Yeah; that doesn't really answer the question... just defers it... you don't have a budget YET.. you HOPE your 'budget' wont be 'restrictive', and job, you don't yet have, and family, who you hope might stick hands in pockets and put cold hard money in yours, haven't.. this needs more thought.. a LOT more thought!
But, OK, so you have to start 'some-where'.. how much do you THINK you might scrape together to do this? Because, when it comes to getting a bike, the BIKE is actually the very last thing you 'need' to buy;
First and foremost, you need a LICENCE.. that will be a provisional, to begin with; you have to pay about £30 with your 'application' for that, but you need to send an ID photo with it, that's about a £5 out the booth at the railway-station or wherever.. that's the cheap bit... it needs to be counter-signed by a 'trusted person' listed on the application form, of which there's a list. IF you are still at school, you might get a tame-teacher to sign it and put their personal contact details on the form for you, other-wise you'll have to ask your Doctor, and as its not something they can claim as 'treatment' for under NHS funding, they'll often charge you for a 'private consultation' to sign your photo and sign their details on your forms. Budget £60 or so JUST to get the photo-card in your pocket, and plan for the bureaucracy and hassle that may accompany it.
Oh-Kay, now you can ride a bike... err... no, sorry, having got your UK 'Provisional' Driving licence, you have to complete a Compulsory Basic Training Course, or CBT, and be awarded a DL196 certificate, to 'validate' provisional motorcycle entitlement on your licence...
Motorcycle Schools offer CBT courses for around £150, depending where you live and what they include in the course, and they take about a day to complete, but don't bank on it. Course is designed so that 'most' students, or 'average' ability will complete in one day, but if you don't, you may have to pay for extra training or a complete repeat course....
But all being well, you get your DL196,and... hold ON! They will tell you on your CBT all the shit you have to have before you can ride a motorbike, and the BIKE is still last on the list, AND some of the other shit, is quite useful to have BEFORE you even do your CBT...
Like a packed lunch! No garantee that the school will have a canteen, or that they'll take you to a snak-shak while your out on the road! But check with the school what the catering arrangements may be, and whether they provide, or advise yu to buy, before you attend, your own:-
- Crash-Helmet
- Gloves
- Foot-wear
- Water-Proofs
- Other 'Riding Apparel'; jacket; jeans etc.
Kit can be expense; walk into a bike shop and a 'My First Motorcycle Outfit'; Helmet, gloves, bots, jacket & jeans, fro their starter range, will typically be in the order of £500.. get enthusiastic and pick a better helmet, or the jacket with the flashy brand name on it, that can easily head upwards very very quickly...
You can get kitted up, for a lot less, and probably get far better 'value' improvising, rather than buying dedicated high-street 'Bike-Gear'...but, to get a 'cheap' helmet, gloves, some 'sturdy and sensible' non-biking footwear, and some water-proof coveralls to go over more sensible 'every-day' outdoor wear, you'd be doing well to suit up for much under £200.
OK, where we at? Give or take, we are talking about a ball-park of around £750, t get a provisional, get a CBT, and some cloths to wear... NOW can we go look at bikes?
Well, if you must... BUT, as Pinky points out, before you can ride it, you need insurance, and, you ought get quoted up for the bike before you buy it, it is likely to be a very big bill, and it will get even more expensive, the more 'sporty' the bike you choose, and the newer and or more valuable it is.
17 years old, your premium WILL be deliberately 'punitive'.. I'm an old duffer; I pay £75 a year to insure my 750.. my 125 is actually more expensive... that's £90 a year, Fully-Comp, with "Business Use" on it.... My Daughter is 17 in a month or so's time.. quotes to get her on that bike? Well, we are looking at something the order of £500 a year, Third-Party-Only... with pretty limited mileage restrictions, and 'No Commuting'.. she's at 6th Form, she would have to pay about double, if she wanted to ride to school or part time job on the thing....
Third-Party-Only? Yup, means if you drive into the back of some-one; the insurance company will pay to replace their back bumper, respray the car, the 'Wiplash' the driver will claim to have, and for the Valetng to remove your blood from the glass... Your bike? The one with the smashed fairings and bent forks? Ha-Ha-Ha! Shouldn't ride like a tit mate! That's down to you. They only pay a 'third party' some-one other than you, the first-party of the contract, or them, the second party of the contract, for loss of damage you and or your bike causes. Gets nicked? Lol! Well, you should have locked it up mate!... again, THAT is down to you.
Third-Party-Fire & Theft.. next cover level p from TPO; if the bike gets nicked and or burned out, they'll pay you for the loss.. up to to THEIR deemed 'market value'... which is worth noting..
You buy a brand new bike, soon as you ride it out the shop, its second hand; gets nicked when you stop for petrol, Insurance co will NOT give you what you paid the shop; they will give you as much as THEY think you can buy a similar 'used' example for.... LESS their 'Policy Excess'.. a fixed amount in the contract they agree you will pay towards the claim; vary with company and policy, but usually in the order of £500 'compulsory' excess, and to get the premium down, you might have agreed to a 'voluntary' XS.
EG: You buy a 2nd hand bike for £1000, it gets nicked a week later. You have a £500 'compulsory' XS, and a £250 'voluntary' XS, and if they don't dispute the £100 value, they'll pay you £1000 minus £500 compulsary, minus £250, voluntary = £250 for you to go shopping for another bike with....
AND, paying you will cancel the insurance o teh stolen bike, so you'll have to take out a new policy when you do get another, and 'cos you have had a 'claim', the quote will probably be asking you for a pretty big chunk of whatever they paid out to you, back!
This little scenario, for many younger riders, can render the 'theft' cover of a TPFT policy worthless.
The implied message is, the insurance companies don't really want to give you theft insurance, cos its odds on your bike WILL be stolen from you...
Which brings us back to that shopping list, because, while you have the cash in your hand, and are piling hat and coat and boots and shit on the counter.. BEFORE you pay for them, you'd be very well advised to wander over to the locks and chains section and see what security devices they have, and invest a bit on them, so that WHEN you have a bike, you can chain t down, straight away, and not have it go missing the first night....
So.. We've already tallied up the best part of a grand, ow add lock & chain and other security devices, and an insurance premium, and we are EASILY into the 'ball-park' of a couple of thousand BEFORE going to look at bikes.
CAN be done cheaper; but this s not unreasonable; ad as Pinky says; if you are determined to have something more 'aspirational' than 'functional', like a CBR125 or YZF-R125; the 'class' of bike will be pushing those numbers up, not keeping them down...
Brand-New, then, a CBR125 is what? Checkng Hnda Webby, they are on offer at the mo... a SNIP I tell you at a cool £3699 On-The-Road...
Took me a fair bit of clicking to find that, though; they wanted to sell me on the
£99 down, 0% APR ride away today banner over it.... might t be too bad a deal, actually, BUT, your only 17, you aren't old enough to take out credit, even if you had the income to make the £100 a month payements untl... Oh yeah! A YEAR after your CBT has expired... no matter, bike would like as not been nicked LOG before that! Leavig you wth the shortfall between what you HAVEN'T paid and what the insurance co might give you for it to find.. but hey, you cant buy on credit, so not an issue, is it?
