Starting to get into riding.

[FloppyPoppy]

Hey everyone,

Have always been interested in riding, more so than cars. However i have never had a need to have my own transport as I've always been fortunate enough to live close enough to walk to work ie an hours walk each way or be working somewhere with family/friends where i can get a lift in.

However this is changing now and i face a 20 mile commute to work. Fortunately, until around Xmas i can still hitch a lift into work.

I have booked myself onto a CBT for next Sunday and have just ordered some Daytona ladystar boots. The m stars are 1 size out but from my research they are identical boots just branded in size brackets. I have ordered these for a couple of reasons.

#1 Im quite a short bloke 5'2/5'3 depending on where i get measured and these are from what i see a secret weapon of quite a lot of short riders.
#2 Wanted to invest into something that would last a long time. Similar reasons to why i buy Altberg boots.

Im looking to get a cheapish secondhand bike to start with, IE a lexmoto venom 125 / CBR125 / CBF125 ect ect.

Insurance looks like it's going to set me back about £5-600/year. Any websites other than compare the market for finding good insurance deals?

Also how soon after passing a CBT would people recommend it would be a good time to sit the A2? My favourite bike is the R3 by a long shot so would love to get one of those after a bit of practice/getting comfortable riding on a cheaper bike.



Any advice and such is massively appreciated.

Harry

 

[FloppyPoppy]

I am 24 actually, honestly the reason I have booked a CBT and not a DAS does come down to money ( as you will see I am selling a couple of bits on members market for extra funds towards this )

Just doing the CBT for now works out a lot cheaper for the necessity. I'm certainly not looking at new for the bike right now.

I'm going to spend a few days looking at gear ect, will post in here if I see something and have questions .

Regarding lexmoto, shame to hear what you are saying about it, I will take a look at the bikes you recommended. As mentioned earlier I will be getting the bike used if that changes anything ?

 

[FloppyPoppy]

Thanks for all the advice, any decent alternatives to auto trader?

 

[FloppyPoppy]

MCN and eBay. Make sure you HPI the bike that you intend to buy before making any decent journey for it.

Good point on the checking past, will be sure to do that.

MCN classifieds, gumtree, eBay, autotrader. I checked those daily when looking for bikes.

Great thanks for those il have a gander.

Tbh 125s go for a premium second hand, I'd pay to do the the DAS and scrimp out on a cheaper 600/650 and don't go full Shoe/A* on the gear to make it work Check the insurance it might be that an old bigger bike costs less than a 125. 1500 should get you an SV650 older shape and a kwak ER-5 should be available for ~750.

I'm already having to go a bit cheaper in the gear department. Don't want to go any cheaper or I might end up naked

 

[FloppyPoppy]

I picked up a decent helmet (HJC FG-ST), a waterproof jacket and trouser set that was highly rated (Oxford Montreal 2.0) and some A* short boots for ~£700. I went with 2 sets of gloves (a summer Richa set and a cheap pair of winter) at a later date for about £50. It's easy to skimp but tbh, is it worth it?

No of course not. I fully intend to pick up some more kit quickly.

 

[FloppyPoppy]

[

Don't get me wrong, I don't doubt you... but you can easily fall in to the trap of believing you must have a Shoei helmet, dainese leather jacket and Alpinestar gloves... these are luxury brands and not a requirement to enjoy yourself. Just wanted to make that clear

Oh don't worry I understand that thanks a lot for the advice too. The płace im doing my CBT is right next to a bike shop (naturally) they have a load Of helmets in there so I will hopefully pick one up in there on Sunday.

 

[FloppyPoppy]

With black Friday coming up, I'm hoping for some good deals ^^

That's a nice point il keep my eyes peeled. Especially for out season gear as I suspect that summer gear is typically cheaper in winter and the same is true in reverse.

This.

I bought cheap on one or two of my biking things and guess what, I've had to replace each of them within the year with something better.

Poor kit is an unsafe complete and utter waste of money.

Luckily a few things have fallen into place and I have a good bit of surplus cash now for gear. As per my OP I already have some nice boots, I'm going to get a helmet on Sunday from a bike store and I'm hoping that they also have jackets trousers for sale in there I will try take a look.

I also have a lovely bike lined up, (a store called so many bikes) kept popping up on different bike sites when I was looking and I was surprised to find i work about a 2 min walk from their showroom. (Hidden in a mill basement)

Going looking at it tomorrow after work and as long as everything is good in person then I will be buying it.

Will post some pictures in here tomorrow hopefully. Taking my boots with me so I can see how i feel on it with them on given the height issues haha. I don't mind tip toeing or such as long as I feel comfortable doing so with the bike. Touch wood all is good.

Cheers again for the advice.

 

[FloppyPoppy]

Depending on the bike, you may well be able to get a lowered seat and/or lowered suspension if you really struggle for height.

When I've been doing training I've had a CBF600 with a lowered seat as I'm short (but taller than yourself ). I did try some normal height seats but wasn't keen on being on tiptoes to hold the bike up, given it's 220kg and all to easy to drop if you can't hold it up easily.

Worth asking the guys at the shop if they know of lowering options too if you find the right bike but it's just a bit too high for you.

I will be doing that for sure as they also have a full mechanic crew on board who will do anything you want including mots ect. So I will certainly be talking with them about that.

I know something I've seen is people getting their seats "shaved" that could be viable. In fact I would probably be happier to do that first over messing with suspension ect. If I can get by without changing that then I will

 

[FloppyPoppy]

Your prayers have been answered my son

Cheeky sod haha! Brilliant.

Went and had a sit on the bike early on this morning. Was uncomfortable with my work boots but felt considerably better with my riding boots giving that little extra height. Can anyone recommend any good places where I could get the seat padding shaved down a little ? Or am aftermarket seat that already does this?. I ask as just that little bit more height would be lovely.

However the bike is actually really tall in comparison to most other 125s and some 600s. Given that I'm within a degree of comfort on this makes me very optimistic for the future.

Forgot to take a few pics whilst I was there will be there again on Monday hopefully leaving with the bike so will show then

 

[FloppyPoppy]

There's a lot of places that do seat recovering and repadding. One I've seen some very good work from is https://www.facebook.com/Coremotorcycle/ they charge £30 to shave a seat.

Thats great thanks a lot. Got to stay awake all day today after a night shift so i can sleep a good sleep before Sunday morning comes. Not going to lie im slightly excited i have to admit.

 

[FloppyPoppy]

@tom_e been having a chat with one of the guys over at coremotorcycle and interestingly they know a gentleman who passes through Rochdale every fortnight who would be willing to come and pick the seat up from me and drop it off again the same day. Have told him il be back in touch soon about getting this done.

Hope i have slept enough for today. Only problem of doing night shifts is struggling to rapidly turn a sleeping pattern around for something. Caved at about 3/4pm been up for a couple hours now chilling in bed.

 

[FloppyPoppy]

Hope it's going/gone well today.

I did my CBT just over four weeks ago and bought my bike on the Sunday after. Four weeks of riding and I'm loving it. Went for a secondhand CB125F myself. First week I took it easy getting use to it and the roads etc since the second week I've been much better on it and have a much better knack for riding already. Take care and enjoy.

Like yourself my commute is a reasonable distance (18 miles) and somedays it's fine but other days it is a bit of a chore but it saves me cycling it when I don't want to or using public transport instead. The motorbike is much more fun than both!!

What bike you looking at yourself?

Thanks a lot It went well i passed with no issues . I have a second hand yzf-R125 lined up Just sorting out my gear and such at the moment. Wanted to get onto the road today, however thats not going to happen now, will certainly be on or before the weekend though. Excitement builds.