Are Cheap Motorcycles Putting People Off Bikes

[Vincent]

Is the apparent rubbish quality bikes from the Far East putting those new to motorcycling off the whole biking experience?
Lets face it, it's not very pleasant to splash out everything you have, or sign your life away on HP only to own a bike that falls apart under your bum? Or is the quality of these bikes as a whole not too bad?
When I started riding bikes, 17 year olds were spending their Hard-Earned on nice, new or nearly new shiny Japanese bikes and having a completely different time of it .....going by what I read on the interweb that is.
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Space Is Deep

[RhynoCZ]

Well the thing is, if you don't have the money, you shouldn't take loans to buy your first motorcycles. Then, the market is full of used Japanese motorcycles, that can by bought for nearly nothing. I started riding on a '88 GPz550, that I bought for £360, had it for 3 seasons, learned how to ride and how to keep the good times roll, sold it for £290 to other lad, that wanted something he could work on.

Now, the idea of people, from non-biking environment, today is to buy a brand new motorcycle, in delusion of them not gonna need to do a thing. Just like when people buy cars and just drive them until the car falls apart and then hurray to the mechanic.

And also, what put off riding all my mates, that saw me riding and said it was cool and that they are gonna also start riding, the expenses. The licence costs money (A2 is about £155, A £92 (you've got to have A2 before that, of course), helmet £80 and up, jacket and other bits, like gloves, boots etc. etc. So you don't even have a motorcycle, yet you are already £550 in.

Then there's the parking problem, which also puts people off. If my mate wouldn't let me park my motorcycle in his garage, I wouldn't start riding.
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'87 Honda XBR 500, '96 Kawasaki ZX7R P1, '90 Honda CB-1, '88 Kawasaki GPz550, MZ 150 ETZ
'95 Mercedes-Benz w202 C200 CGI, '98 Mercedes-Benz w210 E200 Kompressor

[Vincent]

I had a couple of mates that bought brand new RD250s on the "Never Never", (HP), at 17 and they still had them when the rest of us were moving onto bigger bikes I advise everyone new to bikes to avoid taking this route but I guess the lure of a brand new bike...combined with talking yourself into believing that it's affordable can take over.

Is that why so many new bikers buy Chinese and Korean bikes....because it's easier to get finance?
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Space Is Deep

[wr6133]

Just taking my street and the parallel street as a sample cheap Chinese bikes are definitely not harming biking. Over the past few years more and more have appeared, to be used as commuters (8 peds/scoots and 5 125's between about 45 households) and 3 of those owners have progressed on to licences and bigger bikes.

With the Bus costing almost £9 return to the nearest town (and taking nearly 45 minutes to cover 10 miles) where many work, a cheap Chinese scoot/bike even if thrown away after 3 years makes sense.

I don't see many "falling apart under the bum" either. I've owned 2 Chinese bikes that served well and when neighbours have asked me to sort issues on theirs it has almost always been down to poor assembly by the dealer/faked servicing by a dealer rather than shite quality (with the exception of a lexmoto XTRS that really was utter dogshite quality).

[Rogerborg]

[Notj7]

[ScaredyCat]

All the bikes I've had have been new. Granted that's only 2 bikes but I don't have enough knowledge of them at this point to buy one that isn't new, that might have been abused or have deliberately hidden problems.

The first was my cbf and that was for learning on, I 'lost' £300 on that over 18 months. I can cope with depreciation like that. The next was the NC which I intend to keep long term as a commuter. I may opt for a 2nd bike at some point.

I don't see the harm in getting a new bike. I do little maintenance beyond the chain lubing and checking the oil, for everything else I go to the dealer who has turned out to be excellent, honest and helpful.
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Honda CBF125 ➝ NC700X
Honda CBF125 ↳ Speed Triple

[Itchy]

Well blame the importers. As said it's easy for somebody to go to China see a £150 bike do some calculations in their head and think I can ship them to the UK and sell them for £1000!.
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Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[pepperami]

[Ste]

[waffles]

I bought a heap of Chinese junk as my first bike, it went rusty as it sat in my garage and rarely used to start on the button. It did confirm that I really wanted a better bike and to continue riding so that I could ditch the L plates.

What did put me off slightly were the hoops I had to jump through to get my licence. Car was easy, two tests and job done. Bike took longer and was more time consuming with four tests. Now it's even worse if you are 17.

It's the huge difference in licencing that seems unfair and I believe may put people off. For a 17 year old (if money was not a problem) they could drive a car capeable of doing twice the legal limit without batting an eyelid. However for bikes they are dramatically limited with engine size and speed. Which is more attractive to an impulsive 'I need it now!' generation?
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Theory test - 19/8/09, CBT - 11/10/09, MOD 1 - 16/8/10, MOD 2 - 27/10/10
Past rides Yamaha XT125X, Triumph TT600, Honda XR250
Current rides Suzuki GSXR 600, Honda MSX125

[CaNsA]

[Rogerborg]

[MCN]

Getting the paper to ride is more hassle than an HPI check, Bike Review or the worry of will the machine last?

You can buy a whole car for less than a Chingchong Whanger and be legal in a few moves.
And you can still wear your trackie bottoms and don't need to remove your ball cap (which makes your head look back to front).
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.

[Yamahampton]

Dt125r 1989 £300 with mot and in pretty good nick. Took all the abuse I gave it until I swapped it for my first "big" bike
A 1995 xj600n for £500, same again it took all the abuse I gave it and didn't miss a beat.
Now own a 1998 immaculate thundercat yzf600r with 11k on clocks bought for £2000, not one problem throughout the time I've owned it and don't feel the need to buy a new bike. I don't think it's buying Chinese that is putting people off but the people feel the need to buy new that puts them off. Biking can be done cheap(ish) and I have just as much fun with the lads on thier spanking new bikes costing a small fortune

[Ste]

"Getting the paper to ride is more hassle than an HPI check"

"You can buy a whole car for less than a Chingchong Whanger and be legal in a few moves. "

Errrr, those 'few moves' are quite a bit more hassle (and expensive) than a CBT.

Not to mention the cost of insuring that ChingChong Wanger compared to a 1 litre dirt cheap car!

[MCN]

[Reg Tidy]

[waffles]

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

[DrSnoosnoo]

[mudcow007]

My Bandit is putting me off bikes

Every time the bastard thing works it lasts a few weeks before something else decides to fail - granted its quite possible that im responsible for a few of the failures but still

[MCN]

[Suntan Sid]

No!

I was just reading Doovy's thread about his RXS100.
I followed an Ebay link to an RSX for sale.
In the descrition blurb you will find the answer to the question.

[RhynoCZ]

What kind of person refuses a free motorcycle? Spoiled brat, he is.
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'87 Honda XBR 500, '96 Kawasaki ZX7R P1, '90 Honda CB-1, '88 Kawasaki GPz550, MZ 150 ETZ
'95 Mercedes-Benz w202 C200 CGI, '98 Mercedes-Benz w210 E200 Kompressor