Your opinions sought... from a prospective biker

[robshep]

Dear BCF bikers.

I'm a 25.5 year old bloke who wishes to get biking. I used to ride a Suzuki cs50 scooter back in school, and now i've got a short drive to my new job I figured i'd try getting back into biking.

I have a rough plan but I could do with the benefit of your collective experience to help me do it right.

Firstly I belive that after passing my CBT (again) I can ride a 125 for up to 2 years with L-plates until I pass both theory and practical bike tests.

I think i'll be quite happy with a 125, I don't have very far to travel and I don't have a huge need for speed... So i plan to ride on L's and take lessons on a 125 and not go for a direct access.

I quite fancy an XL125V varedero. primarily due to them being a bit bigger than your average 125 and i can remember so well being squeezed into the gutter by motorcar drivers when riding my scooter. Having a bigger bike should help me stamp my authourity on the road a bit better.... insurance is cheap for these things and they look pretty smart. hopefully I can pick up one of these for about 2000 quid in good nick.

Does any body have any pointers for getting one of these, what sort of mileage is "a lot"? what wear and tear is acceptable for a bike like this. manuf'd since 2000ish.?

Also what kind of aparrell do you think is necessary for a 15 minute ride to work through town? lid, jacket and boots? anything else?

I consider myself a safe and switched-on car driver (Volvo 440) and hopefully my approach to biking will allow me to become a safe and competant bike rider also...

My plan is thus,

1. get a bike.... XL125V possibly
2. have some lessons to get me safe and competant enough to ride by myself.
3. pass CBT
4. have a lesson per week or something to improve my riding skills and aim for the practical test.
5. pass theory
6. pass practical
7. do some advanced courses and tests.

Any pointers, thoughts, tips or suggestions would be most appreciated.

Cheers y'all

Rob

[nick.h]

[robshep]

The problem is, I've never ridden a manual shifting Bike before.

I figured i'd have a couple of hours with an instructor in tesco car park or wherever to provide some initial pointers.

I can remember doing my CBT years ago, but that was on an automatic. I don't tking it's possible to fail a CBT on an automatic

he he.

Would a CBT on a manual bike teach me the basics? rather than assess them?

Cheers

[Itchy]

I assume you can drive a car? , gears are almosy the same on a bike as in a car cept clutch is on the left hand and gear change is sequential normally on the left up = up , down = down took me 10 minutes in the CBT to learn since I did car test first years before

[nick.h]

You would be likely to take your CBT on a cg125. So it would be possible to learn how to use gears during the course.

Nick
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[Italjet MM5A] ll [Rieju RS1 Evolution] ll [Suzuki GS500e] ll [Suzuki GSX600F] ll [Honda CG125] ll [Pug Elyseo 125] ll [Yamaha YZF750R] ll [Yamaha Thunderace] ll [Yamaha R6] ll [Triumph 955i] ll [Hayabusa RZK3] ll [Suzuki RGV250] ll

[MRX Steve]

You wont need extra lessons before your cbt, if you really wanted to practice your clutch controle before you CBT you could just practice on the road out side your house. You cant fail your cbt, and if you arnt up to standard they just give you extra training so no point spending money on extra lessons.

[G]

Your CBT will teach all the basics; if you want to start lessons from there, go for it.

Reasons not to get the Varadero:
It is really heavy for a 125.
It's got less power than other 125s.
It /won't/ have more road presence than other 125s really*
It's expensive for what it is.

Something like a DT125 is physically taller, though not as fat, can be got cheaper and can be derestricted to give a bit more go.

However if you're happy to plod along at slow speed and are happy to spend a lot of money (some of which you will lose) on a bike because you like the looks, go for it.

*This is much more to do with the way you ride, in my opinion. A bigger bike usually gets more 'respect' as such because it's pissing off into the distance on one wheel, or whatever .

[robshep]

[Phil_G]

im 26 and a bit mate and Im learning at the moment to ride. I have gone the route of getting my CBT and then doing a days riding on the 125s and then its onto the D.A.S.

I looked at getting a 125 adn the general advice was, given my age, dont bother.


500s are cheap enough to buy now mate. Why not go that route?


Phil
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1997 Kawasaki ER 500 A1:- Once again, Its merely crap

[Muzaffar]

If you can afford it go for it. But there are definitely cheaper ones and yes bigger bikes are better as you are more visible.

