Cheap first proper bike?

eidolon

eidolon

eidolon

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Joined
31 Oct 2002
Posts
13,892
Location
Newcastle upon Tyne
Currently pottering around on a little CBR125 however I'm gonna be doing my DAS soon and was therefore looking for advice on what to buy once I pass.

I have my heart set on an ER6f as a 59 plate one can be had for around £4000ish but I'm wondering if it's better to maybe buy something a bit older and cheaper (£2kish?) as a first bike in case I drop it or anything silly like that (my CBR fell off its stand weeks after I bought it, nothing to do with my own stupiditly, honest.....:()

It needs to be reliable and not likely to kill me, any ideas?
 
Bought a new ER-6f for my first 'big' bike myself.

Dropped it doing slow manoevers in a car park :( Put a scratch or two on the faring and I had to replace a mirror (£40). I left the scratches there to remind me not to be a cocky **** :D

I took myself through the tests so I'm on a restricted license until November 2011. I plan to keep the ER-6f til then at least :)
 
Honda CB500 (I say it every time a thread like this is made :p)

I've had one for nearly 3 years now and I still love it. I've got insurance which lets me ride any bike so regularly get runs out on different bikes, big trailies, vfr 750, hornet etc, and nothing beats the cb for the raw fun factor.

I suppose it depends what you're into, cruising, going at warp speeds in a straight line, scratching round corners at warp speed or scratching round corners at a semi sensible speed, I prefer the latter, simply because I'd rather have a bike I can wring the neck out of and not be going post 100mph all the time. The engine on my cb gets abused so much it's not funny and it has not had a single glitch in 10k miles, not a single thing has gone wrong, tyres, brake pads, oil, filter and fuel are all it has needed :) Oh and it's fantastic on fuel too, 65mpg on a run and about 40mpg when it's being abused.
 
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Sv650 bandit but best choice is the hornet . fast enough but docile at the bottom end ..handles great .. great build quality .. and who said cb500? horrid thing
 
Would give both the SV and Hornet a test, plenty of power in either one for a new starter. I went for the 2002 faired Hornet, still gives me a smile each time I go out on her :D
 
Persil said:
no .. but but given i have ridden them all you cant compare the cb500 to any of the other nakeds . but will leave the op to decide and test ride
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Compare it to the GS500 or ER-5 then, the Hornet, SV etc. aren't bikes in the same class. The CB500 is an excellent bike in it's class (probably the best) i.e. middle weight commuter, but personaly not one I'd choose as a weekend fun bike.
 
Persil said:
no .. but but given i have ridden them all you cant compare the cb500 to any of the other nakeds . but will leave the op to decide and test ride
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Like I said it depends what you want out of a bike, from what I recall of your biking posts (and I have a bad memory) you speak highly of sports-bikes, so a cb500 is obviously going to be the bottom of your list.

Whether you go round a corner at 120mph or 80mph, it makes no difference on the road, the important bit is how much fun you have while riding. I personally like a bike I can ride the balls off, while not doing silly speeds. Sure a fast bike is fun but what's the point on the road? They are so comfortable at low speeds it takes away the fun, for me. The only way I get fun out of a big bike is to take it to the edge, and doing 100+ mph to have fun just seems pointless.
 
Need to read more of my posts then :P

i ride this

3565130072_eb5c1ba26e_b.jpg


the hornet is no more fun at doing 100mph than th cb500 is but the hornet handles well sounds good and when required gets a lick on . the cb500 is noisy slow nasty commuter used by training schools . its fine if u dont care about bikes and need to get from a-b but its far from fun .. maybe comming from a 125 it might feel fast for all of 5 mins but there is better metal for the mans money . but as i said his choice not mine .. but he did ask for options and opinions

persil
 
I hope that's a new rear tyre :p My cb is handles great, the only bike which I've rode which "felt" better is the R1200GS. For me riding a bike is the feel/fun, not top speed.

Hopefully taking my bike off the road and onto the track soon anyhow, scraping the pegs on public roads is just asking for trouble
 
was newish :P but the grass had polished it abit so looks more than it is ...you can see three different colours and i dont hang off as much on the left as the right (quite normal) there is only 2-3 mm on there now
 
Persil said:
the cb500 is noisy slow nasty commuter
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If it's such a bad machine, how come MCN say this about it?

The Honda CB500 is a first big motorcycle you’ll never want to sell. It’s huge fun because it’s so confidence-inspiring, meaning you can take it anywhere and it’ll make you feel you can push your limits. Very competent: commuters and couriers love Honda CB500s for their reliability and all-round, top-notch performance. In all aspects, the Honda CB500's a winner.
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you trust mcn? there as bad as the daily mail . and from there own quote.. commuters and couriers will love it ... great workhorse .. the mondeo of the bike world ... but hardly stirs the soul
 
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