Advice on best way to go

[Ollie288]

Hello, Im new here. I am 18 years old and have a full UK driving licence (Car). I have been thinking about getting a bike for a while now. I have ridden a few of my friends bikes on private land (Kawasaki er6f). I can ride but I obviously need more practice on the road.

What would be the best method to pass my bike test quickly. I have asked a few biking friends and they have said:
CBT 125 geared.
Buy a 125 and have a few months on the road practise.
In this time repass my theory.
And then take my full test.

Is this the way you would do it?

What cheap 125 would you get to have for a few months? I have had the yamaha ybr suggested. Are there any others to consider.

Also when I pass my bike test, what 650 (restricted) would you look at getting. At the minute I am looking at the kawasaki er6f and er6n. Any other suggests to look at.

Please excuse the noob like questions,
Cheers
Ollie

EDIT - I have just seen the sticky in this section!

[ian789]

Don't bother getting a 125 - buy a course restricted access - it's costing me £490 (all included) to get through my test.

[Ollie288]

[ian789]

I've only been driving a car for 1 year!

I'd never even sat on a bike before i turned up at the begining of the course

And i'm doing well, just got the MOD 2 left on the 27th.

And this will allow me to have any bike restricted to 33bhp.

[UnspeedySam]

I'm taking the do your CBT, get a small bike and then do your test later route. I partially took this decision because when I did my CBT I'd never ridden (even pillion) a (motor)bike before and so was extremely nervous and not entirely sure I was actually going to buy one. To be honest, after owning my RXS for about a week I think I could have passed my test with a couple of lessons. I've had a car licence for a couple of years too, although I've only driven my parents' car a bit not actually owned one.

Anyway, I'm going to do my test this summer hopefully, although I probably won't be able to get a bigger bike until I finish uni next summer.

If you're happy with an er6f and driven a car for a while I'd just go ahead and do one of the 4-5 day courses that a lot of riding schools offer to do CBT and your tests in a week.

Welcome to the forum!
____________________
Riding: BMW R1150RT `02 bought mildly crashed
Fixing: Also the BMW as I get less broken bits
Gone: ZZR600 '00, TRX850 '97, RXS100 '93, JS125-6B '07, BMW R1100RS '93, Kawasaki ZX-6R-J2 '01, Honda Bros NT400 NC25 '88

[Ollie288]

Thanks for the welcome and information fellas. I will have a look into the course. I have just done an insurance quote on two bikes to see the difference. Me and a freind thought that the Suzuki GSXR 600 would be more to insure than the ER6F but the Suzuki was £780 fc and the ER6F was £1100 fc!

[ian789]

[ollieholt]

hi ollie, ollie here lol

i went for buying a 125 getting used to riding properly and now im taking my tests, im 21 so its DAS for me but same thing. mod 1 mod 2 etc etc.

i bought a cg125, infact im now selling it if anyone is interested. its only £550 great runner never let me down, 96 p reg looks good runs beautifully etc etc

anyways i went for a bike first, you might not even enjoy riding, imagine spending £490 to find out its not what you want? atleast if you bought a 125 and did cbt you would only lose the cbt money just sell the bike on.

your choice.

[ian789]

[Clanger]

As I say to most people, look around this forum, there are tonnes of 'what bike threads', write down the list of bikes you have seen listed, go onto google images, look at all the bikes. Cross off your list the ones you don't like.

Then go out to a few bike shops and look at the ones you do like, and if possible go for a test ride, (if able) if not, at least sit on the bike and get a feel for it - distance from seat to footpeg, how long the reach to handle bar is, that sort of thing...

Then make an informed decision based on what suits YOU.
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Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter won't mind - Dr. Seuss