Should I start with 125cc? Or straight to bigger bikes?

[en_garde]

Hi all

I tried my friend's bike and decided I want to get one too. I'm 24 so I can sit the test for A directly.

Obviously biking is known as somewhat risky - so my question is - should I start with a 125cc on L plates or sit my A test and get a bigger bike straight away?

Would like to hear the arguments.

If you recommend 125cc - would you say around £2000 is a reasonable price for a starter?

Thanks!

[Fizzoid]

I'd say if you don't need a bike straight away (transport/commuting/etc) and you do plan on riding something bigger anyway, then go straight for the DAS
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[Ste]

Get your full license, there's no benefit in putting off doing the training and tests.

Once you've done that, with experience of riding a 125cc from doing your CBT and experience of riding a 500cc from doing your DAS, you'll then be in a better position to decide what size bike you want.

You'll find that bigger bikes are easier to ride than tiddlers.

[owl]

[Rogerborg]

[kgm]

There's a lot to be said for 125s, but only in certain applications and I find mine way easier and more effective to ride now that I've got experience than I did when I rode around with just a CBT (I also have bigger bikes).

However for those that are able to I'd generally suggest just doing DAS and buying a sensible big bike, it's cheaper long term and in many ways a bigger bike is easier to ride provided you don't get something with loads of power and on/off power delivery. Plus the DAS training will stand you in good stead.

For what it's worth most schools now use 650 twins for DAS training, although I even know one guy who uses a VFR800 VTEC which I thought was an odd choice.

[Alpineandy]

Find a local bike training school and do your CBT.

Tell the instructor that you think you'll do your DAS and after your CBT they'll probably (if it's decent school) let you wobble round their car park on their big bike which will make you appreciate how much better a big bike feels. Much more 'planted'.

If doing the CBT just confirms to you that you want your full licence then do the DAS. But the CBT could scare the living daylights out of you and make you decide that bikes aren't for you... hopefully no though.

You don't have to buy a big bike as soon as you pass. You can get a 250/300 (cheap'ish used of course) and use that for a year, but IMO a 125 isn't a good bike to learn much on, whereas 250+ is.

If you hadn't been lazy by not entering your location on your profile, someone on here may well have recommended a good local school by now.
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The above comment isn't necessarily the truth and anyone that says it is, is only correct if it's the truth or they're bigger than me.

[ThatDippyTwat]

As said, as long as your CBT doesn't scare the shit out of you, then do your DAS and have a look around. Some schools (usually smaller ones) have a few different styles of bikes, ask nicely and you can probably try them out.

The only reason to ride a 125 if you can afford to do your full license, is economy on your commute.

[Teflon-Mike]

Last thing you actually 'need' before you can ride a motorbike, is an actual motorbike.

First thing is to go do your CBT; compulsory basic training, it validates your 'learner' licence for up to two years, so you can actually ride a bike of some sort on the public road; and if you dont treat it with distain and only pay lip service to the lesons, there is a heck of a lot of learning to be had in it. Get that learning and a lot of the questions you have now will be answered (IF you ask them!) or will be redundant.

As to what to do after that; well, odds is you will be steered towards a DAS course by your instructor, if you get on with it. That might get you a licence, and probably a ride what you like one; which does mean Ride What You LIke.. NOT 'As Big As You Like'.

You can ride a 125 on a full licence you know. AND despite the distain they so often recieve, they can be very useful machnes; best of them have performance you aren't legally allowed on L-Plates, but even Learner-Legal ones can often exceed the elevated National-Speed-Limit of 70MPH in the UK, so are as 'fast' as anything is legally alowed to go in this country, and SMIDSY's dont discriminate; I mean do you think they sit there in side turns and think, "Ow Cutsey lidduw Tiddler... I WONT pull out on him! I'll wait for something Bigger to come along instead!" Nah! They dont.

You face the same risks to life and licence regardless of what you ride; and the 'only' saving grace of tiddlers is that, here and now, the biggest risk you face on two wheels s probably yourself... in that, tiddlers with restricted performance can go some-way to saving you from yourself... BUT if you are an idiot who NEEDS saving from themselves, it probably wont make much difference.

Beyond that; tiddlers best quality is 'Cheaps', they can offer a hell of a lot of biking for your money. They tend to command something of a premium to buy, because they may be ridden on an L-Plate; and they tend to command a rather loaded insurance premium due to so many clueless newbs riding them on L-Plates, so they are more often crashed or stolen. But beyond that, they re cheap to tax; usually dont use much petrol, and serive spared tend to be reasonably cheap, so mile for mile, they can offer about as much biking per pound as you can get. Lght and nimble they excell in urban traffic where thier lack of higher performance isn't often a problem, and so make great every day, low cost commuters.

