bike reccomendation..from 125

[RooRoo]

I'm going to do my full test soon and would like a cheap (on insurance also) good bike to step up from my cg125, im not too bothered what it is or who its made by, as long as it looks okay and can keep up with motorway traffic, i was thinking CB500, gs 500, or sv650, but the sv650 seems to be quite expensive..thanks!

[Milo]

GPz500 or 550 (older, cheaper, better on insurance, more powerful, better sounding, not so expensive to drop...) are good ones to go for, so is the CB500/CB500s.

Have a look round and see what's about.

Oh, and go to Danny for insurance
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Shaft drives rule.

[Inkognito]

I went from no bike to a GPz500 and i quite like it. It certainly does move and even going at 80 it has plenty of power to spare for overtaking and stuff, so it only gets a thumb up from me.

Also I filled it up 2 days ago and have done about 60 miles on it till now and I can't really see that it's used any petrol when I look in the tank lol.

[stinkwheel]

Yeah, most of the petrol sits at the top of the tank, you can still fit a couple of litres in when it looks full.

I can fully recommend a GPZ500s (there was a thread on them about a week back if you have a look).

There isn't a lot to choose between that and a CB500, the kawa gains on performance (only slightly, but it behaves more like a sports bike) and the fairing. The honda wins on build quality.

Either of these beat a GS on quality of build/corrosion resistance although the GS is also well proven and a fair bit cheaper.

SV is a bit more full-on, your speed can exceed your capabilities on one when you first start, the others you have mentioned will go fast, but you have to decide to, the SV can creep up on you...and they rot away in the damp.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[iCraig]

In my opinion the GS500 is the better bike out of the GPZ/ER-5 and CB5's.

The GS has a much more reliable and simple engine, its easier and cheaper to maintain, cheaper to insure with it being group 7 (the lowest of the 500's). They also handle quite well and are quite fast for what they are!

From experience having owned the GS and ER-5, I can safely say the GS is a better bike IMO, if you do go for the ER-5/GPZ make sure it has service history or some record of oil changes as if these are negelected they can cause a whole list of engine problems!

Also bare in mind my view is slighlty biased towards the GS too, having owned 2 of the things now (it could even be 3 soon, but I'm resisting that temptation!)

[Kickstart]

Hi

We have a GPZ500. Basically they are reliable. The early models had ignition rotor problems after about 20000 miles, but anything newer than 12 years old should be fine. Ours does 60~65mpg.

All the best

Keith
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