Oh yeah! Insurance & credit! That's another one for you to factor to the budget; comparison sites will give you two prices; one a yearly premium, one the monthly 'plan'.. only again, its a credit scheme, you aren't old enough to opt ito; you'd have to pay the full yearly price, 'cos the monthly plan is a years insurance policy AND a credit agreement to pay for it, before you start maing the monthlies....
OK.. Well, Brand-New CBR125, £3700.. not going to get a 'cheap' insurance policy on that, so from the ball-park we have been totting up, to get there, and get that bike on the road, you would have to have something in the region of
SIX THOUSAND POUNDS!
I say that big and bold, 'cos that is not an inconsiderable sum; that's half of what some-one over 21, on NMW is likely to earn in a year, before taxes... let alone some-one on £3.30 per hour aprentice rates or part time....
Which brings us back to the top, and how much you got to spend?
Cos get a job, get a bike, get a life... lets tickle the real world here; EVEN if you did it all with a HECK of a lot of 'help' from this benevolent family of yours; sticking their hands in their pockets; and helping you out, paying for your CBT, and buying you a crash-helmet and boots and stuff for Christmas & Birthday, and THEN, even more generously signing the credit forms for the £100 a month you, hand on heart, promise to pay them each week out your wages, for the bike, AND the other £100 a month, its likely to cost on the 'plan' to insure it....
£200 a month, after the 'set-up' costs have been given to you, for gratis.. £3.87 per hour before tax; NMW for an under 18... just under £150 a week, 'gross' probably about £120, after tax and national innsrance....
How much to Mummy for 'board'? You don't expect to use her electric and eat her food for nowt for ever, do you? And anything much under £90 a week, would be a 'token'.. she'd still be subsidising you..... leaves you around £30 a week 'disposable' income... do the maths... that is NOT going to cover £200 worth of credit you are pledged to, it would barely cover half of it... you are in the hole, BEFORE any-one asks the question, "SO how you going to afford to put petrol in it?"
The budget IS the question.. YZF-R125, cash price £4421, that's a cool grand more than a CBR... and you are now pushg a 'budget' up into the regions of £7-8K...and by the time you have added a years petrol and maintenance, you'll be pushing five digits.
Is this sort of money in ANY way, 'realistic'? Is a 'posy' brand-new learner-bike, REALLY worth, forty hours a week stacking super-market shelves? Cos THAT is what the numbers are saying.. and if you want to have anything ELSE in your life, other than that bike, then, that's got to be paid for from even more hours stacking shelves.. OR the 'charity'and good will you get from relatives...
So HOW cheap could it be done?
Well, single biggest 'cost' in the equation IS the bike; if significant savings are to be found, its there.
A Brand New Yamaha YBR125, is £2,599 OTR.. that takes over a grand off the price of a new CBR125 straight away.. and it'll take some of the next big bill, the insurance.. still talking thick end of £5K, but its getting more do-able....
Second Hand? You can get pretty tidy, 2nd hand CBR's or YZF-R125's for same sort of money as brand-new YBR or CBF... BUT they are still as expensive to insure as a new one, cos you are still as likely to do as much damage with one! So, still more do-able, but still not rock bottom as cheap as we can get.
Lets go there; HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?
Still need a licence, still need CBT. Lets trawl gum-tree, and, I offer you:-
https://cdn.bikechatforums.com/files/12079069_908916472478103_1176870229575788011_n.jpg
bruceso94's Chinese Fake-Away Cruiserette, more specifically an air-cooled AJS 'Raptor' 125, aprox 10 years old, that with 10 months MOT cost him a not unreasonable £300, very similar to the one my O/H had as a miser miler a few years back.
You don't often get much, if anything with two wheels and an engine for under £500, and to get something with an MOT that actually WORKS is pretty good going...
Not a high-risk hooligans 'sports-bike'; nor new, more expense, its nowhere near as 'loaded' for insurance as the bikes you like the look of, so far more likely to command a more realistic insurance premium around the £500 mark..
This has shrunk the 'ball-park' from the area of Yorkshire, to the county of Rutland..
NOW, £500 ish for the bike, £500ish for the insurance, and if we make a few compromises, and don't get carried away the accessory shop; a 'cheap' helmet, water-proofs, gloves and LOCKS, ought to be able to squeeze licence & CBT out of another £500, to get 'On The Road' for about £1500.. a quarter of what it would cost to get a brand new CBR, and half what you could easily spend to get togged up and get on the road, on something as UN-SPORTY and a second hand YBR125....
SO to get on the road, on your own bike, legally, and equipped for the job, that budget needs to be at least £1500, if you are prepared to make a LOT of compromises and sacrifice ALL aspirations towards 'style' and 'performance', n a world where beggars cant be choosers.
£2500-£3,000, can get you on the road, 'comfortably'; but, if you insist on perusing 'style' and aspirations of 'performance', the extra that costs, will mean compromise and sacrifice elsewhere.
Until, you have best part of TEN GRAND in your pocket, AND be prepared to loose every penny with bare a shrug, that BUDGET will be ALLl important.
Counting family and future earnings that can be 100% depended on.... HOW MUCH can you grantee scraping together to make this happen in ANY way shape or form?
The BIKE, and what bike? THAT is at the very bottom of the list, and almost irrelevant, and WILL remain an irrelevance until you have actual cold hard cash in your pocket to go looking for one... and THEN? Well, as much as what we think, or what the buyers guides say, or what you think from the pictures in the brochures, it will be down to choosing between what actual, real bikes, happen to actually be for sale, where you can get to them to buy one, and what condition its in when you go to buy it!!!
We can all 'dream'.. but end of the day we have to deal with reality and that hinges on having the money to make it happen.
So I ask the question again.
What's the budget?
Till you can answer that; absolutely no point us making any suggestion what so ever.....
Yeah; that doesn't really answer the question... just defers it... you don't have a budget YET.. you HOPE your 'budget' wont be 'restrictive', and job, you don't yet have, and family, who you hope might stick hands in pockets and put cold hard money in yours, haven't.. this needs more thought.. a LOT more thought!
But, OK, so you have to start 'some-where'.. how much do you THINK you might scrape together to do this? Because, when it comes to getting a bike, the BIKE is actually the very last thing you 'need' to buy;
First and foremost, you need a LICENCE.. that will be a provisional, to begin with; you have to pay about £30 with your 'application' for that, but you need to send an ID photo with it, that's about a £5 out the booth at the railway-station or wherever.. that's the cheap bit... it needs to be counter-signed by a 'trusted person' listed on the application form, of which there's a list. IF you are still at school, you might get a tame-teacher to sign it and put their personal contact details on the form for you, other-wise you'll have to ask your Doctor, and as its not something they can claim as 'treatment' for under NHS funding, they'll often charge you for a 'private consultation' to sign your photo and sign their details on your forms. Budget £60 or so JUST to get the photo-card in your pocket, and plan for the bureaucracy and hassle that may accompany it.
