Are there any good "project" bikes?

[MikeA3]

Hi all,

So.. I'm looking to get into biking over the next few years and am currently toying with the idea of getting a "project bike" which would enable me to learn more about bikes in general and learn a bit of spannering whilst i'm doing it.

Ideally it would be sub £1000 to buy, simple to work on with relatively cheap parts, I'm not too bothered about performance as it'll be my first bike, so something that will be cheapish on insurance once i've done my test would also be a plus.

Thanks in advance

Mike

[MikeA3]

I suppose I'm looking to do a restoration really, get a slightly older bike that needs work & bring it back to it's former glory

[MikeA3]

Steve_T said:

I did two City and Guilds evening courses at Merton college. I'd look at that before you get stuck in to bike restoration as you'll know what you're about when looking for a project. I'd also look at the prices of bike parts before you get to keen on the idea of a major fixer upper, you might buy a £1k bike that becomes rather more expensive than that to get right!

Steve.

Edited by Steve_T on Tuesday 23 September 13:19

Thanks Steve, evening classes was another idea my O/H had but my only concern is that I normally get back from work at about 7.30 - 8 and have to go to different parts of the country now and then for work so i'm not sure if I'd be able to keep up the classes

[MikeA3]

Thanks for all the replies guys,

I forgot to add that I don't intend to ride the bike during this period, so it can be in bits for quite a while whilst I accumulate all the required clothing (and more importantly a bike licence too).

[MikeA3]

Thanks for all your replies so far guys, I've had a look through most of the bikes that people have suggested and am currently leaning towards something around the 250 - 400cc mark as I'd assume these are cheaper to insure than a larger cc bike and also better to learn riding skills upon.

I really like the look of the Honda VFR 400 (ideally the NC30 version if I can stretch to it). but are there any other bikes within the 250-400 range to consider?

The only thing that's thrown a bit of a spanner in the works is that I've read some reports that the VFR's can be difficult to work on & some parts can be v.expensive but as this is intended to be a project for me it's not too much of an issue.