New Rider Here!

[Miller900]

Hi guys!

Just saw the forums on Google and thought I'd give you guys a shot!
I'm a new rider, recently turned 17 so looking to get a 125 to get to work etc.

Anyone got any tips on a good first bike? My dad recommends getting a twist & go, as its easy, but I don't want one looking like a granny scooter (lame ass things )

Anyway, my dads an avid rider and loves his bike (can't name it off the top of my head though... Kawasaki something.... )

So yeah... any other tips would be greatly appreciated!

And I will keep you all up-to-date on my bike status

Cheers,
Miller

[pinkyfloyd]

If you scroll through the newbie part of the forum you will see shedloads of posts suggesting things like honda's Cg, Yamis YBR and suzuki's EN125. All are pretty decent 125's to learn on. parts are cheap to get a hold of when you drop it and they dont cost an arm and a leg. Also cheaper on insurance than the big fast looking sports style 125's.

Best advice I can give and I'm sure a load of the other bikers on here will back me up on it, is to get yourself a cheap 125 run about like the above mentioned bikes and get your test passed as soon as you possibly can. That way you can upgrade to a faster bike right away (even restricted to 33bhp is faster than a 125)

When you go for your CBT try a geared bike. If its not for you there is no shame in doing the CBT on the twist off piss off machine and then spending time figuring out the geared bike afterwards.

Good luck and welcome to the forum. Keep us all informed and we'll offer as much advice as you ask for
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illuminateTHEmind wrote: I am just more evolved than most of you guys... this allows me to pick of things quickly which would have normally taken the common man years to master
Hockeystorm65:.well there are childish arguments...there are very childish arguments.....there are really stupid childish arguments and now there are......Pinkfloyd arguments!
Teflon-Mike:I think I agree with just about all Pinky has said.

[Poul Wimsett]

hi, as you are a starter and also seems to be a bike lover like me, then your decision is very right to go for an 125cc bike all Sujuki and Yamaha bikes are great for the starters and also very stylish looking. Just be careful when you are riding in geared bike first adjust with all the riding things that has to be in a bike then proceed........After you get frequented with the 125 cc then you can handle any powerful bikes. so good luck with that.........

[DrDonnyBrago]

Honda CG125, as new as you can afford.

The ultimate learner bike - cheap to buy, insure, tax, run, they are as reliable as a reliable thing, geared so you can learn to ride a proper bike and so common that parts are everywhere.

[Scooty]

[blurredman]

Hello and welcome newbie..





I and so many others can recommend Honda CG125's. Mine is 20 years old and I love it to bits. I don't know whether I will upgrade or keep it for two years after my test.
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CBT: 12/06/10, Theory: 22/09/10, Module 1: 09/11/10, Module 2: 19/01/11
Past: 1991 Honda CG125BR-J, 1992 (1980) Honda XL125S, 1996 Kawasaki GPZ500S, 1979 MZ TS150.
Current: 1973 MZ ES250/2 - 18k, 1979 Suzuki TS185ER - 10k, 1981 Honda CX500B - 91k, 1987 MZ ETZ250 - 40k, 1989 MZ ETZ251 - 52k.

[Teflon-Mike]

