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| tango_kid |
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tango_kid
Two Stroke Sniffer
Joined: 03 May 2011
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 Posted: 11:53 - 03 May 2011  Post subject: Quick greeting and quick question |
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Hey,
I've been riding for about a year, on an old yamaha rd50mx. I am mid-way through getting my A2 restricted license (still have Mod 2 to go, not looking forward to it!) and after that the plan is either to up a little to a 125 or, preferably, get myself onto a 33bhp 400/500 machine. However, my problems are thus: money. The bike in itself wouldn't be too bad if it wasn't for the fact the insurance people are 99% sure I'm going to crash very expensivly. I have been looking at bikes such as bandit 400, gs500, vfr400 and so far only a couple have sold roughly in budget on ebay (£500-£650) and none of the above give anywhere near reasonably cheap insurance  So, i thought i would ask on this forum and see what the responces are, I am looking for a 400-500cc bike which looks relativly modern (i've had enough of my bike looking like it was built 70 years ago and getting ragged for it by friends  ) but the most important things are these: it needs to be available cheapish, and the insurance needs to be LOW!!
Cheers,
Mike |
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| pinkyfloyd |
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pinkyfloyd
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| tango_kid |
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tango_kid
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| pinkyfloyd |
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pinkyfloyd
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| tango_kid |
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tango_kid
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| Posted: 12:28 - 03 May 2011 Post subject: |
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Thankyou  |
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| crowe |
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crowe
Trackday Trickster
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| Rogerborg |
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Rogerborg
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| tango_kid |
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tango_kid
Two Stroke Sniffer
Joined: 03 May 2011
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| Posted: 20:48 - 03 May 2011 Post subject: |
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Right cheers The Er-5 looks very nice, if one pops up on ebay cheap like then i might just reach for the pockets. Tho after sudden financial realizations, i may have to ride a NSR125 (there is one being built in my garage ) for a year before i can part with the cash for the insurance, i suppose that is the thing with being a 17 year old huh... |
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| Teflon-Mike |
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Teflon-Mike
tl;dr
Joined: 01 Jun 2010
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Posted: 21:52 - 03 May 2011  Post subject: Re: Quick greeting and quick question |
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| tango_kid wrote: | I am looking for a 400-500cc bike which looks relativly modern (i've had enough of my bike looking like it was built 70 years ago and getting ragged for it by friends ) |
Cheers, I must look about a hundred then!
Pah! Whippersnappers, the CHEEK of them!
OK.... ambitions, aspirations, REAL WORLD.
First off, congrats on being a 17 year old taking tests seriously.
Now, lets get you saddled up.
DIRT BIKES
First of all, Yamaha DT125LC, launched 1982, rewrote the book on what a dirt bike should look like, every one has been emulating it since.... and they ent changed much!
So, as far as looking farily 'modern', anything with knobly tyres should look pretty contemprary.... form follows function and all that.
Conveniently, more dirt bikes are naturally 33bhp complient.
So, instant reaction, what about a mud-plugga?
Any instant grievances, inhibitions, niggles, hassles or shear angst at the idea? of can we explore it further?
Reason for saying... REAL baked bean budget beater, air cooled Yamaha DT175MX... not 'quite' as up to date as the later LC.... but a real bargain. You can get one comfortabvly inside your budget. Project bikes start at a couple of hundred quid, for something pretty much all there, and go up to mint collectors examples for silly money.... but in between, £500 gets you something sensible, road worthy, taxed and tested.... and NOT being a 125, they don't fall into the learner insurance brakets, they fall in a missing hole in the insurance rankings where they have no data, and dont load them very highly. But, loads of fun for your money, and a real wheelie machine!
Otherwise, more 'sensible' bikes like the XL250 or DR350, pretty contemprary, four stroke, 33bhp complient, ecconomical, and again, insurance freindly...ish.
Next, bikes you have mentioned, Bandit 400, VFR400, are all four pots, and aren't naturally 33bhp complient. Neither are they all THAT contemprary, but I suppose they dont look quite as antiquated as ME.... or fast fifty of my youth, the RD50!
400's tend to get insurance loaded, like the learner legal 125 sector, they have a big boy racer contingent, and they also suffer a lot of theft problems, but mainly dogged by the early 90's grey imports, where IF one gets stacked, and the insurers have to pay out to get one fixed... they go to the Suzuki or Honda dealer and get told 'not available', or Not UK model.... and have to write it off as uneconomical to repair.... becouse its not a 'main stream' regular bike.
GS500 I'm surprised you got silly quotes on, that tends to be one of the more sensible bikes. Its a twin, and its the lowest priced, and lowest valued of the commuter twin 500's.
Whats your story? Have the insurance companies something else against you apart from being a cheeky teenage oik? Like criminal record, points on your yet to be obtained licence? Etc?
