The friendly "dumb" bike questions thread

[Rod200SX]

Speed addicted said:

Ed. said:

I know it's not the most fun way to spend a weekend with the current weather but riding is doable?

600 miles using motorways, further if you’re avoiding them because of riding a 125.
I’d hire a van!

Yeah it can be a long enough drive in a comfy car, think it'd be purgatory riding back on a cbt without motorway

Looking at a few options now and still awaiting response from a couple dealers. Will need to travel a bit regardless but hoping to get something within a couple hours else it'll be delivery.

To the poster above, I was thinking about £0.50 a mile so that likely confirms my thoughts, much appreciated.

ETA: any places I should be looking? Doing the usual auto trader, Facebook, ebay & gumtree. Found MCM but seems to be stuff that's on autotrader anyway

Edited by Rod200SX on Tuesday 20th October 20:13

[HairyMaclary]

Rod200SX said:

Anyone had experience of costs for transporting a small bike? Looking to get an R125 to tide me over/get experience whilst waiting to get my A licence. Looking at fairly cheap ones (sub £2k) and having only ever priced up car transport once or twice.

Couple places in london have a few in stock and waiting for them to give me quotes to bring a bike up to Aberdeen. What's deemed good or bad cost wise with bikes? Price per mile etc?

Really hard finding anything suitable up here within budget.

With the right mindset that could be a fun weekend adventure. Fly down. Buy bike. 300 miles. Day 2 the rest.

Probably cheaper to buy something closer to home. Plus I remember how wobbly I was the first couple of rides on my geared 125. Bad enough getting 8 miles home let alone 600 and through London traffic!

[S2r]

Rod200SX said:

Anyone had experience of costs for transporting a small bike? Looking to get an R125 to tide me over/get experience whilst waiting to get my A licence. Looking at fairly cheap ones (sub £2k) and having only ever priced up car transport once or twice.

Couple places in london have a few in stock and waiting for them to give me quotes to bring a bike up to Aberdeen. What's deemed good or bad cost wise with bikes? Price per mile etc?

Really hard finding anything suitable up here within budget.

Over the past year I was quoted £324 to transport a (free) twist-n-go from Kinross, Perthshire to West Cornwall, I had a moped delivered from Stockport for £204 and a 125 from Bognor Regis was £216.

Cheaper than hiring a van and a damn sight easier - A2B motorcycles, turn up when they say and easy to deal with.

[Ed.]

https://www.gumtree.com/p/yamaha-motorbikes/yamaha...

[Prof Prolapse]

They are smart looking for 125s aren't they?

[Seight_Returns]

Intending to keep my bike (2005 VFR800) on the road over winter. Recreational, occasional use only, won't ride in any really grim weather and obviously not in snow or ice.

I'm going to give the bike a good clean - autoglym the chrome bits and coat with ACF50.

Bike will be garaged when not in use.

Will give the bike a wash down every week with a low powered cordless jetwash and soft brush (avoiding chain and electrics) and car shampoo to get the grime/salt off - then re-appy ACF50. Will clean/luble chain at same time.

Have a second battery which I'll keep on a smart charger inside (no electricity in garage) and swap batteries every month or so.

Will keep the fuel tank as full as possible.

Any other tips ?

Edited by Seight_Returns on Wednesday 21st October 10:25

[Iamnotkloot]

OK - just passed my CBT, buying a 125 shortly and then going for my DAS in spring. So, need to get some riding gear and the choice is bewildering.
Already have some decent boots but need:
a. helmet (Sharp 4 or 5 preferred)
b. gloves
c. jacket
d. trousers
I have a budget of ~£700 for the lot.

What would you recommend? I'm after the safest gear for the budget, without looking too naff.

I guess second question - is that budget reasonable?

[V8RX7]

Seight_Returns said:

Intending to keep my bike (2005 VFR800) on the road over winter.

I'm going to give the bike a good clean - autoglym the chrome bits and coat with ACF50.

Will give the bike a wash down every week- then re-appy ACF50.

Any other tips ?

I am not an expert but the tests I've seen suggest a proper coating of ACF50 should last the winter, doing it once properly is better than a half arsed job every week

[Rod200SX]

Will give that guy a shout Ed. A little more than I was wanting to spend but looks good!

Prof Prolapse said:

They are smart looking for 125s aren't they?

Yeah I really like them, I was surpsised it didn't feel overly small when I sat on my friends and even he didn't look too daft at 6 and a half feet tall, so I'm quite keen for one!

