Operation 17Yr old Needs Advice On Biking

[AyrtonSenna]

Hello guys I’m a new form member. I have decided to venture out into the world of two wheeled road machines. After years driving 125cc karts. Which intern makes me pretty used to the speed, might be wrong due to a higher ride height I will have to endure with a bike.

At the moment I’m in my first year of college I’m 17. I will be using my bike to get to and from college. As it currently takes me 1 hour and 30 minutes via public transport (most of it standing up).

At the moment due to me working week ends I will be racking in around £350-450 depending on my hours.
So I will be putting aside £2,000-£2,500 on a 125cc bike which could be a DERBI GPR, YAMAHA YZF or an APRILIA RS.
£250 on abrasion proof jackets/trousers £ 300 on back protection, knee pads.
I already have a SA2009 helmet (racing helmet with visor tear off etc), probably can use that on the road? If it can withstand a 150mph odd crash then surely it would be decent enough if I go sliding off at 30-40mph.

I just want a reliable bike that looks pretty big and beastly like the more powerful counterparts ‘derbi gpr ’. I seriously want to avoid a bike which would require allot of money being pumped into it every 2-3months. Don’t mind spending £500-£800 per year though.

Just a quick recap I’m a male 17 who will have a CBT certificate in a few weeks. I also live in London so allot of filtering will be involved whilst I’m driving.

Just want someone to point me into the right direction. Good places to buy a bike and places to stay away. Good insurances companies. Good companies to get some loans from as I’m not patient when it comes to saving .

Thank you for reading

[duhawkz]

my advice would be to forget about any of the above and spend £500 - 700 on a decent CG or YBR, it'll be a damn site cheaper to insure and cheaper to fix if you do drop it.

then spend the rest of the money on doing your test.
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"The guy is a worthless cunt and I honestly believe I would be a slightly happier person if he died." - Chris-Red

[J.M.]

Agree with the above. Get a cheap 125 to start off with to pass your tests and then upgrade to a bigger bike.

I was the same as you wanting a sporty 125. Hence buying the CBR125. If I could go back I would have spent less money on something else and passed my test sooner.

I find my GS500 much more fun than I found the CBR125.
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2004 R1 & 2018 XSR900

[cb1rocket]

350 - 450 for doing what 2 days work at the weekend? What the hell is that job

Most people only get like 80 quid tops for 12 hours.

On the bike side, simply put don't bother with an RS125 unless you want to pay over the odds for maintenance and the usual blow ups that usually happen, along with frequent break downs. Same for the Derbi

YZF R125 is the nicest one but very overpriced for what it is.

I'll let someone start answering the other questions

[J.M.]

[Vincent]

Forget the "Mickey Mouse" stuff, get one of these:-

https://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j71/Drewskovitch/yamaha_tzr125r.jpg

Helmet needs a gold sticker I believe.
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Space Is Deep

[Kingstondavo]

[_Troy_]

Too many questions to answer. Why bother when Mike has probably already started his response

Mike's tl:dr- get a YBR, learn on it, do your tests, don't be an idiot, time on a tiddler is rarely wasted.

For the record most bigger bikers will respect a YBR/CG much more than a tarted up plastic toy. Well I know I do anyway
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Current bike: ZX6R J1
Previous bikes: CLR 125 | GS500 | ZX6R G2 | SV650

[MotorbikerTom]

The majority will say to get your full license and you should.

Out of the three 125's though, i would go for the yzf. Bigger size so you don't dwarf it, decent top speed and looks the part on the road IMO.

OR

You could get a cg for a little while, pass your test, and be on a hornet within a few months which inevitably looks better, handles better, sounds better etc
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CBT: 19/02/11 - Mod 1: 27/03/11 - Mod 2: 01/04/11
'97 GS500E > '03 Hornet 600 > '16 Street Triple 675

[_Troy_]

[Kingstondavo]

[AyrtonSenna]

This forum is AWESOME! some much good posts in a short period of time. I just came off gocompare just got a quote of £780 for a yzf 2nd cheapest is a huge jump of £3000.

[bacon]

I see the yzf125 as a commuter 125 with plastic bits stuck on, you still go slow on one regardless of how it looks so dont bother. you will only impress the other 17yr olds.

Do test instead and get something awesome instead like suggested, hornet etc.

As for the helmet, dont karting helmets etc have slimmer visors?? On a bike where your head down, ass up you will have seriously restricted vision

[AyrtonSenna]

[AyrtonSenna]

[AyrtonSenna]

https://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/karting/helmets/arai-ck-6-kart-helmet

helmet i currently own

[J.M.]

[_Iain_]

£2500 on a 125? Nah.

£1k on a DAS course and then finance an SV/bandit/whatever floats yer boat using the remaining £1500 on a deposit, finance over a year and bosch.

Or CBT, YBR, theory, mod 1, mod 2, sell YBR, buy 33bhp bike. If you wanted to get straight in there and have a go at it as i did.
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Please be aware that the above post may be full of complete nonsense.
Riding: '07 KTM Duke II, Baotian BT49QT-20 Driving: '88 Volvo 340

[J.M.]

