Decisions? (Bike related)

kvfb97

kvfb97

kvfb97

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Joined
7 Dec 2005
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Armagh, Northern Ireland
Ok, a few weeks ago I bought an Aprilia RS125. I new this would be trouble but I had to have it. So far everything is fine other than the clutch and ignition. I'm bringing it into a mechanic tomorrow to see how much it will cost to fix. (Don't really want to try fixing the clutch, plus it may only need adjusting)

My bike test is in a few weeks however and I was going to take a trip over to Manchester or something with the GF, on the bike. Now the RS125 a) wouldn't cope very well with 2 of us on it, b) may not be reliable enough to drive way over there.

So, I was thinking on getting a new/bigger bike. I was looking around and got my eyes hooked on a Triumph Daytona 600. It is £3200, 8000 miles, 2004 reg and it looks absolutely mint! I cannot see any scratches at all. Also has a few extras and an aftermarket alarm system.

I could go and buy it now, however the cheapest and only insurance quote I have got is £3200 :o That is TPFT and is the same price as the bike itself! TPO was £1100, which isn't bad, but I don't want to get TPO with a £3k bike.

Do you think a RS125 could make it 1000 or less miles with 2 people on it without dieing, and would the speed be fine?

Any ideas of insurance companies who look at new riders with NCB?

Any 600cc bikes or so that would be capable of a pillion passenger, and be cheap to insure for a first time biker?

Thanks.
 
i dunno man, 1000 miles 2up on a RS125 is gonna 'bring out' any underlying problem.. also certainly not a effortless ride, engine is gonna be doing a lot of work.

good chance you would be ending up with a hand full of piston ring pieces :), then again it might be fine, depends on how well it was looked after in the past and if it had quality 2t oil and proper warm up times.

insurance is a real killer on bigger bikes.. I guess shop around and try and make clauses, voluntry high excess of say £1000, you might be able to get it down some.
 
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Rossmac said:
If I were you, I'd be looking at something similar to a 2002 Fazer or Thundercat.

I think they are relatively cheap to insure.
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not sure a thundercat would be much lesser group or at all than the triumph, fazer will be though no doubt, but it's not a very exciting bike.

I know my ZX10 was a group higher than old ZX12, now thats just crazy (though admitedly the smaller bike is more aggressive)
 
dude I think 1000 miles on a 125 will drive you insane. Not too long ago I rode 80miles on mine and it felt dangerous and wasn't much fun (I've never used it outside zone 1 in London before, so for me it was a new experience). Not sure how fast yours goes but mine tops out at 65, and the sheer lack of power at anything above 50 made the entire experience quite mundane.

One thing I can say though is that if you think that your vehicle (regardless of what it is) is "unreliable", then a 1000 mile journey, flat out (as it would be with a 125) would probably result in everything falling off, the wheels disconnecting, the engine turning to goo and your brakes seizing up (well, not as dramatic as that, but I wouldn't risk it).

Do your test. Then try to find the least cool, yet nice bike out there and buy that. It will be cheap to insure and could still offer some great performance (think Skoda Octavia RS, but with 2 wheels, rather than the bike equivalent of say an audi S3)

hope that helps
 
kvfb97 said:
Ok, a few weeks ago I bought an Aprilia RS125. I new this would be trouble but I had to have it. So far everything is fine other than the clutch and ignition. I'm bringing it into a mechanic tomorrow to see how much it will cost to fix. (Don't really want to try fixing the clutch, plus it may only need adjusting)

My bike test is in a few weeks however and I was going to take a trip over to Manchester or something with the GF, on the bike. Now the RS125 a) wouldn't cope very well with 2 of us on it, b) may not be reliable enough to drive way over there.

So, I was thinking on getting a new/bigger bike. I was looking around and got my eyes hooked on a Triumph Daytona 600. It is £3200, 8000 miles, 2004 reg and it looks absolutely mint! I cannot see any scratches at all. Also has a few extras and an aftermarket alarm system.

I could go and buy it now, however the cheapest and only insurance quote I have got is £3200 :o That is TPFT and is the same price as the bike itself! TPO was £1100, which isn't bad, but I don't want to get TPO with a £3k bike.

Do you think a RS125 could make it 1000 or less miles with 2 people on it without dieing, and would the speed be fine?

Any ideas of insurance companies who look at new riders with NCB?

Any 600cc bikes or so that would be capable of a pillion passenger, and be cheap to insure for a first time biker?

Thanks.
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My nephew has had a hard time getting insurance, and the following was the best he could get..

Fazer 600
Thundercat 600
ZZR-600
Suzuki GSX750F

He ended up with the ZZR600, excellent sports tourer, that is very very nippy, the thudercats where all old/tired, the Fazer's where quite soft, the GSXF was actually pretty good to ride and was his second choice had he not found a mint ZZR..
 
yeah ZZR 600 still a stonking good bike, and certainly wasn't considered a tourer when released, just looks abit dated. By todays standards it's abit soggy and lacking on top end punch. I remember mine used to wallow in long sweepers.. but cracking engine with a 14.5k redline so loves revs, the later ones with ram air topped out at a real 160. First gens were about 10mph slower.

I rode a m8s GSX750F at the time and it's built to a real budget. I believe it had a oil cooled slingshot motor from a Gixxer but with all the top end rush robbed from it. Was certainly slower than ZZR closer on 135-140mph and tied itself in total knots slightest hint of a corner.

when my mate had a go on the ZZR he just came back shaking his head saying he couldn't believe it was only a 600 :)
 
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Are the bike laws different in NI?
I thought you could only ride up to 33bhp once you passed your test these days unless you take it on a bike of more than 33bhp and are over 21 years old.
Or are you looking at getting a 33bhp restriction kit fitted to the bikes you describe?
 
