Eastern European, Chinese or tatty Jap?

[pepperami]

I was talking to a couple friends about biking, but not with a 10,000bhp, 200mph missile.
We were talking about limited cash and having to look after the bike yourself rather than just throwing cash at it to get it fixed.

I came to the conclusion that I would have to invest my limited funds into a single cylinder Eastern European bike because they are simple and even a klutz like me should be able to keep it on the road? hopefully?
My mate decided that he would buy a new Chinese bike.
His reasoning was that Chinese bikes have come a long way and reliability is not such an issue these days.
We all agreed that a second hand Jap bike is a chance, in that you never can tell how it`s been treated before you get it.

So if you had £2500 to spend on a bike that you have to look after and work on ie not keep taking it to a dealer what would you look for?
____________________
I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[redeem ouzzer]

GSXR1100.
____________________
Be a REAL MAN!

[SQL]

bandit 1200

[Polarbear]

2nd hand Japanese any day of the year.

I've had loads of sub £1000 pound bikes and very few major problems. Our W reg Fazer 600, insurance write off, cost me a tad under £200 has been used and abused and won't die.

East european is OK if you like quirky stuff and getting your hands dirty. I'd draw the line at Voskhods though.
____________________
Victory Cross Country American tractor.

[redeem ouzzer]

[DJP]

Air cooled Bandit.

You won't need to spend the full £2500 and whatever you save can be used to replace any shagged brakes or suspension components.
____________________
Suzuki Bandit 1250
https://deejayp999.atwebpages.com/index.html
That's http not https

[The Shaggy D.A.]

I'd buy 2 identical £1000 bikes and £500 of common spares, so one is always ready to jump on and go somewhere, and the other has time to be worked on at my leisure.
____________________
Chances are quite high you are not in my Monkeysphere, and I don't care about you. Don't take it personally.
Currently : Royal Enfield 350 Meteor
Previously : CB100N > CB250RS > XJ900F > GT550 > GPZ750R/1000RX > AJS M16 > R100RT > Bullet 500 > CB500 > LS650P > Bullet Electra X & YBR125 > Bullet 350 "Superstar" & YBR125 Custom > Royal Enfield Classic 500 Despatch Limited Edition (28 of 200) & CB Two-Fifty Nighthawk > ER5

[Rogerborg]

Have you considered a TDM?
____________________
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

[Beehive Bedlam]

[Dabura]

This was the exact circumstances for my buying my bike except it was only £1500 hence my tatty but mechanically sound bandit 600
____________________
Past: Peugeot Speed Fight 50 - couldn't handle winter.Gilera Sc125 - Crashed and burned(literally).Aprilia Rs125 - Fell apart and Sold. Mk1Bandit Stolen

Present: Kawasaki Z500-B

[stinkwheel]

For £2500. I'd go Japanese.

I've only once spent more than £2k on purchasing a motorbike and I've had a lot of motorbikes.

For £2,500 on bike trader, you will find any number of CBR250s. Most of which are 3 years old and have less than 5k miles on them. It's hard to see how you'd go wrong with that for quite some time. Not sure how user serviceable they are.

Or buy a low mileage VFR800Fi. Make sure the brakes and dash are working.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[spottedtango]

It really depends on the person buying the bike and their level of mechanical ability.

I've never had a dealer bought vehicle car or bike and I like to do all my own work so for me a Ducati st. If I'm being more sensible probably a sv1000 or tl1000r.

[stinkwheel]

You can do pretty much ANYTHING on a pre-unit enfield bullet with a few spanners. Parts are also very cheap and readily available.

Just about the worst job on them is changing the front sprocket (which does need a special tool, the longest box-spanner in the world).

Go for an early 2000s model. Nothing after '04 to avoid emissions bullshit.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[ScottT]

Depends on what your planning to do with the bike.
All year use & commuting - Japanese
Long distance rides/touring - Japanese

If you just want a play thing for the odd ride out on nice days and your not bothered about speed and want to spend time tinkering with it, get an Enfield or an old British bike.
£2500 would get something useable, go pre 1960 and have no tax or mot to worry about, cheap classic insurance and you'll get your money back (and more) when you come to sell it.

[Omega]

I'd spend £1k on a Honda XR250. The rest should cover insurance, maintenance and enduro feea for a good 4/5 years.

That's what I've just done anyway.

[B5234FT]

I read the first part of your post thingking 'hmm, interesting' then got to £2500 and laughed.

So many good bikes around for that budget in really good nick that IMHO used Jap is the only contender!

[andi]

£2.5k will get you something like this!

https://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b24/andipicture/149345_3723414679871_1926053153_n_zps54b552e4.jpg
____________________
Before: Suzuki GT 185. Honda Superdream 250. Yamaha RD350LC. Suziki RG250. Yamaha FZS600. Honda CBR600F3
Now: Honda Fireblade 929

[Matt B]

£2.5k doesn't seem to fit with the "limited cash" criteria.

Drop that budget to £500 and you could still get something usable and easy to keep running.
____________________
stinkwheel: He had an animated .gif of a cat performing fellatio. It's not socially acceptable. It can have real life adverse effects on other people.

[pompousporcup...]

i would (i actually did) get 2 bikes for that £2.5k. A jap two cylinder for every day purposes that has easy to get/cheap parts

then i would get something else for the remaining 1500-1800 odd thats a bit more exiting

[linuxyeti]

Depending on what you want, I'd have no qualms going with Chinese bikes.

An RX3 could be fun, I have one, and it is quite fun to ride, and quick enough for motorway riding.

Alternatively, my other current chinese bikes, did cost me more than 2500 each, but, so far have been well worth it. I also have an Enfield 350 bullet, fun bike, but I wouldn't want it as my main commuter bike.

If you can stretch, a little, why not look at the WK 400 trail, as that's look to my eyes to be a Shineray X5, and and as such uses te same engine as my Mash, which is bascially an updated copy of a Honda XBR400 engine. My only reservation with WK, is they appear to have very little actual knowledge of their bikes, even though, the bike itself is probably pretty good, seems to get good reviews, and spares are easy to come by.
____________________
Beware what photos you upload, or link to on here, especially if you have family members on them

[MarJay]

I'd buy a low miler sport 600 for that money, I'd want to go injection because it's lower maintenance than carbs, but I'd want to avoid computers where possible otherwise.

I'd probably go with something like a ZX6R B1H. Simple enough to work on, but generally low maintenance.

I'd forget a brand new chinese bike. Waste of cash.
____________________
British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F; Cheap project: CBR900RR FireBlade
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[G]

Boring road bike to 'do it all' - GSXR1000 .

Nothing particularly difficult to service and only about 150hp and 180 or so mph at that price, so meets your requirements

For fun..,.
KTM 200 and a circa-2000 track bike with V5.
Get it right and might even have change for a cheap SM pitbike .

[Evil Hans]

[.Chris.]

£2.5k is a perfectly decent budget for a Jap bike, so there'd be no contest there for me.

Drop the budget to £500 and the contest might be a bit more real, particularly if you specify that it has to be a 125. There, the contest would be between a Jap 4 stroke like a GN/SR/CG125, which is likely to be 10-20 years old and a bit tired, or a Chinese bike of a few years old (ish), or a 25+ year old commie 2 stroke. In such circumstances I'd probably still go for the Jap but the commie 2 stroke would be tempting.
____________________
Chris
1985 Kawasaki Z550F

[craigs23]

I'd take a Superfour and save the extra £1500.