Newbie 24+, straight to DAS or spend time with the L's?

[MrDent]

Hey guys and gals, been after a bike for a while but only now am I in the posistion to pull the trigger, 26 and long time car driver but I feel like a 125 might feel a bit like a powered bicycle. I've riden the odd moped around in fields in my youth and more recently some crazy 2-stroke snowmobiles (they don't fall over on their own though!).

If I was after a 125 it would be a basic CG or YBR sorta thing, if the KTM Duke was as reliable as its 200 brother it would of be a learner I'd actually want to get on.

Long term goal is a sexy naked like a trumpet triple or monster purely for fun and maybe the odd sunny days commute. Obviously I wouldn't jump out an buy something quite so shiney and unique apon passing the DAS, maybe something like an older hornet or the like would be the choice.

I guess the questions in the title, if you were me would you bother paying the teenager inflated premium for a learner legal bike or spend the money on a big bike course and pickup the bike after?

Any advice is massively appreciated!

Cheers.

[arry]

Go DAS. I did in similar circumstances to you and have never looked back.

My wife has a YBR 125 now and, although it's fun in its own sort of way and is a really useful means of transport, it's nothing like a big bike.

[BrownTrousers]

If I had my time again, save the £££ from CBT and a 125 and spend it on DAS straight away. If your an experienced driver then should have a good feel of roadcraft etc and no reason why can't sail straight through on a big bike.

Depending on the type of journey your doing you might soon get bored of a 125 and since your not too young there's not likely to be much diff on cost of insurance for a second hand big bike vs 125 either.

Just my
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Ducati Multistrada 950 | Triumph Tiger 800 XR | Honda CBR500R | Yamaha YBR 125 Custom

[Andy_Pagin]

My gut feeling is DAS will suit you...

Assuming MrDent is your real name, or a tribute to Arthur Dent from the Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy, and not what you do to cars
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They're coming to take me away, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-haaa, hey-hey,
the men in white coats are coming to take me away.
Yamaha Vity -> YBR125 -> FZS600 Fazer -> FZ1-S Fazer

[Ste]

DAS

[Robster]

Depends how natural you feel on the bike, and how nervy you are. I've failed my mod 2 now due to bad nerves and infamiliarity with bikes, so i've learnt the hard way to take the 125 route for a while, but each to their own.

[matto]

That's the problem really, you're not going to find out whether biking is going to be easy for you by just doing a CBT. There's no real reason to not just do DAS. However a little time spent on a 125 is going to be beneficial before doing DAS and realistically you're not going to lose any money buying a decent used 125 (unless you crash) so ultimately it's going to be down to you, despite what advice you get given here

[Tungtvann]

DAS, fo sho. I considered riding a 125 for a bit, but it only took doing my CBT to realise that 125 was not enough!

[hongkongdonke...]

I bought a 125 and spent a year on it. I learned a lot and built confidence and was always the best of the two riders when out on the road on the das. I ended up selling my 125 for more than it cost me after passing my test. I went this route as a friend of mine who passed his das didn't think it taught him a lot about riding, just how to pass the test.

[Clanger]

DAS. Then go out and buy yourself a small bike so you can wobble about and learn what you need to, and when you're ready you can sell it on and not worry about the next steps / the next tests as you will already be there.
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Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter won't mind - Dr. Seuss

[lifeisforlivi...]

DAS, I started on a 125 but when I got a big bike it was more stable than the 125 and was much more relaxing to ride as I didn't have to thrash it to keep up with traffic. The 125 was light and you could throw it around but a big bike will feel heavy pushing it but as soon as you are riding it doesn't make much difference.

[Robster]

it's a bit ofa gamble though innit, forking out the better half of a grand and failing mod 1 and 2. Unless you got deep pockets then it's fine

[waffles]

Get your CBT under your belt first and see how confident you feel on a bike. If you feel happy, go straight for DAS. Personally I would want to get my licence as soon as before the govt decide to change the goalposts again!
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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

[barrkel]

IMO if you're not riding to commute in a city, you're better off with DAS.

You don't really learn much about cornering at higher speeds until you have a bike that's fun to ride in the countryside at a semi-decent pace, and 125's aren't. They're bimbling machines.

City riding is different. You need to be hyper-aware, far more than in a car, and having a light nimble bike that doesn't go too fast very quickly helps. IMO.
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Bikes: S1000R, SH350; Exes: Vity 125, PS125, YBR125, ER6f, VFR800, Brutale 920, CB600F, SH300x4
Best road ever ridden: www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2MhNxUEYtQ

[FriendlyEllis]

Straight to DAS.

When you're new you have this
"I'll keep a less powerful bike for a bit.... I'd probably crash a bigger bike"

Maybe if your an idiot. Like the teens who crash their first car racing mates or showing off.

Reality is, bigger bikes are no faster than small ones, unless you choose to go faster.
They are generally more stable at speed on main roads and much easier to do fast safe over takes on. During my DAS the CBF600 I learnt on was much easier to ride than the 125. In fact, I loved it so much I can't even remember what the 125 was, CB I guess?

I went CBT, DAS in a month and bought a 600 Hornet. Love it.
Really easy to ride but big enough to get respect from cars as you can be much faster than most of them.
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Honda CB600F Hornet 2013 -> Kawasaki Z1000SX ABS Tourer 2015

[mase101]

Yeah i agree with friendlyellis on that, the bike will only go as fast as you let it. Bigger bikes are a lot more sturdier than the 125s and hold the road better and they have the power there to get you out of sticky situations if any come your way ie overtaking etc. Also like someone else said i would get it done before the government bring in another test on top of the cbt plus 3 tests your already required to pass!
Good luck!

[djrikki]

I learned in November so decided a 125 and CBT was the best route to begin with. Glad I did back then as it was dark and wet with a lot of errors that in a bigger heavier faster bike could have had me in all kinds of serious bother.

Now its almost summer Ive completed the theory mod1 & 2 and traded up to a 600. I only needed about 5 lessons on the bigger bike (3 hours a piece) to get the mod 1 and 2 nailed first time.

If learning in this weather Id have gone straight for the bigger bike but I also think that learning now with warm grippy roads and tyres might have given me a false sense of ability and come rain / winter I'd not be as cautious.

Either way its a lot of fun

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

[Rogerborg]

[Matt B]

[enormouse]

Glad this has been posted as I was thinking about doing DAS.

Sorry to hijack but is it ok to go straight from cbt to DAS if you're of the smaller, featherweight persuasion? Or is it better to get experience on a 125cc first?

[Matt B]

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

[Rogerborg]

[BTTD]

DAS.

Ultimately you want an unrestricted licence so you can choose the best bike to suit your needs / wants. Take the most direct route and get the licencing over and done with.