The reference machine for a newbie is the CG125 already mentioned.
https://autosportmanual.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Honda-CG125-Motorcycle-PDF-Book-Workshop-Owners-Manual.jpg
115Kg, 9bhp, 60-65mph top speed, 100mpg, ish statistics.
They are rugged, utiliterian little things with a reputation for being an awful lot of fun for the money, and very hard wearing.
Out of production for a few years now, though, finding better ones is getting harder. ALL learner-Legals live hard lives, and ones that sell becouse they are 'cheap' tend to get less love and attension than most. Renowned for being 'unstoppable', only thing with a CG is to avoid bikes that are the victims of thier own reputation & thrashed, thrashed & possibly crashed, by a succession of low-rent riders, looking for cheap thrills without having the common sense or cash to maintain or look after it properly, becouse they ONLY bought it to get thier test 'done' on.
Its spiritual successor is the Yamaha YBR125
https://www.gulum.net/motor/resimler/Yamaha_YBR_125_2005_12_1024x768.jpg
Not been around as long as the CG125, but still in production, & taken over pretty much where the CG left off.
CG's start at around £500 for something taxed, tested & ready to ride, and go up to around £1200 for a nice example of one of the last models made. YBR's start at about £700 and go up to a list price of about £2K brand new.
Avoid the lower price brackets if you can. Thats where the most abused examples live, and there are most buyers, either without much money to spend, or not wanting to spend much money, so there's a lot of tat commanding inflated prices, a little more money WILL buy you a LOT more bike.
If you want a bit more style, you have trail-bikes like the Yamaha DT125.
https://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/Gallery%20%20A/Yamaha%20DT125%2087.jpg
Bit more power, about 12bhp, more acceleration, though no more speed, these are great fun, and you can take them 'off-road'.
Plenty of other trail-style bikes about, the four-stroke ones, like the Honda XL opr XR or the Yamaha XT tend to be a bit more 'dependable' and less demanding of maintenence.
https://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w269/teflons-torque/Little%20Dreams/2006-cagiva-mito-125-7_1600x0w.jpg
Or sports styles 125's like this Cagiva Mito, or the Aprillia RS125 or Honda NSR125.
I'd NOT reccomend these as good learner bikes.
All 'sporty' bikes & the two-strokes tend to attract boy-racer riders, who'se priorities are high-speed kicks. They suffer even more from poor maintenence & thrashing than other bikes, but worse becouse they are more expensive to maintain to begin with, and tyhen boy-racers start tinkering, trying to de-restrict' or tune them.... often badly making them even more unreliable.
Then there's the Cruisers
https://motoprofi.com/bikephoto/1099/kawasaki_eliminator_125_2001_1.jpg
Like this Kawasaki 125 Eliminator, or the Honda Shaddow, or Suzuki Savage.
I REALLY dont reccomend these for newbies either, the riding possition is poor and the geometry unhelpful for the sort of control you need doing CBT & Test manouvers, while they tend also to be heavy and slow, and 125's are slow enough to start with!
BUT all depends on what floats your boat, and appeals to your sense of asthetics, and your budget!
Theres also plenty of older bikes in any of the catagories out there, whether commuter / street bike like teh CG125, a Trail-Bike like the DT125, Sportsbike like the Mito or Cruiser, like the Eliminator.
And offereing snot just from the big four Japanese marques, but also the italians, or other smaller euro brands, like Gagiva & Aprillia, and MANY bikes imported under variouse names from China..... which for a newbie are PROBABLY best avoided. They tend to be cheap, but also slow and not very well made, and without much after sales support.
The BENCH-MARK, though is the CG / YBR 125, and I have to say, that starting out, you do want to get trained & tested as soon as possible, and loose the L-Plates, even if you dont step straight onto a bigger bike after.
That costs, and should be factored into your budgeting. Its MUCH more important than your first bike, which you MAY only have a couple of years at most. Licence you'll have until you are 70!
And while at your age, style and performance can seem important, and two years a long time...... it ISN'T!
And the commuter / street-bikes offer an AWFUL lot for the money. They dont look exiting, but they do the job, and make it cheap and easy.
The more stylish trail-bikes, sports or cruisers, tend to demand a lot of compromises for VERY little real gain.
So nop SPECIFIC reccomendations from me, without more idea of what you'd LIKE to ride, or how much you have to spend, and what your aspirations are, really cant offer much more than what I have.
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My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
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?'

[WhitesnowR1]

Hi everybody! Winter is coming and it's getting difficult to enjoy riding. More and more people are tinned at home at their computers... I'm a girl of 22 riding R1 2003 . I'm not kidding, there was just the time when my honda vt 250 f was broken, and my husband, riding this R1, told me: ''if you're able to ride it, we don't need to spend money over that white-blue little snowdrop...'' I was, and now I am the only girl in my city who rides a sport bike...
I hope to have good time logging here

[Clanger]

Welcome. I wasn't so lucky when my parent decided I could have a motorbike for my birthday, I ran out to the shed and found a step through moped!

Still, I made the most of it, and because it was pre-restriction days it went a cool 44mph !!! I did a lot of falling off and crashing into things in those early days, and very glad there wasn't that much to the bike, because apart from breaking the brake lever there wasn't much to the moped to get damaged!!! (pre-CBT days)
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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