Completely new to bikes - looking to get one for commuting

[VoodooRoller]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the forum and indeed to motorbikes in general so I was hoping to get some advice from all you lovely experts

I have already had some of my initial questions answered in the "Duffer's Guide to Getting a Licence" here: https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=33113

I am 22 with a 3yo full UK car licence and have no previous experience with motorbikes at all, but I am considering getting a 125cc for commuting to and from work to cut down fuel costs and skip traffic jams. I also think bike-riding would be a good skill to have.
I believe my 'driving attitude' is compatible with riding as I am very confident, safe and aware. I don't suffer from road rage in the slightest, I always keep safe distances, never speed and I always leave early so usually have no reason to exceed a fuel-efficient 60mph.
In other words, to quote my other half, I am a "boring Sunday driver".
But she's the one who's already lost her NCD

Anyway now that I know I can minimise the risks that riding brings, let's move on to the maths:

My daily commute is almost exactly 20 miles one-way which equates to slightly over 200 miles a week. It is quarter on A-road dual-carriageway, then half on A-road single carriageway and then another quarter of A-road dual-carriageway, with a load of roundabouts thrown in all over the route.

Currently the car I drive gives me 34.2mpg (7.5mpl), so using 129.9p per litre as a ceiling price at the pumps I use, it costs about 17.3p per mile in petrol only.
I am looking for a fuel-efficient bike that can do over 100mpg (22mpl).
This would bring my weekly commuting fuel costs down from £35 to under £12 (aiming for £10) which frees up at least £1,000 over the course of a year. Which is good because my work has just cut our overtime. *shakes fist*
Obviously I will have to take bike insurance from that figure.

If I get a bike I will still be keeping my car for leisure / weekends / boot space and as a backup vehicle in dangerous weather so I'll have to keep paying insurance and tax for that too.

However even with those hits I can still save just over £80 a month by having a bike in addition to my car.



In terms of bikes, the features I am looking for are:
- Average over 100mpg
- Can reach 70mph
- Reliable, self-repairable and parts in good supply
- Not a moped
- Second-hand
- Cost under £1,000
- Extra storage such as a top-box


Features I don't care about:
- Looks
- Acceleration
- Power
- Gadgets


The bikes I have been considering so far that I can actually remember are:
- Honda CBR125R
- Honda CBF125
- Honda CG125

The fact that they are all Hondas is pure coincidence.




If you've read all this so far then thank you, as I tend to ramble a lot in order to get all the information that's in my head converted to writing. I'm not too good at that; more of a numbers guy.

So anyway, my actual questions are the following:

1. How do NCDs work when you're insuring both a car and a motorbike? Do you earn a NCD for each separately?
2. Which bikes do you recommend--or not recommend--for my purposes? (I use https://www.fuelly.com/motorcycle/ to check out realistic mpg figures)
3. Can I wear safety gear over my work clothes (just a normal shirt and trousers) or will I have to change in/out of it?
4. How much would I be looking at to get the safety gear needed, such as a decent helmet, clothing and bike lock?


Thanks,
Voo
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Tea is for mugs.

[pinkyfloyd]

For the kind of specs you want you would be looking at the CG125 or the Yami YBR 125. Although they do struggle to reach 70, such is the life with a 125cc bike.
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illuminateTHEmind wrote: I am just more evolved than most of you guys... this allows me to pick of things quickly which would have normally taken the common man years to master
Hockeystorm65:.well there are childish arguments...there are very childish arguments.....there are really stupid childish arguments and now there are......Pinkfloyd arguments!
Teflon-Mike:I think I agree with just about all Pinky has said.

[CaNsA]

[VoodooRoller]

[pinkyfloyd]

[Rogerborg]

You sound like a sensible chap, you'll be fine.

NCD runs separately on each policy, and only on one policy at a time. Not many insurers will transfer car NCD to a bike policy or vice versa. Some of them will take into account that you have car NCD though.

A real 70mph is a stretch. You'll be looking at 11kW bikes for that.

Hyosung GT125 and GT125R. Parts supply is ropey, they aren't sold new any more, and came with some issues. I wouldn't want to rely on one.

YZF-R125. Out of budget.

2 strokes. Won't get the fuel economy.

Honda Varadero 125. Hello! They come expensive, but you can get one in budget and they hold their value very well.
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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

[sidewinder]

What rogerborg said.get a honda varadero .perfect for what you want and need

[Moxey]

Some other considerations

Yamaha SR 125

Suzuki GS 125 & GN 125

If you put your dimensions into this it gives a fairly accurate representation of whether you'll fit/be comfortable on a model of bike

As for the road rage, some people just don't get it, I know I don't and have had plenty of near misses commuting through a large town to uni over the last 3 years, I don't know why I just can't get riled up about things like that

*+1 for Varadero, I rate them far superior to other 4t 125s in terms of capability and reliability but slightly lower on the mpg (70-90)*
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Current: 02 FZS 1000 & 91 Royal Enfield Bullet 350 Some Bike Pics...
'I was too busy paying attention to pay attention'

[Rogerborg]

I imagine that most 125s will drop under 100mpg if ridden at a real 70mph. Given that very few of them can do that though, it's largely academic.

If you want to scream along at 50-55 on an SR / GS / GN then you'll get better mileage.

