Goodbye Horses.

[johnsmith222]

Hi guys.

I have come to the conclusion that it's time to sell all my bikes (over the next few months) and run a single bike alongside my clio.

I am finishing uni in a few months and my part time job is on a temporary contract, so the future is uncertain. I am also wanting to save up enough money to move out of the parent's house.

I'm looking for recommendations of bikes which will be cheaper to maintain/better mpg than my ZZR600. My RXS100 is not an option as this particular one has been far too unreliable.

When I last looked into downgrading, the 500 twins didn't appear to offer that much of a saving over the ZZR in terms of mpg and running costs, so I'll need to look smaller.

The YBR125 is looking quite attractive, and I particularly like the tubeless tyres (I fit my own tyres and don't like tubed), as well as the FI and cheapness.

The purpose of the bike will be to save money by using it on any day where weather is acceptable (not ice). It's a bit depressing getting rid of my 9R for a 125, but it's better to choose to sell now, rather than being forced to sell later.

A 125 might give me an opportunity to get together some savings, or perhaps keep me on the road that little bit longer.

Have any of you seasoned bikers had to go back to a small bike for their only ride? It'd be great to hear how you got on with it and whether you had any recommendations as to bikes I should take a look at.

Tbh, I have also been looking at 125 scooters.

[Eddie Hitler]

I would keep the ZZR. Cheap to run, insure, and with all the hassle changing to another bike I would imagine the savings to be minimal.

[flumpy7]

I'm doing it at the moment, in the last 10 years I've had a variety of bikes from 250-1000cc. New baby and lack of funds as well as realising that pleasure rides were gonna be few and far between for a few years led to me to the conclusion that a 125 was sensible for a bit. I made the right decision for my circumstances but its not easy. A 125 has a lot of limitations....make sure you think about it properly so you don't really regret it.
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2012 Sinnis apache

[c_dug]

Depends what you need it for but if I was forced to downsize that far I'd want a 2t 125 so at least there is still a little fun to be had. I'd probably go for a decent nick dt125 or something along those lines over a sports bike for size.

You might find a 250 works out nearly as cheap but with a bit more poke and possibly lower insurance.
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I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.

[covent.gardens]

It says in your sig Sold: CG125. Any reason why you wouldn't get another?

If I was going to go back to a 125 for economy reasons I would most definitely buy another CG125.

[Northern Monkey]

Smaller bikes which are over 125cc are often better value, as there isn't much demand foe them.

Try looking at ~200cc if you want to grab a good deal

[jeddy11]

Perhaps that's what these new 250-300 cc bikes are for ?? good fuel economy with a bit of poke to keep you ahead of the traffic
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Fuelly My Z1000SX
cbt 06/08/11 mod1 (second go) 01/08/12 mod2 21/09/12
Varadero Viking YBR125>Varadero125>ER6F>Z1000SX !!!

[wr6133]

I'd agree with the 250cc route. I love my (cheapo Chinese) 250, a lot more grunt than a 125 means you can take it long distance and on motorways if you want/need and no getting stuck behind slow drivers because you have the poke to get past. Not quite the fuel economy of a 125 but frugal enough you are not worrying about selling your soul to the oil industry. Yeah a bigger bike would be great but it's a compromise between running cost and performance (or lack of with a 125). Dirt cheap to insure as well, mine costs 20% less per year to insure than the 125 version of the same bike.

Only thing is there is not the greatest choice of them in the UK. You can either get fairly expensive recent jap stuff, cheap very old jap stuff or cheap recent Chinese, there's a lack of mid/cheapish recent jap stuff (when compared to prices of bigger bikes).

[Rogerborg]

You can't save money by buying new(ish) though. And 125s do come with that purchase / insurance premium.

Perhaps a YBR250 or CB250 if you can find one, although parts might be an issue. If that doesn't bother you, Hyosung 250.

Burgman 250?
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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

[lihp]

If you want a 500 twin.

I will do a straight swap, your ZZR600 for my ER5.

I downgraded from an R6 to the ER5 for commuting, but it's mainly motorway, so I really want a full fairing again.

So, let me know if you're interested in doing a straight swap
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covent.gardens: lihp is my most favourite member ever

[_Iain_]

What about the Ninja 250?

The value of them has dropped like a stone scince the power limit went up to 46bhp as everyone wants something bang on the new limit.

They're a parallell twin, injected, decent fuel economy, comfy, pokey enough to do motorway if needed, look alright. They're starting to represent a bit of a bargain IMO. 2009, 6,500 miles and £1800

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KAWASAKI-EX-250-K8F-NINJA-/111280366638?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item19e8d3a42e

If you could afford to stretch to a used Ninja 300 they have a fuel economy light on the dash to help extract the best out of it. I put £15 in the one I borrowed & rode Chatham - Maidstone - Hastings - Maidstone - Chatham and still had quite a bit of fuel left. The engine offers that bit more and it'll easily pull over 100mph, so cruising on the motorway at 70-80 doesn't feel like an issue, on a YBR you're limited really to 60mph, but may hit 70 or 75 going downhill.

Again, initial depreciation is huge on the 300 - 2012 model with 2,500 miles on it for £3800.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KAWASAKI-EX300-NINJA-300-/151229301376?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item2335f80280
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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

[G]

Someone on here was getting C90 levels of fuel economy by riding at C90 speeds on a GPZ500S.
Similarly; I managed 102mpg in my clio yesterday over 215miles by being VERY careful with my driving - so a good bit of the 125 4 stroke's good economy is likely forcing you to not accelerate fast etc because you can't.

[barrkel]

My SH300 is a lot of fun to ride in the city, though it's newish model (and AFAIK discontinued in the UK this year in favour of bigger, slower, heavier, cheaper and less powerful Forza) and so not cheap second hand.

A decent 250 / 300 should be able to make 90mph. On open roads the focus will be on not braking. Overtakes will take planning and a run up. But IMO the constraints will make you a smoother rider when you can afford a bigger bike again, simply because of the longer planning profile.

In the city - keeping it under 50 - 250 is just about enough, as long as you're willing to rev.

One of the under-appreciated advantages of riding a small bike is that you can reach the limits of what it can do.
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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

[stinkwheel]

[Rogerborg]

[Kickstart]

Hi

While I have managed to get 65mpg from a GPZ500S without major issues, I have also managed 65mpg from a ZZR600 sitting at about 70~75mph on the motorway.

I suspect it might take quite a while to have any chance of recovering the cost of swapping bikes by downsizing.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[barrkel]

On mpg, I can ride my SH as hard as I can and never go below 65mpg. It's already hard to go below 70mpg.
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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

[Sable]

Id say more importantly, what sort of riding are you doing?

Is it like me where most of my riding is 200+ miles a week filtering through London barely going above 40mph the whole time. Maybe 4-5 weekends a year I go for a long out of city ride (usually the Ace Cafe rides). In which case anything economical will do.

Or are you using motorways and doing long high speed commutes?

Although I am happy using my 125 4 poke on motorways, if my main use for a bike was motorways, I would be looking at 250cc+.

Lastly have you done the sums for how much the Clio costs to run compared to a 125? Do you service your bike yourself? Long term, fuel costs are not the only thing to look at when saving money commuting.