Newbie bikers thread

Morbius

Morbius

Morbius

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I thought that as there wasn't a thread for new bikers, I'd start one.

I'll summarise my situation. I'm 25 and have never ridden a motorbike before, although I've had a full driving licence since I was 17. I'm now in a steady job and in need of a bit of enjoyment in my life so thought that it was about time I took up motorbiking.

I'm not in a hurry and given my complete lack of experience, I initially thought that the restricted access test might be the way to go. I had a look at some 125s at the weekend and was impressed by the Yamaha YZF-R125. It seems bigger than your average 125, which is a bonus as I'm 6' 1". However, it's pricey for a starter bike, and although Yamaha say it will do over 70, I've heard some people say that there's no way it will do 70. Which is an issue as I do a lot of dual carriageway driving on the way to work.

So this leaves me with a bit of a dilemma. I'm starting to think that a better way to go would be to get a cheap 125 to start with and pootle about on that whilst getting the theory test sorted. That way, I'll get some experience of riding without it costing the earth. After that, I would probably be better prepared for a direct access course, which would mean I could get a bigger bike when I'm done.

I'm just not sure any more that a 125 would be all that suited for me (given that it would have to carry my belly around as well :D)
 
What are you asking us...? :p

I would do as your thinking get a cheap 125 to get some experience going then do your Direct access when you can.
 
For someone tall like yourself that is after a 125 I's suggest the Hyosung GT125/R as these are he same frame as the Suzuki SV650 IIRC so are massive in comparison to most.
 
Oooooookk

YZFR125 - From what ive heard, seen these are dog slow.
A 4 stroke 125 with quite a big heavy frame to carry !

CBR125 - Reliable and solid but looks daft with bicycle tyres!

Sachs XTC - My first bike, loved it to bits but it made me a mechanic. Avoid if you dont like spanners. Pretty nippy and did 85 indicated but very unreliable for a reliable bike (suzuki main block isnt bad but)

RS125 - 8k I think is the rebuild date! History of blowing up a lot and needing attention but very quick and fun! 2 stroke smell but moped sound

Not sure about the non "sports" 125s as ive never had an interest!
a 4T 125 will still do 100+ MPG no probs
 
frozennova said:
For someone tall like yourself that is after a 125 I's suggest the Hyosung GT125/R as these are he same frame as the Suzuki SV650 IIRC so are massive in comparison to most.
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+1 on the Hyosung I had one as my 125, I saw 70 on it, downhill with a tail wind :D
 
I went the direct access route when I was 25 and didn't have a problem going from no bike experience to a 600. I ride carefully though (as I'm sure Fireskull will point out lol) and with a lot of car experience before that so knew how the roads worked, etc.

So long as you are a competent road user and pick things up quickly you should be OK. I actually found the 500cc trainer bikes easier to ride than the 125cc ones because they had wider tires and a smoother throttle response. I'll never forget the grin as I first took the 500cc out!
 
Souleh said:
Oooooookk



RS125 - 8k I think is the rebuild date! History of blowing up a lot and needing attention but very quick and fun! 2 stroke smell but moped sound
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I bet all agree here that they would want a shot of one of these on a track. I can say i do.

But then again I nearly bought one at 18
 
Totality said:
I went the direct access route when I was 25 and didn't have a problem going from no bike experience to a 600. I ride carefully though (as I'm sure Fireskull will point out lol) and with a lot of car experience before that so knew how the roads worked, etc.
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Oh I thought you were still riding a green 125....? ;)
 
This is what I have done.

I went and did my CBT lately at the age of 30, it was very easy but I did ride bikes 16 years ago when I was just a teenager. If you have driven cars much then you will pass this as well even if you haven't ridden bikes before.

The reason for this is that I was not sure if biking was for me at this age, CBT costs only around £100 and lets you ride anything up to 125 for 2 years. You can get a cheap second hand 125 and see for yourself if biking is your you, if not you will not loose much money.
Direct Access gives you the freedom to ride anything you want but it costs £500-600 minimum for someone with no riding bike experience, the costs can easily escalate if you fail MOD1 or MOD2 with some silly one mistake.

Also if you did do CBT only you could ride 125 for some time, decide if you like biking or not, you will have plenty of experience to go for Direct Access which should cost less to do at this time as well as easier to pass exams due to experience.

I have been riding for over 2 months now, have done nearly 1k miles on my ybr125 and taking theory test in 2 weeks time as I am quite sure that biking is for me.

One more thing I forgot to mention, biking is great but you have to get used to the whole helmet, gloves, jacket, boots, all the gear etc if you want to commute to work. It's a cheap and very viable way of transport and it cost very little, 200 miles on £9 of fuel on 125 bike is just AWESOME.
 
apatia77 said:
This is what I have done.
One more thing I forgot to mention, biking is great but you have to get used to the whole helmet, gloves, jacket, boots, all the gear etc if you want to commute to work. It's a cheap and very viable way of transport and it cost very little, 200 miles on £9 of fuel on 125 bike is just AWESOME.
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How well does yours go on the dual carriageways?
 
i have a honda varadero 125 i used to have a 600 bandit but i crashed it many years ago, the only way i convinced the wife to let me have another is that it is a moped
i'm 6'3" and i get 60 on the flat 55 up hill and 70 downhill, don't expect to be comfortable on dual carriage ways or motorways i do 35 miles into south london every day and its fine it cuts my journey by half compared to car
spend at least 500 on kit to protect yourself i didn't first time round and it took three months to learn to walk again the mx boots i have now i would have walked away
be safe and keep the rubber side down
 
This thread reminds me of the good old days on my 50cc. On a good day I would be hammering on at 80kph pressed flat over the tank with my feat hooked on the rear indicators, all the time thinking, wow this is fast….flash forward 15 odd years and I’m on a 1200 and still loving it.

I think you will be fine on a 125 (it’s bigger than the one I started on), a bigger bike is just going to get you into all sorts of trouble. I was young and stupid when I started and I admit that I followed my bike down the road a fair few times. Looking back I’m happy that it had a small engine, lower speeds = less injury. Get the 125 and watch the world go by, watch the Muppets on the big bikes make all the mistakes. All this does however come with a warning; it is a very addictive hobby.
 
MADMAN69UK said:
It'll do 70mph in the right conditions ;)

I managed 80mph on my CBF125, slip streaming a lorry with the wind behind me :eek: :D
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You'd have to ride extremely close to the back of the lorry to get any effect of the slip stream. In fact so close that it would be deemed extremely dangerous as you'd have no way to stop should it brake hard.
 
djkav said:
You'd have to ride extremely close to the back of the lorry to get any effect of the slip stream. In fact so close that it would be deemed extremely dangerous as you'd have no way to stop should it brake hard.
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Hmm... I wasn't close at all... wonder what else could have been propelling me...
shiftyeyes.gif
 
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