Bike for a total beginner

[Mattastic]

What do you guys / gals suggest.

I've never ridden a motorbike before, and have only been on one once (Father in Law's VFR800) as a pillion. Both the missus and I want to ride but want to know the best, and hopefully cheapest, way into riding.

We were going to get a sit and screw (probably 50 - 100cc scooter) for a couple of months, then take some lessons on a 125, test on 125, buy a 125, test on 500cc after 6-12 months, buy a 400 6 - 12 months experience then maybe a 600 or larger depending how we feels.

The main thing is going to be insurance as we are both only 22 so we will get stung regardless. Just wonderd if this seems like an ok route to follow and if you could suggest some learner friendly bikes or anything you can think of to help us start riding.

ps Don't know if it is relevant but I've been driving 2 years the gf 4 and we are aware of the dangers us car drivers cause you lot!!!
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Too skint to buy a bike

[G]

I'd say just do your CBTs and get some cheap 125 to ride until you do your tests.

This way you don't get into any bad habits with the scooters, get more experience and waste less money.

Once you've ridden for a while you should have a better idea of what sort of bikes you want next.

[kev]

just buy yourself a cheap honda cg 125 or a yamaha sr 125 and learn to ride on that. both bikes can be bought for under £400 and they seem to go on for ever and they crash very well. the insurance on them will also be very good compared to a sports 125.
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[Dr Nick]

*cough* Cub 90 *cough*
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is that it

[Robby]

Yup. cheap 4 stroke 125s to learn on.

50ccs and scooters in general are just dangerous.

Sports 125s are a bit silly.

However assuming you are over 21 you could probably just go straight in for DAS and hop onto a forgiving 500 with little trouble.

[McJamweasel]

Like robby says, you may be alright doing your DAS and getting a bigger bike straight off.

However, IMO it's better to do your CBT and then get a cheap 125 for a while before you do your DAS and move up.
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BCF: Be yourself, just don't be an arse.

[paulcdb]

[Scooby]

If you've never ridden a bike before, then getting a scooter won't really help you at all. It will only help you gain a bit of road experience and there's no reason why you can't do that on a 4 stroke 125cc machine. Gears used to seem a bit daunting, but once you try it, it's a piece of piss trust me. I reckon you should go for something like Kev suggests, a CG125 or SR125, these have zimmaproof engines and are very forgiving. They have a top speed of around 65-70mph which means they are slow enough to learn on, but fast enough so you can keep up with the flow of traffic on any road, without being on a scooter struggling to keep up, and getting intimidated which might put you off biking, as cars WILL try to shove you off the road. Get a bike, not a rev 'n' rip
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A big enough hammer fixes anything!

[Dr Nick]

[Dr Nick]

[kev]

[Dr Nick]

I had a Puch Maxi as a field bike, loved it.
25 mph tops and we used to jump the f*ck out of it.
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is that it

[Dr Nick]

[Crazy Manx Man]

[paulcdb]

[Crazy Manx Man]

[Ste]

Looking back now (hind sight is wonderful isnt it ) I wouldn't have got an NSR, well not a new one anyway. I'd have spent about a grand on something older, possibly an older NSR or similar. Then sold it and lost a lot less money than is lost on a new nsr

[G]

The NSR aint that bad a learner bike, especially if you're looking in the circa £1k area.
I'd only reccomend a 4 stroke 125 if you're not intending to keep it for long. Most people get bored of 4st 125s quickly, especially if there's biggish A roads to contend with.

Personally I'd just say, whatever you get, get it cheap, unless you do have money to throw away.

[Milo]

yeah, don't get a new NSR for £3200, only to sell it 6 months later for £1800 to get a 550...like i did
get a 125 bike, but avoid the 250 commuter bikes(CB250), they're really not any quicker than modern 125's.
the route you suggested is far too slow and you'd end up loosing loadsa money and it'd be far too much hassle.
125>500>whatever bike you want to end up on is a good route.

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[Hex]

Ok, I'm 25 and my route went something like this:

Did my CBT and rode around on a 125 for a year. I got a old NS125R for £600 and then sold it for the same price again a year later.

After riding round on L plates for a year (CBT) I did my DAS (over 21 so not a problem) did it over 4 days (though to be honest didn't need that many days) and then after passing my DAS I bought myself a CBR 600.

Since you have road awareness from driving, you will literally just be learning how to use a bike and getting use to the fact that people are out to get you.

So my sugegstion would be, do your CBT and get a cheep 125. Ride around for a year getting some experience and confidence.
After a year do your DAS and then get whatever your heart desires. The years NCB will come in handy too.
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[Robby]

Depends on the person at the end of the day - I took the slow route (50, 125 (12bhp), 250, 400, 800) and liked it, bar the months on the VFR400. Its all down to what you get first - a 250 commuter bike is ok to have after you pass your test for a few months, assuming you had a 4 stroke 125 or restricted 2 stroke before, but it makes the same power as an NSR so its no upgrade there.

The important thing is to do your test ASAP, then just get whatever you feel like.

[TiN]

As Robby says, it's probably best to actually ride a bike first before deciding on what you want. Book yourselves in for a CBT and see how it goes. If it's still for you, book a 4/5/6 day Direct Access (DAS) course and have a go on a big bike.

Once you've passed your test, the options are open to you. You can then get an old 125, 500 or whatever, and bimble about on it to get confident.

Look in the back of BiKE magazine (or MCN Bikemart?) for listings of bikes and insurance groups.
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TiN
dotgems.net

[Bendy]

Just do your DAS straight off. Buy a friendly big bike like a CB500 / ER5 / GS500 cos you'll probably have done your DAS on one of them. You'll have passed your test, and you can then proceed to take it easy on your new bike for however long you feel like you need to take it easy, but have the advantage that it's well capable of hauling you around a bit faster when you feel up to it.

If you can drive a car you have road sense and will be fine - IMO you really don't need to bother with the 125 stage at all. Also, I personally found the 500 I did my DAS on to be much easier to ride than the 125 I did my CBT on.

[Rob]

The Direct access option is a good one, then buy a CB500 or summat - But if you do an intensive course (usually 3-4 days) BE VERY CAREFUL if you pass. The instructors teach you what you need to know to pass the test but that won't make you a safe experienced rider, mistakes will happen, but if, like bendy, you are very careful (unlike the rest of us) you hopefully won't crash!

Enjoy it, have fun, thats what its all about.
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Love is 1050cc

[stevo as b4]

Hey everyone is right that if you want to learn to ride, and get confidence on the road, then get a bike not a bloody T&G. Bikes are eaiser to ride in terms of stability, and handling is always better, even really basic bikes like a CG will handle far better than a scooter any day! G is right about you dont want to pick up bad habbits from riding a scoot, and then getting onto a real bike. gears are easy, and give you far more control and your far more likely to ride sensibly on a bike than you would on a twist an go. Ive got an SF100, thats tuned to shit, and ive blown it up twice, and nearly dropped it about 4 times, just from bein a twat on it basically. Its impossible to ride a scoot safely and sensibly, or at least i think so anyway. mine handles like its got a hinge in the middle, and throws you out of the seat over even small bumps and pot holes. All im saying is get a bike, any bike! but dont buy a scoot whatever you do, if you want to be a good rider.