~looks left, looks right~ Thinking of become a power ranger

[JimGTxx]

Marf said:

Am I nuts?

Keen to hear from anyone else who has ditched performance cars for some 2 wheeled madness!

Edited by Marf on Monday 21st March 14:30

• cough*

Jim got a silver 2003 (pointy) Suzuki SV650S for a first bike about 6 months ago, light, torquey, handle well, cheap to insure/run/fix and have enough poke for a 'learner'.

[Marf]

Go Go Power Ranger Jim!!

Don't tell me you've ditched the XX?

[JimGTxx]

I can list all the costs etc that I paid late last year if you want and let you know the sort of extra stuff you'll need if you like?

It is good fun. I'm getting an average of 39mpg from my bike now on a return commute of 34 miles on mixed A and B roads with a 4 mile dual carriageway stretch.

The bike is not so capable that I cannot push it's limits and learn.

You'll enjoy it.

Do you miss the 3pot at all?

[JimGTxx]

Nope, still got the xx!

.... and a phase 1 Clio 172 with the aluminium bonnet and proper throttle, not the drive by wire crap.

[Marf]

Haha collecting motorised stuff like its going out of fashion eh Jim??

Yeah if you could list the costs that'd be cool. The SV looks like a nice bike, few around at the £2.5k mark

Do I miss the 3pot? Yes, quite alot actually. Kinda wish I'd never sold it.

Had I known that a year after selling it I'd have been made redundant and had £6k shoved in my pocket I'd have kept it and bought a diesel slag with some of my payoff. Ah well, hind sight is always 20/20 eh!

[JimGTxx]

I went a little over the top, you can do it for a lot less than this - I also overpaid for my helmet dur to a mix up.

Rough costs for me last year:-
Theory and DAS course £700
Bike (old 2003 SV650S with full service history) £1900
Insurance (fully comp) £260
New tyres (Maxxis super touring), fitting and MOT £200
TAX can't remember - about £60-70 I think
Helmet £200
Gloves £40
Jacket £140
Trousers £120
Boots £140
Disk lock £40
Pin-lock £20
Windproof Balaclava £20
Track stands £60 (essential for working on your bike IMO)
Earplugs (ALWAYS use earplugs!)
I got some of these - superb at blocking out the wind noise
http://www.safetyshop.com/products/productdetail.a...

read this.
http://www.hearingprotection.co.uk/index.php?optio...

[Marf]

Thanks Jim. Was your DAS course intensive or over a few weeks?

[JimGTxx]

Doh! well there's a red one on here cheap, with a decent looking body and a few mechanical gremlins (which I'm sure would be a doddle to fix)

Downpipe, exhaust, an e-manage and an afternoon with Ed and you'd be having fun again.

Yeah, seem to be collecting cars again! Just got rid of the G200 though.

for colder riding, a pinlock is a must in my opinion - very simple idea and incredibly usefull!!!!!
when it's cold and wet you will want to clamp your visor shut.... and then the visor only centimeters from your eyes will fog up and you'll need to open it to clear again.

pinlock is essentially just a water absorbant plastic suspended away from the visor by a silicon gasket, effectively making it like double glazing. bloody brilliant!
When you go helmet shopping, make sure it's got one/is pinlock ready/or has pinlock ready visors available.

[3doorPete]

aidan8888 said:

I would keep looking at 400's, they are great first bikes, they are a lot smaller than modern 600's so I think it would be easier for you to get used to the weight, and the power can still get you in trouble if you want it to, but again with the reduced size and weight I find them more controllable. 2k wont get you the mintest example of a 400, but it will get you a nice one.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HONDA-VFR400-NC30-FULL-TYGA-...

A bit long in the tooth perhaps, and needs some work-

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/vfr400-/230599921310?pt=UK_M...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1991-Honda-VFR-400-Repsol-Mo...

Alot newer, and comes in just under budget.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2001-KAWASAKI-ZX400-L9-BLACK...

Sorry - but that is a common misconception you hear quoted that has not been true in a decade.

The latest ZX10R has smaller dimensions and is lighter than a ZXR400.

