The missus needs a bike

Rilot

Rilot

Rilot

Don
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
23,198
Location
Wargrave, UK
As the missus is now the main bread winner, she's looking to start riding a motorcycle so she can commute a sensible distance to work without having to face the nightmare that is the train.

Been looking at the Kawasaki BN Eliminator 125 like this one: Here

Coments on those?

Most folk would suggest the CG125 and normally I'd agree with them, but Kaisa is 5'0" tall with a teeny 26" inside leg. The CG, believe it or not, is actually too tall.

I did suggest a scoot and in the past, and initially this was the plan. However she has decided she wants a proper bike with gears so she can eventually graduate on to something proper like a 535 Virago.
 
I suggest a slap and a scooter.

It takes about 10 seconds to learn the gears on a bike, its the other bits of riding that are the difficult part.
 
She might want better protection from the elements whilst commuting. I know she doesn't want a scooter but it would make far more sense.
 
I would steer away from the 125 cruiser type bikes as most of them have been in the manurfacturer lineups for forever and a day, tend to be crude and not particulary good at anything.

The CBR125 (depending on her height) would be a good bet, looks, goes and stops better than the bike you mentioned in your opening post, been around for a while and the intial price being 2 grand ish brand new, used ones are going for sensible money.

Oh, and dont look at the the Chinese Market (maybe except Hyosung, which i dont think are chinese anyway, but you get the picture) as i had one way back when ( a MX thing ) i ran it along my RS (as that was having all sorts of drama's) they are world heavyweight rusting champions of the world and part support is ****e,

any way enough rambling

*wonders off in the direction of the kitchen*
 
As said, 125 cruisers are not very practical although they do have very low seat heights.
I had a Honda Shadow VT125. It has a very smooth 125cc V-Twin motor and is good for about 70-80mph assuming you are not going up hill and have a headwind. It felt too much like a toy for my height.

As good as the Honda CG is i found it very uncomfortable and very cramped. (for me 5ft 9in) To be fair i did use it for some long journeys which you do not want to do.
The Yamaha SR125 had a slightly lower seat height and was a bit more comfortable.
 
Kawasaki 250R Ninja?

33bhp, cheap to insure, cheap to run, low seat height, looks nice, decent wind protection for a small bike? Seems to be recommended a lot, and I like the look of them. Seem to hold their value very well too. Certainly worth a look. :)
 
karoshi said:
Yamaha SR125s have a lower seat height, a friend of mine did the CBT day on one and she's 5'2"
Click to expand...
Aye, the SR feels quite tiny and low compared to the CG125 I did my CBT on. Suzuki also do a couple, a pretty nasty GN125 and the nice (for a 125) Marauder 125
 
sloth said:
Kawasaki 250R Ninja?

33bhp, cheap to insure, cheap to run, low seat height, looks nice, decent wind protection for a small bike? Seems to be recommended a lot, and I like the look of them. Seem to hold their value very well too. Certainly worth a look. :)
Click to expand...

She would have to do a test to ride that though. We only want to do a CBT for the time being.

We tried a CBR125 today. Seems to fit which was a bit of a surprise. SHe liked it so once we have some cash, that is what we'll go for.
 
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