Oh-Kay, now you can ride a bike... err... no, sorry, having got your UK 'Provisional' Driving licence, you have to complete a Compulsory Basic Training Course, or CBT, and be awarded a DL196 certificate, to 'validate' provisional motorcycle entitlement on your licence...
Motorcycle Schools offer CBT courses for around £150, depending where you live and what they include in the course, and they take about a day to complete, but don't bank on it. Course is designed so that 'most' students, or 'average' ability will complete in one day, but if you don't, you may have to pay for extra training or a complete repeat course....
But all being well, you get your DL196,and... hold ON! They will tell you on your CBT all the shit you have to have before you can ride a motorbike, and the BIKE is still last on the list, AND some of the other shit, is quite useful to have BEFORE you even do your CBT...
Like a packed lunch! No garantee that the school will have a canteen, or that they'll take you to a snak-shak while your out on the road! But check with the school what the catering arrangements may be, and whether they provide, or advise yu to buy, before you attend, your own:-
- Crash-Helmet
- Gloves
- Foot-wear
- Water-Proofs
- Other 'Riding Apparel'; jacket; jeans etc.
Kit can be expense; walk into a bike shop and a 'My First Motorcycle Outfit'; Helmet, gloves, bots, jacket & jeans, fro their starter range, will typically be in the order of £500.. get enthusiastic and pick a better helmet, or the jacket with the flashy brand name on it, that can easily head upwards very very quickly...
You can get kitted up, for a lot less, and probably get far better 'value' improvising, rather than buying dedicated high-street 'Bike-Gear'...but, to get a 'cheap' helmet, gloves, some 'sturdy and sensible' non-biking footwear, and some water-proof coveralls to go over more sensible 'every-day' outdoor wear, you'd be doing well to suit up for much under £200.
OK, where we at? Give or take, we are talking about a ball-park of around £750, t get a provisional, get a CBT, and some cloths to wear... NOW can we go look at bikes?
Well, if you must... BUT, as Pinky points out, before you can ride it, you need insurance, and, you ought get quoted up for the bike before you buy it, it is likely to be a very big bill, and it will get even more expensive, the more 'sporty' the bike you choose, and the newer and or more valuable it is.
17 years old, your premium WILL be deliberately 'punitive'.. I'm an old duffer; I pay £75 a year to insure my 750.. my 125 is actually more expensive... that's £90 a year, Fully-Comp, with "Business Use" on it.... My Daughter is 17 in a month or so's time.. quotes to get her on that bike? Well, we are looking at something the order of £500 a year, Third-Party-Only... with pretty limited mileage restrictions, and 'No Commuting'.. she's at 6th Form, she would have to pay about double, if she wanted to ride to school or part time job on the thing....
Third-Party-Only? Yup, means if you drive into the back of some-one; the insurance company will pay to replace their back bumper, respray the car, the 'Wiplash' the driver will claim to have, and for the Valetng to remove your blood from the glass... Your bike? The one with the smashed fairings and bent forks? Ha-Ha-Ha! Shouldn't ride like a tit mate! That's down to you. They only pay a 'third party' some-one other than you, the first-party of the contract, or them, the second party of the contract, for loss of damage you and or your bike causes. Gets nicked? Lol! Well, you should have locked it up mate!... again, THAT is down to you.
Third-Party-Fire & Theft.. next cover level p from TPO; if the bike gets nicked and or burned out, they'll pay you for the loss.. up to to THEIR deemed 'market value'... which is worth noting..
You buy a brand new bike, soon as you ride it out the shop, its second hand; gets nicked when you stop for petrol, Insurance co will NOT give you what you paid the shop; they will give you as much as THEY think you can buy a similar 'used' example for.... LESS their 'Policy Excess'.. a fixed amount in the contract they agree you will pay towards the claim; vary with company and policy, but usually in the order of £500 'compulsory' excess, and to get the premium down, you might have agreed to a 'voluntary' XS.
EG: You buy a 2nd hand bike for £1000, it gets nicked a week later. You have a £500 'compulsory' XS, and a £250 'voluntary' XS, and if they don't dispute the £100 value, they'll pay you £1000 minus £500 compulsary, minus £250, voluntary = £250 for you to go shopping for another bike with....
AND, paying you will cancel the insurance o teh stolen bike, so you'll have to take out a new policy when you do get another, and 'cos you have had a 'claim', the quote will probably be asking you for a pretty big chunk of whatever they paid out to you, back!
This little scenario, for many younger riders, can render the 'theft' cover of a TPFT policy worthless.
The implied message is, the insurance companies don't really want to give you theft insurance, cos its odds on your bike WILL be stolen from you...
Which brings us back to that shopping list, because, while you have the cash in your hand, and are piling hat and coat and boots and shit on the counter.. BEFORE you pay for them, you'd be very well advised to wander over to the locks and chains section and see what security devices they have, and invest a bit on them, so that WHEN you have a bike, you can chain t down, straight away, and not have it go missing the first night....
So.. We've already tallied up the best part of a grand, ow add lock & chain and other security devices, and an insurance premium, and we are EASILY into the 'ball-park' of a couple of thousand BEFORE going to look at bikes.
CAN be done cheaper; but this s not unreasonable; ad as Pinky says; if you are determined to have something more 'aspirational' than 'functional', like a CBR125 or YZF-R125; the 'class' of bike will be pushing those numbers up, not keeping them down...
Brand-New, then, a CBR125 is what? Checkng Hnda Webby, they are on offer at the mo... a SNIP I tell you at a cool £3699 On-The-Road...
Took me a fair bit of clicking to find that, though; they wanted to sell me on the
£99 down, 0% APR ride away today banner over it.... might t be too bad a deal, actually, BUT, your only 17, you aren't old enough to take out credit, even if you had the income to make the £100 a month payements untl... Oh yeah! A YEAR after your CBT has expired... no matter, bike would like as not been nicked LOG before that! Leavig you wth the shortfall between what you HAVEN'T paid and what the insurance co might give you for it to find.. but hey, you cant buy on credit, so not an issue, is it?
Oh yeah! Insurance & credit! That's another one for you to factor to the budget; comparison sites will give you two prices; one a yearly premium, one the monthly 'plan'.. only again, its a credit scheme, you aren't old enough to opt ito; you'd have to pay the full yearly price, 'cos the monthly plan is a years insurance policy AND a credit agreement to pay for it, before you start maing the monthlies....
OK.. Well, Brand-New CBR125, £3700.. not going to get a 'cheap' insurance policy on that, so from the ball-park we have been totting up, to get there, and get that bike on the road, you would have to have something in the region of
SIX THOUSAND POUNDS!
I say that big and bold, 'cos that is not an inconsiderable sum; that's half of what some-one over 21, on NMW is likely to earn in a year, before taxes... let alone some-one on £3.30 per hour aprentice rates or part time....
