Cheap years driving to work?

[InsanityPotion01]

hairykrishna said:

What sort of MR2 are you running? I commute 50 miles each way in my Mk3 and I'm getting 35-40mpg without trying.

80 miles for 50 quid sounds appalling.

I don't get 80 miles from £50. I get around 300 to a tank which costs me 50ish. It averages at 30mpg+/- for a 1992 (Mk2 Rev2).

[CaptainSlow]

InsanityPotion01 said:

I think that's a 370 linked but I'm not sure.

390.

Depending on your age you may want something bigger if you've gone to the cost of getting your bike licence. However, anything over a 125 won't save you much money when testing and consumables are taken into account.

If 50-60 mph will keep you up with the traffic a 125 bike or scoot will be fine. Just be aware 125 headlights are bad so dark country roads in the wet can be scary.

[InsanityPotion01]

CaptainSlow said:

390.

Depending on your age you may want something bigger if you've gone to the cost of getting your bike licence. However, anything over a 125 won't save you much money when testing and consumables are taken into account.

If 50-60 mph will keep you up with the traffic a 125 bike or scoot will be fine. Just be aware 125 headlights are bad so dark country roads in the wet can be scary.

I'm 23 in January.

If I wanted something bigger than 125 right now I would have to do my cbt and direct access (still restricted but faster). Then I'd have to take another test once I hit 24 to get my full license. I'm going to get a cbt first for a while and then go for the full unrestricted license at 24.

Thanks for the advice about the lights. I'll just upgrade the bulbs so I'm more noticeable in the daytime as well.

[CaptainSlow]

Good plan.

[battered]

InsanityPotion01 said:

The major gripe I have with (push) bikes is that if somebody goes around a corner with low/no visibility at 60+ there's no time to stop for somebody on a bike if they're going dead slow.

Same issue with horses. They're not safe on today's roads.

You shouldn't be entering a corner with no/low visibility at 60+ with so little margin for error that you can't go round an obstacle the size of a bike though, should you? None of us should. If you can't see the exit and it's not wide enough to avoid a hazard of any nature, then 60+ isn't a reasonable speed.

[CaptainSlow]

battered said:

You shouldn't be entering a corner with no/low visibility at 60+ with so little margin for error that you can't go round an obstacle the size of a bike though, should you? None of us should. If you can't see the exit and it's not wide enough to avoid a hazard of any nature, then 60+ isn't a reasonable speed.

People shouldn't but do.

[battered]

Precisely. See also mobile phones, more interested in the activity in the child seats behind than the traffic in front, Mr "Ive got a premium badge and yes I do own the bloody road" and all the rest.

We can't say "It's not just speed, the driving standards in this country are shocking" on the one hand and then condone our own crap driving and inappropriate use of speed on the other.

[InsanityPotion01]

I'm pretty sure most people have been in a situation where if something was in the middle of the road, or there was a slow cyclist around the corner, they wouldn't have been able to stop.

I'm not saying cars have free reign of the roads but accidents happen all the time and if you're on a bike you haven't got much of a chance.

I'll stick to the trails thanks

[battered]

InsanityPotion01 said:

I'm pretty sure most people have been in a situation where if something was in the middle of the road, or there was a slow cyclist around the corner, they wouldn't have been able to stop.

I'm pretty sure most people have been in an at fault accident, too, but that's not the point. If you/one/we are as good a driver as we all like to think that we are, then these incidents should be vanishingly infrequent. If they aren't, you're a bad driver. This is what led to blanket 40 limits after all.

[SteveSteveson]

InsanityPotion01 said:

battered said:

That looks like a lot of fun. What is it, about 250?
As you say, 34bhp is enough. Good for about 100mph flat out, which is fast enough for most people, most of the time. Fast enough to land you in court, too.

I can understand people not wanting to use a bicycle on UK roads. I do, it's not ideal. There is a big educational job to do on UK drivers before they learn to treat bicycle users as other than second class citizens.

I think that's a 370 linked but I'm not sure.

The major gripe I have with (push) bikes is that if somebody goes around a corner with low/no visibility at 60+ there's no time to stop for somebody on a bike if they're going dead slow.