HairyMaclary said:

With the right mindset that could be a fun weekend adventure. Fly down. Buy bike. 300 miles. Day 2 the rest.

Probably cheaper to buy something closer to home. Plus I remember how wobbly I was the first couple of rides on my geared 125. Bad enough getting 8 miles home let alone 600 and through London traffic!

I would love to do that but I know realistically it's not going to be manageable for me at the moment , also love the username, a favourite from my childhood

[airsafari87]

Seight_Returns said:

Intending to keep my bike (2005 VFR800)I'm going to give the bike a good clean - autoglym the chrome bits and coat with ACF50.

Bike will be garaged when not in use.

Will give the bike a wash down every week with a low powered cordless jetwash and soft brush (avoiding chain and electrics) and car shampoo to get the grime/salt off - then re-appy ACF50. Will clean/luble chain at same time.

Have a second battery which I'll keep on a smart charger inside (no electricity in garage) and swap batteries every month or so.

Will keep the fuel tank as full as possible.

Any other tips ?

Edited by Seight_Returns on Wednesday 21st October 10:25

ACF50 will see you through the full winter.

I coat my Chinese winter commuter in it every year just before the gritters come out and its not washed again till March the following year and it cleans up almost as good as new. Again, thats on a Chinese bike with its Christmas cracker quality fixings and finish.

Resist the temptation to wash yours each week, unless you are happy enough to reapply ACF50 each week, but there really is no need too.

I may give mine a quick, light rinse with a hosepipe every couple of weeks just to keep the build up of salt down, definitely don't use any pressure or detergents though.

As with most things, to get the best results its worth spending the time giving the bike a thorough clean in order to give the coating as clean a surface as possible to adhere to. I tend to remove plastics, the seat etc ... to give me access to as much of the bikes metalwork as possible.

Do not get any ACF50 on your tyres, brakes, or grips either.

As you already seem to be aware, keep right on top of chain maintenance to avoid ending up with a rusty awful looking chain at the end of winter. I had decent enough results with Muc-off wet chain lube last year.

If you're using the bike regularly there will be no need for a 2nd battery either, as long as the battery that is currently on it is fairly healthy you it will be absolutely fine.

Depending on how long your commute is, and how well your bike protects you from road spray (i used to to do 150 miles per day on a naked bike) I'd keep a damp microfiber cloth tucked under the bars or somewhere to give your visor a wipe with when it gets covered in salt.

[the cueball]

V8RX7 said:

I am not an expert but the tests I've seen suggest a proper coating of ACF50 should last the winter, doing it once properly is better than a half arsed job every week

Yup, I do mine just before winter and with the exception of giving the calipers/chain and lights a clean every week... everything gets left alone.

Come spring time... the ACF and all the crap gets washed off.

[Krikkit]

Iamnotkloot said:

OK - just passed my CBT, buying a 125 shortly and then going for my DAS in spring. So, need to get some riding gear and the choice is bewildering.
Already have some decent boots but need:
a. helmet (Sharp 4 or 5 preferred)
b. gloves
c. jacket
d. trousers
I have a budget of ~£700 for the lot.

What would you recommend? I'm after the safest gear for the budget, without looking too naff.

I guess second question - is that budget reasonable?

Lots of different options, I'll tell you what I did and was happy with.

Helmet - budget at least £150-200 kind of region, the quality/fit of the linings etc will be better, as said I'd get a 4 or 5* SHARP-rated one, make sure it's got pinlock as it's brilliant. Buy a helmet in person and try it on with someone who knows how it should fit. Don't fixate on brands and then end up with one that doesn't fit properly.

For the jacket/trousers I'd go for RST textiles as they're cheap, good quality (for the price) and easy to get hold of. I went for Tractech jacket (as it had back, shoulder and elbow armour as standard) and adventure series trousers. Looks a bit odd, but they zip together for better protection and fit well, they're shower-proof without an over-covering and easy to wear. I've since got a set of ventilated leathers for the warmer days, as the protection is better, but they're not as practical in cool weather.

Get a one-piece rain suit if you want to ride in wet weather and stay mostly dry.

Get two pairs of gloves - one for warmer weather (which can be thin and hence feel better), one for colder weather with insulation. Again fit is key, try loads on at a shop.

Boots - get some decent mid-calf booties. The most common injuries in motorcycling are leg, ankle and foot, so you want decent protection. Having a wobble at some lights and twisting your ankle (then having a bike on top of you) because you had crap/low boots on will be a real pain.

