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| andy. |
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andy.
L Plate Warrior
Joined: 04 Mar 2014
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 Posted: 18:16 - 22 Apr 2014  Post subject: 125 on a budget |
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So after finally deciding that I want to take up riding, I now have the difficult decision to make about buying a bike. I'll need something legal for a learner, and I'll have a maximum budget of about £1000 (although I'd like to spend as little as possible, I'm a tight arse!  )
I've seen quite a few CGs go for under this price, and they seem quite common on the second-hand market, but I've also seen a few other bikes occasionally selling for under this price (CBR125s, NSR125s, YBR125s etc).
What would be the best option to go for? I'm not particularly bothered about looks - I like the look of CBR/NSRs but I figured nothing really looks good with L plates on it - but reliability is quite important. |
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| The Shaggy D.A. |
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The Shaggy D.A.
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Posted: 18:28 - 22 Apr 2014  Post subject: |
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Is it just to get you through the test, or do you intend keeping it longer?
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| Teflon-Mike |
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Teflon-Mike
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Posted: 18:30 - 22 Apr 2014  Post subject: |
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First sort CBT, if not already sorted.
Depending on age; instructors may tempt you with A2 or DAS, making 125 redundant.
£1000 is the bargain basement. You are looking at £500 for old nails with an MOT, then hobson's choice up from there. You can only buy bikes folk have for sale; and that bargain basement is full of hopefuls and optimists. Be a case of grabbing what comes up, as much as choosing what you might really like.
Keep options open; look at anything and everything that's 'promising'; judge it on its actual condition, in the metal.
We canb offer opinion on hundreds of bikes that might be suitable and more or less useful; but utterly accademic or irrelevent, when you are likely to only find 20 or so on offer you might get to look at, money in your mits, before some other fella.
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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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| andy. |
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andy.
L Plate Warrior
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| Posted: 18:44 - 22 Apr 2014 Post subject: |
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| The Shaggy D.A. wrote: | Is it just to get you through the test, or do you intend keeping it longer? |
| Teflon-Mike wrote: | First sort CBT, if not already sorted.
Depending on age; instructors may tempt you with A2 or DAS, making 125 redundant.
£1000 is the bargain basement. You are looking at £500 for old nails with an MOT, then hobson's choice up from there. You can only buy bikes folk have for sale; and that bargain basement is full of hopefuls and optimists. Be a case of grabbing what comes up, as much as choosing what you might really like.
Keep options open; look at anything and everything that's 'promising'; judge it on its actual condition, in the metal.
We canb offer opinion on hundreds of bikes that might be suitable and more or less useful; but utterly accademic or irrelevent, when you are likely to only find 20 or so on offer you might get to look at, money in your mits, before some other fella. |
Just for some extra information, I'm 18, so I'll be keeping it either until I complete my A2 test, or until the end of uni (three years). |
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| stevo as b4 |
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stevo as b4
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Teflon-Mike
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| Posted: 19:14 - 22 Apr 2014 Post subject: |
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| andy. wrote: | Just for some extra information, I'm 18, so I'll be keeping it either until I complete my A2 test, or until the end of uni (three years). |
Bit hopeful for a bargain basement Learner-Legal.
And if taking it to uni, biggest risk is not it going bang, just it 'going' as in not being where you left it when you want to go some-where.
Budget for locks!
But, if looking longer term; it would possibly be worth maxing out the student O/D, begging parents; etc to find anouther couple of hundred quid or so. That would lift you out of the bargain basement and into the realm of four-year old fresh MOT YBR's, that , if you lock up, look after, and are careful with, stand fair chance of lasting, not costing you much whilst you have them, and selling at the end for closer to what you paid for them; bigger out-lay, but end of the day, likely to be 'cheaper' over all, as well as less work or hassle and nicer to own.
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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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| stevo as b4 |
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stevo as b4
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| ReadySalted |
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ReadySalted
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| Posted: 19:38 - 22 Apr 2014 Post subject: |
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My two penneth having just got back on a 125:
I had a 1991cg125 which cost 350 quid about 6 or 7 years ago. It was good fun as a 17 year old and my first bike, before I had a driving license, so kept me entertained for atleast a few weeks, before I grew tired of cars overtaking me in 50mph zones lol. In the end I got hit by a taxi and it was write off. All in all it was reasonably reliable. Only problem I had was that I had to replace the piston after blowing a 50p sized hole in it (Have pics to prove it), after spending about 40 minutes sitting at 55mph on full throttle. And it also would cut out and splutter now and again, never found out why.