Which brings us back to the top, and how much you got to spend?
Cos get a job, get a bike, get a life... lets tickle the real world here; EVEN if you did it all with a HECK of a lot of 'help' from this benevolent family of yours; sticking their hands in their pockets; and helping you out, paying for your CBT, and buying you a crash-helmet and boots and stuff for Christmas & Birthday, and THEN, even more generously signing the credit forms for the £100 a month you, hand on heart, promise to pay them each week out your wages, for the bike, AND the other £100 a month, its likely to cost on the 'plan' to insure it....
£200 a month, after the 'set-up' costs have been given to you, for gratis.. £3.87 per hour before tax; NMW for an under 18... just under £150 a week, 'gross' probably about £120, after tax and national innsrance....
How much to Mummy for 'board'? You don't expect to use her electric and eat her food for nowt for ever, do you? And anything much under £90 a week, would be a 'token'.. she'd still be subsidising you..... leaves you around £30 a week 'disposable' income... do the maths... that is NOT going to cover £200 worth of credit you are pledged to, it would barely cover half of it... you are in the hole, BEFORE any-one asks the question, "SO how you going to afford to put petrol in it?"
The budget IS the question.. YZF-R125, cash price £4421, that's a cool grand more than a CBR... and you are now pushg a 'budget' up into the regions of £7-8K...and by the time you have added a years petrol and maintenance, you'll be pushing five digits.
Is this sort of money in ANY way, 'realistic'? Is a 'posy' brand-new learner-bike, REALLY worth, forty hours a week stacking super-market shelves? Cos THAT is what the numbers are saying.. and if you want to have anything ELSE in your life, other than that bike, then, that's got to be paid for from even more hours stacking shelves.. OR the 'charity'and good will you get from relatives...
So HOW cheap could it be done?
Well, single biggest 'cost' in the equation IS the bike; if significant savings are to be found, its there.
A Brand New Yamaha YBR125, is £2,599 OTR.. that takes over a grand off the price of a new CBR125 straight away.. and it'll take some of the next big bill, the insurance.. still talking thick end of £5K, but its getting more do-able....
Second Hand? You can get pretty tidy, 2nd hand CBR's or YZF-R125's for same sort of money as brand-new YBR or CBF... BUT they are still as expensive to insure as a new one, cos you are still as likely to do as much damage with one! So, still more do-able, but still not rock bottom as cheap as we can get.
Lets go there; HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?
Still need a licence, still need CBT. Lets trawl gum-tree, and, I offer you:-
https://cdn.bikechatforums.com/files/12079069_908916472478103_1176870229575788011_n.jpg
bruceso94's Chinese Fake-Away Cruiserette, more specifically an air-cooled AJS 'Raptor' 125, aprox 10 years old, that with 10 months MOT cost him a not unreasonable £300, very similar to the one my O/H had as a miser miler a few years back.
You don't often get much, if anything with two wheels and an engine for under £500, and to get something with an MOT that actually WORKS is pretty good going...
Not a high-risk hooligans 'sports-bike'; nor new, more expense, its nowhere near as 'loaded' for insurance as the bikes you like the look of, so far more likely to command a more realistic insurance premium around the £500 mark..
This has shrunk the 'ball-park' from the area of Yorkshire, to the county of Rutland..
NOW, £500 ish for the bike, £500ish for the insurance, and if we make a few compromises, and don't get carried away the accessory shop; a 'cheap' helmet, water-proofs, gloves and LOCKS, ought to be able to squeeze licence & CBT out of another £500, to get 'On The Road' for about £1500.. a quarter of what it would cost to get a brand new CBR, and half what you could easily spend to get togged up and get on the road, on something as UN-SPORTY and a second hand YBR125....
SO to get on the road, on your own bike, legally, and equipped for the job, that budget needs to be at least £1500, if you are prepared to make a LOT of compromises and sacrifice ALL aspirations towards 'style' and 'performance', n a world where beggars cant be choosers.
£2500-£3,000, can get you on the road, 'comfortably'; but, if you insist on perusing 'style' and aspirations of 'performance', the extra that costs, will mean compromise and sacrifice elsewhere.
Until, you have best part of TEN GRAND in your pocket, AND be prepared to loose every penny with bare a shrug, that BUDGET will be ALLl important.
Counting family and future earnings that can be 100% depended on.... HOW MUCH can you grantee scraping together to make this happen in ANY way shape or form?
The BIKE, and what bike? THAT is at the very bottom of the list, and almost irrelevant, and WILL remain an irrelevance until you have actual cold hard cash in your pocket to go looking for one... and THEN? Well, as much as what we think, or what the buyers guides say, or what you think from the pictures in the brochures, it will be down to choosing between what actual, real bikes, happen to actually be for sale, where you can get to them to buy one, and what condition its in when you go to buy it!!!
We can all 'dream'.. but end of the day we have to deal with reality and that hinges on having the money to make it happen.
So I ask the question again.
What's the budget?
Till you can answer that; absolutely no point us making any suggestion what so ever.....
Yeah; that doesn't really answer the question... just defers it... you don't have a budget YET.. you HOPE your 'budget' wont be 'restrictive', and job, you don't yet have, and family, who you hope might stick hands in pockets and put cold hard money in yours, haven't.. this needs more thought.. a LOT more thought!
But, OK, so you have to start 'some-where'.. how much do you THINK you might scrape together to do this? Because, when it comes to getting a bike, the BIKE is actually the very last thing you 'need' to buy;
First and foremost, you need a LICENCE.. that will be a provisional, to begin with; you have to pay about £30 with your 'application' for that, but you need to send an ID photo with it, that's about a £5 out the booth at the railway-station or wherever.. that's the cheap bit... it needs to be counter-signed by a 'trusted person' listed on the application form, of which there's a list. IF you are still at school, you might get a tame-teacher to sign it and put their personal contact details on the form for you, other-wise you'll have to ask your Doctor, and as its not something they can claim as 'treatment' for under NHS funding, they'll often charge you for a 'private consultation' to sign your photo and sign their details on your forms. Budget £60 or so JUST to get the photo-card in your pocket, and plan for the bureaucracy and hassle that may accompany it.
Oh-Kay, now you can ride a bike... err... no, sorry, having got your UK 'Provisional' Driving licence, you have to complete a Compulsory Basic Training Course, or CBT, and be awarded a DL196 certificate, to 'validate' provisional motorcycle entitlement on your licence...
Motorcycle Schools offer CBT courses for around £150, depending where you live and what they include in the course, and they take about a day to complete, but don't bank on it. Course is designed so that 'most' students, or 'average' ability will complete in one day, but if you don't, you may have to pay for extra training or a complete repeat course....
But all being well, you get your DL196,and... hold ON! They will tell you on your CBT all the shit you have to have before you can ride a motorbike, and the BIKE is still last on the list, AND some of the other shit, is quite useful to have BEFORE you even do your CBT...
