first 125cc

[machete101]

hello

I am planning on doing my CBT soon, and i am looking to get my first bike,im ideally looking for a offroad/enduro/supermoto style bike that is cheap to insure under £400, and would be alright for a bit of green laning now and then.

i have done a few quotes, for supermoto/motocross and they all come up too expensive around £600-650.

Can anyone recommend some bikes that are cheap to insure and be good bikes for a bit of greenlaning?


thanks

[Oldie]

Suzuki Van Vans are great for what you're looking for.

[Rogerborg]

I'd suggest that you see what they're quoting for a CG125 or YBR125. You won't get anything for much less than that and should set your expectations accordingly.
____________________
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

[bLiXeY]

Yamaha TW.... £500-ish for a tatty one and around £850-ish for an ok example.

I don't think you'll find anything (other than a second hand chinese bike), for £400...and if you do buy one of those, make sure you have a good tool kit and be prepared to spend a lot of time maintaining it.

[Paris2]

Have a look at the Honda XR.

Very reliable and all that, perfect learner bike
____________________
Current Ride: Daytona 600

[machete101]

thanks for the replies

I just done a few quotes for the cg125 which was £320 3rd party f+t
and the ybr125 was £420

would the style of bike that the cg 125 is, handle a bit of offroading?

I like the look of the TW 125 but is a little bit too much on the insurance, are there anything that looks a bit similiar but may be a bit cheaper on insurance.

Or will i not get a trail/motocross insurance for around £400-450

Are the derbi senda cross city any good for wat im looking for?


thanks

[bLiXeY]

Sorry, misread your post, I thought you were talking about the cost of bikes, not insurance.

[waffles]

Insurance prices are very subjective. It will depend on your age, location, experience, security, where you leave it at night etc etc. As a general rule of thumb "something motorcrossy" could potentially cost more to insure because they are often nicked and ragged round local parks or woods.

Pick a style bike and fill out some price comparison website details and see what it throws back at you then choose your bike based on the cheapest quotes. Don't always go for tpf&t either, sometimes fully comp can be a smidge cheaper
____________________
Theory test - 19/8/09, CBT - 11/10/09, MOD 1 - 16/8/10, MOD 2 - 27/10/10
Past rides Yamaha XT125X, Triumph TT600, Honda XR250
Current rides Suzuki GSXR 600, Honda MSX125

[Rogerborg]

If you're buying a bike that costs under £1000 then it's essentially not worth insuring for fire and theft, because you'll get reamed so much on excess and in future premiums if you claim on it.

So TPO, spend the savings on security, and if it gets nicked then have a look round the local sink estates and fields and if you can't find it then consider just cancelling the insurance (to limit their liability) but don't tell them why.
____________________
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

[Alpha-9]

I got quoted £300 TPF&T for a 2009 yamaha YBR-125

Works for me


Van vans are tiny apparently, so if you're a tall guy like me you might have trouble:down:

[Teflon-Mike]

Right; 125's are good for two things;

Cheap bus fare beating wheels for the economy conciouse, two whom style & performance take second place to hard cash considerations.

Training & Test tools to be used to obtain a full licence & open the door to ANY capacity of bike, of any style or level of performance.

Given that 125's tend to be expensive to insure due to so many being ridden and crashed by high risk, Learners or early riders, and nicked by teenage scroats; and few return such spectacular mpg as many hope, and running costs of the more sporty or posey can, all up be higher than on a 'big-bike'...

the 'Bus-fare Beating' ecconomy of a 125, is often only there for those REALLY ardent to find it and accept the compromise of very limited performance & 'utiliterian' style...

NOW: - Lets break down your wants and needs here a little and see what we can do.

And I'm going to start with this idea of 'a little green-laning' now and then.

First of all, what do you know about Green-Laning? As you dont have a CBT yet, I'm going to guess you have never done it,. least wise on a bike.

Do you know how many miles of 'unsurfaced public right of way, with vehicular access' we actually have in this country?

I'll give you a clue; its measured in HUNDREDS of miles nationally, compared to a tarmac network measured in tens of thousands of miles. It ENT a lot; though some areas are better endowed than others.

Next; do you know how to FIND and status check lanes you can ride?

And do you know what to expect, if you tried?

I can tell you here and now; its FAR from non stop cross country riding, like living a Charlie & Ewan episode......

Most lanes in this country are now so well graded in the more 'used' districts they are no more interesting to ride than any surfaced country road with a spew of gravel on the top.

Others, are so short as you would have more fun trying to set up a grass track round your back lawn.

And most are hardly more interesting than a farm track.

The persuit entails hours pouring over maps and checking web-sites to FIND tracks you can ride, and trying to patch together some sort of route joining together as many as you can to make a days riding.

That day will then consist of possibly eight hours in the saddle; six and a half of them will be riding tar-top between trails..... an hour will be spend pouring over the maps and scouring hedgrows looking for the actual lane start..... and about forty five minutes MIGHT actually be decent dirt-riding.

Does this sound SO much 'fun' as to be worth the compromises, and 'costs' you want to put on this bike you want, for that 'occassional' bit of 'Green-Laning'?

