Need help with options...

[SpannerMonkey]

Okay, so got my mod2 next thursday and pretty confident I'll pass.
But I am on SUCH a budget it is unreal.
my budget for a bike is maximum say 500 quid haha!
realistically, is there anything on the market that goes for that kind of money that isnt a 50 and isnt chinese?
I see the odd GPZ... And I've seen a CX fetch £500 before...
I'd rather not have a 125 again... But if I have to then I guess it cant be helped =(

[Dazbo666]

I bought my first bike (a 1991 GPZ500S) from right here on BCF.
Private sale, quite a few bits of extra kit thrown in, all for £400.

Of course I had to do a little research homework first, and maybe there was a fair amount of good luck involved, but I had that bike for nearly 4 years, and rode it at least a few times a week, every week, in all weathers. Couldn't fault it for the price
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1st bike (Sept'06 - May'10) : 1991 GPZ500S / Current bike (since Nov 2009) : 2003 Suzuki Bandit 600N
Word of the day : DILLIGAF

[SpannerMonkey]

[N cee thirty]

keep looking,summat will turn up
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'00 Aprilia RS50 > '92 Honda CG > '99 Yamaha Fazer > '91 Yamaha RXS > '79 Suzuki X5 > 01' Honda Cg > 07' Honda Cg > 82' Kawasaki Z200 > suzuki gsxr 400 gk73a > honda vfr 400 NC30 Mod 2 Passed 09/06/2011

Jewlio Iglesias wrote: I actually did vote BNP once

[c_dug]

Another for the GPZ500.

Got a 1998 plate 30k mile bike for £400 on ebay and payed the seller an extra £100 for a new rear tyre and to fix a broken lever.

The deals are out there, you just need to look in the right places, or be my dad, he seems to find awesome deals everywhere




If you have some basic tools and a bit of spare time I will have a Cat C ZZR600 for sale soon for less than or around that price. PM me for details.
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I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.

[SpannerMonkey]

PMed =)

[27cows]

Another GPz500 vote. Saw a very tidy one go down in Rye for under 500 notes not so long ago. I'm amazed they can be picked up for less than a CG125 considering what good bikes they are.
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The RXS100: vehicle of choice for Chuck Norris

[owl10]

yamaha xj600 diversion for around that money, decent workhorse and all important -reliable, won't set your world on fire though.

May be able to pick up a high mileage *tatty 90's cbr600 or similar early zx6r for around that money also, but expect a few problems and be handy with spanners with that sort of bike going cheap. There are baragins to be had, but obviously, the nature of bargains, that they are cheaper /more value for less is that they arent around all too often!

Be patient, something will turn up! If you can hang on till christmas / ish when people are getting short of cash It's a good time to buy.

[ollieholt]

agreed, start bargain hunting in december, i know i will be. need a winter hack i dont mind ruining with salt etc. i also was looking at gpz's bandits divvys even old fasioned looking kit like 550 zephyrs and all those types, they can be had for cheap cheap cheap.

good luck with mod2, just remember... teh examiner is but a glorified sat nav.
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< This? Well this is just a day brightner.

[Hobes]

Ebay might be worth a look too. This was on the ads at the bottom of this thread as I was looking at it.

https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1990-SUZUKI-GS500-33BHP-Option-Ideal-first-bike-/250706452434?pt=UK_Motorcycles
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[Teflon-Mike]

JUST becouse you have passed your test DOESN'T mean you HAVE to have a 'big' bike!
If you are on a limited budget, smaller can be cheaper, and less on fuel, less on tyres, less on maintenence, sometimes less on insurance can mean more miles of, all be it, slower motoring.
And its winter.
And Christmas is coming.
what you got now?
If nowt, why not look for something mundane, like an RSX100 or KH125 or something to just 'Hack' over the bad weather. Save fuel, save pennies, and then go looking late winter, when folk are looking at post Christmas credit card bills, dark wet winter evenings, and shifting on the bike they were going to wait until spring to sell, at the lowest point in the market?
Keep the hack in service a month or two more, give yourself time to scrub up the winter bargain a bit, & get the mileage out the hack.... then as the evenings start stretching swap, scrub up the hack, and sell that on to the spring-time optimists at the hight of the market......?
Best of luck for the test BTW...... but old addage...... DONT count your chickens!
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Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'

[G]

Smaller can be more expensive too - more on fuel because you're ragging it more, more on maitenance for the same reason and it's more highly strung, more on insurance because it's a 125 and all the kids crash them.

Personally, if budget is a big issue, I'd look at bikes in your budget, rather than for a specific model; then go from there.
Obvious caveat first though is to check insurance before proceeding on a bargain of the year deal.

And yes, there are reasonable amounts of bikes out there, but they can be all-sorts.

Remember it's going to cost to collect, so factor that in - if it's at the other end of the country and you spend £200 getting it home, it's quite such a good deal on a £400 bike!

[SpannerMonkey]

Right then guys, I have a few options now... Option one... Find me a cheap GPZ500 or whatever you like around that capacity
Option 2... Find me a cheap 125 just to get me through
Or... And I know this sounds silly...
Get me a C90 for 400 quid... And save money on the maintainance, fuel costs, insurance and what not and just rack up the savings. It's a bike I wont have to worry about reliability on as all my previous bikes have broken down. but then again, I probably sound silly actually considering a C90 lol

[UnspeedySam]

I'd definitely go for a GPZ/GS/CB500. Whatever you can get cheap in reasonable condition really. Just be patient and spend a while looking at classifieds online and in papers etc. If you're willing to do a bit of work yourself you'll have an easier time.
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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

[Welshd1k]

cb250rs?
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Current >Cb600fx hornet, ns125rk90 21.7bhp@wheel<
Sold >,zxr400 h2 (33bhp kit) rd350 n1 rd350 lc2<

[tvchimp]

a little bored, figured i'd link some ebay auctions for you... I've only looked at the price/cc/time ending, so it's up to you to look more at the bike info..


https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2000-YAMAHA-XJ-600-N-BLACK-/280571780975?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item4153619f6f#ht_874wt_1139

https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/KAWASAKI-ZZR-600-ZZR600-BLUE-/250707288790?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item3a5f51a2d6#ht_500wt_1154

https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Yamaha-FZR-600-Regd-UK-2003-manufactured-1990-/250707221025?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item3a5f509a21#ht_500wt_1154

https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/yamaha-600n-good-all-round-condition-/170547847906?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item27b571a2e2#ht_500wt_1154



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Bike: Currently Bikeless... Gahh

[Slacker24seve...]

[UnspeedySam]

[itsallgood]

[kawakid]

The problem with spending such a small sum on a bike is the quality of bike you will get. Hopefully you will have just passed your test, where in my opinion a reliable, sound to ride bike is what you need.

I don't honestly think £500 is enough. I'd probably go for at least another £500 for an okay ish bike. Another £K and you would have a good bike.

Sometimes it pays to keep saving.
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I've a twin and a 4.

[G]

I think you can get a perfectly good and reliable bike for that money.
However, you definitely do have to be a lot more careful when selecting!

[UnspeedySam]

[Rob W]

[Moonie]

Bit of saving/haggling and you could have this:
https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=206691
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[Moonie]

Bit of saving/haggling and you could have this:
https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=206691
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Don't practice it until you get it right, practice it until you don't get it wrong.
Presenting the one and only Chinkmobile