I'm done with traffic and parking! Help with first bike?

[MKJ]

Yes, it's yet another brand new soon to be biker. I've just started my university degree, and have a 25 mile commute as I live at home. Most of my coursemates are bikers and seeing how they glide past my 2.0 diesel in traffic, can park in the uni (whereas I'm stuck in the surrounding streets, moving my car every other hour, racking up tickets), and spend pennies on petrol compared to me.

I've decided I'd like a bike, albeit at the wrong time of year. I've never ridden before, but don't think I'll have any problems. My cbt is booked for friday, and looking to get a 125. I've been looking at second hand bikes, have seen a very high milage ybr, and a Duke with a blown head gasket, but aren't blown away and have worries with reliability. I'm seriously considering a new bike, given warranty, reliability etc.

I love the looks of the Duke and MT, and ABS seems like it could be helpful. Or I could save my money and get a CB125F, or YBR. Any other main options for me, or bits of advice I could do with?

[arry]

The stock advice you'll get is don't waste money on a tiddler buying brand new or even close to it. Buy a second hand bike which you won't lose much money on when you invariably want to upgrade to a larger bike (and you will).

A second hand YBR for example for a grand is a perfectly acceptable commute tool and is not significantly slower than the sporty plastic fantastic 125's in frocks and is not as likely to go missing - bearing in mind where you park it...

So yeah. Cheap. Cheerful. Gets job done. Sod the rest. Pocket the money. Licence. Bigger bike.

[NJD]

CBT > Use your car to commute to uni over winter / complete a full bike license over winter > Decide what one you want more post winter.

[MKJ]

[geordie1234]

I'm also doing my cbt on Friday... I don't need a bike until april time so most likely just going to go for my full licence and save the grand I was going to spend on a 125 and buy a decent 600 for the same money as a first bike
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[NJD]

[Teflon-Mike]

The BIKE is the last thing on the list that you need to worry about.
Licence, CBT, hat, coat, gloves, boots, WATER-PROOFS, insurance, BIG LOCKS....then maybe you can start thinking about the bike....

125's? They are little bikes with little difference between them, and one main 'feature' they have is 'cheaps'.. 100mpg fuel consumption looks good to car drivers to whom fuel costs tend to be around 1/3 their annual motoring costs or more; BUT there is more hidden costs on a bike; they tend to need more servicing and maintenance for one thing.... THIS is why so many seem so 'unreliable' numpty newbies don't give it'em! But reliability is merely a function of maintenance; do enough to maintain the 'as new' standard (why they call it maintenance!) it should stay as reliable as a new bike... neglect and abuse a new bike, it will be just as unreliable and just as knackered as an old knacker, very quickly! BUT, paid mechanics are expensive, and with 1000mile service intervals, even paying a back-street mechanic to do the basic routine service adjustments is likely to kick you £50 a time and dent the savings made from bg pg pretty quick... You also have to maintain your kit; and a crash-hat, in daily all wheather commuter use is going to get sloppy and orrible quick, and cheap ones likely to be cheaper to chuck away and buy another than replace the visor when it gets scratched, etched and engrained with diesel smog. Expect £300 worth of 'my first riding suit' to give you 18 months at best.

And them locks! If you are leaving little bike in same spot, day n day out, it wont be long till some fecker decdes to try having it away. You need good locks to tie it down so they cant lift it in back of a van AND a way to carry them locks....

And where you going to put hat and coat and gloves, when you are in lectures? Crash hat wont last longbashed against the coridoor walls by every student jostling to get to the SU bar at lunch time! And it'll be a pain in the arse kicking it around under the desks in lectures...

These sort of problems start to add more to the costs, buying rack and top box; buying a lap-top ruck-sack and things like this AND giving you more to 'maintain'.

BUT, that lot taken on board, if you DIY your own maintenance and you keep on top of it; 125's CAN be heap wheels. And that is there main attraction. Cheaps.

So buying new, paying depreciation and buying a bike flashier than you need, just for the 'look', often compromising usability, practicality AD the very cheaps that these things offer, is a rather perverse way to NOT actually get the one thing 125's can do for you!

BUT, you aren't even on the start line yet; go do your CBT, and my advice on that one is JUST check what they reccomend you take before you go, and ask about catering... it can be a long day, and they don't often have a canteen!

See if you actually LIKE riding a motorbike.... THEN go from there, working your way down the list, hat, coat, cloves, boots, water-proofs, insurance LOCKS, and ponder luggage and logistics!

THEN you might be in a place to start thinking about actual bikes....

When you get there; the Yamaha YBR125 Learner-Commuter, at about 34 years old, with a fresh MOT, represents something of an 'optimum' for the genre. Its priced well, and at 4 years old, look after it shouldn't suffer too much depreciation. Its new enough it ought to still be reasonably 'tidy' and valuable enough that it aught to have been relatively well looked after; while the first MOT or two, should have weeded out the duffers thrashed, trashed and crashed to oblivion in the first three years when MOT exempt. Unpretentious (or down right ugly, depending on your point of view), its a utility machine with no practicality sacrificed to 'fashion'; its a popular model, from a well supported main-stream maker, with parts and accessories readily available in all the cataloges, and in the insurance data-bases, its a well 'known quantity' likely to be easy to live with and case as little unnecessary hassle for you along the way. THIS is the 'Bench-Mark' for all other learner/commuter bikes.

Duke? Because you want 'reliable'? Your having a laugh aren't you?

AFAIK, a few years back, they 'out-sourced' most of the manufacture of their small displacement models to asia; Yamaha have done that, Honda have done that, and its seen their quality go down a fair bit; though with their Quality Control they still seem better than most Chink-But stuff... KTM is the exception, 'out-sourcing' in their case, seems to have improved product reliability! That dont mean its good! Just an idea of how bad they USED to be! You just DONT buy a KTM for 'reliability'.. you just don't.