The entire 600 crop got lighter than 400's about 10 years ago. 400 development stopped in about 1996.

My current CBR600 is 30kg lighter than the VFR400 NC30 I had and with mass centralisation feels more like an RGV250 than CBR400RR. It's also physically smaller, but with a nicer riding position. Fair enough it has twice the power though.

Unless you really WANT a 400 for their looks/style etc, or are comparing to mid-90's 600's on weight etc, you are better off spending £2K on a 10 year old 600.

[JimGTxx]

My DAS course was intensive but split.

ok, story coming up....

[Marf]

JimGTxx said:

Doh! well there's a red one on here cheap, with a decent looking body and a few mechanical gremlins (which I'm sure would be a doddle to fix)

Must admit I've been tempted but it'll never be the same as my XX. I'd want PAS and another Diff from Aus and they don't have any left now. Ah well. Have also had thoughts about a Starbo. 200hp is easy meat and theres plenty of aftermarket bits about.

JimGTxx said:

for colder riding, a pinlock is a must in my opinion - very simple idea and incredibly usefull!!!!!
when it's cold and wet you will want to clamp your visor shut.... and then the visor only centimeters from your eyes will fog up and you'll need to open it to clear again.

pinlock is essentially just a water absorbant plastic suspended away from the visor by a silicon gasket, effectively making it like double glazing. bloody brilliant!
When you go helmet shopping, make sure it's got one/is pinlock ready/or has pinlock ready visors available.

Cool thanks for that

JimGTxx said:

My DAS course was intensive but split.

ok, story coming up....

Edited by Marf on Tuesday 22 March 15:17

[aidan8888]

3doorPete said:

Sorry - but that is a common misconception you hear quoted that has not been true in a decade.

The latest ZX10R has smaller dimensions and is lighter than a ZXR400.

The entire 600 crop got lighter than 400's about 10 years ago. 400 development stopped in about 1996.

My current CBR600 is 30kg lighter than the VFR400 NC30 I had and with mass centralisation feels more like an RGV250 than CBR400RR. It's also physically smaller, but with a nicer riding position. Fair enough it has twice the power though.

Unless you really WANT a 400 for their looks/style etc, or are comparing to mid-90's 600's on weight etc, you are better off spending £2K on a 10 year old 600.

Fair point, but I presumed the OP was comparing late 90's 400's against early 00's 600's. I can only compare my zx6r I owned and a cbr600f I hired for a few months against a zxr400 I own and a NC30 I have riden. The 400s were much smaller, but yes, if you are comparing the early 400's to 00's 600's then I think you would be right. If I was doing my test all over again I would take a later 400 over a 10 year old 600, but that is just my opinion.

[3doorPete]

aidan8888 said:

3doorPete said:

Sorry - but that is a common misconception you hear quoted that has not been true in a decade.

The latest ZX10R has smaller dimensions and is lighter than a ZXR400.

The entire 600 crop got lighter than 400's about 10 years ago. 400 development stopped in about 1996.

My current CBR600 is 30kg lighter than the VFR400 NC30 I had and with mass centralisation feels more like an RGV250 than CBR400RR. It's also physically smaller, but with a nicer riding position. Fair enough it has twice the power though.

Unless you really WANT a 400 for their looks/style etc, or are comparing to mid-90's 600's on weight etc, you are better off spending £2K on a 10 year old 600.

Fair point, but I presumed the OP was comparing late 90's 400's against early 00's 600's. I can only compare my zx6r I owned and a cbr600f I hired for a few months against a zxr400 I own and a NC30 I have riden. The 400s were much smaller, but yes, if you are comparing the early 400's to 00's 600's then I think you would be right. If I was doing my test all over again I would take a later 400 over a 10 year old 600, but that is just my opinion.

I think we were comparing via budget. I love the sexy 400's, but they do seem to all come up knackered of be very expensive for the good ones/restored ones. I think this is precisely because a lot were cheap imports bought by noobs who abused/neglected/dropped them. Tied into the fact that most are from the grey import boom, they are 15-22 years old in most cases.