[cloric_tzr]

if i where u id get a tzr 125

my 1988 did the same speed as 2 of my mates rs aprillia's but outlived both of them, fairly cheep on insurance, easy to work on.

only down side is with the power valve full open it a monster on fuel.

will be even worse now ive had it bore'ed out, polished the inlet and outlet, ground and polished the power valve uped the jetting and fitted an air filter (altho im in 2 minds as to wether im keeping that on), and will fit a race can if i can find one.

genuinly brilliant little bike puts a smile on my face everytime i ride her .

just wish she was on the road now
____________________
i dumped my girlfriend the other day! she wouldnt act out one of my fantasy's. all i wanted her to do was come home from work, catch me fucking her sister and join in!!! miserable bitch!
My wifes so ugly, the only thing that goes down on her
Is the internet connection.

[dan_flash]

[Teflon-Mike]

Sound advice I think would be wasted here; go to it kid, waste four grand on a plastic fantastic toys are us version of an R1 or whatever, becouse it suits your sense of 'style' and you can ride it around on an L-Plate without even having to think about taking a test, and convince yourself that its all worth while and you dont really WANT a bigger bike, becouse you cant use it round the big city anyway, or whatever, and whatever other inane ideas, misconceptions, or excuses you can find.

FACT: you are 17 old enough to ride a YZF-R125, on L-Plates, so ALSO old enough if THAT is the kind of style you like to take the tests and ride the exact same bike on a FULL licence...

Note its a FULL licence, not a 'big-bike' licence, but it also allows you tro ride 'big-bikes' and if you WANTED Could actually have the 'real-deal' R1 rather than the Toys-R-Us, stickered up pavement toy version.

Bottom line is; we all know the score. YBR125 gets you a licence. It ent pretty, but it does the job, and does it cheaply. After that anything goes. And as said, just becouse you have a FULL licence dont mean you HAVE to instantly go out and get a big bike, and a YBR will do 95% of what a YZF-R125 will, and more it wont, and do it cheaper.

Current crop of four-stroke 'sports' 125's are a a joke. They cost almost as much as the read deal machines they mimic, yet have little more than a hopped up pit-bike engine in them. Old two-stroke's like the NSR, RS or Mito, could at least be de-restricted for the money; but they were never a wonderful learner-bike. Modern 4T's, even if you chuck shed loads more money at 'tuning' them, are never going to even be moderately brisk compared to a 33bhp restricted 500 commuter, let alone a 'real' sports bike.

They are ALL about the LOOKS.

And if THAT is all you want, fine.

Its your money at the end of the day.

BUT, dont sit there telling us our advice is not apropriate, when we point out that they are compromised for style, and make learning and testing more difficult, curtecy of restricted steering, perverse geometry, awkward ergamomics and a motor that not only lacks power but sacrifices rideability withing its power delivery for a laughable bit of extra top end speed. THAT will cost a rediculuse amount of extra money to buy; a rediculouse amount of extra money to insure; and will cost a rediculouse amount to FIX when you fall off the bugger, or replace when it inevitably gets nicked to be broken for spares to be flogged on e-bay to some-one else who has fallen off theirs.

You have got quotes on a YZF of £780, now go quote a YBR125, see what that comes in at; then try on a 33bhp restricted GS500 or SV650, see what you get on them.

WE KNOW, that for the sake of £121.50's worth of tests, maybe £200's worth of training, and a lot LESS money on the bike, or the insurance you could have a heck of a lot more bike, style and whatever else you want from it.

But basically, you have little interest in bikes; you just want something cheaper than a car to insure until you are old enough to live your F1 fantacies witha caterham or whatever, but dont want to look like a Dork on a moped while you are about it....

So you will look like a dork on a 'wanabee' sportsbike instead.... but OH you have such an armoury of reasons to justify it ALREADY, we are NEVER going to be 'right' are we; because you know what you want...

So we may as well save our key-boards, really, hadn't we?

Or?

MAYBE, some of what we suggest MIGHT be worth thinking about, and your plan re-considering.....
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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?'

[cloric_tzr]

^ TZR?

____________________
i dumped my girlfriend the other day! she wouldnt act out one of my fantasy's. all i wanted her to do was come home from work, catch me fucking her sister and join in!!! miserable bitch!
My wifes so ugly, the only thing that goes down on her
Is the internet connection.

[Teflon-Mike]

[cloric_tzr]

lol, i must have got a decent-ish one because apart from nearly everything falling off from neglect the little engine just kept going and going and going. . .
i re-built it when i first got her and 10000 screaming miles later she still started first kick, i only re-built her again as a matter of course, and because i had to repair everything else.

i do have to raise somthing tho because your always going on about do your test do your test ect, but it really isnt as simple as that for most people,

yes its true if you have 3k spare to spend on a pose mobile 125 your better of doing a das.

but a few weeks ago when i was looking at getting a new 125 (new to me) you said why dont i spend that money on a das, which i could have (i subsiquently spent it on a £300 push bike £400 t.v and a few other bits and peices, anyway
with that 1000 i could have bought a 125 insured it for £250 taxed it for £15 and used £10-20 a week fuel, but to do my das and for many others who already possess a cbt its just not feesable to do it, £780 cheapest i could find a das in my area then the theory on top, then £1000-£1500 for a bike £1000+ insurance, £60? tax then running costs, some of us are still feeling the pinch of the reccetion you know and probably will be for years to come. getting a full entitelment licence is rightn at the bottom of the to-do list for me and many others but in the mean time having a 125 is a cheap solution to having fun i for one cant see the big problem with it.
____________________
i dumped my girlfriend the other day! she wouldnt act out one of my fantasy's. all i wanted her to do was come home from work, catch me fucking her sister and join in!!! miserable bitch!
My wifes so ugly, the only thing that goes down on her
Is the internet connection.