Like a packed lunch! No garantee that the school will have a canteen, or that they'll take you to a snak-shak while your out on the road! But check with the school what the catering arrangements may be, and whether they provide, or advise yu to buy, before you attend, your own:-
- Crash-Helmet
- Gloves
- Foot-wear
- Water-Proofs
- Other 'Riding Apparel'; jacket; jeans etc.
Kit can be expense; walk into a bike shop and a 'My First Motorcycle Outfit'; Helmet, gloves, bots, jacket & jeans, fro their starter range, will typically be in the order of £500.. get enthusiastic and pick a better helmet, or the jacket with the flashy brand name on it, that can easily head upwards very very quickly...
You can get kitted up, for a lot less, and probably get far better 'value' improvising, rather than buying dedicated high-street 'Bike-Gear'...but, to get a 'cheap' helmet, gloves, some 'sturdy and sensible' non-biking footwear, and some water-proof coveralls to go over more sensible 'every-day' outdoor wear, you'd be doing well to suit up for much under £200.
OK, where we at? Give or take, we are talking about a ball-park of around £750, t get a provisional, get a CBT, and some cloths to wear... NOW can we go look at bikes?
Well, if you must... BUT, as Pinky points out, before you can ride it, you need insurance, and, you ought get quoted up for the bike before you buy it, it is likely to be a very big bill, and it will get even more expensive, the more 'sporty' the bike you choose, and the newer and or more valuable it is.
17 years old, your premium WILL be deliberately 'punitive'.. I'm an old duffer; I pay £75 a year to insure my 750.. my 125 is actually more expensive... that's £90 a year, Fully-Comp, with "Business Use" on it.... My Daughter is 17 in a month or so's time.. quotes to get her on that bike? Well, we are looking at something the order of £500 a year, Third-Party-Only... with pretty limited mileage restrictions, and 'No Commuting'.. she's at 6th Form, she would have to pay about double, if she wanted to ride to school or part time job on the thing....
Third-Party-Only? Yup, means if you drive into the back of some-one; the insurance company will pay to replace their back bumper, respray the car, the 'Wiplash' the driver will claim to have, and for the Valetng to remove your blood from the glass... Your bike? The one with the smashed fairings and bent forks? Ha-Ha-Ha! Shouldn't ride like a tit mate! That's down to you. They only pay a 'third party' some-one other than you, the first-party of the contract, or them, the second party of the contract, for loss of damage you and or your bike causes. Gets nicked? Lol! Well, you should have locked it up mate!... again, THAT is down to you.
Third-Party-Fire & Theft.. next cover level p from TPO; if the bike gets nicked and or burned out, they'll pay you for the loss.. up to to THEIR deemed 'market value'... which is worth noting..
You buy a brand new bike, soon as you ride it out the shop, its second hand; gets nicked when you stop for petrol, Insurance co will NOT give you what you paid the shop; they will give you as much as THEY think you can buy a similar 'used' example for.... LESS their 'Policy Excess'.. a fixed amount in the contract they agree you will pay towards the claim; vary with company and policy, but usually in the order of £500 'compulsory' excess, and to get the premium down, you might have agreed to a 'voluntary' XS.
EG: You buy a 2nd hand bike for £1000, it gets nicked a week later. You have a £500 'compulsory' XS, and a £250 'voluntary' XS, and if they don't dispute the £100 value, they'll pay you £1000 minus £500 compulsary, minus £250, voluntary = £250 for you to go shopping for another bike with....
AND, paying you will cancel the insurance o teh stolen bike, so you'll have to take out a new policy when you do get another, and 'cos you have had a 'claim', the quote will probably be asking you for a pretty big chunk of whatever they paid out to you, back!
This little scenario, for many younger riders, can render the 'theft' cover of a TPFT policy worthless.
The implied message is, the insurance companies don't really want to give you theft insurance, cos its odds on your bike WILL be stolen from you...
Which brings us back to that shopping list, because, while you have the cash in your hand, and are piling hat and coat and boots and shit on the counter.. BEFORE you pay for them, you'd be very well advised to wander over to the locks and chains section and see what security devices they have, and invest a bit on them, so that WHEN you have a bike, you can chain t down, straight away, and not have it go missing the first night....
So.. We've already tallied up the best part of a grand, ow add lock & chain and other security devices, and an insurance premium, and we are EASILY into the 'ball-park' of a couple of thousand BEFORE going to look at bikes.
CAN be done cheaper; but this s not unreasonable; ad as Pinky says; if you are determined to have something more 'aspirational' than 'functional', like a CBR125 or YZF-R125; the 'class' of bike will be pushing those numbers up, not keeping them down...
Brand-New, then, a CBR125 is what? Checkng Hnda Webby, they are on offer at the mo... a SNIP I tell you at a cool £3699 On-The-Road...
Took me a fair bit of clicking to find that, though; they wanted to sell me on the
£99 down, 0% APR ride away today banner over it.... might t be too bad a deal, actually, BUT, your only 17, you aren't old enough to take out credit, even if you had the income to make the £100 a month payements untl... Oh yeah! A YEAR after your CBT has expired... no matter, bike would like as not been nicked LOG before that! Leavig you wth the shortfall between what you HAVEN'T paid and what the insurance co might give you for it to find.. but hey, you cant buy on credit, so not an issue, is it?
Oh yeah! Insurance & credit! That's another one for you to factor to the budget; comparison sites will give you two prices; one a yearly premium, one the monthly 'plan'.. only again, its a credit scheme, you aren't old enough to opt ito; you'd have to pay the full yearly price, 'cos the monthly plan is a years insurance policy AND a credit agreement to pay for it, before you start maing the monthlies....
OK.. Well, Brand-New CBR125, £3700.. not going to get a 'cheap' insurance policy on that, so from the ball-park we have been totting up, to get there, and get that bike on the road, you would have to have something in the region of
SIX THOUSAND POUNDS!
I say that big and bold, 'cos that is not an inconsiderable sum; that's half of what some-one over 21, on NMW is likely to earn in a year, before taxes... let alone some-one on £3.30 per hour aprentice rates or part time....
Which brings us back to the top, and how much you got to spend?
Cos get a job, get a bike, get a life... lets tickle the real world here; EVEN if you did it all with a HECK of a lot of 'help' from this benevolent family of yours; sticking their hands in their pockets; and helping you out, paying for your CBT, and buying you a crash-helmet and boots and stuff for Christmas & Birthday, and THEN, even more generously signing the credit forms for the £100 a month you, hand on heart, promise to pay them each week out your wages, for the bike, AND the other £100 a month, its likely to cost on the 'plan' to insure it....
£200 a month, after the 'set-up' costs have been given to you, for gratis.. £3.87 per hour before tax; NMW for an under 18... just under £150 a week, 'gross' probably about £120, after tax and national innsrance....
