First 125 advice

[WretchedOne]

Now I know this has been covered many times before and this is my first post so please be gentle....

I'm new to biking passed my CBT last month have been traveling and now back in UK and ready to get serious. I'm 23 so my plan is to get a nice 125 to learn on for around 10 months and then do a direct acces course shortly after my birthday. This seems like the best way to do it.

As I'll be riding the 125 for around a year I would like a nice bike budget around £1000 and something to learn on and commute. I work all round London so will be traveling around a bit.

Now everyone here seems to recommend the cg125 plus a couple of my biker mates but seems to me this is only if your on the fast track for getting the full? Plus I hate the look of them and want a bike I will really enjoy/love if I'll be using for some time.

Been looking around on eBay and the NSR seems nice, CBR looks tiny, yzf is probably out of my budget. Any advice would be great as I'm new to this and finding it really hard to make a decision. Hear aprilia break down a lot. So seems like I should buy a NSR.

Thanks in advanced.

WRETCH1

[Teflon-Mike]

I'm going to start with a rhetorical questions for you to mull; Do you know a con-rod from a push-rod, or a piston ring from an O-Ring? Do you know a drop-link from a Split-Link, or perhaps a Brake Pad, from a Brake Shoe? In short, do you have any spannering know-how when it comes to motorbikes?

Reason for asking, is that bikes ent cars; cars these days are like washing machines; you get in, turn the key and drive them, stopping occasionally to stick some Go-Juice in the tank, and when they stop working... you chuck'em away. Bikes need a lot more maintenence than cars, and comes as a bit of a culture shock to some folk, not just that they need it, but how much, and how frequently they need it.

Now, lets start with fact you are looking at Learner-Bikes. Learners, by definition aren't expected to know very much, either about riding bikes, or looking after them.

This means that first of all, they tend not to treat their bikes very gently. Clutches get cooked, gears get crunched, bikes get lurched, slammed and generally not treated very well. Then, once they have grasped the rudimentary bits of making motion, learner riders have a tendancy of doing two things; first, thrashing the knackers of these bike, as its not very fast or powerful, AND falling off quite often.

So, onto how they get looked after; again, prospects ent great. Know-Little owners can kill a bike with as much kindness as they can cruelty! But either way, its not helpful. They can be utterly neglected; and of course, suffering crash damage, they are likely to be fixed about as well as they are maintained.

OK... THAT is the fate of Learner-Bikes in general, and obviously the older they are, more chance they will have spent more time suffering.

NSR 125 is a Learner-Bike... its also an OLD learner bike... when did they make the last one, about 2001? Youngest, now, is going to be pushing thirteen years old, oldest nearly 25 years old. None of them are going to be spring chickens; and they will ALL have suffered at the hands of a succession of Learner-Owners.

But, made worse; they are SPORTS 125's... so mere styling is going to attract the more exuberant 'Boy-Racers' amongst the Learner Riders... who are probably even LESS mechanically sympathetic than the average learner, and who will almost certainly want to thrash the pants off it and go as fast as they can, and who in consequence probably most likely to fall off... and they have lots of rather fragile plastic around them to get broke when they do that.

And back to standards of maintenence; those Boy-Racer owners are probably even less inclined to 'good' maintenence than the average learner; and IF they lift a spanner to the bike... most likely to be to see if they can 'De-Restrict' it and make it faster, rather than to do something more helpul, like replace tyres or chain or make brakes work properly.

Oh... and its a two-stroke... again, much more likely to attract the totally 'performance' orientated learner, with ideas about how much 'faster' they are than four-strokes; and careless of the warnings that two-strokes tend to be rather demanding of maintenance, which when they need it, tends to be rather expensive, requiring half the guts of the engine replaced each time!

Of the genre... the NSR was the 'more' day to day livable than others, like the Aprillia RS or Cagiva Mito... but... worlds away from every day use and low hassle levels offered by a CG or its ilk.

And, these days; they are OLD. Twenty year old. Any twenty year old bike is likely to be on its last legs by now; let alone a 20 year old Learner-Legal, worse, 20 year old sports Learner, worse still two-stroke Sports Learner.

Might be 'OK' as a Sunny-Day toy, but would be VERY far from my top choice for an every-day practical way to work.... and I DO know my float-bowl from my cable elbow when it comes to maintenance.

And for £1000? Well, thats only just entry money for 125's, and what you are talking about is a very desirable one, to the kiddie-go-kwik brigade. Yes, they are old, so they dont command huge money; but what you would get for a grand, is likely to be rather ropey under shiny plastic, and likely to spend more time with that plastic sat on the lawn while you find and sort horrors beneath than it is on the bike.

I would REALLY advice you to re-think this 'idea'.

Otherwise, plan of riding a 125 for a year till you can get full value from a DAS course seems relatively sound...

But, its NOT an 'eternity' that begs you 'MUST' have bike that full-fills all your aspirations of aesthetics.... NOTHING looks good with L-Plates anyway... and its not a long time and not much to suffer, having a bike that's maybe not 'all' you might hope for... in fact most people suffer entire LIFE TIMES of living with not quite all we'd hope for, or we'd all die next to 21 year old super-models between silk sheets, surrounded by servants, in twenty room mansions, with a garage full of classic cars & bikes!

Next up; 'getting serious'... well, planning to buy a bike and piss about on L's for a year worrying about what you look like in shop windows, don't sound very 'serious' to me.

