New to motorcycles. Looking for bike and insurance advice.

[kepha]

Hi guys, I am new to the forum and to motorcycles and I was looking to see if I could gather a little more information.

I am a 23 year old full time student (so money is tight) but I am looking to get into riding this summer. I do not yet have my CBT and have not passed my driving test either so I am completely new to most of this (although I have had driving lessons).

My dad rides motorbikes and is pretty educated in that respect so he is willing to help me pick out my first bike but together neither me or him really know what to expect from prices of insurance etc.

I was wondering if it would be better to start on a 125 or possibly plunge for a 250, and if anybody could give me some advice on the insurance prices I might be looking at... I can't get an insurance quote as they all ask for the date I passed my test which I cannot provide. I think the insurance cost will be a big indicator of what bike I can afford to start on.

Because I have no income there is a good chance whatever bike I choose is going to be my only bike for the next 1 - 3 years depending on my luck with cash flow.

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

Err, make up a pass date and bung through a load of online quotes with false, but close to your own details.
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[Dave_R]

You're pretty much in the same boat as I was in last year, thing is, I still ride a 125 despite acquiring a cat A licence half a year ago.

The reason is insurance cost, it's only £450 for my 125 but £1200+ for anything bigger, forget modern 250s e.g. Ninja 250, CBR250R because they come in a few hundred more than a 10 year old ER5. However, insurance is different for everyone so get some quotes online.

I'm planning to wait until I've had a year on my licence, because then insurance drops to about £750 for an ER5 and that's not including no claims which I should have one years worth by then.

Another thing to consider if you're planning on riding anything more than 125 is the cost of getting a licence to do so, you have to take a test on a big bike, >500cc 30-47HP and >600cc 54HP for a category A2 and cat A licence respectively. The majority of people will get their A/A2 licence through a bike school; who provide bike hire and training up right up to the practical tests - of which are also, usually included in the training fee. The course will set you back about £500 so it's another significant cost to consider.

The final thing to consider is the fact, at 23 you're only allowed to take the cat A2 test, you've gotta be 24 to take the cat A. Cat A allows to ride anything, cat A2 has a 47HP restriction which will only lift if you take what is practically the same bike test again once you're 24 or over!

I think it's a good idea to do your CBT now, get a cheap 125 and ride on L's until you're 24, then you can get a full cat A licence rather than being stuck on an A2 or having to do two sets of tests.

[Dave_R]

double post

[FireStorm-X]

Hi there

With being 23, the advice of CBT and then a 125 seem to be the best and cheapest way, while you are riding your 125 you can do your theory test and once you hit 24 you can go for you full licence without any restrictions. Then look for a bigger bike, while ushering your 125 as a good deposit for your bigger bike.

As for insurance my 125 is £188 TP for a year, but a ZR7S is only £91.40 Fully Comp for a year with 1 NCB. I did find that bikes with fairings go up a lot more in insurance costs. But I am looking for a cheap big commuter bike, which is why I went for the ZR7S.
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Lexmoto Street 125 (sold) - Kawasaki ZR7S

[kepha]

Hi guys, thanks for your replies. I did put in a fake date when I was first considering a motorcycle (on a CBR125) into swinton and the quote I got was like.. £150 a month or something insane like that.

I thought that felt quite high which was partly why I posted here. I was also told that putting fake information into insurance quotes was a dangerous game as they keep the information on record and this can bite you when you try to claim for real? I don't know how much truth there is in this.

I just popped my info into MCE on some bikes I have been considering and got quotes around the £300 - £400 a year mark which is much more realistic for me.

Does anybody have an opinion on the new honda MSX125 as a first bike, I havent seen one in person yet but I know they are small.. otherwise I have been looking at bikes like the CBF125 or the CBR125.

[Bene]

Listen try the one below, I got mine for £190 including RAC breakdown on CBT, first time rider, cheaper than a lot of other places I looked, I am 35 though. My brother also got a decent deal from the site below, about £50 more than mine, he's 28 on a YBR, I'm on a SR125.

https://www.thebikeinsurer.co.uk/

[CG Sam]

I agree with Bene, I got a good deal through them, £300, new rider on CBT (although I did decide to add recovery for a bit extra, just in case)
Also a bonus with them is your phone isn't constantly going off with people connected to the site ringing you to ask if you got what you wanted etc.
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CG125, SV650S, CBR600F, GSXR600 SRAD

[Rogerborg]

If money is tight, why look at new bikes? Think more like a 10 year old CG with low mileage and a service history.

To get on a 250, you'll have to pass the new A2 test on (de facto) a 500+ bike, and it'll cost you in the region of £500 in training and test fees to do so. You're not going to want to go back down to a 250 after that, so start pondering the merits of the Suzuki GS500.

Insurance shopping is fine as long as you use a random name, contact details and house number (but with approximately the right postcode).
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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

[Scotsman37]

Also, the insurance goes by your age, current value of bike and if sought after the bike thieves , years of riding experience of a particular sized cc of bike you've declared that you have ridden in the past and most importantly the area where you live + where the bike will be stored when not in use either on/off road. All of these play a major factor in your monthly cost! The area of where you live & store the bike when not in use because of the known crime rate even if there isn't much but because you only live a short distance from a known bad area your provider may have put your postcode as being within a known high risk area for thefts or bikes being torched or whatever?

Sometimes if go for fully comp it sometimes becomes cheaper than TPFT. It is weird but sometimes it happens you get a cheaper quote for some reason with varying insurance providers/brokers!

[kepha]

Booked my CBT for Saturday! Quite excited now.

Have just been looking at a variety of bikes, I am not sure what my budget is just yet because I am getting some help to buy it from my dad so I will wait and see how generous he is feeling. Mostly I was concerned about insurance costs because that will likely be my own responsibility.

[Bene]

Good stuff. Well don't forget to try the above link as it seems the best for bike insurance.

[Rogerborg]

Oh, right, +1 on https://www.thebikeinsurer.co.uk/ - they usually get the lowest quote for me.

Just be aware that that if you get a 125, then you might find that the underwriter won't cover anything bigger and you'll be stuffed when you upgrade.

If eBike comes out within £40 of the cheapest, I'd suggest using this £40 off link and considering them, as they're quite flexible.
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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

[kernow24]

Don't forget go compare.com always cheaper for me out of all he comparison sites, not by much, but £30 in your pocket is better than in theirs.

Also if you go TPFT look in to a higher excess and getting separate excess cover, usually works out cheaper, although there'sa little more hassle if you need to make a claim, due to having to claim off 2 companies if it's not directly with your insurers.
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[rangersfc65]

[Digsey]

[quote="rangersfc65"]

[rangersfc65]

nice name can i ask how much your excess is on that site? i found them very expensive for me. cheers.[/quote]

£150 mate

[clancy]

I would advise getting a list of different bikes and open a few tabs online with different insurance websites up. then put a bikes and your details in each website and compare the prices you get, then repeat for each bike. youll find you get slightly different prices from different websites ( even for the same bike form the same company)

that's the best way to see what you can afford, because other peoples quotes are irrelevant, someone at the start mentioned £1200. I was getting quotes of £200 odd for a 54 plate cbr1000rr when I was 19 so it really depends on you to be honest. best bet, make a list of different bikes and try quotes on all
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