How much to Mummy for 'board'? You don't expect to use her electric and eat her food for nowt for ever, do you? And anything much under £90 a week, would be a 'token'.. she'd still be subsidising you..... leaves you around £30 a week 'disposable' income... do the maths... that is NOT going to cover £200 worth of credit you are pledged to, it would barely cover half of it... you are in the hole, BEFORE any-one asks the question, "SO how you going to afford to put petrol in it?"
The budget IS the question.. YZF-R125, cash price £4421, that's a cool grand more than a CBR... and you are now pushg a 'budget' up into the regions of £7-8K...and by the time you have added a years petrol and maintenance, you'll be pushing five digits.
Is this sort of money in ANY way, 'realistic'? Is a 'posy' brand-new learner-bike, REALLY worth, forty hours a week stacking super-market shelves? Cos THAT is what the numbers are saying.. and if you want to have anything ELSE in your life, other than that bike, then, that's got to be paid for from even more hours stacking shelves.. OR the 'charity'and good will you get from relatives...
So HOW cheap could it be done?
Well, single biggest 'cost' in the equation IS the bike; if significant savings are to be found, its there.
A Brand New Yamaha YBR125, is £2,599 OTR.. that takes over a grand off the price of a new CBR125 straight away.. and it'll take some of the next big bill, the insurance.. still talking thick end of £5K, but its getting more do-able....
Second Hand? You can get pretty tidy, 2nd hand CBR's or YZF-R125's for same sort of money as brand-new YBR or CBF... BUT they are still as expensive to insure as a new one, cos you are still as likely to do as much damage with one! So, still more do-able, but still not rock bottom as cheap as we can get.
Lets go there; HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?
Still need a licence, still need CBT. Lets trawl gum-tree, and, I offer you:-
https://cdn.bikechatforums.com/files/12079069_908916472478103_1176870229575788011_n.jpg
bruceso94's Chinese Fake-Away Cruiserette, more specifically an air-cooled AJS 'Raptor' 125, aprox 10 years old, that with 10 months MOT cost him a not unreasonable £300, very similar to the one my O/H had as a miser miler a few years back.
You don't often get much, if anything with two wheels and an engine for under £500, and to get something with an MOT that actually WORKS is pretty good going...
Not a high-risk hooligans 'sports-bike'; nor new, more expense, its nowhere near as 'loaded' for insurance as the bikes you like the look of, so far more likely to command a more realistic insurance premium around the £500 mark..
This has shrunk the 'ball-park' from the area of Yorkshire, to the county of Rutland..
NOW, £500 ish for the bike, £500ish for the insurance, and if we make a few compromises, and don't get carried away the accessory shop; a 'cheap' helmet, water-proofs, gloves and LOCKS, ought to be able to squeeze licence & CBT out of another £500, to get 'On The Road' for about £1500.. a quarter of what it would cost to get a brand new CBR, and half what you could easily spend to get togged up and get on the road, on something as UN-SPORTY and a second hand YBR125....
SO to get on the road, on your own bike, legally, and equipped for the job, that budget needs to be at least £1500, if you are prepared to make a LOT of compromises and sacrifice ALL aspirations towards 'style' and 'performance', n a world where beggars cant be choosers.
£2500-£3,000, can get you on the road, 'comfortably'; but, if you insist on perusing 'style' and aspirations of 'performance', the extra that costs, will mean compromise and sacrifice elsewhere.
Until, you have best part of TEN GRAND in your pocket, AND be prepared to loose every penny with bare a shrug, that BUDGET will be ALLl important.
Counting family and future earnings that can be 100% depended on.... HOW MUCH can you grantee scraping together to make this happen in ANY way shape or form?
The BIKE, and what bike? THAT is at the very bottom of the list, and almost irrelevant, and WILL remain an irrelevance until you have actual cold hard cash in your pocket to go looking for one... and THEN? Well, as much as what we think, or what the buyers guides say, or what you think from the pictures in the brochures, it will be down to choosing between what actual, real bikes, happen to actually be for sale, where you can get to them to buy one, and what condition its in when you go to buy it!!!
We can all 'dream'.. but end of the day we have to deal with reality and that hinges on having the money to make it happen.
So I ask the question again.
What's the budget?
Till you can answer that; absolutely no point us making any suggestion what so ever.....
Yeah; that doesn't really answer the question... just defers it... you don't have a budget YET.. you HOPE your 'budget' wont be 'restrictive', and job, you don't yet have, and family, who you hope might stick hands in pockets and put cold hard money in yours, haven't.. this needs more thought.. a LOT more thought!
But, OK, so you have to start 'some-where'.. how much do you THINK you might scrape together to do this? Because, when it comes to getting a bike, the BIKE is actually the very last thing you 'need' to buy;
First and foremost, you need a LICENCE.. that will be a provisional, to begin with; you have to pay about £30 with your 'application' for that, but you need to send an ID photo with it, that's about a £5 out the booth at the railway-station or wherever.. that's the cheap bit... it needs to be counter-signed by a 'trusted person' listed on the application form, of which there's a list. IF you are still at school, you might get a tame-teacher to sign it and put their personal contact details on the form for you, other-wise you'll have to ask your Doctor, and as its not something they can claim as 'treatment' for under NHS funding, they'll often charge you for a 'private consultation' to sign your photo and sign their details on your forms. Budget £60 or so JUST to get the photo-card in your pocket, and plan for the bureaucracy and hassle that may accompany it.
Oh-Kay, now you can ride a bike... err... no, sorry, having got your UK 'Provisional' Driving licence, you have to complete a Compulsory Basic Training Course, or CBT, and be awarded a DL196 certificate, to 'validate' provisional motorcycle entitlement on your licence...
Motorcycle Schools offer CBT courses for around £150, depending where you live and what they include in the course, and they take about a day to complete, but don't bank on it. Course is designed so that 'most' students, or 'average' ability will complete in one day, but if you don't, you may have to pay for extra training or a complete repeat course....
But all being well, you get your DL196,and... hold ON! They will tell you on your CBT all the shit you have to have before you can ride a motorbike, and the BIKE is still last on the list, AND some of the other shit, is quite useful to have BEFORE you even do your CBT...
Like a packed lunch! No garantee that the school will have a canteen, or that they'll take you to a snak-shak while your out on the road! But check with the school what the catering arrangements may be, and whether they provide, or advise yu to buy, before you attend, your own:-
- Crash-Helmet
- Gloves
- Foot-wear
- Water-Proofs
- Other 'Riding Apparel'; jacket; jeans etc.
Kit can be expense; walk into a bike shop and a 'My First Motorcycle Outfit'; Helmet, gloves, bots, jacket & jeans, fro their starter range, will typically be in the order of £500.. get enthusiastic and pick a better helmet, or the jacket with the flashy brand name on it, that can easily head upwards very very quickly...
You can get kitted up, for a lot less, and probably get far better 'value' improvising, rather than buying dedicated high-street 'Bike-Gear'...but, to get a 'cheap' helmet, gloves, some 'sturdy and sensible' non-biking footwear, and some water-proof coveralls to go over more sensible 'every-day' outdoor wear, you'd be doing well to suit up for much under £200.