Cut to yesterday, I bought myself a 1990 honda nsr 125 for a little over 600 quid. Rode it almost constantly from 4 until 7 last night without a hiccup. Cannot speak of reliability, but it's a 2 stroke, which means it'll need more frequent TLC, but I'm alot more handy with the spanners now so it shouldn't pose a problem, considering that's half the fun of these things, and provides an excuse to play with the bike on rainy days.
All in all, if you're a driver and you'll be getting a 125, I'd say get something fun and quick (well, quick in terms of a tiny bike). There ARE bikes out there for well under a grand, but you often have to compromise in one way or another. Either in terms of increasing distance you're willing to travel, being more patient, or buying something a little less stylish (although you've said that the look of a 125 isn't important to you which is probably sensible.
Good luck in your search. |
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| MC |
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MC
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| Posted: 20:58 - 22 Apr 2014 Post subject: |
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I agree with stevo, buy the best bike your budget allows. In trying to save a couple of hundred quid you can end up spending a lot more (trust me... been there). You can find some really nice examples of the less desirable bikes for a grand (DR125SM for example), but I would imagine a good nick YBR could be found as well. Probably not a 'sports' 125, despite only being marginally faster those plastics come with a premium.
No way will you want to stay on a 125 for 3 years, 3 months is enough How long until you turn 19? There's real incentive for getting your A2 done, as you'll be able to go for your full A license 2 years after getting your A2 (its 24yrs otherwise). I'd be looking at getting a 125 just for this interim period, obviously being an impoverished student (with all your loans & bursaries  ) might dictate when you can do what, but getting the tests out the way is a good idea.
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andy.
L Plate Warrior
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| Posted: 21:28 - 22 Apr 2014 Post subject: |
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Thanks to everyone for the input, I think I've certainly come to the conclusion that skimping will only hurt in the long run, and to try and get the best condition bike I can.
| MC wrote: | I agree with stevo, buy the best bike your budget allows. In trying to save a couple of hundred quid you can end up spending a lot more (trust me... been there). You can find some really nice examples of the less desirable bikes for a grand (DR125SM for example), but I would imagine a good nick YBR could be found as well. Probably not a 'sports' 125, despite only being marginally faster those plastics come with a premium.
No way will you want to stay on a 125 for 3 years, 3 months is enough How long until you turn 19? There's real incentive for getting your A2 done, as you'll be able to go for your full A license 2 years after getting your A2 (its 24yrs otherwise). I'd be looking at getting a 125 just for this interim period, obviously being an impoverished student (with all your loans & bursaries ) might dictate when you can do what, but getting the tests out the way is a good idea. |
I turn 19 just towards the end of my first year of uni, and I'm hoping (looking a bit far into the future here, mind) that I'll have enough experience riding a 125 to take a couple of lessons and pass my test. Then hopefully (I'm fortunate enough to get quite a large loan/grant from the government) I'll be able to move up to a bigger bike after a little bit of saving.
However, how much money I have saved dictates how long I'll be riding a 125, really, so I want something that I know will last at least a year, and maybe two at a push.
Another question I have that's looking a little into the future is that when I've been browsing ads online, none of them have been particularly close to home, so I'm just curious as to how most people get a bike home once they've bought it? |
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MC
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| Posted: 22:03 - 22 Apr 2014 Post subject: |
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Ride it back. You can have the bike courierd but its pretty expensive & if you don't see the bike beforehand you don't know what your buying.
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P.addy
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| Rogerborg |
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Rogerborg
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| Posted: 09:54 - 23 Apr 2014 Post subject: |
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First bike can be a bit tricky. I've slobbed it on trains and buses to collect, and have delivered twice to nice buyers. I'd only buy a bike that I'd fingered in person.
Where are you looking for bikes? You can probably forget auto/bike trader at that value, so it'll be eBay and Gumtree. Get your budget together in cash, store some searches and check them frequently. Bargain bikes can go within minutes, and I mean that literally: I missed out on a cheap Enfield within push-it-home distance that was posted and sold within 20 minutes.