Getting serious, would be being to get a bike, and use it to prepare yourself for getting that ride what you like licence in a years time, as best you can... shop windows don't really come into that equation....nor does getting a kiddie-go-kwik machine and trying to live out some sort of Byker-Boz fantacy each day to work!

Getting seriouse to MY mind would be getting a bike that 'does the job', and which you can stand decent chance of being able to crank up miles on... which means first being affordable, second reliable, and third, most 'rideable' and less likely to encourage you to stipidity, so the thing doesn't spind most of its time sat on the patio waiting to be 'fixed'... and CAN let you get out and get miles under your belt.

Getting MORE serious... you are planning to take training... well.. in a year...

Thats great... if you survive a year... but damn site more use to get that training NOW when you are starting out, and learn a few things that MIGHT just MIGHT save you a heap of hurt, when you are MOST likely to get hurt... when you first start riding!

Learn to do stuff, right, right at the start.

And 125? Well, you cant do a DAS course on one; but absolutely NO reason you cant do some training on one... and BEST bit of a 125, you have that bike to take home after lessons and practice on, NOT paying an instructor to watch you wobble, fulfilling licence requirement of supervision, to let you do it on a bigger bike.

THAT is getting a 'bit' serious.

Want to get more seriouse still? Well, get your Motorcycle Theory/Hazard test done; and then, go book an A1 Mod 1 test. Costs £15. Repeat until you pass. You can do it on your own 125, and its cheaper than a lesson. Follow that up, doing likewise, self booking A1 Mod 2's on your own 125. They cost £75 but if you are 'seriouse' ought not be a problem.

Gets you a Full A1 Motorcycle licence... lets you rip up them ugly L's... not much else... only lets you ride 14.5bhp 125 you can on L's... BUT... you have got a licence; and know you can pass tests, know your riding is up to par, and WHEN you come to be eligible to do DAS... well, its just a formality, innit, doing over on a bigger bike.

You wont have to worry that your CBT cert will expire before you pass; nor that you have to get your Theory/Hazard done before you can begin... AND, having done it all before, you should need less training to ensure a first time pass....

A1? pointless? Perhaps, but a failed A1 on your own bike only looses you your test fee... starts to get expensive failing tests under DAS when you are paying perhaps £150 over test fees for school bike under your bum. Its a good stepping stone... if you really are 'serious'.

which brings us back in a loop... 'cos if you are as you suggest 'seriouse' then a CG125 or Yamaha YBR or similar 'Boring' commuter bike IS the tool for THAT job... its the 'Seriouse' I want to LEARN bike... not the 'Kiddie-Go-Kwik' posers 'toy' for some-one who ISN'T serious about it, and want to 'learn' and move on, but 'look the part', while they 'play at it'.

And for £1000 with remit it needs to be an every-day commuter? CG is the right tool for the job... but even THAT at that money, is hopeful.

Its bargain basement money for ANYTHING with an MOT, tax and L-Plates, between £500 & £1000, and your 'choice' will be dictated as much by what is actually for sale, as much as what you might like the look of from the buyers guides; and THEN by what state its actually in, IF it hasn't been snapped up before you can get to look at it.

There's a lot more folk who want learner-legals who can scrape that kind of money together in cash, than there are learner-legals for sale.

So, looking at the ones that are least likely to 'inspire' is where you are most likely to find one that stands some chance of being in better nick for your nikka, and not snapped up by a hot head full of enthusiasm with money burning a hole in their pocket, before you can get to it, and once bought ACTUALLY doing the job, of simply working, getting you to and from on your commute, letting you get miles under your belt and letting you 'learn'.

End of the day, its your life, your money, your plan... but, its not plan to 'get serious'. Up to you whether you want to take advice offered and perhaps revise your plan a bit, or carry 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?'

[Scotsman37]

Teflon-Mike didn't realise you were writing an essay, and that was a long reply to read but a good one!

In my opinion if you plan to take the full licence in about 10 months or so then don't break your bank account because once you've got a taste of riding a 500cc or greater bike then you will feel very much under powered remaining on 125cc bike! So, buy a cheap 2nd hand 125 that will be reliable to get from A to B or for a nice run around to build your experience up on it getting used to the gears and practising the U-turns on it! With hopefully a no claims with your insurance provider once the year is up then the next time your renewal it won't be costly except you may have to shop around for another insurance provider because some of them like to keep you at the same rate rather than give you that all important discount, as for having no claims on insurance.

I know you want a good looking bike but keep in mind the resale value of the bike once you've bought it will drop overtime, and therefore look for one that is competitively priced that is still within your budget which will not be a BIG loss in 10 months to a years when you possibly sell it on or trade it in for a bigger bike once you've got that full licence in your pocket!

[Rogerborg]

Alternative suggestion: skip the tiddler, go straight to a taught course and get an A2 license.

That'll get you on something like a restricted Fazer, SV650S or GSX650F. Get something 595cc or bigger, ride it around and then when you turn 24, if you feel the need you can go book and do your full A tests on your own bike without any further training.

The DVSA will assume that it's unrestricted and won't be able to tell on test. You got it there in a van / trailer / mate rode it in / you took out the restrictor in the car park. Slap L plates on for the test, job done.

Another £100 and two tests that you already know that you can pass, and you're finished.
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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