I started the same way (at age 35) and was going to be happy with 125 and did not mind L plates. I bought a cheap hyosung 125 - big loking, good engine, sit up style - had no problems with it. However, on faster A roads I found 125 a bit slow and thus a hindrance and danger. I therefore did the 125 course and went for a bigger bike - 600 yamaha. I still dont ride fast, just on speed limits but feel more comfortable. Looking back I would advise everyone to go more than 125 - maybe atleast 400 - 500cc or more.

CBT will teach all the basics - the day I did my CT was the first time I rode - it was alright but I only became comfortable by riding it day in and day out so practice is what you want. After 6 to 8ish months of riding a 125 on L plates, you will be absolutely comfortable to sit a 125 test and go for a 33bhp restricted bike. In 2 years the ful licnese will come automatically (if they dont change the rules).

Hope this helps m8.
Cheers
Muz

[Bendy]

You can drive, you used to ride.

Might as well just do your DAS, CBT first day, some training and then your test.

Voila, one unrestricted bike licence.

5 days max, job done. You already have roadsense, an understanding of gears, all you need to do is transfer these skills to a different machine. Which is really pretty easy.

I also say this because in my opinion, bigger bikes are much easier to ride and much safer than small ones. As long as you have your brain switched on and appreciate that even though you just passed your test you still know jack shit, you should be fine. Get a 500cc or so for similar money to the Varadero and life will be a happier thing.

[Muzaffar]

I fully agree to what bendy said

Muzaffar

[Runt]

My friends missus has one of these 125 varadero's and loves it.
He rides a Pan and thinks hers is a laugh to ride and I rode it last week and also found it to be an easy ride.
She is about 5' 10 and can reach the floor on it and even though right now she's going for her DAS she doesnt find the GS 500 that much heavier and was glad that she had bought the Honda to practice on.
Given a choice I personally would just go for the DAS course even if you only get the 33bhp as I think its not the size of the bike that makes car drivers act like fools but the "L" plates, ever seen how a learner driver is generally treated.

[robshep]

Thanks you guys, for all your input...

Rob

[Muzaffar]

I agree it is a combination of things - L plates usually means smaller cc bikes and also that the rider might go slower. With the 125 test restricting to 33bhp, L plates are not to be worn.

DAS is good but if you are completely new to biking (as I was) - going straight to 500 for a test with only a few days experience does not feel so sure. but if I had rideen more, I probably would have gone for the DAS.

[Ragdoll]

[colin1]

at your age do the DAS as you will then have a wider range of bikes to pick from
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[instigator]

[Section59]

[Stevie GooGs]

I bought a second hand Varadero 125 as my fist learning bike, it was big and heavy so jumping up to a 600 was not that much of a physical difference. I would recommend that bike tbh, dont me good for the time i had it, i am 6ft 3 and about 17 stone and it did get past 70 which was good and most people thought it was a 250 due to the size. Click on my bike pics to see the cbr beside the varadero and you will see what i mean.
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Current: 2019 Yamaha T7 -> 2015 KTM Superduke R | 2000 Yamaha R1 Past -> 2009 KTM 990 SM -> 2005 kawasaki ZX10r -> 2000 Honda CBR 600 FY -> 2002 Honda XLV 125 Varadero
Bike Pics! -> My Photography Website

[Trini]

to be honest i wouldnt fork out a fortune for your first bike

i had an AR80 and just ran around on that for about three months and then took my DAS test.

I think you soon get bored with 125's, but saying that if thats all you plan to ride and not interested in bigger bikes get a fancy 125

as for your CBT everything will be covered and that includes gears, the course is designed to get you up to speed safely and get you to ride safely on the road by yourself without an instructor.

There are basically five elements to your cbt.
Element A - clothing and equipment
Element B- practical on site training (the machine and its controls etc)
element C- practical on site-riding (learning to ride the bike in a yard)
element D - practical on road training (this is where the instructor goes through the theory of everything you need to know before going out on the orad)
Element E- Practical on road riding.

You cant fail your CBT and its not a test, you just keep plugging away at it

hope this helps
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some people walk in the rain others get wet

[BorderHooner]

as previously mentioned, just do a 4 day course, CBT then DAS and go for a proper bike.

The bike you're talking about is a bit naff mate imho. if you like sit up and beg then ok, horses for courses, perhaps a good all round tourer would suit the bill a bit better, those sit up and beg look cool and it ends there. they're slow ass uncomfy things.