Which bike, decisions?

[Full_throttle]

Ok, so I recently passed my CBT, hopefully on the way to taking my test. It's 30yrs since I rode a bike, which was a little 50cc Yamaha and I loved it. I took the plunge and thought why not, and after a whole day training and road work came back and got my certificate. Rather large cheesy grin on my face I can tell you

I do lack some confidence, so plan to have a couple more full on training days, but am thinking of playing safe and buying a 125 so I get road knowledge, familiar with the bike and experience. Now I'm a tall girl and though I would look ridiculous on a Honda CBF125, but I did not. I have seen and surprisingly liked the MT7 125

I do need to be sat slightly more upright rather than sports bike position, with my old bones Are these bikes a good place to start or can anyone recommend alternatives?

Thank you

[wr6133]

Unless you are scandalously wealthy skip the new expensive 125. Get your proper licence and look at bigger bikes.

[Full_throttle]

I think after a couple of lessons jumping to a big bike is a step too far for me

[Beehive Bedlam]

Varadero 125.

As above though I would DAS.

[struan80]

Mangaged, after a few months of trying, to get my mate to do his CBT so I have someone to ride with at last. He recently bought a Honda Varadero (thanks to BCF reading/advise and it was cheap and sprang up local)

It is quite large for a 125 and I thought was almost size of small 600. I like the look of it too, Hornet was first big bike i had a shot on and have had a fondness since then and it kind off reminded of that (only to look at mind it goes naff all like the Hornet ). It was nice to handle with comfortable riding position. Brakes were terrible but that it likely just his bike as it looks like it could use some TLC. Way better than the Honda VT 125 Shadow that I opted for as a 125 starter but I did have a moustache and leather waistcoat at that point.

Edit:. my mate, Dougie Bleakley, to name in shame. On his first planned commute to work on the bike was well late for work that day as the bike wouldn't start. After much hastke he bought a new battery, got his mate to come and install it, only for his mate to notice that the kill switch was off and everything was actually fine! ehhhehe

That's what you get for telling Lorraine about me dropping R6 with cheesy grin on your face, you bastard Bleakley.

[wr6133]

[Rogerborg]

Bah, beat me too it.

Everyone says it, nobody believes it: bigger bikes are easier to ride.

They're more stable, the brakes work better than on a budget commuter, you're more visible and they're far more capable of getting you out of trouble.

They're also capable of getting you into trouble, but that's entirely within your control.

If you got on with your CBT instructors, pop back down, tell them that you're considering doing a training course, and blag a quick go on an 'A' training bike. You might be very pleasantly surprised.
____________________
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

[Full_throttle]

Isn't a 125 though with a rider with few miles under her belt, stepping up to say a 600 a huge leap?

I could ask though, plan to book 2 x days and see how I get on

[struan80]

Roger. Have only been on the forums for a short while and have noted you are the grandfather or maybe godfather of BCF and full of much wiseness, help and authority. Surely no way you can be from East Kilbride?

Op I have also found larger capacity bike feels more secure, especially in the wind and remember feeling like any large bike would be too much for me before having a go on one.

However I have been caught out a couple of times mind on larger capacity bike being a noob in only a couple of months of riding and both times luck/bike saved me.

First, on throttle in wet too aggressively casing rear end to slide back and forth way too much for me to do anything about, bike gathered itself up = large poop 1 on commuter 650

Second, overtaking at a speed not to be mentioned, on throttle too hard and pull out to overtake at same time over a white centre line in the dry, back wheel loses traction, thought i was going to high side but came back together. Lesson learned...pull out first then hard on gas! = Large poop 2 on R6. What i must really need is a superbike bike with traction control hmm!

[Rogerborg]

If you spazz out and crack the throttle wide open, you'll have a bad day. So just don't do that, and the rest is gravy.

There is some extra weight to deal with, but the moment you're moving that becomes a positive thing.

That's not to say that you won't have a blast on your own 125 as well, I just wouldn't plan to keep one for longer than absolutely necessary to get your license. So if you do want one, I'd suggest buying pretty much anything Japanese branded, 3+ years old, with a year's MOT on it. It won't depreciate much.

Do be aware that some of the cheaper underwriters won't let you switch a 125 policy to a bigger bike, so you may take a bath on that when you come to upgrade bikes.

And again, I'd urge you to try a 600 before you commit to buying a 125. Make the decision on an informed basis as once you've had something that big and powerful surging between your legs you won't be satisfied rattling around on a tiddler.
____________________
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

[Full_throttle]

Thank you for your advice really appreciate it, lots to think about

[Alpineandy]

[andyscooter]

Not sure if you have a driving licence or not

When you passed you possiblydid it in a 1.9 diesel

That a 2 litre

Are you dead

No

Well tjhen
____________________
gilera runner vxr200 (chavped)
if its spelt wrong its my fat fingers and daft auto correct on my tablet

[Polarbear]

I am the biggest advocate of getting bigger than a 125. It really is easier to ride a bigger bike.

However, if you are adamant on a 125 the Varadero is the ONLY 125 that I have ridden then I would class as acceptable.