OK, where we at? Give or take, we are talking about a ball-park of around £750, t get a provisional, get a CBT, and some cloths to wear... NOW can we go look at bikes?
Well, if you must... BUT, as Pinky points out, before you can ride it, you need insurance, and, you ought get quoted up for the bike before you buy it, it is likely to be a very big bill, and it will get even more expensive, the more 'sporty' the bike you choose, and the newer and or more valuable it is.
17 years old, your premium WILL be deliberately 'punitive'.. I'm an old duffer; I pay £75 a year to insure my 750.. my 125 is actually more expensive... that's £90 a year, Fully-Comp, with "Business Use" on it.... My Daughter is 17 in a month or so's time.. quotes to get her on that bike? Well, we are looking at something the order of £500 a year, Third-Party-Only... with pretty limited mileage restrictions, and 'No Commuting'.. she's at 6th Form, she would have to pay about double, if she wanted to ride to school or part time job on the thing....
Third-Party-Only? Yup, means if you drive into the back of some-one; the insurance company will pay to replace their back bumper, respray the car, the 'Wiplash' the driver will claim to have, and for the Valetng to remove your blood from the glass... Your bike? The one with the smashed fairings and bent forks? Ha-Ha-Ha! Shouldn't ride like a tit mate! That's down to you. They only pay a 'third party' some-one other than you, the first-party of the contract, or them, the second party of the contract, for loss of damage you and or your bike causes. Gets nicked? Lol! Well, you should have locked it up mate!... again, THAT is down to you.
Third-Party-Fire & Theft.. next cover level p from TPO; if the bike gets nicked and or burned out, they'll pay you for the loss.. up to to THEIR deemed 'market value'... which is worth noting..
You buy a brand new bike, soon as you ride it out the shop, its second hand; gets nicked when you stop for petrol, Insurance co will NOT give you what you paid the shop; they will give you as much as THEY think you can buy a similar 'used' example for.... LESS their 'Policy Excess'.. a fixed amount in the contract they agree you will pay towards the claim; vary with company and policy, but usually in the order of £500 'compulsory' excess, and to get the premium down, you might have agreed to a 'voluntary' XS.
EG: You buy a 2nd hand bike for £1000, it gets nicked a week later. You have a £500 'compulsory' XS, and a £250 'voluntary' XS, and if they don't dispute the £100 value, they'll pay you £1000 minus £500 compulsary, minus £250, voluntary = £250 for you to go shopping for another bike with....
AND, paying you will cancel the insurance o teh stolen bike, so you'll have to take out a new policy when you do get another, and 'cos you have had a 'claim', the quote will probably be asking you for a pretty big chunk of whatever they paid out to you, back!
This little scenario, for many younger riders, can render the 'theft' cover of a TPFT policy worthless.
The implied message is, the insurance companies don't really want to give you theft insurance, cos its odds on your bike WILL be stolen from you...
Which brings us back to that shopping list, because, while you have the cash in your hand, and are piling hat and coat and boots and shit on the counter.. BEFORE you pay for them, you'd be very well advised to wander over to the locks and chains section and see what security devices they have, and invest a bit on them, so that WHEN you have a bike, you can chain t down, straight away, and not have it go missing the first night....
So.. We've already tallied up the best part of a grand, ow add lock & chain and other security devices, and an insurance premium, and we are EASILY into the 'ball-park' of a couple of thousand BEFORE going to look at bikes.
CAN be done cheaper; but this s not unreasonable; ad as Pinky says; if you are determined to have something more 'aspirational' than 'functional', like a CBR125 or YZF-R125; the 'class' of bike will be pushing those numbers up, not keeping them down...
Brand-New, then, a CBR125 is what? Checkng Hnda Webby, they are on offer at the mo... a SNIP I tell you at a cool £3699 On-The-Road...
Took me a fair bit of clicking to find that, though; they wanted to sell me on the
£99 down, 0% APR ride away today banner over it.... might t be too bad a deal, actually, BUT, your only 17, you aren't old enough to take out credit, even if you had the income to make the £100 a month payements untl... Oh yeah! A YEAR after your CBT has expired... no matter, bike would like as not been nicked LOG before that! Leavig you wth the shortfall between what you HAVEN'T paid and what the insurance co might give you for it to find.. but hey, you cant buy on credit, so not an issue, is it?
Oh yeah! Insurance & credit! That's another one for you to factor to the budget; comparison sites will give you two prices; one a yearly premium, one the monthly 'plan'.. only again, its a credit scheme, you aren't old enough to opt ito; you'd have to pay the full yearly price, 'cos the monthly plan is a years insurance policy AND a credit agreement to pay for it, before you start maing the monthlies....
OK.. Well, Brand-New CBR125, £3700.. not going to get a 'cheap' insurance policy on that, so from the ball-park we have been totting up, to get there, and get that bike on the road, you would have to have something in the region of
SIX THOUSAND POUNDS!
I say that big and bold, 'cos that is not an inconsiderable sum; that's half of what some-one over 21, on NMW is likely to earn in a year, before taxes... let alone some-one on £3.30 per hour aprentice rates or part time....
Which brings us back to the top, and how much you got to spend?
Cos get a job, get a bike, get a life... lets tickle the real world here; EVEN if you did it all with a HECK of a lot of 'help' from this benevolent family of yours; sticking their hands in their pockets; and helping you out, paying for your CBT, and buying you a crash-helmet and boots and stuff for Christmas & Birthday, and THEN, even more generously signing the credit forms for the £100 a month you, hand on heart, promise to pay them each week out your wages, for the bike, AND the other £100 a month, its likely to cost on the 'plan' to insure it....
£200 a month, after the 'set-up' costs have been given to you, for gratis.. £3.87 per hour before tax; NMW for an under 18... just under £150 a week, 'gross' probably about £120, after tax and national innsrance....
How much to Mummy for 'board'? You don't expect to use her electric and eat her food for nowt for ever, do you? And anything much under £90 a week, would be a 'token'.. she'd still be subsidising you..... leaves you around £30 a week 'disposable' income... do the maths... that is NOT going to cover £200 worth of credit you are pledged to, it would barely cover half of it... you are in the hole, BEFORE any-one asks the question, "SO how you going to afford to put petrol in it?"
The budget IS the question.. YZF-R125, cash price £4421, that's a cool grand more than a CBR... and you are now pushg a 'budget' up into the regions of £7-8K...and by the time you have added a years petrol and maintenance, you'll be pushing five digits.
Is this sort of money in ANY way, 'realistic'? Is a 'posy' brand-new learner-bike, REALLY worth, forty hours a week stacking super-market shelves? Cos THAT is what the numbers are saying.. and if you want to have anything ELSE in your life, other than that bike, then, that's got to be paid for from even more hours stacking shelves.. OR the 'charity'and good will you get from relatives...
So HOW cheap could it be done?
Well, single biggest 'cost' in the equation IS the bike; if significant savings are to be found, its there.
