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| tbourner |
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tbourner
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 Posted: 18:10 - 29 Apr 2012  Post subject: 600. <£2k. 1/2/4? FI? |
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OK so looking to do my DAS soon(ish), I'm a bit pre-emptive but want to know what I should start looking at as a first bike. Mainly for budgeting for it.
So I think I want injection, I'm not a 'fiddler', if the bike goes wrong I'll take it to a garage of some kind, so I guess there's not much 'pro' to getting a carb?
Cylinders? 1/2/4? 3? V-twins are torquey? I4s are racey high revving? What about singles? Are all available in FI? Cheap? I suppose test rides are in order - will I be able to test ride stuff easily?
Needs to be less than £2000 really, ideally quite a bit less, I guess FI will be the tricky bit there. Doesn't have to be a 600, but somewhere thereabouts. Ideally want a naked type as well, been looking at bandits, nothing fully fared racey.
Opinions? Suggestions?
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Looking for first big bike. |
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| Themightyimp |
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Themightyimp
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promufa
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| FerretFing |
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FerretFing
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| Posted: 19:01 - 29 Apr 2012 Post subject: |
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My wife has a Yamaha MT-03 which is a single 660cc & it's loads of fun - it is fuel injected......insurance was £68 fully comp  - the only joy of being over 40!......not easy to find them beneath 2K though. Also, it's a bit different from the mainstream for looks - cool bike  |
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| Rogerborg |
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Rogerborg
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| Posted: 19:23 - 29 Apr 2012 Post subject: |
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Cheap and fuel injected? Pointy SV650S would be the default choice - start looking for reasons not to get one.
Personally I'd prefer carbs rather than dice around with the FI on budget bikes, but each to their own.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike |
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| tbourner |
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tbourner
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| Paris2 |
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Paris2
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iMark
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| Rogerborg |
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Rogerborg
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Posted: 21:46 - 29 Apr 2012  Post subject: |
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Agreed, there's lots of talk about working on carbs because they can be worked on by anyone with the dexterity and brainpower of one of the Great Apes, or a a pinch, Warped.
With FI, it's more a case of getting the vehicle (bike or car) trailered down to a garage then bending over, dropping your pants and saying "Put the magic back in it, mister".
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike |
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tbourner
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| Sako |
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Sako
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| Baisemontchou |
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Baisemontchou
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| Posted: 22:48 - 29 Apr 2012 Post subject: |
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FI is surely more reliable than carbs?
I have never been able to setup carbs correctly, somehow the fu**up fairy visits every time my back is turned and I have to end up calling in a 'someone who knows'. 
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Current Carz: Jeep Liberty, Kia Sorrento Diesel
Current Bikz: '06 Honda Shadow 750 Custom, '02 Sachs Roadster 650, '10 Yamaha R125, '12 Derbi GPR 50, '04 Yamaha TZR 50. |
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| Teflon-Mike |
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Teflon-Mike
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Posted: 00:29 - 30 Apr 2012  Post subject: |
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| tbourner wrote: | | Rogerborg wrote: |
Personally I'd prefer carbs rather than dice around with the FI on budget bikes, but each to their own. |
Well I've looked at the usual threads about it, and most seem to say things like "If a carb breaks the bike still works, so I can get home and fix it, with FI you're stuck at the side of the road" If that's the main kind of reason then carbs really aren't for me. People who have them also seem to say things like "Just clean the carb out", doesn't that mean take it apart? I can't see me doing that. |
FI needs specialist equipment to check & calibrate, but no 'parts'. Its not entirely 'voodoo', but it is expensive when it goes wrong.
Carbs? I'd not try cleaning or setting one up beside the road, but I could get the bike home, and with little dexterity have bits in my hand I could clean up, re-alighn or fix, with basic tools.
OK, you may not want the fag of DIY mechanics, though it do be fun, and gives a whole new dimension to your biking...
When you twist the throttle, you dont think, "Oh, Fast!" you think "Oh! I made it do that! How 'crisp'!!" and you get that every time you ride, where you only get the 'Oh Fast' the first few times.
But back to the debate; if you cant afford a new bike, then you PROBABLY cant afford anything with EFI.
If you can afford a new bike, you can afford, and probably even anticipate franchise dealer servicing, AND you shouldn't expect many hassles, its all 'brand new'.
By the time its old enough to be in the sub 2K price range though, it ENT gonna be brand new, and more likely to go tits up. And you will be paying franchise dealer prices to get it sorted... even if you dont use franchise dealer... go to some-one with the 'kit' to interogate an ECU, they will charge high, and unless they are franchise trained & approved diagnostics, they wont always get it right, so you'll still risk paying high on teh buy cheap, pay twice principle... OR you'll go to a back-street mechie, who will diagnose by substitution, swapping out whole sub assemblies, units or components until it works..... expensive!
If bike is carbed.... yeah, you might not want to do your own spannering.... but when you hand it to the local back-yard mechanic, he wont be out of his depth, and can tackle the job like a DIY'er would, and you stand MUCH better chance he CAN do it, and it WONT cost you SUCH a fortune.
Make sense?
Back to original query...... Single or Twin.
Softer power delivery, easier to work on, less 'bits' to go wrong; following same DIYable principle.
