recommend me a bike please

[rikjdee]

im not completely new to biking having owned a few field bikes but i'm doing my cbt in the next couple of weeks so the search for a bike is on. I want a 125 but not sure whether to go for something with off road ability or just a sporty race type. Can anyone recommend a bike that is good on the road as it off?

[clancy]

well a sport syle bike is going to be no good offroad.....as for 125 supermoto styled bikes there are hundreds of them
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KLX 300r

[Teflon-Mike]

Recommend Me a First Bike
Just said in a thread not far away, when choosing a 125 you want a bike that is:-
- Easy to ride
- Easy to live with
- Easy to flog on when you have got your licence 'done' on it.
Demand anything more from it, and you will pay over the odds or sacrifice something in the greater compromise.

Dirt bikes are great fun, but... 125 'trail' bikes tend to be a bit of a pain in the arse. They are a compromised design by nature, neither ful on off-road bikes, nor dedicated dirt bikes, so before you begin you have compromises in them.

Sportsbikes.... in 125 'learner-legal' form, are a joke. They are not quick enough to be 'sporty', having thier performance deliberately restricted to that of any other 125 learner legal. De-Restricted they aren't learner legal, tend to be unreliable, and incredibly high maintenence, so high cost biking, that does not fare favourably to the bang for your buck you'd get with a bigger sportsbike that has an awful lot more performance and reliability for its maintenence demands and running costs.

If you do the regular tests on a 125 you get a restricted licence that lets you ride a 33bhp bike for two years before the restriction lapses and you can have anything you like.

My advice, get a YBR125 or similar, and use it for a couple of months JUST to get your trining and test out the way.

After that, with a 33bhp restricted licence, for the same money as a shit-bag DT125 or a reliable but uninspiring XR125, you can go get something like a DR350, which is a LOT more exiting, a lot more useful, probably more reliable, just as easy to live with, just as cheap to run, and 33bhp complient to run about on until your restriction period lapses.

But, key is getting your licence, and for that just finding a 125 that 'does the job', makes it easy for you, is easy to live with while you have it, and easy to chop in for a bike you really want after.....

YBR is top of the list for bikes that do that really well. 'Good' late model CG125's do it pretty well, for a bit less investment, CBF125 does it for a bit more outlay....

If you really want dirt-wheels, then XR125 is a worthy candidate, but hacking it on the rough will demand more maintenence, risk breaking stuff, and reduce re-sale value, rather defeating the point a bit.... Not using it on the rough, you get a compromised machine, for no real benefits, may as well have a dedicated road-bike, and the easier riding one offers for the short while you need it to get your test.... then you can have propper dirt bike and thrash it about the rough as hard as you like.... you dont have to take a test on it, nor sell it on!
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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?'

[rikjdee]

thanks for the replys i never really considered the implications of the sporty bikes reliability problems when de-restricted but it makes sense if you've squeezed a bit more power out your gonna have problems, i was leaning towards a DT125 as i had a 50 for a while and that was used and abused every weekend without much problems. I have come across a cheap honda superdream ill have a look at that and if it seems a good deal just use that for getting through the test like you said teflon-mike.

[Teflon-Mike]

[rikjdee]

ye i read your post about them on another topic it was very in depth and detailed, ill have a look at it and if it seems good ill go for it if not ill hang on and carry on putting money to one side a few weeks waiting wont kill me.