A Brand New Yamaha YBR125, is £2,599 OTR.. that takes over a grand off the price of a new CBR125 straight away.. and it'll take some of the next big bill, the insurance.. still talking thick end of £5K, but its getting more do-able....
Second Hand? You can get pretty tidy, 2nd hand CBR's or YZF-R125's for same sort of money as brand-new YBR or CBF... BUT they are still as expensive to insure as a new one, cos you are still as likely to do as much damage with one! So, still more do-able, but still not rock bottom as cheap as we can get.
Lets go there; HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?
Still need a licence, still need CBT. Lets trawl gum-tree, and, I offer you:-
https://cdn.bikechatforums.com/files/12079069_908916472478103_1176870229575788011_n.jpg
bruceso94's Chinese Fake-Away Cruiserette, more specifically an air-cooled AJS 'Raptor' 125, aprox 10 years old, that with 10 months MOT cost him a not unreasonable £300, very similar to the one my O/H had as a miser miler a few years back.
You don't often get much, if anything with two wheels and an engine for under £500, and to get something with an MOT that actually WORKS is pretty good going...
Not a high-risk hooligans 'sports-bike'; nor new, more expense, its nowhere near as 'loaded' for insurance as the bikes you like the look of, so far more likely to command a more realistic insurance premium around the £500 mark..
This has shrunk the 'ball-park' from the area of Yorkshire, to the county of Rutland..
NOW, £500 ish for the bike, £500ish for the insurance, and if we make a few compromises, and don't get carried away the accessory shop; a 'cheap' helmet, water-proofs, gloves and LOCKS, ought to be able to squeeze licence & CBT out of another £500, to get 'On The Road' for about £1500.. a quarter of what it would cost to get a brand new CBR, and half what you could easily spend to get togged up and get on the road, on something as UN-SPORTY and a second hand YBR125....
SO to get on the road, on your own bike, legally, and equipped for the job, that budget needs to be at least £1500, if you are prepared to make a LOT of compromises and sacrifice ALL aspirations towards 'style' and 'performance', n a world where beggars cant be choosers.
£2500-£3,000, can get you on the road, 'comfortably'; but, if you insist on perusing 'style' and aspirations of 'performance', the extra that costs, will mean compromise and sacrifice elsewhere.
Until, you have best part of TEN GRAND in your pocket, AND be prepared to loose every penny with bare a shrug, that BUDGET will be ALLl important.
Counting family and future earnings that can be 100% depended on.... HOW MUCH can you grantee scraping together to make this happen in ANY way shape or form?
The BIKE, and what bike? THAT is at the very bottom of the list, and almost irrelevant, and WILL remain an irrelevance until you have actual cold hard cash in your pocket to go looking for one... and THEN? Well, as much as what we think, or what the buyers guides say, or what you think from the pictures in the brochures, it will be down to choosing between what actual, real bikes, happen to actually be for sale, where you can get to them to buy one, and what condition its in when you go to buy it!!!
We can all 'dream'.. but end of the day we have to deal with reality and that hinges on having the money to make it happen.
So I ask the question again.
What's the budget?
Till you can answer that; absolutely no point us making any suggestion what so ever.....
Yeah; that doesn't really answer the question... just defers it... you don't have a budget YET.. you HOPE your 'budget' wont be 'restrictive', and job, you don't yet have, and family, who you hope might stick hands in pockets and put cold hard money in yours, haven't.. this needs more thought.. a LOT more thought!
But, OK, so you have to start 'some-where'.. how much do you THINK you might scrape together to do this? Because, when it comes to getting a bike, the BIKE is actually the very last thing you 'need' to buy;
First and foremost, you need a LICENCE.. that will be a provisional, to begin with; you have to pay about £30 with your 'application' for that, but you need to send an ID photo with it, that's about a £5 out the booth at the railway-station or wherever.. that's the cheap bit... it needs to be counter-signed by a 'trusted person' listed on the application form, of which there's a list. IF you are still at school, you might get a tame-teacher to sign it and put their personal contact details on the form for you, other-wise you'll have to ask your Doctor, and as its not something they can claim as 'treatment' for under NHS funding, they'll often charge you for a 'private consultation' to sign your photo and sign their details on your forms. Budget £60 or so JUST to get the photo-card in your pocket, and plan for the bureaucracy and hassle that may accompany it.
Oh-Kay, now you can ride a bike... err... no, sorry, having got your UK 'Provisional' Driving licence, you have to complete a Compulsory Basic Training Course, or CBT, and be awarded a DL196 certificate, to 'validate' provisional motorcycle entitlement on your licence...
Motorcycle Schools offer CBT courses for around £150, depending where you live and what they include in the course, and they take about a day to complete, but don't bank on it. Course is designed so that 'most' students, or 'average' ability will complete in one day, but if you don't, you may have to pay for extra training or a complete repeat course....
But all being well, you get your DL196,and... hold ON! They will tell you on your CBT all the shit you have to have before you can ride a motorbike, and the BIKE is still last on the list, AND some of the other shit, is quite useful to have BEFORE you even do your CBT...
Like a packed lunch! No garantee that the school will have a canteen, or that they'll take you to a snak-shak while your out on the road! But check with the school what the catering arrangements may be, and whether they provide, or advise yu to buy, before you attend, your own:-
- Crash-Helmet
- Gloves
- Foot-wear
- Water-Proofs
- Other 'Riding Apparel'; jacket; jeans etc.
Kit can be expense; walk into a bike shop and a 'My First Motorcycle Outfit'; Helmet, gloves, bots, jacket & jeans, fro their starter range, will typically be in the order of £500.. get enthusiastic and pick a better helmet, or the jacket with the flashy brand name on it, that can easily head upwards very very quickly...
You can get kitted up, for a lot less, and probably get far better 'value' improvising, rather than buying dedicated high-street 'Bike-Gear'...but, to get a 'cheap' helmet, gloves, some 'sturdy and sensible' non-biking footwear, and some water-proof coveralls to go over more sensible 'every-day' outdoor wear, you'd be doing well to suit up for much under £200.
OK, where we at? Give or take, we are talking about a ball-park of around £750, t get a provisional, get a CBT, and some cloths to wear... NOW can we go look at bikes?
Well, if you must... BUT, as Pinky points out, before you can ride it, you need insurance, and, you ought get quoted up for the bike before you buy it, it is likely to be a very big bill, and it will get even more expensive, the more 'sporty' the bike you choose, and the newer and or more valuable it is.
17 years old, your premium WILL be deliberately 'punitive'.. I'm an old duffer; I pay £75 a year to insure my 750.. my 125 is actually more expensive... that's £90 a year, Fully-Comp, with "Business Use" on it.... My Daughter is 17 in a month or so's time.. quotes to get her on that bike? Well, we are looking at something the order of £500 a year, Third-Party-Only... with pretty limited mileage restrictions, and 'No Commuting'.. she's at 6th Form, she would have to pay about double, if she wanted to ride to school or part time job on the thing....
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