I don't know if Honda have slipped a few extra ponies in it on the sly, but it's by far the largest, most responsive 125 I've ridden.
____________________
Victory Cross Country American tractor.

[Rogerborg]

Oh sure, Varadero if you can find a good 'un.

And very good point that you don't have to go up in performance once you've passed. Some of us are happy with ~20hp and a jaunty attitude.
____________________
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

[Doomsnite]

Luckily for me, i made money on my 125 when i sold it so i would have had an even bigger regret in not doing my full test sooner but as it stands it was just the 6mths time I lost which annoyed me. After about a month of riding, i was just itching for the bigger bike. Its definitely easier to ride.
____________________
Triumph Street Triple-R
Sold: Honda Hornet CB600F-Y / Yamaha YBR125

[Val]

[Teflon-Mike]

I still hold that time on a tiddler's rarely wasted.
They aren't easier to ride, but usually lighter and frequently less powerful there's less to 'manage'. Which is a double edged sword; lack of weight, and lack of power means you have to learn to get the most out of it; bike wont do it all for you, and flatter numptiness damping any clumsiness with mass or reserve of power; they'll wobble if you aren't smooth and they'll grumble or stall if you muff the clutch or pick a wrong gear; so they will help you discover your mistakes and weaknesses and ask you to put them right, early on. In this respect they are good training tools.
And, you don't have to have an instructor watch you wobble; after CBT you can ride one unsupervised, on your own on L-Plates, which means you can practice to your hearts content to get what the bike tells you is troubling you, until you get it right.
I STILL wont discourage any-one for buying one, for the right reasons.

For OP's circumstances

[stevo as b4]

Say I'm 30 and have an old 125cc bike. What is the danger to kittens and the huge amount of destruction to life likely to be if I pass test on a 125cc and ride it for two years whilst restoring my early Fireblade project etc?

My questions are:

1, why do we need different tests for different cc bikes now, and how many lives does it save?

2, How many years spent /1000's of miles on a 12-15bhp 125 does to take to be highly experienced and safe to ride my Fireblade without becoming a sudden statistic?

3, Why do old codgers need to pass tests on 600cc 96bhp bikes or whatever the strict criteria is? to be trusted with their old school urban tiger or pure sports or slingshot etc?

4, Could the licensing system ever be made any worse or more fucked up, and did they ever think that doing all this confusing and pointless stepped Brussels licencing circus would actually maintain or increase the numbers of new riders coming in, and people staying on two wheels for longer?

Come the full circle of the economic recovery 3-8years?? and the elimination of the need for many to have to buy cheap and cheerful transport with low running costs and the re-surgence of the 2-3car families etc, then under current or ever more restrictive legislation, then biking could be finished as a mode of transport for all but the dies hard always ride till I die types.

It would only take the above and something else to back it up like low fuel prices and cheaper car insurance for young people, and the A-B category of riders will disappear quickly!

I'm not sure how that happening will help the industry or the manufacturers sell more machinery? It will be left to the I've always had a Blade or R1 new every 2years minority to fund bike sales, and these boys are all getting older now!

[Wednesday Biker]

It can't hurt to get a 125 and get used to riding before moving up.Not everyone picks riding up as quickly.I was a slow learner back in my teens but my girlfriend picked it up really quickly during the cbt ,while one lad on the course was wobbling all over.
If you go that route then a nice condition Varadero would be a good choice.I wouldn't buy new.I did and I regretted it.
They are nice bikes and not too depressing speed wise.

You would handle an average 600 though no problem.
My girlfriend bought a z750 after passing and she had no trouble with the power.I thought she might do but she is quite sensible.Its the weight of the bike really that took her some getting used to rather than the power.
They don't run away with you unless you let them.If I rev my bike hard from a start the front end starts coming up and I let off a bit or change up.Its not something you really do by accident.

You'd be fine going straight to the bigger cc bikes but I am a fan of doing some time on 125's, especially if as you say you lack some confidence.

[Rogerborg]

[Full_throttle]

The posts have been brilliant, thank you

I have booked another day lesson for end of May, a whole day too, just to smarten up my riding, and sharpen up my technique it was a bit rough round the edges. As you say the 125 will let me know the errors of my ways

I'm looking forward to it, and I'm sure after this one, I will be much more confident. It didn't help when I did my CBT one of the lads came off his bike and the other stalled it a lot. I thought bloody hell is going to make a right mess of this, thankfully only stalled it the once.

The other two lads went out for an hour in lovely sunshine, they got back and it was my turn and the heavens opened, and I mean it chucked it down. But I did much better out on the road, though at times I found the instructions a bit distracting at times though he was great to be fair.

End of the month I'm booking my theory test, then another days training on the 125 then hopefully move to the bigger bike. At least then I'm in a position to take the test and then decide what bike

Gosh I nearly sound sensible for once

Thank you all again, this is one journey I am so looking forward to

[Rogerborg]

Well, it's great that you're enjoying it. If you can smile while it's tipping down, it's probably for you.
____________________
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

[Wednesday Biker]

[Raksha]