What 125cc bike

[G]

Thought I'd seperate this out from hte original post.... as usual, feel free to contribute, tell everyone I'm talking crap etc

My thoughts:

First bike:
2 stroke vs. 4 stroke:
A 2 stroke will always have more power than a 4 stroke. With out some form of super/turbo charging or other serious tuning a 4 stroke 125 is unlikely to pass 15 - 20hp. As for the limit for learners, it is most probable that new 4 strokes will be built with 15hp and not designed to be 'derestricted' afterwards, very few current 4 stroke 125s make more than 15hp as it is. A 2 stroke will sound a bit more 'tinny', but will be buggering off into the distance while it does it . Most recent 2 strokes can be derestricted to get over 25hp, which should be enough for around 100mph and around 0-60 in 6 seconds.

Older 2 strokes (pre circa 1980-1990) should generally still have about 20hp derestricted, which will give a fair bit better acceleration than the 12 that most older bikes are when restricted or by design for 4 strokes. They are also generally better bikes as far as performance in general goes compared to 4 stroke 'commuter' bikes (i.e. other components such as suspension, brakes etc).

A cheap 4 stroke is an option for a first bike if you're not intending to use fast A roads, however do be aware that you may soon find it limiting and be wanting to upgrade, so it's probably worth going for something very cheap (i.e. £400ish) which you can sell on for about the same price. 4 stroke 125s will have a top speed of about 65 - 75, depending on the age of the design. All tend to struggle over 50mph though.

Personally I'd recommend going for a cheap older 2 stroke first. A derestricted 85mph will let you keep up with most traffic, while the brakes and handling etc will out perform their 4 stroke 'commuter' counterparts. These can usually be picked up from £500 for a tatty example to about £1200 for a very good one. Not only will you be paying less for the bike, but insurance costs tend to be cheaper. This leaves you more money to do your test, buy protective gear and other useful things.

By the way, most of us do think "I'll keep the bike for 2 years, then get a bigger one when the restriction has ended". However good your intentions are, this usually only happens through laziness. The majority of people get a bigger bike fairly soon after passing their test, usually having derestricted it before that. Though I'm not the best example, I got bored of my cg125 (4 stroke) pretty quickly, despite it being my first bike and fairly soon got a ns125 2stroke.

Think about what you want from a bike. Something like the NSR is a good choice, it's not a completely focused sports bike, yet has reasonably decent power and handling when required.
Whatever bike, I'd recommend going for an older model, say between £500 and £1500 will get you a decent older bike, with the top end of that get you a tatty example of a recent design.
Most recentish 2 stroke sports 125s should do 0-60 in around 6 seconds, which means you have plenty of acceleration, at least off the line, to beat most cars.

Reasons you should get an older bike:
A new bike loses a lot of money the minute you walk out of the show room, an older bike will depreciate a lot less.
You will crash it at some point, there are exceptions, but the majority of people do, however good your intentions. This means more relative loss on newer bikes.
You will want to move up, probably a lot sooner than you think and an older bike is generally easier to sell.
You don't have to run it in, for the first 1000 miles you have to restrict the revs you use, on a restricted 125 this will seriously slow you down.

Reasons to get a newer bike:
'Peace of mind' from warranty etc: there are plenty of bikes still in warranty that are a fair bit cheaper than new. People do have new bikes failing and a warranty doesn't always mean much, if the garage doesn't feel like being helpful.

[TiN]

Just to add my thoughts:

[G]

I have shouted at dealers when bikes (not new admittadley) have gone, it's probably had less effect than if it was from a private sale because the dodgier places are used to fobbing people off.

[TiN]

Yeah, but dealerships are less likely to set their Rottweilers on you...
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TiN
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