I reckon the choice is over 100mpg or a real sustained 70mph.
____________________
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

[VoodooRoller]

The reasoning behind the 70mph thing is so that I can overtake somebody doing 55mph at 15mph to resume my 60mph cruise, i.e. I don't need a sustained 70mph.
Like I said though I have no experience with bikes so this may be the wrong way to think about overtaking on two wheels.

If I have to cruise at 50mph though to get my >100 mpg then so be it. I won't be holding up traffic or forcing cars to overtake because most of the time on the single-carriageway we are all travelling at 40-50mph behind a slower vehicle anyway.


Thanks for the info on the NCD. I'm guessing that keeping my NCD on my car insurance would mean that I earn zero NCD on the bike? That sucks.

Can anyone help on the safety gear thing?
Will I be able to get dressed for work, put on my riding gear over the top, ride to work then take my riding gear off and get straight to work? Or will I have to strip down in the disabled toilets?
Sorry if it's a silly question, I don't know anybody who bikes so can't ask them the simple questions

Cheers
____________________
Tea is for mugs.

[wr6133]

[Rogerborg]

[cretin box]

Hello. Fellow n00b. I like to think my driving style is very much like yours, and I've approached biking from a similar angle.

My only 125 experience is my CBT but on the basis of a 2 hour road ride I'd have to say that if your commute is 20 miles including 60mph dual carriageways, you want something a bit bigger than a 125.

I did my CBT on a Yamaha YBR 125, I really liked the bike but 60 was its limit... you won't be getting the claimed mpg if you're running it at its fullest stretch - plus it's less than pleasant to ride or drive flat out, you do want a bit in reserve!

I ride to work with textile jacket and trousers over my suit, I wear motorcycling boots and keep smart shoes in my locker at work.
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1985 Honda Vision

[toadoftoadhal...]

set off 10 minutes earlier, and tootle along at 55-60.
Yam ybr 125 Custom.
Dont think you will save all that much though, cause in the winter months you will take the car, believe me.

[Mark65]

CG or YBR, I ride all through winter apart from snow and ice, if your gear is decent and you ride like all cars drivers are tossers you will be fine, I have been on my CG since march and it has already paid for itself in what i have saved in fuel alone, same when i had the YBR before that.

Mark
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07 Yamaha YBR125, 07 Honda CG125 , 15 CBR300R (Chocolate Crank, Deaded), 16 CB500FA, 19 Honda Forza 300, 70 Suzuki SV650

[barrkel]

You don't say where you commute. In the south, you can commute 50+ weeks of the year without resorting to car.

I ride in London every day, and don't get road rage at all. I just expect people to cut me off, run red lights, pedestrians to blindly cross through queueing traffic, cyclists to slowly drift through red lights as I approach at speed, cyclists to swerve across lanes without looking.

And in return I try to get through it all as fast as possible.

You say you're not interested in speed. I wasn't interested in speed before I got a bike either, and still not particularly interested in triple digit speeds. But acceleration is important, and, after agility, is the biggest tool bikes have for self-defence.

In certain situations, a bunch of acceleration makes you a lot safer on a bike. Just after traffic lights turn red, for example. It can put you into the nice bubble of empty space between bunches of cars, reducing risks of conflict.

I think your dismissal of "mopeds" - you mean scooters - is ignorant. On your described commute my SH would be more than adequate, have more weather protection, and wouldn't leave gear lever marks on your boot.
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Bikes: S1000R, SH350; Exes: Vity 125, PS125, YBR125, ER6f, VFR800, Brutale 920, CB600F, SH300x4
Best road ever ridden: www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2MhNxUEYtQ

[P.addy]

The only input I can give is Honda Varadero.

I did 25 mile each way journeys on my Vara 125, on the motorway, holding it wide open as long as I could for the entire journey.

It did over 77,000 miles and is still going strong.

Would not consider anything smaller than that, ever.

Top box, heated grips, muffs, job jobbed.

[TomReilly]

That site is rad, but I may struggle with the YZF.

https://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa430/Rilo_UK/untitled_zps156f1c41.png
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Motorcycle riding can be really cozy. If you want to be a little closer to your passenger, brake a little quicker for the next stop.

[Sable]

If you want good fuel economy on a bike at 70mph, you are going to have to up too a 250cc bike. Not only will yoube ragging the bike everywhere, your insurance will be cheaper, and you will get the same, possibly a bit better fuel economy than ragging a 125 at 70mph.

Havent done the calculations on what my economy actually dropped too, but at a steady 30-45mph filtering, never stopping, I could get 350km before I hit my reserve, worked out roughly 125mpg.

When I went to Norfolk for a tour I did mostly 60-70mph on the M25, M11, and the major A road to Great Yarmouth. Had my throttle wide open more or less all the way, until I hit my reserve at 240km. Was a bit of a surprise, but as you can see, massive decrease in MPG.

Welcome to the forum

[passifid]

[TomReilly]

[TomReilly]

halp

https://i1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa430/Rilo_UK/untitled_zps1d80c621.png
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Motorcycle riding can be really cozy. If you want to be a little closer to your passenger, brake a little quicker for the next stop.

[Christoffee]

Now, I don't know much. But are you too sensible for a 125? I actually thought there was something wrong with my bike, but I was riding it too leisurely. It needs energetic encouragement to get any decent speed out of it.
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Bike: CBF125

[sabian92]

[twistedlemon]