Another which bike thread...

[Frodo69]

I'm 19 and will soon be set free on a bike up to 33bhp, whats the fastest bike that follows these strict regulations ?

I know I should be thinking about reliability etc so go easy on the advice

Thanks in advance

[Taita]

SV650s takes the restriction very well as it has lots of pull low down the rev range. Plenty quick enough too.

Check sv650.org if you are interested in one. Or a 400cc bike might do it.

[Frodo69]

...sorry. I meant without restriction.

Thank you

[Carl-H]

There are not many bikes that are under 33bhp. There are almost no sporty ones.

http://www.batmotorcycles.co.uk/33bhp.asp

[Beemer-5]

Cagiva Mito 125?

Aprilia RS125?

Otherwise a classic bike if you like old stuff?

[Frodo69]

What about the 250cc Kawazaki ?

[Taita]

You have a choice of 4 / 5 in my limited knowledge.

Kwak 250.
CBR400
RS125
YZR-125
NSR 125

They are the sporty ones, the rest are st

[Carl-H]

Taita said:

You have a choice of 4 / 5 in my limited knowledge.

Kwak 250.
CBR400
RS125
YZR-125
NSR 125

They are the sporty ones, the rest are st

Kwak is £3000 though
CBR400 is nearly 60bhp
RS and NSR will be fairly unreliable and need lots of maintenance. R125 is only about 14bhp and cannot be de restricted like 2t 125's.

You are best off restricting a bigger bike. Don't let FI international fool you into thinking you need to pay £200 for some washers and a certificate. Look on eBay for second hand restrictors and get a dyno readout. The readout will be enough proof for insurance (although not many even ask) and the police (remember, its their job to prove the bike is not restricted, not yours to prove it is). Or you can get it dyno'd at about 33bhp and put a pin in the throttle if you can't find any washers.

Remember though, the law says the bike needs to be restricted. It doesn't mention that you need a certificate.

[Taita]

Get an SV650

Saying that, I put the restrictors in some time after passing my test, and crashed a few days later, extremely lucky to be walking.
The SV is a good bike to start on.

[texasjohn]

Taita said:

You have a choice of 4 / 5 in my limited knowledge.

Kwak 250.
CBR400
RS125
YZR-125
NSR 125

They are the sporty ones, the rest are st

Suzuki DR350 and Suzuki Goose (single cylinder naked sportster, like a Yamaha SZR660)

Edit to add: Someone has already corrected the matter of the CBR400.

Also, the 2 stroke bikes aren't at all unreliable if looked after and maintained properly. In fact there are less parts to go wrong

Edited by texasjohn on Monday 18th August 20:59

[Taita]

Yes, sorry disregard the CBR400, they require restriction in the carbs or throttle stops.

[Frodo69]

So the Kawasaki then ?

[MarkRSi]

Don't forget the Kawasaki 250R is also lighter than many other 600 bikes, so an 250R should have a better power-to-weight ratio than a restricted 600. Performance Bikes should also seem to rate it highly. Check out the MCN review too.

[cyberface]

According to Bat Motorcycles, you can get a Yamaha Vmax 1200, restricted to 33 bhp. Riiiiiiiight.....



A colleague of mine who rides one of these motorcycles has arms like a gibbon. He's 5'10" but has the same length arms as another colleague of mine who is 6'5". I reckon the Vmax stretches his arms.

[Carl-H]

The kwak 250 makes 27bhp at the wheel and will just top the ton. A good RS125 will make 28 at the wheel. Two strokes are not always unreliable but they need to be warmed up and use £12 a litre oil every few hundred miles and then new rings/piston every few thousand km. My mate ended up having nothing but trouble with his RS but that's probably due to a previous owner.

[Frodo69]

Sorted. Thanks guys

[AndyDRZ]

Doubt my DRZ 400SM does more than 33hp... IF you can get one of those, you'll have much more fun than on a tiny little fake sportsbike.

And they are fantastic for wheelies stoppies, town work, country work...

[texasjohn]

AndyDRZ said:

Doubt my DRZ 400SM does more than 33hp... IF you can get one of those, you'll have much more fun than on a tiny little fake sportsbike.

And they are fantastic for wheelies stoppies, town work, country work...

Alas it is just over, high thirties HP, IIRC. Although a great bike it is. I looked into it in 2005 but ended up going for the similarly priced DR650SE (which you can still buy new in USA), which has a bit more power at 43hp, and a lorra lorra torque.

The prior model, the DR350, is low thirties HP though.

[LOGiK]

It's not a sporty bike but the Honda Bros 400 produces exactly 33bhp (apparantly), sounds good and has a pretty torquey engine. They max out around 100, but they're good solid bikes.

If you want something more sporty, you can't really look past 250CC unless it was made before the mid 80s because everything 250+ seems to exceed the 33hp mark.