New rider. Any suggestions for a first big bike?
Discussion
Hi All.
I’ve been lurking for a while on the bike forum but I can’t keep quiet any longer. I passed my Mod 2 (2 minors) on 7th Oct (after a v long wait for a test date) and am now excitedly looking forward to getting my first big bike. I’ve been riding a CBF125 since my CBT in May to ensure I get some practice.
I’ve waited just over 20 years to get a bike licence (I’m 46 now - where did the time go?) and am raring to go.
I admit to being torn between buying an older and cheaper bike (up to £3k) to continue learning on, based on advice that I’ll drop the bike at some point, or spending more to buy the type of bike I want (something I can stick the other half on the back and do a bit of touring eventually, but also be fun to ride on my own). Head says go for the old bike, heart says f*ck it and buy what you want now.
Any advice on older bikes is appreciated. I have the Fazer, Hornet, MT-07, SV650 on my list; any others worth considering? If a new(er) bike, I’m considering the Tiger 800/900, GS850, or F900XR. And a wildcard, the Street Triple R as I think it looks cool but the other half would be furious. I plan to get some test rides, if possible.
Thanks all in advance.
I’ve been lurking for a while on the bike forum but I can’t keep quiet any longer. I passed my Mod 2 (2 minors) on 7th Oct (after a v long wait for a test date) and am now excitedly looking forward to getting my first big bike. I’ve been riding a CBF125 since my CBT in May to ensure I get some practice.
I’ve waited just over 20 years to get a bike licence (I’m 46 now - where did the time go?) and am raring to go.
I admit to being torn between buying an older and cheaper bike (up to £3k) to continue learning on, based on advice that I’ll drop the bike at some point, or spending more to buy the type of bike I want (something I can stick the other half on the back and do a bit of touring eventually, but also be fun to ride on my own). Head says go for the old bike, heart says f*ck it and buy what you want now.
Any advice on older bikes is appreciated. I have the Fazer, Hornet, MT-07, SV650 on my list; any others worth considering? If a new(er) bike, I’m considering the Tiger 800/900, GS850, or F900XR. And a wildcard, the Street Triple R as I think it looks cool but the other half would be furious. I plan to get some test rides, if possible.
Thanks all in advance.
Edited by ColonelKurtz on Wednesday 21st October 20:12
Edited by ColonelKurtz on Wednesday 21st October 20:18
Thanks everyone for the congrats on passing the test and your thoughts and advice; both very much appreciated!. The reason I wasn't out buying a bike the day after I passed my test is because I got decision freeze on what to buy. I also had some issues from dealers where they said their insurance would not cover a newly passed rider; they wanted at least one year as a rider. But I have since found other dealers who are happy to let me test ride. That is happening on Saturday!
On Saturday I am going to test ride a Tiger 900 GT Pro, a 2002 Fazer 600, and a 2012 Honda NC700. Next week, I have booked in test rides on an 850GS, and a F900XR. I'm going to try to have a look at an MT-07 too. A little varied I know but I want to try different types of bikes. For my DAS training I was on a Gladius (I thought that was quite nice and it had 85k on the clock) and SV650 (I liked that too but I found the seat uncomfortable after about an hour - maybe I have a bony a*se).
I'm 5' 8" with a 32" inside leg and, barring the 850GS (not sure how high they are), I am ok on the Tiger 900 with getting feet on the ground (I sat on one back in May) and the other bikes I am looking at should be lower than the Tiger.
I'm pretty sensible these days, having got the need for speed out of my system with cars over the years, and I am planning to get additional training in the future. Touring with the other half is not likely for quite a while as I need to learn a lot more about how to ride the bike before that. I was considering waiting until March next year to buy a bike but I have the bug now and want to build up my experience as much as possible. I also sold my CBF125 yesterday so I now have no excuse not to buy! I don't need the bike to commute and will only be using it for fun and any other excuse I can use to ride it; I am guessing I'll do c. 4k miles in the first year.
After your posts I'm now erring on the side of older and cheaper bike to learn on, and not shell out on a nearly new bike, as I agree with the advice that I may actually prefer a different type of bike to what I think I do in the long run. But, in the lights of the showroom, will I give in...?
I will keep you all posted. Watch this space. And thanks again everyone.
On Saturday I am going to test ride a Tiger 900 GT Pro, a 2002 Fazer 600, and a 2012 Honda NC700. Next week, I have booked in test rides on an 850GS, and a F900XR. I'm going to try to have a look at an MT-07 too. A little varied I know but I want to try different types of bikes. For my DAS training I was on a Gladius (I thought that was quite nice and it had 85k on the clock) and SV650 (I liked that too but I found the seat uncomfortable after about an hour - maybe I have a bony a*se).
I'm 5' 8" with a 32" inside leg and, barring the 850GS (not sure how high they are), I am ok on the Tiger 900 with getting feet on the ground (I sat on one back in May) and the other bikes I am looking at should be lower than the Tiger.
I'm pretty sensible these days, having got the need for speed out of my system with cars over the years, and I am planning to get additional training in the future. Touring with the other half is not likely for quite a while as I need to learn a lot more about how to ride the bike before that. I was considering waiting until March next year to buy a bike but I have the bug now and want to build up my experience as much as possible. I also sold my CBF125 yesterday so I now have no excuse not to buy! I don't need the bike to commute and will only be using it for fun and any other excuse I can use to ride it; I am guessing I'll do c. 4k miles in the first year.
