Newbie Advice Required

[hardy]

Right then, I'm going through my mid life crisis earlier than expected and want to get a motorbike. Ideally I want a 600 sports bike such as GSXR600, ZX636 etc but due to high insurance and costs was considering getting an aprilia RS125 to get me going asap. I was thinking of getting a brand new 2005 model for £3000 but reckon I could get a decent 04 example for £2000 which will limit the depreciation as I'll probably sell it after 1 week or 1 year depending on how I get on. Any help on the questions below would be gratefully received:

. What is the bike like to ride for a novice rider, have some off road experience on a YZ125 motocross bike but no real road experience.

. If I got a brand new one, how much would I realistically get for it a year later if in mint condition and low mileage (will only be used for weekend fun).

. How much would insurance roughly cost for a 31 year old, garaged overnight (rough guess will do).

. Do the bikes come restricted to Learner Legal limits from the factory or is it an option?

. How much would road tax be?

. How often do they need to be serviced at the dealer for warranty purposes?

Apologies if these questions have been raised many times before or are stupid but I'm a newbie

[goof]

1. Fine for a novice, just don't be expecting to do any U-turns easily

2. £2500-2750 at a guess

3. TPFT would be under £200 for you (maybe even £150)

4. They come restricted in UK - pay about £75 to get powervalve fitted for de-restriction (newer models may also need a non-cat exhaust which would be another £50 second hand).

5. £15!

6. Dunno, think it's a year or 8K miles


In all honesty though I'd say get an older 500/600 - you can pick up a Suzuki SV650 for under £2k quite easily (as I did), cracking bike, won't have reliability issues like the RS's do, doesn't need warming up and insurance is low compared to most other bikes. You'd get TPFT insured for about £250 on one.

Hope any of this helps...

[hardy]

Why can't I post a reply.

Hmmm that worked, is there a size limit?

Seems to be working now

[hardy]

Cheers Goof, was thinking of getting a bigger bike, something like a GS500F (only like the look of bikes with full fairings for some reason) as you can pick an 04 up for just under £2000. Decided that 125 might be a quicker way to get going and limit costs of DAS etc in case it turns out to be another one of my fads.

[goof]

No, it won't be a fad, trust me

That's what I thought at first, but you're only going to spend more and the long run and after a year or 2 reliability can be a real pain in the arse for the Aprilia's (could be looking at a new top end in 6-8K depending on how you treat it).

Just bite the bullet, I guarantee you won't regret it. Oh, and you can get plenty of nice larger bikes that are faired - the SV650s is semi-faired and looks great IMO!

[yzf750r]

Yams is selling a nice SV.... (if he still as it)

https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=52927


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04 zx10r with mods - 187.4bhp at the wheel! :o

[colin1]

dont buy a new one. You have to run in the engine which means go slowly with it for several hundred miles.

Dont buy a bike without a powervalve beacuse getting one and then trying to fit it can be a pain.

Get a secondhand one that has a powervalve this gives you 28hp instead of the 14.6 you are supposed to have to be legal.

im 29 in a bad area and i pay £160 tpo( no garage) im with bike sure. dont use bennets they are expensive.

cbt is done in an afternoon and you can get insured and buy a bike the next day.

if you want a big bike you will need to pass DAS which takes about £500 and is either a week off work or lessons for a few weeks. You also need to have don the bike theory test. this all takes time and you will have missed most of the summer

I was a novice rider 6months ago and with knowledge of how to use gears and what road signs mean, I've been fine.

I bought a £1000 2000 model rs125 from a salvage place. I probably paid a bit too much as i have since seen newer bikes cheaper but because its already scratched i dont have to worry about dropping it.

I have had a few niggly problems with mine. Dont expect mechanics to know how to fix things, they just want your money and if they dont know what to do they will charge you for the time they spend mucking about with it trying to figure out whats wrong. Mechanics are good at doing specific jobs but not good at diagnosing faults from vague symptoms.

Because it has a 2 stroke engine it needs regular rebuilds every 12000kms so chance are the person selling is doing so when it needs a rebuild, so just get one done (about £200) when you get it to save yourself lots of bother.

i think my road tax was £10-£15.

id suggest buying one off a private buyer using ebay to find ones near to your postcode. I wish id done that but i did want the silver one and they dont come up often.

ebay also gives you a good idea what they go for

also www.125ccsportsbikes.com has a for sale section and lots of help and advice if you do get one.

post the same questions on there and everyone will tell you to get the rs125, but we havnt really ridden bigger bikes so we dont know any better

125 2 strokes such as the rs125 are much better to ride than 125 4 strokes but as most learners dont know how to maintain them properly, there can be problems.
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[vbfg]

[goof]

Exactamundo!

[hardy]

Cheers for the advice guys, not too bothered about reliability and rebuilds as I plan on getting one less than a year old with low mileage and I don't plan on keeping it for more than a year and it will do low mileage. I have a 2 stroke motorbike that has to have rebuilds all the time so it shouldn't be too much issue. I will also warm it up properly and use decent oil.

Stupid question but do you have to mix the oil with the petrol or is there a seperate resevior to keep topped up?

[yzf750r]

depends on the bike
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04 zx10r with mods - 187.4bhp at the wheel! :o

[hardy]

[veeeffarr]

Separate, should be under the seat from what I can remember

[colin1]

getting one that is less than a year old is daft cos u will lose a lot on depreciation.

Get one at least 3 years old and if you are worried about rebuilds, get one done for £200 as soon as you get the bike. A lot cheaper than depreciation on a nearly new bike.

Best not to spend a lot on first bike because most people drop their first bike.
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[bish777]

[hardy]

[veeeffarr]

But with doing that you miss out one of the major contributaries to a crash.

Other vehicles.

Just because you've ridden bikes before doesn't mean you're always going to be "alright", you will drop a road bike, at some point, and something will always catch you out in the end, especially if you get into the mindset that everything's going to be fine.

You have to plan for the worst, buy a bike that you won't mind dropping and sell it for the same price you got it for 6 months later if you prove me wrong

[hardy]

[bish777]