Bigger Bikes? Well, they usually cost more. Whether you get much more for your money from them is rather circumstantial. Purchase prices can be lower at the bottom end of the market, and insurance may even be cheaper than for a 125 in some situations; but beyond that they cost more to tax, and service spars certainly cost more; and the bigger they get or the more performance they promise, so the higher costs are likely to be. A CG125 for example wears skinny little 3" tyres, that cost maybe £70 a pair and will under the light loading applied by such a light and low powered machine last maybe 15,ooo miles. A CBR600, on the other hand wears tyres that are 6" wide, cost around £250 a pair and last maybe 3,ooo miles.

Price is pretty proportional to power; so a 100bhp CBR mile for mile, is likely to cost around 10x what a CG125 would. Whether it's 10x the fun, or 10x as useful though is pretty disputable.

For getting about, round town, getting to and from work; a bigger bike can be working against you, at best doing no more and no better than a tiddler could; at worst, frustrating you, with added bulk to manage; and inability to put potential performance to use. Out of town? You still cant legally use much more of that available performance... so how much more fun would you have, and how often, even trying?

Brings the matter around to a question of Toy vs Transport; if you want transport, then 125's are uninspiring and in tier element... if you want a toy, big bikes can be great fun... briefly, and expensively. So what do you want? Toy or Transport? And when you say "Well a bit of both..." Remember tiddlers can still go as far and as fast as any bike is legally allowed to go.. and me, personally, find that thrashing the living knackers out of a tiddler to get at and use all of its limited performance and put t to effect, is often an awful lot MORE 'fun' than cracking the taps of a big bike that will pretty much go as fast as I dare, without very much effort or involvement... but that's me.

End of the day its your call... WHEN you have got some training, got some know-how; got a licence, and sorted all the other shit we have to sort like storage and security and gear and maintenance.. and are in a position to actually have ANY bike, let alone choice of what best suits your needs and aspirations.

Here and now? ALL you need to know is that you need to book a CBT.... and on that topic; call round the schools, ask costs, ask dates, and ask what gear they provide, or recommend you buy before, and what their catering arrangements are for lunch... that is ALL you need worry about here and now.
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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?'

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Fireblade.
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[Baffler186]

straight to full A license, you will not regret it.
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Current: 2009 SV650 S, 1990 Kawasaki GT550
Previous: 2009 CBF125, 1998 GSF600, 2004 FZ6 Fazer, 1978 CB400a Hondamatic

[thx1138]

yeah, get the big bike licence, but don't feel the need to get a big bike if you don't want one

I joined BCF in 2005, after a five year break from vehicles, cos marriage/mortgage/poor

I went;

125
600
1000
650
250/125/200

I'm more than happy diddling about on 250s, but it's nice to know I can take up the offer of a lend of my friends' bigger bikes now and then.

[pompousporcup...]

^^ that they said.

Get full licence. No point not doing it if you're old enough not to have to do it twice

The training (school dependant obvs) will be better than just getting a cbt, which is nowt but a lesson on how the clutch works and off you go laddy

i have ze full licence and still ride a 500cc 110 miles a day without feeling the need for an s1000bladesxr ( thats a lie, i cannae afford it)

[The Shaggy D.A.]

I've come to the conclusion that in today's traffic, 125s should be left to experienced riders.
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Chances are quite high you are not in my Monkeysphere, and I don't care about you. Don't take it personally.
Currently : Royal Enfield 350 Meteor
Previously : CB100N > CB250RS > XJ900F > GT550 > GPZ750R/1000RX > AJS M16 > R100RT > Bullet 500 > CB500 > LS650P > Bullet Electra X & YBR125 > Bullet 350 "Superstar" & YBR125 Custom > Royal Enfield Classic 500 Despatch Limited Edition (28 of 200) & CB Two-Fifty Nighthawk > ER5

[Rogerborg]

[lifeisforlivi...]

I have a full license but ride a 125 scooter and use it as a work horse and then have a 600 for fun. Full license gives you an option but 125(geared) is where you learn the basics. There is also a learning curve on bigger bikes so I would get a big bike and put some restriction on it (nothing to do with licensing) then once use to that remove the restrictor and get use to more power.

Big bikes demand respect as they bite, don't be stupid and you will be fine. You may only need a smaller bike if you commute a fair bit, no point commuting on a bigger bike that is comparable in cost to a small car.