Bike for the gig is a Yamaha DT125; its common enough to be easy to live with, and proven it's capability over the years.

For that 'capability' you will pay approximately 50% more on insurance than a 'mundane' commuter. The model of bike gets loaded, for being a high risk.

Bikes with knobly tyres carry a higher theft risk; even if you insure one Third Party Only to avoid the insurers having to accept that risk, the 'base' premium is still loaded by the overall model risk.

The DT is loaded higher still, because its a two-stroke, and more often tuned, more sporty, and often crashed.

My 15bhp/75mph DT125, the 'classic' air-cooled 1970's model, is actually MORE to insure than my 75bhp/125mph Honda CB750.....

It ALSO uses more fuel...... it does 'about' 60mpg and requires two stoke oil to be added to that at about an extra 6p/l of petrol..... And that DROPS when off-roading.

And 'good' as my DT is; as an off-roader its pretty crap. I have a Montesa Cota comp-trials bike; THAT is a propper off-roader. For the road, I have the CB750 and a CB125 for pottering about. And again, the DT isn't a patch on either on tarmac.

Its a jack of two trades, master of neither; FUN, but it's compromised wherever you take it, and an expensive indulgence for me, an experienced rider, who CAN make use of it, and by dint of age and experience not get raped on insurance, or have to sustain the running costs using it as every day sole means of transport.

So; lets go back; needs and wants.

What do you NEED this bike to do? Is it a Bus-fare-dodger, or training wheels, or is it a week-end toy?

On CBT... first priority is to get a licence and get rid of that self imposed impediment to getting a lot more biking for your budget.

On that score, an on-off road bike, and notions of going green-laning, are not particularly great.

Learners fall off; and bent bikes dont get you through tests very well.

On dirt; learners fall off more. Shit, I've been riding dirt thirty more years than I care to remember I STILL fall off!

But straightening the bikes half the fun for me; and I dont have to use the bike for anything else. I have enough of them I can shove it under a cover and sort it out as and when I can be bothered or can find the money, and use one of the others or the car in the mean time.

If you need that bike to be 'available' and in a presentable enough condition to not get an examiner cringing for a test apointment; going out to bend it before hand, probably not the best idea.

While, IF its only a passing notion for something you MIGHT, only do 'occassionally', and dont really know much about to begin with....

Is choosing a bike that is more expensive than you can afford or are prepared to pay, to buy, insure and run, ANd which is less than ideal for the other tasks you may have of it; like getting about commuting, getting some training in on, and doing some tests REALLY worth the compromise....

If pennies are important FORGET off-roading, its a bad idea. Get a CG125, or a YBR 125, cheap, regulation learner commuter, the tool for THAT job, use it for whats intended; get tests & full licence with it...

THEN with THAT in your pocket; door is open to loads more possibilities.

bikes over 125 can be cheaper to insure, and in the 126-400cc range can often be lower; in that bracket the 'loading' from something with knobly tyres CAN be a lot easier to bear.

Meanwhile, haing got your licence; you are released from having to 'preserve' the bike for training & tests, and you ought by this point to know a bit more; and green-laning MAY be worth sacrificing some stuff for.

BUT.... first thing is tests, and bottom line is you dont get owt for nowt, and if you want the 'fun' of an off roader on top of the value of a mundane commuter-learner... you got to pay for it. So up the anti and get it, or lower your expectations and aspirations and do with out the add-on.

From where I'm standing it REALLY isn't worth the extra, but depends how much you THINK its worth really, or what compromises you are prepared to make elsewhere....

Concentrate on ONE thing at a time, and the FIRST thing is getting your licence.
____________________
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?'

[Biker_Beth]

Honda CBF.

Shes rides like a beauty and insurance is 250-300.
PERFECT first bike.
Feels like a 250 compared to most 125 ive ridden.

This is my baby
>https://img84.imageshack.us/img84/1823/42679637780188223361910.jpg

[JoeDougieDoug...]

[dungbug]

I'd go for something with cheap insurance to get you started, bikes aren't always for everyone. I brought a suzi GN125, arguably the dullest 125 out there but the insurance and economy return is very good. These can be brought reasonably cheap like the CG, which is also a good bike albeit not very 'exciting'. I'm happy to plod along with my GN, it's easy to ride & has given more back in riding experience than what I feel I paid for it. I will be doing my test this year, then I'll be more choosy and pick a bike by choice than neccessity. Teflon-Mike make's alot of good points, for starting out with a bike probably best to get something that will get you from A to B for as little outlay with insurance & fuel costs, if biking is for you then get the test done and you'll get alot more bike for your money.

I've had some issues with the GN (which I've pretty much established is the carb), I looked at the 125 market and for someting with a bit more poke/looks etc I'd do well to get something for under £1200. For this money there's alot of bigger bikes that would serve better for the commuting/odd ride out that I do. For me passing the test is the way forward, I've got some respect for the GN (despite it's mundane ride/carb problem) as it's provided me with 6 months riding, cheap insurance and I've saved alot of fuel during this 6 months.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[waffles]

[P.]

[Alpha-9]

£300 to insure my YBR from rampdales

just saiyan
https://images.wikia.com/dragonball/images/0/07/VegitoForce.png

[Biker_Beth]