Thinking twins, and insurance freindly ones, not a LOT out there thats all that new, but likely to fall in your budget.... pretty sure a decent GS5 would be a lucky find! and road bikes you'd be looking at old CB250 Super Dreams, or the like, you know, bikes even I think are 'ancient'..... 
But, if you get past the fact they are so old, like flares... thier styling can have some retro chic, and scrubbed up, they can look pretty 'fresh'... they certainly have all the features of modern 'street' bikes, and dont look like antiques, like classic bikes in my day did, where the age was obviouse, by virtue of brass plating and ancetaline lamps etc! 
end of the day though, I suspect it will be more a case of what comes along at money you can afford, you can snaffle before some one else does..... THEN worrying about the logistics of insuring and running the thing!
But few notions for you......
____________________
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?' |
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| tango_kid |
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tango_kid
Two Stroke Sniffer
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| Posted: 23:18 - 03 May 2011 Post subject: Re: Quick greeting and quick question |
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Haha, i did think somebody was going to pick up on that and have a go at me for being cheeky
DIRT BIKES- initial responce is i'd rather have something more road-orientated having riden crossers and the like before, however you make some pretty sound points for their case and so i will keep my beady eye on ebay for the models you have mentioned, tho having have a quick scan it isn't looking too fruitful at the moment, hopefuly that may change.
I'm not THAT picky about looks at all to be honest with you, something which looks more 90's than 70's/80's would be fine so Bandit/VFR ect are fine. Its just insurance and trying to find a decent model secondhand cheap which is the issue as you can imagine. Hmmmm, mabye 'silly' was a tad rash, mabye more along the lines of three and a half times what im currently paying, plus the fact i have an additional years no claims which i didnt have this year. I like the look of the GS500s tho, if i was able to get one at a good price i would be very tempted. Haha, the cb500 is mabye pushing it abit on the modern look thing but if one came up for the right price i am not really in the position to say no... Cheers for the help mate, must have taken nigh on a year to write
Cheers,
Mike |
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| Teflon-Mike |
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Teflon-Mike
tl;dr
Joined: 01 Jun 2010
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| Posted: 23:51 - 03 May 2011 Post subject: Re: Quick greeting and quick question |
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| tango_kid wrote: | Its just insurance and trying to find a decent model secondhand cheap which is the issue as you can imagine. |
Not really, I get quoted about £150 a year whatever I ask for a quote on... from the CB125 to the VF-Tho!.....advantage of age! (See my turn to be cheeky!)
actually when my lad was 16, trying to get him cover for his C50, I got some quotes for me on it... just to see how 'daft' they'd be....
Daftest, got the sales operator darting back to the under writer to check, because they worked out the premium, then took off discounts, and worked out at £26... which was a fiver LESS than their standard admin charge for issuing a duplicate certificate or change of details, which was the basic charge they start with!
Was a few years ago though.... lads on an RF9 now, actually his second... first one only lasted a year from his restriction ending!
Three or Four times your moped policy price for a 'big-bike' doesn't sound too unreasonable TBH.... Depends what your moped policy costs, I suppose, but, insurance costs what it costs, unfortunately, and premiums have increased (so the adverts say) on average by 35% this year, which is possibly more than the discount from a years NCB....
Even renewing your moped policy, drop from having full licence and a years NCB would probably mean price didn't go down.
Have to say, at your age, I was riding school-boy trials, and I had the notion that if I got a bike for the road, I wanted propper road bike... I had terrible pre conceptions about knoblies on wet tarmac... Why I have no idea.... its not like I could have EVER taken a knobly shod bike out on tarmac......
And that was back in the day when tyres were cross ply, narrow and even road tyres didn't grip all that well!
But?!?! These days, you just CANT have 'fun' on the public road, like back when I was your age.... there's far more traffic, traffic management, traffic calming, traffic control, traffic police, and big yellow revinue machines!
And dirt bikes, on 33bhp restriction, make a lot of sense... naturally complient, they tend not to get so slammed with insurance loading, usually single cylinder, in your budget often air cooled if four stroke, nice simple, cheap 'tools', that may not offer his speeds, (though a 33bhp 500 will only just tickle the ton), but can be 'hooned' and deliver some dirty laughs!
Anyway, one for you to check out, Kawasaki GPZ500S.... popular 33bhp bike..... few on here have had them, often getting scrattier examples well inside your budget and fixing them up..... was what my eldest sat out his restriction on..... quite a capable and fairly spirited little bike, if the dirt donk's not for you.... you';ll just have to swallow the pill on the insurance..... every year until you are about thirty!
____________________
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?' |
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| bhinso |
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bhinso
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whitedevil
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| tango_kid |
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tango_kid
Two Stroke Sniffer
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| Posted: 18:56 - 04 May 2011 Post subject: |
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Haha, got me back there Indeed, i suppose insurance is never going to be cheap as chips, i suppose it might be a more viable option to pay monthly, i handn't really considered that too seriousley but we will see.