At your budget, I wouldn't overlook Chinese branded bikes. A Kymco, or a Lexmoto Vixen, Arrow, Street or similar can be had in your budget, and used examples won't lose any more value. Get a good runner, keep on top of the maintenance and there's not that much to go wrong with them.
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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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Teflon-Mike
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| Rogerborg |
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Rogerborg
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Posted: 18:23 - 23 Apr 2014  Post subject: |
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| MC wrote: | | Rogerborg wrote: | At your budget, I wouldn't overlook Chinese branded bikes. A Kymco, or a Lexmoto Vixen, Arrow, Street or similar can be had in your budget, and used examples won't lose any more value. Get a good runner, keep on top of the maintenance and there's not that much to go wrong with them. |
Please explain that logic? Particularly the part about them not losing anymore value and there not being much to go wrong  |
Well, see, a used example won't lose any more value.
And there's not that much to go wrong with them.
I hope that helped. 
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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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| Posted: 18:40 - 23 Apr 2014 Post subject: |
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Sure your not talking about Japanese bikes, sounds like your talking about Japanese bikes 
Hint: Japan's the one with a lot less people, and a history of producing quality cars & bikes
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| andy. |
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andy.
L Plate Warrior
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| Posted: 22:03 - 23 Apr 2014 Post subject: |
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| Rogerborg wrote: | First bike can be a bit tricky. I've slobbed it on trains and buses to collect, and have delivered twice to nice buyers. I'd only buy a bike that I'd fingered in person.
Where are you looking for bikes? You can probably forget auto/bike trader at that value, so it'll be eBay and Gumtree. Get your budget together in cash, store some searches and check them frequently. Bargain bikes can go within minutes, and I mean that literally: I missed out on a cheap Enfield within push-it-home distance that was posted and sold within 20 minutes.
At your budget, I wouldn't overlook Chinese branded bikes. A Kymco, or a Lexmoto Vixen, Arrow, Street or similar can be had in your budget, and used examples won't lose any more value. Get a good runner, keep on top of the maintenance and there's not that much to go wrong with them. |
Would you really suggest looking at Chinese bikes? I know they're available in my price range and I'm quite good mechanically so I should be fine with the maintenance, but obviously I've read quite a bit the downfalls of them so I've typically tended to avoid them. |
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| Baffler186 |
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Baffler186
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| Posted: 22:29 - 23 Apr 2014 Post subject: |
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| andy. wrote: | | Rogerborg wrote: | First bike can be a bit tricky. I've slobbed it on trains and buses to collect, and have delivered twice to nice buyers. I'd only buy a bike that I'd fingered in person.
Where are you looking for bikes? You can probably forget auto/bike trader at that value, so it'll be eBay and Gumtree. Get your budget together in cash, store some searches and check them frequently. Bargain bikes can go within minutes, and I mean that literally: I missed out on a cheap Enfield within push-it-home distance that was posted and sold within 20 minutes.
At your budget, I wouldn't overlook Chinese branded bikes. A Kymco, or a Lexmoto Vixen, Arrow, Street or similar can be had in your budget, and used examples won't lose any more value. Get a good runner, keep on top of the maintenance and there's not that much to go wrong with them. |
Would you really suggest looking at Chinese bikes? I know they're available in my price range and I'm quite good mechanically so I should be fine with the maintenance, but obviously I've read quite a bit the downfalls of them so I've typically tended to avoid them. |
Depends on how they have been stored in the past and how you will be storing it. Heated garage, ok. Out on the road for 3 years, expect heavy corrosion and bolts turning to rust. This goes for any bike of course, but bikes built on a budget are usually the first to suffer if not pampered
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Baffler186
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| Teflon-Mike |
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Teflon-Mike
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| Posted: 00:41 - 24 Apr 2014 Post subject: |
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| andy. wrote: | Would you really suggest looking at Chinese bikes? |
If you know enough about bikes to be able to live happily with a Chines Bike..... you would probably know enough not to buy one i the first place.