YBR I've covered, but 2nd hand. Reasonable value new, but roll it out the show-room its instantly second had and lost 1/3 the sticker price you just paid. wont say no; they have a lot going for them, and atractve credit deal are a big part of that; BUT still doing a lot to dent the cheaps these bikes offer a main attraction. Whle, as mentioned, 'reliability' is a function of maintenence, not age; reduces risks its been pre-fucked by previous owners, BUT still down to you to maintain it, or it'll be as ureliable or unserviceable as anything else, pretty quick. Remember its 2nd hand the moment you wheel it out the dealers door.

CBF? Much of a much t the YBR. Differences between them are negligible. Show-room prices are nie on identical and practically there's bugger all between them. As good a bet as a YBR, really.

Yamah MT, is a bit of a googlie. more expensive and more stylish than a YBR for bugger all more 'usefulness'. It has, I believe the water-cooled YZF-R125/WR engine, that has a few noteable 'reliability issues' usually associated with twits trying to tune them or ot maitaining them, but still, is thought a 'bit' fragile. Might offer a bit more 'oomph' fro a full quota of Learner-Legal horse-Power, but that's small potatoes in greater scheme of thngs, and that more 'sophsticated' engine is ore likely to detur or make more difficult and certaily offer more oportunity for eff-up of 'owner maintenance'; that will have negative impact on costs and reliabilty. New, trendy and likely to hold value well, IF you can get your hands on one; reports suggest demand is strong and supply short; UNLESS you really have to have that bit of extra 'trendy' I'd say stick to the ethos, keep it cheaps, go for the tried and trsted YBR.

Others 2nd Hand.... you'll struggle to find a 2nd Hand MT; so thats out; Duke? Forget it. YBR dealt with CBF Dealt with, wither of the latter at around 4 years with fresh MOT and if you are lucky a rack and top box already fitted.

alternatvely, if you are chucking cheaps to the wind; then go get some training, get a licence, ad get a bigger bike; you will get a LOT more of everything, VFM and performnce and reliablity for your money with one. And provided you don't get daft, a 500 commuter twin need not be a lot more expensive to run as a 'daily', and be a lot more comfy and versatile to do ther stuff and tackle longer journeys, carry passengers and be loaded up with luggage. THOYGH biggest boon to that plan is JUST the trainng, as a know nothig newb, needd to get a licence, over the bare minimum 'first lesson' f CBT to let you wobble out o your own to learn by your mistakes... which on a brand new 125 are likely to be expensve as well as a little painful.

But that takes up to top, and fact that the bike is stil the last thig on the list you need worry about.
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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?'

[Rogerborg]

Not the Duke because https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=266029

Unless you're 17 or know exactly what you want and why you want it, there's no point in buying any new 125.

If you're 19 or soon to hit it, you'll want to get your A2 training and tests done ASAP, then you'll get access to so many more bikes that offer better value for money and are more likely to have been looked after. I imagine that you'll want to get on a bike now now now though, and that's fine. But don't buy new, you'll lose your training and test costs in turnkey depreciation. You may also find that your insurance underwriter won't let you switch the policy to a bigger bike when you come to your senses. Be prepared to burn the premium and any partial NCB.

It's all hypothetical until you've done your CBT. Read the first 2 lines of Mike's novella. You can skip most of the rest. Buy your gear and security, get your insurance money squirrelled away, then get your actual bike budget together in real cash currency.

Then look at what's available. There are always 125s coming on the market and good, cheap ones go fast, in hours or minutes, because that's what everyone is after. The ones you're looking at are the examples that haven't sold. Be patient, quick and lucky, buy a used Honda or Yamaha branded 125 in good condition, enjoy.
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Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[Slacker24seve...]

CBT, make sure you like it
Gear
Big chain
Good, used YBR for less than a grand
Save for DAS
Do DAS
Win at life
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Triumph Daytona 675 track bike + girlfriend's Honda Hornet 600
Selling a hack/winter bike for less than a grand? PM me.
Banger rallies are ace

[MKJ]

[arry]

It's overpriced. I sold one with 25K less miles for that and it was a year newer

[MKJ]

[arry]

They can be used to prove another driver at fault should the worst happen and you have an accident. But they don't stop you having an accident - and it doesn't matter a jot who is at fault when you're seriously injured or dead.

Training might help not get into that accident. So I'd spend the money there first.

[MKJ]

[Wonko The Sane]

my vote for a 125 would always be for the Honda Varadero 125
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Looking to pass your CBT / Bike tests in Bury Lancashire? try www.focusridertraining.co.uk Would recommend.
They're also on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Focus-Rider-Training/196832923734251

[arry]

[c_dug]

[talkToTheHat]

125s are slow and you'll go from feeling like you're going to die at any second to pinning the throttle everywhere within months, perhaps weeks.

Bimble about on a cheap 2nd hand 125 for a bit whilst you are doing lessons for a proper license. You won't lose more than a handful of coins if you dont break it. Yes, you'll be paying insurance on a 125 and then chasing after your insurer for a refund, when you sell, check policy terms and conditions.

Get proper gear. Doesn't have to be expensive, but a clumsy slip on wet leaves hurts whatever bike you are on. Boots with crush proof soles, leather motorcycle gloves, jacket and trousers. Doesnt matter if leather, textile or kevlar reenfirced denim, but will likely save your skin if you come off, and keep you warmer and dryer than no kit.
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Bandit. does. everything.

[MKJ]

[Evil Hans]

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Triumph Sprint ST 1050. And it's Red.

[Teflon-Mike]

[Rogerborg]

[MKJ]

[Rogerborg]

[MKJ]