[NJD]

[lingeringstin...]

My first bike was a minibike with a 3hp pullstart lawnmower engine on it. I was probably 10 years old at the time. When I blew that engine up my dad got a 4hp, and eventually we even put a whacking great 5hp lawnmower engine on it.

I fell off it countless times and had all manner of disasters trying to do shit like build a ramp with plywood and bircks to jump over the cat, but I survived and grew into the more powerful engines as time went on.

Nowadays I figure I could handle 7 or 8hp easily and still live to tell the tale, but that's only because I worked my up learning to ride under all conditions without really killing myself.

[Rogerborg]

[Teflon-Mike]

[Alpineandy]

[Azoth]

Getting a full licence first is a good plan. The bike you buy after that depends on what sort of riding you want to do, and where you want to do it.
If you decide you want a bike for commuting, you may end up choosing a 125. 125cc bikes are the most popular choice for commuters in the UK and abroad. Bigger bikes often make less sense for commuting. In cities, most bike commuters use 125s. However, if you obtain a full licence, that would be a much better investment than spending £2K on a 125 to ride on L-plates. At least you will know what you're doing, and when you're doing it wrong. A lot of the time, the worst riding I see on the roads is done by learners, on L-plates (sometimes strategically minimised or torn off), on 125cc bikes. I've lost time of the number of times I've seen near-accidents. Accidents do happen, and the consequences can be very serious. Learners often put themselves at the mercy of other traffic, and carry out maneuvres dangerously. You really need training, to appreciate how important it is to be visible and predictable, especially in urban traffic.

Don't overlook the psychology of L-plates. L-platers (and I was one once) often feel they have something to prove or that they're not being respected by other vehicles, and do dangerous things to 'prove' their worthiness. Don't join the 17-year old angsty crowd on fake single cylinder 4-stroke 'sports' bikes. I'm not saying they're all like that, but the lack of power on a 125 means the only place you get to 'show off' is in town, often by jerky and unpredictable maneuvres and il-advised undertaking and other things. The worst and most dangerous place to do it. Get a proper licence, then get the bike you want. Fun times happen out of town on bikes.
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Safety in numbers

[Rogerborg]

[ThatDippyTwat]

In my work today. YBR125, VFR800 Crossrunner, Burgervan 400, 'Fightered Z750, CBR600RR, Hornet, Piaggio 125 'ped, and a CBR125. Most days the 125's are more outnumbered, there's usually a bandit 12, Fazer 600, and a ZZR1100 that gets the life thrashed out of it on a daily basis.

Most other commuters I see in/out of the industrial estate I work are Full A bikes. Shit, there's a fully dressed 'wing that commutes in/out of the site next door to me, all year round.

You have to posess a very frugal inclination, or have no choice if you commute on a 125.

[Azoth]

125s are the best choice for most bike commuters, many of which keep a 125 just for commuting, and have a decent car or bike in addition to it. They make urban rush hour journeys just as fast as any bike, and cost much less to do the same work.

Personally, I wouldn't own one, as their lack of power puts you in some danger, and limits their use on the open road. And I'm not limited to one. I have full A entitlement, and a cat A bike. But 125cc bikes are an economical choice for many. It's not just in cities like London where you see all the 125 commuters, but in large towns as well. If you ever pass by Maidenhead, you'll see a massive car park packed to the brim with peds and step throughs, close by the town centre, next to the main road.

125s aren't a part of British biking culture. They don't earn respect and they won't get you laid. You have to be in Italy or Asia for that. In the UK, the bigger the bike, the more respect, as long as it isn't a cruiser. In the USA, if it isn't a cruiser it isn't a 'real bike'. So many differences in culture. But in term of pure practicality, a 125 will give a commuter several advantages over a bigger bike. Fuel consumption, tyre consumption, oil consumption, engine life.. Just about every mid-sized Jap bike, commonly called 'commuter bikes', will suffer from accelerated wear from not getting up to temperature on short city/town commutes, and they're only a little cheaper, if at all, to run than leisure bikes like sportsbikes.

People south of Watford tend to take these factors into consideration, because they don't identify as bikers but as economical commuters. Hence the black blob textiles, no leather (ever), the measly 125 scooter, etc. It's just how they get to work. Not the most salt-of-the-earth types, it must be said. A part of what they want to achieve with their Groms and scooters is admittance to the same social class as people who can afford 'leisure' bikes, such as famous Youtube vloggers. And doing things like never wearing leather is supposed to distance them from people like us. Sad people, but that's often how they are.
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Safety in numbers