Same issue with horses. They're not safe on today's roads.

That's not the bike or horse that's not safe, it's the driver. That should be a gripe about driving standards, not bicycles.

[katz]

but an Old N/A diesel, 1.9 Pug or Skoda/VW. £ 400 on ebay, 65-70MPG, no big bills at MOT time.

[J4CKO]

TooMany2cvs said:

InsanityPotion01 said:

J4CKO said:

If you want super cheap, get a Citroen C1 or some other tiny thing, 45 to 50 mpg and will go forever, older, cheaper diesels save money until the next big bill, with something like a C1, kill the engine, (unlikely) just get another one for £250 off Ebay and fit it, it wont be much fun though.

45-50mpg ain't worth driving a C1 lmao

The C107go is far more fun than it has any right to be - and, tbh, I can't imagine how badly you'd need to thrape it to only get 45mpg. Still, one for £250 would be UTTERLY shagged - most of the handful (just) under a grand on Autotrader are categorised.

The £250 I mentioned was if you ever need to replace the engine, loads of them get crashed, they dont break so engines are cheap, was pointing out it is very cheap motoring pretty much whatever happens, where with a diesel, achieving the MPG can sometimes come with potentially big bills.

We tend to get 45 knocking about, never really do longer journies in it as dont have to, its not in regular use as the eldest now has his own car and the youngest hasnt passed yet, so its my shopping car/dont want to leave my car there or park it car.

As for the MPG not being worth driving a C1, you have a small, fairly economical sportscar and looking to make a saving, that requires either a diesel or a small petrol.

[InsanityPotion01]

J4CKO said:

As for the MPG not being worth driving a C1, you have a small, fairly economical sportscar and looking to make a saving, that requires either a diesel or a small petrol.

I got 37mpg out of my Clio 182 sometimes so to me 45mpg isn't substantial enough. I know what you're saying though.

Pretty set on getting a bike so thanks for all your suggestions

[InsanityPotion01]

katz said:

but an Old N/A diesel, 1.9 Pug or Skoda/VW. £ 400 on ebay, 65-70MPG, no big bills at MOT time.

May explore that option in the future if I need the space

[ZX10R NIN]

battered said:

That looks like a lot of fun. What is it, about 250?
As you say, 34bhp is enough. Good for about 100mph flat out, which is fast enough for most people, most of the time. Fast enough to land you in court, too.

I can understand people not wanting to use a bicycle on UK roads. I do, it's not ideal. There is a big educational job to do on UK drivers before they learn to treat bicycle users as other than second class citizens.

It's a KTM 390 Duke as the name suggests it's 390cc Single Cylinder with 44bhp but you can get a restrictor kit to bring it down to 33bhp.

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=...

[ZX10R NIN]

InsanityPotion01 said:

I'm 23 in January.

If I wanted something bigger than 125 right now I would have to do my cbt and direct access (still restricted but faster). Then I'd have to take another test once I hit 24 to get my full license. I'm going to get a cbt first for a while and then go for the full unrestricted license at 24.

Thanks for the advice about the lights. I'll just upgrade the bulbs so I'm more noticeable in the daytime as well.

Definately wait to go for your direct access, L.E.D bulbs will sort out the lighting issue

Some reasonable 125cc:

Aprillia RS4
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/APRILIA-RS4-125cc-REPLIC...

Yamaha YZF125
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/yamaha-yzf125r-/25254608...

2 Stroke Honda NSR125
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honda-NSR-125-RR-Y-reg-2...

[ambuletz]

turning into a biking thread now.


I think after completing CBT it's more important to get any bike that's easy to ride/control. Greater emphasis should be on focusing on your abilities as a rider, learning how to ride defensively etc.. When he passes then he could get whatever (but maybe NOT buy too big a bike after passing)

when I was a little younger then him I did my CBT after having a car for a couple of years. riding a bike needs loads more concentration/forward planning/reading of the road then using a car. 125cc is perfectly fine for riding up to around 50-70mph (depending on bike, hp, and his weight/heaight), but most cruise happily at 50-55mph.