Yeah i had heard that about insurance going up aswell doesnt really bode well for me but hey ho, there isnt alot i can do about it i suppose, just gotta live with it. I just hope i can work something out so that i can get onto a nice big bike when i pass, i dont fancy a 125 much tbh.
Yeah, i do see the attraction of dirt bikes, my dad seems keen on them, tho he grew up on a farm and has had them all his life so he mabye biased!!
I have been looking at the Gpz500s, they look very nice, im just trying to find one with enough work needed that its cheap, but not too much so that it is a pain to get on the road.
Im based in Yorkshire
Cheers,
Mike |
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tango_kid
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| Posted: 19:12 - 05 May 2011 Post subject: |
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PASSED MY MOD 2 TODAY  haha, very excited! Until i came home and found out that my insurance will be £30 more now that i have passed.....interesting.... |
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| Frog |
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Frog
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| Posted: 19:51 - 05 May 2011 Post subject: |
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Congrats tango... How did it go, any particular good/bad bits?
Insurance is a strange, strange beast....
____________________
CBT 23/09/10 - Theory 19/03/11 - Mod1 19/04/11 - Mod2 06/05/11
Bikes: CBF125 (sold 30/10/10-25/09/12) - CB400 24/06/11 (broken)  - ER6-f 25/09/2012 |
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| tango_kid |
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tango_kid
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Posted: 21:06 - 05 May 2011  Post subject: |
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Cheers, err, I was nervous, very nervous, but once i thought i had failed i did fine-ish. Firstly, thought i had gone 10 mph over the speed limit early on so i lost most of the nerves. Then i went left when he asked me to go straight on, but i did it correctly so it was fine. Err, remember your checks, pay close attention to busses pulling out, and before you move back in check!! Oh, and if you keep a beady eye on the speed limit thats handy, i lost 3 minors cause i was going 20 in a 30 because i didnt know which it was. I was just scared to go 30 in a 20 and get a major!! But basically, relax, be confident, you can do it, and pay attention!!
Good luck tomorrow mate! |
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| blurredman |
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blurredman
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| Posted: 21:19 - 05 May 2011 Post subject: |
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| tango_kid wrote: | PASSED MY MOD 2 TODAY haha, very excited! Until i came home and found out that my insurance will be £30 more now that i have passed.....interesting.... |
I'm still on provisional insurance even when I passed my test in January.
Three things factor this:
1) Voluntary
2) Admin fee
3) Wouldn't get implemented until the next year.
So...
____________________
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 (295cc) - 40k, 1989 MZ ETZ251 - 52k. |
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| Teflon-Mike |
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Teflon-Mike
tl;dr
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| Posted: 21:33 - 05 May 2011 Post subject: |
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| Frog |
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Frog
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| Posted: 20:31 - 06 May 2011 Post subject: |
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Cheers tango. I passed, but had the same as you... Thought I'd failed early on when a truck pulled out on me, and I hesitated for a bit then went past. After that, it was just a ride with satnav
____________________
CBT 23/09/10 - Theory 19/03/11 - Mod1 19/04/11 - Mod2 06/05/11
Bikes: CBF125 (sold 30/10/10-25/09/12) - CB400 24/06/11 (broken) - ER6-f 25/09/2012 |
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| tango_kid |
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tango_kid
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| Posted: 23:45 - 06 May 2011 Post subject: |
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well done buddy, brilliant feeling right??  |
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| Frog |
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Frog
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| Posted: 00:08 - 07 May 2011 Post subject: |
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Still buzzing
____________________
CBT 23/09/10 - Theory 19/03/11 - Mod1 19/04/11 - Mod2 06/05/11
Bikes: CBF125 (sold 30/10/10-25/09/12) - CB400 24/06/11 (broken) - ER6-f 25/09/2012 |
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| maccidees2002 |
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maccidees2002
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| Posted: 00:20 - 07 May 2011 Post subject: |
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Congrats to both
____________________
Theory= 11/3/2011 , C.B.T= 11/3/2011 , Mod 1= 14/3/2011 , Mod 2 18/3/2011.
Bikes= 1992 xj600s & 1998 cbr600 |
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| crowe |
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crowe
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| Posted: 11:13 - 07 May 2011 Post subject: |
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Excellent !!
coincidentally, i thought i'd failed my car and bike tests within the first 2 minutes (speeding!) and after that had no nerves whatsoever! Passed both first time
Goes to show a lot of it is in the mind
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| Frog |
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Frog
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| Posted: 20:40 - 07 May 2011 Post subject: |
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Totally agree. Mod 1 and mod 2 are at least 60% headology. Beat the nerves, beat the test
____________________
CBT 23/09/10 - Theory 19/03/11 - Mod1 19/04/11 - Mod2 06/05/11
Bikes: CBF125 (sold 30/10/10-25/09/12) - CB400 24/06/11 (broken) - ER6-f 25/09/2012 |
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