Best Cheap bike ?

[sugarpuff]

Whats the best bang for your buck bike out there ?

It has to preferably do 60mpg+, not cost and arm and a leg and be relatively easy to maintain.
I was thinking a second hand BMW F800 or Honda NC700X/ CB500X

there must be a few more contenders ?

[esullivan]

How long is a piece of string? You'll get as many answers as people on BCF.

It depends on how long you plan to own the bike for, what kind of riding, etc. Nothing will beat the price/mile of a 125cc, for example. A high-mileage used bike of 500+cc will get that kind of fuel figures and can be sold later for what you paid for it.
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Current: '14 VFR800X Test passed 31/10/12.
Previous: '12 NC700S, '11 CBF 125, '04 SH 125.

[angryjonny]

Don't think I've ever got more than about 40mpg out of any bike I've owned.

[sugarpuff]

I definitely dont want a 125, I have a Honda PCX right now which is great for mpg but not so good for going from Glasgow to Inverness, it'll get you there but overtaking anything is a pain in the butt, not that i'd be doing this route very often.

Aside from that i'm just looking for any recommendations..

[Rogerborg]

Hi, welcome to BCF.

I went for an F650GS (the detuned 800 twin) but more because it suited me than for value. It does get 65mpg+, but then so have all my other bikes when ridden for economy.

You can get value-for-money two ways:

#1 Buy low and sell high before anything goes wrong or it depreciates.

#2 Buy very low, ride it into the ground, and walk away.

Anything else is going to eat money, either in depreciation, servicing or consumables. Bikes aren't that cheap to run. Unless you're dodging congestion charging or parking, get a small modern turbodiesel car.
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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

[dydey90]

You won't be able to get a cheap NC700, they're pretty new.
Beemers seem to hold their value too.

I think an ER5 would be a good recommendation. You can pick them up for next to nothing and they're decent, if basic.
____________________
This post is probably not serious and shouldn't be taken literally.
Past: CBR125,ER6f NINJA 650, ZZR600 Current: VFR750

[Teflon-Mike]

1980's Honda CD200 Benly
About the cheapest thing you can buy with an MOT, as in sub £500 for good tidy example.
Cheaper to insure than a 125, & old enough to qualify for classic policy to boot, yet the extra cubes mean extra grunt, means less thrashy to make it shift, can mean better mpg, up in the 90's. Simple, air-cooled twin; cheap, DIY maintainable.

If it's all about the numbers, it's about as much biking as you can get for your money.

Seem to recal, some-one worked out that a Honda C70 was, mile for mile, cheaper to run than a Bic Biro; you want miles for your money, this is the sort of place to be looking...

On the other hand? Kawasaki ZZR1100. If it's miles per hour, rather than miles per gallon you want? About as much speed as you can get for a grand.

Those two sort of book-end the question, and leave a HUGE range in between.

That curiously wouldn't include the bikes you have suggested.... CB500X... a brand new motorcycle? Well, depreciation rather dents any other economies of how much bike for your buck.
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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?'

[Az]

Honda CB500? Cheap, around 60mpg and they seem to last for quite a few miles.

There's also the CBF500, 55mpg (according to fuelly.com), can be found cheap and i can't imagine it needs much maintenance as they're popular courier bikes.

[Vincent]

OP, you may get more answers if you state your actual budget - what costs an "arm and a leg" for some people is a "walk in the park" for others
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Space Is Deep

[sugarpuff]

[dydey90]

My ER6 was £4k with 130 miles on the clock. That's singular miles.
For that budget you should be able to get anything in the 500cc range thats not more than a year or two old.
____________________
This post is probably not serious and shouldn't be taken literally.
Past: CBR125,ER6f NINJA 650, ZZR600 Current: VFR750

[Vincent]

How about a mint TDM850?
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Space Is Deep

[Slacker24seve...]

[Vincent]

[unluckyluke]

[stevo as b4]

Bad way to choose a motorcycle, unless your getting into it for the whole save money commuting, let the missus use the family car and only run one, to save on parking, tax, insurance etc etc?

With the above in mind it will always be a small bike, and probably a 4stroke as isn't everything these days anyway. When you get into the 70-100bhp category and bigger, heavier, and or sportier bikes, then running costs quite easily can exceed a small city car like an Aygo etc.

If your choosing a bike for any other reason, it's got to be because it's one you like and want, other than if your flat broke, offered something cheap and or convenient or simply don't care, as long as it does what you need it to do?

As an example, unless I was buying one as a cheap 600cc get me to work hack and saw a cheap, local and tidy one, I would not buy say a Suzuki Bandit 600, unless I had always wanted one and been long time interested in them.

[The Shaggy D.A.]

£4k budget? A £1k CB500, and £3k's worth of fuel.
____________________
Chances are quite high you are not in my Monkeysphere, and I don't care about you. Don't take it personally.
Currently : Royal Enfield 350 Meteor
Previously : CB100N > CB250RS > XJ900F > GT550 > GPZ750R/1000RX > AJS M16 > R100RT > Bullet 500 > CB500 > LS650P > Bullet Electra X & YBR125 > Bullet 350 "Superstar" & YBR125 Custom > Royal Enfield Classic 500 Despatch Limited Edition (28 of 200) & CB Two-Fifty Nighthawk > ER5

[DrSnoosnoo]

A £600 CG125 and 3 n half grands worth of petrol. I got 107 miles on 6 L last week.

I don't wanna do the maths but you could probably go around the world!

actually I'll do the maths - I bought petrol yesterday at ASDA for 126.7 so that's 2683.5 L and that would give me ... 46.6k miles. That's quite far!
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I'm Sam; Northern, Ginger, Lover
Did have: '95 ZZR600 '83 CG125 '97 ZZR1100 '15 Hypermotard 821 SP Do Have: '10 ZX10R

[dydey90]

...And the Earth is only 24,859.82 miles in circumference, so you could do nearly two laps! But only at 60mph or less.
____________________
This post is probably not serious and shouldn't be taken literally.
Past: CBR125,ER6f NINJA 650, ZZR600 Current: VFR750

[iooi]

[Ribenapigeon]

Ride magazine has an economy page which publishes data on MPG. I'm sure any commuter 600 is going to give you a good balance between MPG and enough poke.

[DrSnoosnoo]

[sugarpuff]

[iooi]

[stevo as b4]

My N-plate CG125 did about 85mpg thrashed hard everywhere as you would to make fair progress. TBH, it had an intermittent misfire, probably ignition related, and maybe it should have done more mpg.

But at 85mpg I was too busy laughing my cock off to care about about if It could do better or not?