Agree that I would far rather own a 1992 ZXR400 or VFR400 than a 1992 CBR600 or FZR600, but on a £2K budget with no emotional attachment to 400 history, a Hornet or GSXR600 would be better all around including value (in my opinion!).

[JimGTxx]

So.... I decided I was getting rid of the Primera GT and getting a bike.
3 days later, I'd bought and insured the SV, sold the Primera and booked my theory.

Theory is dead easy - I'll dig out the links for the online motorbike test ones, you will breeze it.

7 days later, I'd done that and booked my course.

The days were split slightly.

Day 1 - CBT stuff. This did not go as well as expected. At the end of the day, I knew why. I just got excited and wasn't treating it like a lesson, I was more interested in just riding and ragging it and enjoying being on a bike for the first time! I should have been thinking about everything I was doing. The skills I learnt in the car park (doing manouvers, going up and down the gearbox, stopping, safe stationary position, OSM-PSL, lifesaver checks, road positioning from the theory session etc etc) I should have been constantly thinking about and applying when I was on the road - I didn't and got a bking.
I went from being told that they'd never seen someone pick up the control of a bike that quickly (balancing rear brake, clutch and throttle, whilst still looking where I was going and able to make it do figure 8s in 5th *just*) to being the most dangerous reckless thing on two wheels they'd seen out on the road.... they couldn't believe it.
The day was basically - morning:- car park stuff then theory in the class room. afternoon:- out on the roads.

anyway - Day 2, I realised what I had done and was fine.
I apologised and explained myself and we went straight out for a ride.
30 mins later we were back and putting the 125 away and swapping for the Yamaha XJ6 diversion.
I was MUCH more at home on the bigger bike and everything just *clicked*
We went through all the Mod 1 test manouvers and did one route round one of the Brackley test routes.

Day 3, Mod 1 test in the carpark at Silverstone. Easy. 15 mins after getting there, that was done.
I'll tell you more about that when I speak to you though, I managed to shock them somewhat on the emergency stop..... but I'm not going to put it on there. I was home by just after midday, which I was slightly peeved about, as I had paid for so many days and was expecting to do more training in the afternoon......

The mod 2 test was booked for about 10 days later. They do this, just incase you fail the Mod 1 and they need to use another day for training and to put you through it again and get it passed as you're not doing your mod 2 without it!

Day 4 was left sort of open, pending the result of the Mod 1.
As it was, we just spent the whole time going round different variations of the test routes doing mock tests.

then I got a hefty gap of about 8 days of not being on a bike..... Day 5 was the test day, mine was at 1pm, so we spent another 3 hours in the morning doing practice tests.
Then I took my Mod 2, got a clean sheet pass and was told "No need to put your radio back on now, you know the way back right? You're on your own, see you back at the unit in!"

So I headed off a 'free-man' from Banbury to Brackley. It was wicked - I enjoyed every second of it!

What they tell you about the bigger bikes being easier it true - you get a lot more clutch feel - the 125s I had were terrible. However, it's necessary to start on the 125, as they are VERY forgiving. You get it wrong on a 'big' bike and it will spit you off.

just get it done.

You're welcome to have a try on my SV once you have done the DAS, to see if you like it.

[Marf]

Thanks Jim. Did you have any bike experience before doing your DAS?

[JimGTxx]

http://s132.photobucket.com/albums/q3/jimac_gtti/S...

[Marf]

botophucket is blocked at work. will have to look when I get home

[JimGTxx]

Marf said:

Thanks Jim. Did you have any bike experience before doing your DAS?

zilch, zero, nought.

It was made more difficult because I was so used to mountain biking, where you have two brake levers, not a front brake and clutch.

experience is not necessary when you have a good teacher and are willing to listen.

Edited by JimGTxx on Tuesday 22 March 15:53

[Marf]

Maybe a good thing that I've not ridden a pushbike in over 15 years then!

[JimGTxx]

Theory gubbins:-

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Diol1/DoItOnline/DG_40...

http://www.all4bikers.com/theory/motorbiketheoryte...


Good info:-

http://www.begin-motorcycling.co.uk/cbt.htm

http://www.begin-motorcycling.co.uk/tests.htm