I'm a motorcycle necromancer; I try and bring hunks of old junk back from the dead. To me, its 'fun' something of a challenge, and hugely satisfying when one works. I probably know enough to live with a Chinky bike... in fact I have done; was how I met my O/H, trying to help her sort troubles with a little Chinky!.... NEVER AGAIN! Look at all the fucking trouble that bludy started!  tits or tyres kid. Tits or tyres. If it got either, it gonna be trouble. If it got both? Touble ^2 
Brand new they have one thing going for them; a low buy price. Trouble is that low buy price doesn't mean 'cheap'. Because they aren't expensive to buy, they don't hold second hand value. So in all likelihood, even if you get a good'n, and have no trouble with it; when you come to sell on, will have cost you more to own in 'depreciation' That's 'best case' on a new Chink.
Worst case? Well, some dont even make it to the road. Owners get frustrated by the 'self registration' process on really cheap ones; where they aren't actually buying a road-vehicle, but a bit of sporting equipment they may, if they fill in the right forms turn into one.
Others, past that hurdle, either through being a bit savvy, or actually buying a dealer registered bike; often dont prove too wonderful. Performance is often lacking compared to Japanese brand rivals; while reliability can be pretty dire, and after-market support, almost non existant. You really have to have the Haynes book of Chinese Motorbikes and a lot of time to spend scouring e-bay adds for service spares, and hoping you have identified the bit you need correctly.
They are very DIY bikes; you, the owner have to put in all the effort to look after them to make up the gap left by the importers, who give you the 'saving' over franchise dealer supplied Honda or Yamaha.
Second hand? Well, that big hit of depreciation taken by first owner, who obviously knew no better.... if you know what you are getting into? Well, could be useful for super-poverty transport.
BUT, you are probably gong to be taking on an awful lot of previouse owners problems, as well as those associated with new Chinky bikes. And bits for a £300 old Chink ent no cheaper than they are for a £600 old Chink. And even if you do fix it up and keep it running... its STILL a cheap chink, you wont get bog all back on if you want to sell on.
So, £1000-£1500, you are much better off buying a second hand Jap-Brand, YBR (built in China!) or CBF (Made in India) than you are a re-branded generic Chink. In fact, get a 'deal' on a YBR or CBF even brand new; good chance that the big hit of depreciation on such a machine wont be much bigger than on the chink; and the difference less than cost of keeping on top of Chinky maintenance; while you have 'nice' bike to enjoy owning, rather than one you are making excuses for.
Back to poverty wheels and fixer-uppers, then; if you get a Jap Brand bike, like an old CG... You'll probably be looking at older machines than Chinks for the money; and probably in much more obviously 'well used' condition; BUT give them the love and attention they deserve; they are much more likely to be reliable, comfortable and give you some full measure of limited performance for your money, AND be worth something when you are done with one.
Its a real shame; because there are some Chinky bikes out there that show some real promise. Snowie's AJS copy of the Honda Shaddow twin, was a pretty solidly built little bike. I think it was a 2003 reg, and new, cost half what a Honda Shaddow did; five years old when she had it, was still a tidy little machine, and pretty dependable, if a little sluggish. Looking at the state of some of the Indian built CBF's after only a few months living in a suburban garage; I have to say, it WAS testimony to the fact the Chinks CAN build a good bike IF they have some-one applying decent quality control; hers scrubbed up pretty damn well in comparison, and lived its entire life in the street. But; getting parts? We had to measure and compare and take chances; there were no catalogues or parts list you could order bits just by quoting make, model and year, like you can a Jap. And something as simple as getting insurance; many insurers just wouldn't quote you, as it didn't appear in their data-bases.
Folk are still trying to defend and promote the Chinky bikes; and there are more people becoming more familiar with them; there is more 'help' around for folk when problems arise, as they have arisen so often, and people have found ways around them...
BUT, they are still hassle, and present problems you don't have to have, the fundamental 'problem' simply being they are 'cheap' without always being value for money.
So I stand by suggestion, that if you know enough to live happily with one... you probably just would not buy one in the first place.
And you still haven't put your location in your profile. Local help, in the real world can be far more useful than what we natter about here in cyberspace!
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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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Old Thread Alert!
The last post was made 12 years, 141 days ago. Instead of replying here, would creating a new thread be more useful? |
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