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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?' |
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| tbourner |
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tbourner
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| Posted: 08:11 - 30 Apr 2012 Post subject: |
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Ok I'm sold.
Well not entirely, I'll probably be asking for local helpers to come and give me a hand if I do get a carb though 
So, what carb'ed V-twin should I look for?
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Paris2
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Sako
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Rogerborg
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Posted: 09:51 - 30 Apr 2012  Post subject: |
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Then look at the 500s as well. CB/CBF500, GPZ 500, ER5, GS500E/F. Insurance is peanuts on them, and they can be had for very little money.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike |
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Paris2
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daemonoid
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tbourner
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| Teflon-Mike |
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Teflon-Mike
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| Posted: 12:54 - 30 Apr 2012 Post subject: |
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| tbourner wrote: | What about a CBR600F? How much less 'racey' are they than the RR? Is insurance still going to be high? |
CBR600 is a four, its a 100bhp motorcycle, faired, and while its a very well 'composed' motorcycle, and a nicely 'rounded' all rounder, the shear 'excess' of capability it has doesn't make it 'such' a wonderful newbie choice. Running costs, on them are fairly high compared to a twin as well, and they fall into the 600 'hot-spot' insurance wise.
Difference between a CB600F and a CBR600RR in the reletive scale of things is pretty small compared to the difference between a 600F and an SV650, and probably even wider than gap between that and something like the GS500!
| tbourner wrote: | I quite like the Suzuki GS but they all seem high mileage (is 30k high?), ER5s and GPZs sometimes look nice - will have to check out year differences. |
30K on a motorbike is not really all that 'high'. Bikes dont tend to have the high mile durability of modern cars, and in the days when the average car did 10K a year and was getting a 'bit past it' at seven years old, bikes were trading longevity for performance, and anything over 25K on some models could be iffy... especially Honda's with cam-chains....
Those days are long gone.
Way bikes are used these days, mileage is almost irrelevent; many bikes, kept as Garage trophies, gummed piston rings and sticky fuel injectors are as likely to be a problem as bits being worn out! Other bikes, crash-damage (or repair) will be thier achiles heel, while on others, its rot that gets them.
Before viewing; research your candidates well. Know thier known 'foibles' and judge on condition.
GS500 is a tough old boot. And from an earlier era. Its advantage is its air-cooled engine is simple, and robust, and easy to work on. Great for DIY servicing, or cheap back-street mechanic care; But it needs little and often, oil changes and tappet adjustments, so ask for any evidence they have been done, & you look at the colour of the oil, and listen to the sound of the engine to check.
CB500's blow their regulators; SV650's loose thier finish fast, and I think are prone to fast rot radiators; but I'm NOT teh font of all knowledge, as some may suppose... so go read the buyers guides, check teh specialist forums etc.
End of the day... buying a second hand bike, is frought with risk and uncertainty. If you wanted an easy life and garantees, you go buy new...
You start with the generic basics, of your budget, and 'sort' of bike you want; you cover your backside, as far as the generic risk of buying a nicked or written off bike, knowing what paperwork checks to make, and vetting sellers. THEN you get down to the detail, and start looking at individual bikes, and only defense you have against buying a pig in a poke is to get clued up.
And EVEN the MOST clued up of us, can get stung from time to time, as I did when we bought the first 125 Super-dream for Snowie, that had had its frame chopped about and hidden under the body-work!
You have to accept that these 'risks' are always going to be there, and cover them as best you can, but end of the day, if you weren't prepared to take a risk from time to time, you wouldn't be buying a motorbike in teh first place, would you?
Get clued up on the potential candidates; twins be good, so research them as thoroughly as you can, but DONT sweat the small stuff TOO much.
Remember the motto, stop thinking, start riding.....
You can over think, and over plan, and all too easy to do, when you dont have anything else to get to grips with.... but STAY FLEXIBLE....
Life is full of serendipity, and you could go out with all intent of buying a GS500, armed to the teeth with check-lists, and stumble accross, I dont know, an KTM640 Motard, that throws all your ideas and plans out the water, and seems like THE least 'sensible' thing you could possibly do.... but it 'JUST' makes you 'feel' something....
That was what happened when I came accross my VF1000...
I was actually looking for either an FZ750 or a GPz900; both 'sensible' big road bikes, the guides gave good reviews... VF was roundly critisised, and I actually came accross two others in my wanderings to look at FZ's or GPz's... niether of which inspired me, one of which I looked at because it was next to a GPz and I bumped my head on teh handlebars, bringing my attension to the TIPPEX repair to the tank badge!
Went to look at an FZ700, the US tarrif-dodger version of the FZ750, and there in the ware house, towering over everything else, and calling to me was the VF1000 I bought..... almost entirely emotively and against the advice of the plaudits, or guides... and for five years LOVED it to bits, never suffered any of the maledies the mags aluded to...
so you NEVER KNOW.... stop fretting about it so much, and enjoy the adventure!
Like everything in biking, its the JOURNEY that matters, NOT the destination, and buying a bike can be FUN!
____________________
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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tbourner
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Old Thread Alert!
The last post was made 14 years, 68 days ago. Instead of replying here, would creating a new thread be more useful? |
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