Motorcycle Or Scooter?

[Charliemay165]

Okay so I currently have a Derbi Senda (geared) 50cc. I turn 17 in a couple of months and I am unsure whether to get a geared 125 or an auto. Sounds stupid right? Geared of course! Most of you will say... That's what I thought when I bought my Derbi. But things have changed now and I literally live next to my college and live a 5 minute ride away from where I work... As much as I would love to buy myself a fancy Honda CBR 125 or Yamaha equivalent I'm finding it really hard justifying why I should buying one. I intend on doing my A1 test so I can take the occasional passenger too. Getting a scooter would save me around £1000 as a decent scooter could cost me as little as 1k! Where as the CBR... around 2-2.5. Thoughts? Any good answers would be much appreciated. Cheers

[Snowdonia Rider]

A decent bike will cost you as little as £1k. Why a Mattel CBR?
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[Charliemay165]

[Barnoe]

auto or geared kinda depends what your future plans are bike wise.

If at some point your going to get a geared bike (passing test for big bike or just staying on a 125) i would think your gonna need to learn gears anyway.

changing gears is the one thing most bikers expect to have problems with for some reason, in truth not many do have problems at all.

You will be conscious of your gear changes for a few week, then over time wont even know your doing it, much like twisting the throttle.

Bike choice...
reliability is the main thing, you need to buy something that gives you least problems.
Most major bike manufacturers build solid bikes these days so new isnt a problem, used wise your just looking for a bike thats been looked after. If you can, take someone with you who knows bikes pretty well.
Also read up on them online, so you know common faults before viewing.

buy the style of bike that suits you, dont be swayed to buy a bike because someone else says cruisers/sports/tourers etc suck balls

Good luck though
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You know you are old when you're told to slow down by your doctor and not the police.

[Alpineandy]

[Charliemay165]

[carpe_diem]

[Charliemay165]

[carpe_diem]

[Alpineandy]

[Charliemay165]

[Charliemay165]

[Alpineandy]

[Dave70]

Tbh, if you've no intention of taking your 2 wheeled exploits further than you are currently doing (ie; short 5 minute runs), then you are probably best sticking to a scooter, at least financially anyway.

However, getting a geared 125 would be best if you think you might want to up your game at some later date.
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There ain't no devil, there's just god when he's drunk.

2012: R125 killed by white van. 2016 R125 killed by 30,000 miles of redline. Current: 2016 Kawasaki ER6f.

[Evil Hans]

[Charliemay165]

[Dave70]

Then why not just keep your current scoot to get you through the winter months?

Then, come spring time, go out and buy yourself a nice geared 125 and get your test done on it with the £££'s you've saved using the scoot. I'm sure that if you did this, you'll be wanting to go out for longer rides come the good weather.
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There ain't no devil, there's just god when he's drunk.

2012: R125 killed by white van. 2016 R125 killed by 30,000 miles of redline. Current: 2016 Kawasaki ER6f.

[Charliemay165]

[Alpineandy]

[andyscooter]

where are all these £1000 13-15 plate scooters then as I may need one again soon


if you want one buy one

if you want a bike get a bike

you can pick up a ybr for about 800 quid
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gilera runner vxr200 (chavped)
if its spelt wrong its my fat fingers and daft auto correct on my tablet

[Holdawayt]

This is just my opinion, but I can't look at a scooter without instantly thinking either chav, learner who can't figure out gears or midlife crisis mod.

I had a café racer GN125 for my learner bike. Cost around £700, had 5 gears and I couldn't fault it. Always go for the geared option, especially if, as you claim, you're image conscious.

[wots]

My take. Geared all the way, it's easy to leave gears behind and go twist n go later. Harder the other way, also, applaud A1 but why buy a T n G then do A1. Do it on a manual.

Regarding bike, I'd say this. £1K is reasonable for a budget, BUT, although the plastic fantastic bikes look good, they look attractive to people that don't want to pay. Which will also make your insurance pricey. Buy an Almax chain and use it!
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Currently: Yamaha DT 125 LC2,Repsol Fireblade, and Bumblebee MSX 125

[Teflon-Mike]

How much is your image worth to you? That's the bottom line.

Cost of a utility commuter like a YBR shouldn't be much if any different to a T&G if that's what you want, and you are likely to find the insurance is more favorable to either T&G or 'sporty-style' 125.

And that is rather pinnacle to the matter. IF you have such short journeys to make, what's wrong with a push bike? £100 in Halfrauds and no tax, no insurance, no MOT and no fuel needed!

Longer journeys to visit freinds/family? Savings would pay for a lot of bus fares, taxis or train tickets.... or add up in a savings account towards an A2 in two years time...

Back to top.. how much is your image worth to you?

Do you really need a motor-vehicle & associated risks & hassles and costs?

Do you really 'want' one? And if so, is the pleasure it's likely to deliver worth what you are likely to pay, compared to say, nights on the razz, or whatever else you may be into?

Back to the bottom line, ITS YOUR MONEY - ITS YOUR CALL!

But, FWIW, if you DO reckon it's worth it, AND you do have an eye to doing A2 when you are old enough, then I would strongly recommend, going for a geared commuter, and sod the style. Use it on L's as intended by L's to practice for tests, get training if you can, but PLAN to take the A1 tests. they only cost as much as a repeat CBT you would need to carry on riding a 125 until 19 and A2 eligible, anyway, and if you want to carry on riding 125's you never have to repeat CBT; Bikes come and go, but the licence is for life! And come 19, if you want to do A2, you are already a qualified rider; familiar with gears, you shouldn't need so much expensive training to get an A2 licence, and having passed tests once, passing them over on a bigger bike, shouldn't be such a biggie, and you aught have a lot more confidence of a pass, so its a big head start on the deal; and if you have been pottering about on a geared 50 for a few months, you already have a head start and 'really' shouldn't be far off test standard already, and aught not take much to get up to scratch and pass A1 on a geared 125.

And back to your image? How much better would ANYTHING look without the L-Plate on it? How much better still, would it look with a pretty little thing on the pillion? And how much more 'fun' would that be?
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[onlyJaz]

I was in a similar boat to you actually, struggling between getting an auto scooter or a geared bike and I think you've got some sound advice above by many of the guys

My reasons:

My image consciousness didn't want me looking like a typical L-plate scooter rider (I figured other road users would be less forgiving). But that's where my image consciousness ended because end of the day, it's what you want that matters, and I wanted to get comfortable on gears. I went for a 2010 Yamaha YBR 125, I chose reliability over that "sports-bike" look. It had under 5k on the clock and I picked it up for just under £1.1k - so that could be something to consider if you're on a budget like I was?

[Rogerborg]

First, good on you for planning to do your A1 tests. Tef's seething inside that he can't deliver the usual rant.

There's a lot between a scooter and a CBR/YZF. Just for example, a used Sinnis Apache / Lexmoto / Pulse Adrenaline can be had for a grand. Yyou can scoop an XR125L or a Van Van 125 for that money. Heck, an older CBR125 can be had for a grand. You may even bag a Varadero if you're lucky and prepared.

Yes, scooters are more practical. They make good use of their power. But they are very dull to ride.

There's no right or wrong answer, but I wouldn't write off geared bikes just because you can't get a newish "sports" bike for your budget.
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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