CBT & 125cc bikes

Casdawer

Casdawer

Casdawer

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Joined
14 May 2009
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Hampshire
Evening all,

So for a while I've been thinking about ditching the car and getting a bike.

After talking to a friend at work who rides a bike, I've decided to take the plunge and do my CBT.

One question that's been on my mind is... what 125cc bike should I get :D

I don't mind getting new or old or sport...
 
If you're 24+ you do have the option of doing a DAS course and getting onto a full powered bike as soon as you pass your test.

Of course you may just want a 125 which is fair enough but if you're 24+ you do have the optiopn of skipping the 125.
 
do the full test, even if you dont want a big bike it will give you cheeper insurance and will make you a better rider

plus 125s have a massive premium, when i passed my test i got an er5 after taking my test on one, it had 4k miles on the clock and cost 1 grand

my mates cg125 cost 100 quid more

i would say get like a 250, there often cheeper
 
I have a YBR 125 custom and would recommend it for a 125, however as the other guys have said it would cost a similar price to do the DAS and get a larger bike.
 
Casdawer said:
What 125cc bike should I get :D
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What type of bike do you like ? Sports, Enduro, Commuter, Cruiser ?
How handy are you with the spanners ?
Do you intend to do your test at a later stage or do you just want to commute on a 125 ?
How much mahoney do you want to spend, Including Bike, Gear, etc etc
 
4T5 said:
What type of bike do you like ? Sports, Enduro, Commuter, Cruiser ? Whichever achieves the best MPG.

How handy are you with the spanners ? What's a spanner? (I do have friends at work who are bikers who have offered to advise me on such things, and my Dad was an ex-biker)

Do you intend to do your test at a later stage or do you just want to commute on a 125 ? Yes, the reason I am only doing the CBT and getting a small bike is so that I can be sure that I do want to do the full test and get a bigger bike.

How much mahoney do you want to spend, Including Bike, Gear, etc etc About £2000 for the whole lot
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I'd budget 500 quid on gear then & spend the 1500 quid on the best low mileage 4 stroke 125 I could find at the time. Look for bikes advertised around the 1750 mark & bid them 1500 cash mahoneys.
I'm not being specific as that would be foolish just stick to the well known brands, Buy low mileage, straight out the box with No mods at all. A Honda would be my bet but I am bias but then that bias is founded on ownership & research on my own purchase.

Ask as many questions as you want here though I'm more than happy to help anybody & everybody get on a bike no matter what type size or price. :)
 
I went with a cheap £500 CG when i started out (Y reg, last of the kickstart-only CG's). Didn't lose anything when i resold it a year later. An EN/YBR125 would be alternatives to consider too.

I'd recommend staying away from something with a lot of plastic, you will end up dropping it/falling off (we all have, so dont worry), and plastics tend to be quite pricey to repair.
 
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I loved my KH125, brilliant little thing (apart from the electrics).

CG though, cheap and cheerful would be my choice if i were you right now.
 
Casdawer said:
I was looking at the CBF125?
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They are pretty good bikes, though built in India and not quite as robust as the old CG125. The YBR125 is pretty much equivalent to the CG in most areas (reliability, performance, economy) though a little more modern looking IMO.

If you are particularly tall you might want to look at the Honda Varadero, which is more of a full sized bike with adventure styling, and has a V twin instead of a single cylinder lump.
 
Casdawer said:
Yes, the reason I am only doing the CBT and getting a small bike is so that I can be sure that I do want to do the full test and get a bigger bike.
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You won't need to get a bike to be sure. Once you've done your CBT, you'll be sure at the end of the day, never mind after getting your own 125 to ride about for a bit!
 
The YBR is a brilliant bike. I had one for 18 months, loved it. In fact about 3 weeks after my CBT I did a 200 mile ride to Wales, never looked back!

If I had a short commute into a city, I'd get a YBR or similar
 
i always wanted a yamaha tw125, to the point im tempted to buy one now to nip around on, pretty much just cos of the silly tires, theres a 200cc version too

dont get anything plastic, you will probably drop your first bike. and i dont mean go flying down the road, i mean drop it, i did it trying to do up a glove with my teath turn on my choke and heated grips while rolling out of my driveway.... wobble wobble splat, engine wasnt even on lol

i got 2 full sets of 2peice leathers

one set cost me 300 quid, dianese
and one set cost me 75 quid, frank tomas.... evil bay is your friend

100 quid on a helmet, ((new))

30 quid on some ebay boots
15 on some ebay gloves

115 quid on some heated gloves.... which i love

and the bike, older hondas are good, but the new ones arent so much, i know 2 people with the cbf125's and there ****, they've both had to go back to the dealer a few times, honda are just running on there name now
 
I don't plan on getting new especially with only £1500 to play around with.

Going to the Honda garage tomorrow as they have some used bikes (not just Honda's) and going to sit on a few and see what they're like for my height.

I'm 5" 10 so most bikes should be fine.
 
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