £4200 and saying that I lived up in Scotland at my parents put the Sprint down to £600 and the F800ST down to £240 both FC

 

[DanF]

I actually had the dates wrong, my insurance expired back in July 2008 with 3 years ncd, the ebike site says they accept ncd from up to 2 years ago but I could check it out with other insurance companies. The killer seems to be the garage, saying it's garaged puts tpft down to £930, it'd almost be worthwhile getting a bike specific lockup installed but it's a rented house so I'd need to move it if I moved out. They seem to sell for just under £1k.

My car insurance for a bmw 330d 54 plate is £730 FC at the moment, that's with 2 years ncd.

 

[DanF]

I'd think that would just be a lot more hassle, I'd have to lug kit to the garage which would put me off using the bike as much.

 

[DanF]

I'm thinking of just getting an older sports bike and trying to tour on it instead, something like a ZX-9r would be much cheaper than a modern sprint st and apparently can do big miles anyway. It'd probable be more fun when the roads get interesting as well. Chucking a 10 year old £2k bike down the road would sting a lot less than something new so I could just put Third Party on it for £400 and who'd want to steal an old big mile tatty sports bike?

 

[DanF]

I've booked a test ride on a F800s for Saturday to see what it's like, I've also been looking out for a zx-9r which is probably a bit crazy for my uses but hey it'd be loads of fun. I picked up a new shoei quest helmet and a set of daytona roadstar boots yesterday but still trying to decide on new trousers and jacket. Some of my old kit really needed replacing.

I can make a bike pretty safe at my current house, it'll be behind am 8 foot gate with a car parked up tight in front of it so not really concerned with theft from there.

How attractive is a 10 year old zx-9r to a thief? I'd have thought if it was hassle they would have gone for newer bikes worth much more.

 

[DanF]

I guess you are fairly young as well? I just did a quote for a Fireblade and I can insure one for £300 FC with 0 NCB (would have to fit a rack for my zimmer frame though).

I'm 32, have had a full license for 5 years and did the bikesafe course after passing my test. The killer is the garage, saying I have one lowers quotes by 70~%.

 

[DanF]

Let me know what you think of the 800S - I posted my thoughts here back last year when I was weighing it up. Looking back, I still agree with what I said but am so pleased I bought it

It was really good fun I did some shopping today, bought a set of textiles and then test rode 2 bikes, a CBR600F '03 and a F800S '06. I've not really driven many road bikes, my history is 2 years with a SV650s and before that it was all off-road bikes.

CBR, well it was very good, smooth power delivery and pulled clean from low revs, nice suspension, nice brakes, enough top end to get exciting pretty fast for normal road riding It felt a little sterile, a bit safe but I could easily own one and just get on with riding it.

F800s, oh lol what a silly bike, within 10 minutes I was on a single lane bumpy road having loads of fun and tripping the abs braking on patches of gravel on the road it's really really easy to ride, handling is pretty neutral, the brakes are great, suspension is composed up to 8/10th's (I didn't try to ride any harder). It hides it's weight amazingly well, I think they have managed to get a fair amount of it pretty low down. It has nice usable torque through the mid range but it does loose out on top end to the CBR. Again I could easily see myself owning one of these.

I'd actually say I'd probably end up doing more daft stuff on the F800 than on the CBR, it just feels like you can get away with being a bit daft on it, the seating is higher and more upright so you have good visibility and the suspension copes with rougher surfaces much better and the abs really works well.

I think I prefer the power delivery of a twin over a 4, I kept on looking for another gear on the CBR but had no issues on the F800.

The only issue with the F800s was it didn't give enough wind protection, it'd get a bit annoying on long journeys, apparently the higher screen from the ST will bolt straight on though. I had a sit on the F800st but preferred the lower bar position of the F800S. Speccing a 800s with abs/heated grips/panniers takes it to ST money where it's all already included. I wonder if getting an ST but fitting the top yolk and bars from an S would make it cheaper