What bike? How much?

[Lead]

i am very new to bikes as in i dont even have a cbt am nearly 17 and i have no real "experience" of bikes. well i have been on my mates mopeds a few times but i am just obsessed with bikes and have got to have one. when i am 17 i want to get a restricted license ,obviously, but i dont know what bike would suit my needs. i want a cheap good looking bike for commuting, light motorway use and maybe a bit of fun on country lanes. i dont want to spend more than £1500 maybe £2000 on a bike that i am going to drop and scratch and scrape. i am obviously going to need training but how much for someone of my experience who hasnt even been on a geared bike before? and how much is it gonna set me back test an' all?
all help is greatly appreciated!

thanks Andy
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At least i can ride better than your mum! Well maybe!

[Mr.Everready]

The cheapest thing to do is get the CBT done and get a 125 bike that you can knock about as much as you like.
Training and a test (inc. CBT) will set you back the best part of £500.
you also need to factor in insurance which can be a fair bit (£500 tp etc) aswell as your gear, helmet gloves and so on,.
It really depends on what your total budget is including everything.
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the undemocratically unelected mod of the Scottish section

[stevey900]

Hi first thing welcome to forum.
If like you said you don't want to be spending £1500-£2000 on a bike simple answer is don't.
I've just got into biking myself and it does cost a bit when starting out.
So i saved on my bike. Bought a hongdou cg 125 for £700 perfect to get you on the road.
all in all it has cost me £1400 (round about) for bike,insurance helmet and gear. plus a cbt

hope this helps
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4 wheels bad, 2 wheels good!!

[Lead]

thanks but i want something a bit bigger than a 125 like a 400, 500 or 600 because i want to use it on motorways and cruise at 70-80mph for a few hours. my total budget for everything is about £3500.
thanks anyway nice to know people care.
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At least i can ride better than your mum! Well maybe!

[@@@]

hi, if i were you i wouldnt jump onto a 600 or anything bigger than a 125. i know im goin to be silenced after posting this but in my experiance learn on a 125, they cruise at 80 believe me! i have an rs125, i have crashed, re-built at the side of the road (this morning), they are good to learn how your bike works and they are cheap enough to buy one with warrenty.

i think one of dodds mates housby is selling his bike for 2 grand if your interested.

[levi]

i agree with @@@ although it might sound good to jump onto a 600 its no good if you just started out, i rode a 125 for about 2 weeks propoally before i got my 750 but i think riding came very natrally to me (plus i have been riding off road bikes for around 2 years) which obviusly helps. get an rs125 or an nsr125 this will suit your current skill aswell as serving your passion to go fast hope this helps
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Proud owner of a Gilera Cougar 125
Proud owner of a Honda VFR 750

[Lead]

i have seen an nsr 250 for £1200 is this any good how much is the insurance on a 125 or 250? i have heard rs125's are unreliable and cost you alot in the long run. i dont want to buy another bike for at least a year.
thanks for all the help so far i am taking it into consideration.
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At least i can ride better than your mum! Well maybe!

[colin1]

if you just have your cbt, i think you shd get a nsr125. They are better in town than a rs125 but not so good on country roads.

If you want something for commuting, you dont want a nsr250, they are more for fast country roads.

If you pass your test, a 250 scooter is far more practical for commuting than most things.

2 stroke 125s are a lot more fun than 4 stroke 125's but cost more to run and maintain. If the last owner didnt maintain their bike, you will have quite a few maintenance bills fairly quickly.

If you get a 4 stroke 125, get a cg125. I dont like yam sr125 and cbr125 isnt much better than cg125 but in some ways is worse.
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[J20a]

[colin1]

You cant ride on the motorway until you pass your test but if you pass your test, you dont need L plates.
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[J20a]

[colin1]

if you pass the a2 33bhp test u can ride on a motorway.

You are getting two facty things confused to make one nonsense

fact 1. People who are learners cant ride on motorway (ie they have only done CBT).

fact 2 People who have passed 33bhp test are promoted to be able to ride any bike after two years.
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[Rookie]

fact 3. You can do anything without L plates if you have passed your A2 test, but whatever you ride you are restrcited to 33BHP.

[mattfuzzy]

only tip im going to give you is that you should never get ahed of yourself, i thought i was going to get my cbt on a geared bike, get a honda NSR 125 and then do my full test and everything.... i had never been on a geared bike before either and turned out i just couldnt get the hang of the gears (well i did only have about 3 hours to get used to them on the cbt and also do all the cbt stuff) so i ended up with a gilera dna 125, looks like a bike, sounds a bit like a bike and isnt geared, i didnt exactly have friends with geared bikes i could borrow and use on private roads or anything either so i was screwed, for all you know the same could happen to you, so dont go jumping the gun when you havent even done your cbt/been on a geared bike
good luck anyway

[chris-red]

i got on the road for about £850
bike £250
cbt £120
insurance £360
helmet £100
gloves £15

buy a crappy old bike and get used to it first. and remember ebay rules for low cc cheap bikes
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