a bike for a beginner

[1cyl]

My girlfreind has her car test soon and we decided if she fails (which she will) she'd do her CBT and get a 125, but i dunno what to get her, she doesnt like ped's much, likes "bikes with the plastic on the front" it needs to be reliable, fairly but not to fast. around £800 or less, cheap to run and insure, and she's a little scared of gear's. what do i get her?
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[dodsi]

A push bike by the sounds of things. nah im kidding

I have a speedfight 100cc at the moment for sale (X reg 2001)

but i would go for a 4t 125 i.e. yamaha Sr or Honda CG

[Mr.Everready]

Nothing to be scared of on the gears front.
A nice SR125 or a cg Will do her fine
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the undemocratically unelected mod of the Scottish section

[loply]

If she wants a bike with plastic on it I guess that means a sports 125...



So NSR125 it is then.

Or Cagiva Mito 125, RS125... But NSR125 is more of a default choice considering your price range.

4 stroke 125 sports bike is probably not worth it. CBR125 < NSR125.

[Gazdaman]

An old low mileage NSR 125. But tbh she's bound to drop it, and the crunching sound those tarty fairings make aren't nice.

Personally I'd suggest an eastern block 2 stroke, which I'm sure stinkwheel would agree, but then I'm biased.

if she's not a confident driver, putting her on a top end 125 i.e mito or rs is probably not a good idea.

I'd suggest a cheap 4 stroke, like a cg or something, maybe an xr125 if she likes the whole tarty off road kinda look.

Gaz

[Leggy_Girl]

[stinkwheel]

Bikes with fairings for around that price are pretty much exclusivley going to be 2-stroke race reps which perhaps loose out a bit on the 'reliable' and 'cheap to insure'.

Plastics are easily broken, I personally wouldn't get a faired learner bike on the assumption that it will be dropped and/or stolen others will disagree.

I would perhaps be more tempted to go for something in the 4-stroke commuter style such as the CG, GS or SR. MZ now make some very nice 125 4-strokes but there may not be any cheap second hand ones about yet.

I think the 100cc 2-strokes make very good 'ladies' bikes (small, light, easy to start), you would get a minter for that sort of money and probably have enough left to pay a chunk of the insurance too. H100 is a good bike (although not all that fast)

I would also give some consideration to the humble C90 Cub (the biggest selling motorcycle in the world). Stepthrough with legshields, frugal on fuel, cheap to insure, indestructable motor and 3-speed semi-auto gearbox. Also fitted with proper footpegs, big wheels and the back brake in the right place so it rides like a motorbike without needing to learn to use a clutch.

An Innova would be even better (next generation C90) with 125 engine, 4-speed semi-auto gearbox, disc brake, telescopic forks and updated styling, maybe a bit expensive still as they are pretty new. Perhaps the perfect 'halfway' between a scooter and a proper 'motorbike'.

Honda Innova
https://www.moto-station.com/uploads/608_normal.jpg
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[Ste]

[RooRoo]

CG125 all the way! reliable, cheap, good to learn on..Although I'm selling mine very soon as my test is booked (and I hope to pass....wishful thinking!) If I could do my learner time again, I'd definitely choose the CG, drop it? pick it back up and ride off, broken fairings? what fairings sips fuel, tank is full on 6 quid, can do 65mph, so its no motorway machine, but can handle duel carriageways for the most part, not that you can use motorways on CBT anyway, so yeah, all in all, CG125 is (in my opinion) the best learner 125 money can buy!

[stinkwheel]

[Dr Nick]

[instigator]

SR125 all the way I have to say. Screw bike looks, if you're on a budget dude, you know it doesnt make sense to buy a faired 2 stroke.

Shes not confident with gears means theres a good chance of her dropping it.

The bike being unreliable will NOT give her any confidence in bikes, and may even knock her interest in them.

SR125 is quick enough and the perfect learner tool. I'd rate the sr better than the venerable cg...

[dodsi]

I ride an SR 125

[izzi81]

I'd agree with others and say an older NSR125. That was my first bike (well, an NS125R, 1993) and it was a wonderful wee bike (ask Fallen Angel, she owns it now!) I dropped it a couple of times and ended up with a wee crack in the fairing but nothing dire. Just because you're learning doesn't mean you should avoid bikes with fairings! Just don't get something too shiny and new and be prepared for it to get a wee bit bashed
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[Frost]

Hunt about on places like ebay. you can pick up an old RS/Mito/NSR/TZR for less than £800.

Take her to a show room and let her sit on a few and see what style of bike she feels fomfortable with and will fit on. Its one thing to decide sportsbikes look nice, its quite another to be able to use one and be prepared to put up with one!

One of the older 2 strokes arnt that expensive, looks tidy, go fast enough, reliability is a little questionable, but so long as you give it a good going over before she starts riding it then i'm sure it wont be a problem!

[stevo as b4]

If you want somthing that might need some work an older 2stroke sportsbike might be the way to go. NS125R,RG125Gamma,TZR etc. I would still personally avoid a faired bike, and get something like an RXS100 or KH125. The AR125 is a great older bike, but anything that old is likely to be screwed or needs alot of work. Im guessing she would want a leccy start bike as well? Unless you find a nice NSR, or TZR125R (jap model), then i would look for a GS125 (electric start version) or similar. The CG is an unbeatable commuter, but thats it!
Just thought of another one, a suzuki Wolf125. They have electric start, no fairing, fastish and cheapish to buy. Then again with a suzuki 2stroke it needs to be!

[RooRoo]

[Dom_]

May i suggest an unfaired alcast model NSR125, quick, reliable, no side fairings to damage but they still look good.

[Annabella]

Definately an older NSR is a really good bike.

check out my old one - it has obligatory girly pink bits too
https://www.bikepics.com/members/bella/91nsr125/

I started without fairings, as I bought it at a bargainous price (VERY bargainous at £400) and added my own as my bank balance and confidence grew. Sadly, with the increased confidence came some rather stupid riding habits which resulted in the smashed fairings....
Despite the big smash, the bike seemed fairly indestructable, a fairly fast highside, and the only thing that was damaged were the plastics, the bike was perfectly rideable.

I never had any problems with the bike, it sometimes didn't like starting cold, but leaning it over to shift the fuel around did the trick. It got me to work and back and all over the country for over a year. I miss my little 2 stroke
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[Gazdaman]