Rilot said:
Are the bike laws different in NI?
I thought you could only ride up to 33bhp once you passed your test these days unless you take it on a bike of more than 33bhp and are over 21 years old.
Or are you looking at getting a 33bhp restriction kit fitted to the bikes you describe?
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Restriction fitted. then have to ride that for 2 years, so in my case i'll be over 21. If i got my licence at 17 though, I could ride a fully restricted bike now.
 
I hate to say that if you're considering riding 1000 miles on a bike, then you obviously havent rode a motorcycle long enough.

Take your girlfriend for a 100 miles ride up and down a motorway and then ask her if she'd like to do that times 10.

Seriously dude. Use a car.
 
Might be worth considering a 400, for me the difference between a 400 and a 600 is massive, and currently not worth it...

I've done a ~180 mile trip on a 125 (Yamaha TZR), wasn't pleasant at all, had to stop 3 times in all as my legs felt like they were about to fall off, wouldn't want to consider ~1000 miles on a 125 :eek:

I've got 2 400's atm, a Yamaha FZR and a Honda VFR, both are damn good fun and a massive amount better than my 125, FZR slightly 'better' in acceleration terms, if only cause when it hits 10k there's a real surge which is addictive, but it's useless below 6k. On the other hand the VFR is much nicer to ride at lower rev's and it feels a lot more planted in the corners, so it's my favorite of the two, but it does feel slower in a straight line...

Yes a 600 would be quicker, but a 400 will be quick enough and should drop the insurance by a fair amount...
 
I wouldn't even consider doing 1000 miles on an RS125. I've done big distances on bikes in my time and you need something with a good, under-stressed engine. The RS125 will be runnning at close to 100% of it's maximum capability 2-up on a motorway.
I'd be surprised if it didn't die, not to mention the numb bum you and your GF will have to suffer.
 
SKILL said:
Might be worth considering a 400, for me the difference between a 400 and a 600 is massive, and currently not worth it...

I've done a ~180 mile trip on a 125 (Yamaha TZR), wasn't pleasant at all, had to stop 3 times in all as my legs felt like they were about to fall off, wouldn't want to consider ~1000 miles on a 125 :eek:

I've got 2 400's atm, a Yamaha FZR and a Honda VFR, both are damn good fun and a massive amount better than my 125, FZR slightly 'better' in acceleration terms, if only cause when it hits 10k there's a real surge which is addictive, but it's useless below 6k. On the other hand the VFR is much nicer to ride at lower rev's and it feels a lot more planted in the corners, so it's my favorite of the two, but it does feel slower in a straight line...

Yes a 600 would be quicker, but a 400 will be quick enough and should drop the insurance by a fair amount...
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I'll look around for a VFR, and get some quotes. Looks quite tasty.

Bug One said:
I hate to say that if you're considering riding 1000 miles on a bike, then you obviously havent rode a motorcycle long enough.

Take your girlfriend for a 100 miles ride up and down a motorway and then ask her if she'd like to do that times 10.

Seriously dude. Use a car.
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Fair enough, I'm planning on doing lots of trips with the bike however. Don't think I'll be too fussy with going long rides.
 
I do 100 miles a day on my bike commuting in to work.

There is nothing more dull that riding a motorbike on a motorway for a long period of time. Its not like riding through country lanes and aroud town - which I could do all day long. Its monotonous, uncomfortable and very boring.

If I didn't save so much time getting through the horrendous traffic in Maidstone by using a motorbike, I'd be in a car.

However, what I did last year .... Something like this
 
to even think about a 1000 mile trip on a 125cc 2-up is crazy!

i did a 160 mile trip on a 125cc and it was scary.
Struggled to reach 70mph, was slowed to 40mph with head wind and hill (with luggage)

as far as recommendations go I'm going to be very boring and say either a Suzuki Bandit 600 or a Honda CBF 600 SA (faired version)
2 quite comfortable bikes and enough power for a trip of that length also fairly cheap on insurance.
I found my FZ6 Fazer 05 is quite expensive on insurance.
 
You're always going to be killed for insurance on anything over a 400 for your first year.

1000 miles on a 125cc is completely mad, I did a 500 mile trip on my 400 last summer and it killed it. Suspension wore out, engine struggled etc. There's no chance of a 125 managing it without needing some serious repair work doing after. Not to mention you not getting over 40mph the whole way :P

Old CBR600F?
 
Cyanide said:
You're always going to be killed for insurance on anything over a 400 for your first year.
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I understand that but I would have thought around £1k?

When I was talking about getting a CBR600 (before I knew about insurance) I was told by the guy in a Honda Dealership that insurance would but around the 800 mark:confused:

Cyanide said:
1000 miles on a 125cc is completely mad, I did a 500 mile trip on my 400 last summer and it killed it. Suspension wore out, engine struggled etc. There's no chance of a 125 managing it without needing some serious repair work doing after. Not to mention you not getting over 40mph the whole way :P

Old CBR600F?
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I kinda gathered that :( That is why I was looking into a bigger bike.

Cheapest insurance I can find for a CBR600F 2001 model is 2500. I don't have much luck.

May have to stick with the RS125 for a year or so. :(
 
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