Most of my gear is RST so I look like a bit of a full kit spanner, but it fits me very well and seems decent quality for what you pay. Just a 5-minute blat through the gear at sportsbike shop gives you an example of what I would be looking at:



You're buying at the right time at the end of the season, there's usually quite a few cheap offers on at various shops.

Edited by Krikkit on Wednesday 21st October 12:42

[Seight_Returns]

Looks like my assumption of how to use ACF50 was fundamentally flawed - I'm glad I asked - thanks all.

I need to take the fairings off to do a couple of jobs over next few days - will get everything clean and ACF50d whilst they're off and take them off again and clean it up in spring.

[Seight_Returns]

Iamnotkloot said:

I guess second question - is that budget reasonable?

If you're not too proud to consider second hand (not for the helmet obviously) you can kit yourself up with quality kit for a fraction of that price. You'll also probably find that the kit you like and need after you've been riding a while isn't the kit you think you'll like and need now - and with used kit you can buy and sell losing very little money until you settle on what you're really happy with - at that point you can then spend your money on new kit knowing you'll like what you're buying.

[V8RX7]

Iamnotkloot said:

So, need to get some riding gear and the choice is bewildering.
I have a budget of ~£700 for the lot.

What would you recommend? I'm after the safest gear for the budget, without looking too naff.

I guess second question - is that budget reasonable?

I bought all my gear - mostly used (but like new) off ebay, if it didn't fit, I sold it on (everything but two pairs of trousers did)

The only new thing I bought was a helmet - in hindsight I should have bought it from Sportsbike Shop as they let you try before you buy.

No point deliberating too much, until you start you won't know what suits you.

My way, with named gear cost a fraction: KTM leather jacket £50, Spada trousers £15, Sidi boots £40 etc

The main thing to bear in mind is if you buy all black, you're less likely to be seen, if you buy a colour will you want to sell it when it doesn't match your bike.

I've had 4 orange KTMs so that was easy for me.

[Alimarsh]

Iamnotkloot said:

OK - just passed my CBT, buying a 125 shortly and then going for my DAS in spring. So, need to get some riding gear and the choice is bewildering.
Already have some decent boots but need:
a. helmet (Sharp 4 or 5 preferred)
b. gloves
c. jacket
d. trousers
I have a budget of ~£700 for the lot.

What would you recommend? I'm after the safest gear for the budget, without looking too naff.

I guess second question - is that budget reasonable?

Not sure where you're based but for my helmet I went to J&S in Leeds and they were really helpful and had a really big selection to try on. Ended up getting my actual helmet sent to my home from a different store as I wanted a design they didn't have in my size but that was all smoothly taken care of, and they price matched sportsbike shop who listed it for about 40 quid cheaper.

Obviously massively depends on fit etc but I had in my head I wanted an AGV K3SV (basically because I'm a Rossi fanboy) but ended up with a Nolan N87 which was abit more cash (think I paid about £190) but felt such a better quality piece of kit, so was worthwhile going to a shop rather than buying on line just for that aspect as I don't think I'd have considered it had I not had the chance to see it and try on in the shop.

I'd have thought £700 would be more than enough, you can pretty much spend what you want on most of the kit, and with helmets especially when I was looking there are some HJC £100 models than score 5 stars on sharp whereas you can drop £4-500 on Shoei and Arai ones that only score 3 stars.

[Iamnotkloot]

Thanks Alimarsh, Krikkit, Seight and V8RX7 - all good stuff and very helpful!

[Iamnotkloot]

Iamnotkloot said:

Thanks Alimarsh, Krikkit, Seight and V8RX7 - all good stuff and very helpful!

I've ended up buying mostly RST stuff; jacket, jeans, knee protectors, with a HJC helmet and some Richa gloves - thanks again for helping a noob out

[Seight_Returns]

Excellent - you really can't go wrong (or more accurately if you do go wrong the outcome won't be much better or worse!) with branded, CE certified gear, fwiw I've got a matching RST textile jacket and trousers and they're tough, hard wearing and look good.

Consider upgrading the knee/thigh/elbow/shoulder/back armour to D30 or Knox inserts - much more flexible and comfortable than the armour that comes as standard and arguably gives better protection.

Enjoy the ride.

Edited by Seight_Returns on Wednesday 21st October 16:42

[Alimarsh]

Iamnotkloot said:

Iamnotkloot said:

Thanks Alimarsh, Krikkit, Seight and V8RX7 - all good stuff and very helpful!

I've ended up buying mostly RST stuff; jacket, jeans, knee protectors, with a HJC helmet and some Richa gloves - thanks again for helping a noob out

You don't hang about! Enjoy!