After your posts I'm now erring on the side of older and cheaper bike to learn on, and not shell out on a nearly new bike, as I agree with the advice that I may actually prefer a different type of bike to what I think I do in the long run. But, in the lights of the showroom, will I give in...?
I will keep you all posted. Watch this space. And thanks again everyone.
Edited by ColonelKurtz on Thursday 22 October 13:22
thatdude said:
As you've seen OP, you get a lot of suggestions.
Rather than us tell you what you want, tell us what takes your fancy and we can help you with the pros and cons. Mostly pros, I dont think there is really a bad bike, just the wrong bike for a given intnetion (so no R1's if you want to go greenlaning often!)
I did, in my original post. Long-term, I want a bike I can stick my wife on and we can go touring on (weekends, maybe a little longer) and also one I can learn on and enjoy on my own. A bike I look forward to ride and find an excuse to get on it is the ideal but, when you have little experience of bikes and so much choice, where do you start - hence my original post. Rather than us tell you what you want, tell us what takes your fancy and we can help you with the pros and cons. Mostly pros, I dont think there is really a bad bike, just the wrong bike for a given intnetion (so no R1's if you want to go greenlaning often!)
Regards the newer bikes, I love the Triumph Tiger 900 GT Pro as it has all the gadgets and the reviews say it is a cracking bike. I have sat on one and found it a good fit height-wise. I also think the BMW GS850 would be a good comparison for the Tiger and Bahnstormer is a short walk from my house. The F900XR I include because it seems from reviews to be a good mix of tourer and sporty, and apparently quite a forgiving bike for new riders. The Street Triple R I just love the look of but that may be too much for a new rider.
Regards the older bikes, the Fazer 600 and Hornet interest me because everyone I spoke to mentioned them as great cheap bikes for a first big bike. The MT-07 and Honda 700 interest me as they are reasonably priced.
[quote=s1dew1nd3r]
Congrats on the test pass mate, you sound fairly similar to me and my mate who have just both passed our full bike tests (me december last year and him september this year) both around 35 (your a decade on) but got a lot of that high speed stuff out of our system owning various healthy amounts of performance cars over the years, we was always interested in bikes but it was 100% the right decision to do it on the + side of our 30s!
I think you need to decide what sort of riding you want to do, the good thing with bikes is they are very accessible as in..
1, fairly cheap to buy a half decent bike.
2, cheap to insure & tax.
3, because of the above two reasons you can own 2 or 3 at once!
I have already been through a few bikes - started with a yamaha fzr 600, nice bike - quick enough but i found it a little narrow. I quickly bought a zxr750 which was going cheap to go with the yamaha. I ended up selling them BOTH to the same guy but in the meantime i had bought myself a zxr400 (have a thing for 400s great bikes in the twistys with enough poke on the road!). I ended up getting a Honda CBR900RRX fireblade to sit alongside the 400, they compliment each other so well!
Im quite happy on sports bikes and intend to add a zx7r to the garage before moving on to buy something like a triumph thruxton-R for a bit of a classic style bike to bomb about on and then a tourer/adventure something i can do long distance euro ventures on!
Where abouts are you located? IF its in the northwest you are more than welcome to come out for a ride with us!
Leave you with a couple of pics of mine...
Cheers mate, really appreciate that. Sadly, I’m down in Berkshire. Crikey, you have indeed been through a few bikes. I love your bikes
Congrats on the test pass mate, you sound fairly similar to me and my mate who have just both passed our full bike tests (me december last year and him september this year) both around 35 (your a decade on) but got a lot of that high speed stuff out of our system owning various healthy amounts of performance cars over the years, we was always interested in bikes but it was 100% the right decision to do it on the + side of our 30s!
I think you need to decide what sort of riding you want to do, the good thing with bikes is they are very accessible as in..
1, fairly cheap to buy a half decent bike.
2, cheap to insure & tax.
3, because of the above two reasons you can own 2 or 3 at once!
I have already been through a few bikes - started with a yamaha fzr 600, nice bike - quick enough but i found it a little narrow. I quickly bought a zxr750 which was going cheap to go with the yamaha. I ended up selling them BOTH to the same guy but in the meantime i had bought myself a zxr400 (have a thing for 400s great bikes in the twistys with enough poke on the road!). I ended up getting a Honda CBR900RRX fireblade to sit alongside the 400, they compliment each other so well!
Im quite happy on sports bikes and intend to add a zx7r to the garage before moving on to buy something like a triumph thruxton-R for a bit of a classic style bike to bomb about on and then a tourer/adventure something i can do long distance euro ventures on!
Where abouts are you located? IF its in the northwest you are more than welcome to come out for a ride with us!
Leave you with a couple of pics of mine...
Cheers mate, really appreciate that. Sadly, I’m down in Berkshire. Crikey, you have indeed been through a few bikes. I love your bikes
Edited by ColonelKurtz on Saturday 24th October 18:37
So today, due to the weather being pretty windy and rainy, I only had a chance to ride two bikes. And I bought one of them. And it was not on my list, was not the type of bike I had ever considered as a first bike, nor had I ever heard of it before today. But I just fell in love with it and I really love how it looks. What did I buy?
I bought a 2001 Triumph 600TT. One owner from new, 7,400 miles, full Triumph history, 12 months MOT,£3,200 including full service by Triumph. I also rode a Tiger 900 GT Pro for a couple of hours and really loved it. But, after considering all the posts you all wrote to my original question, my sensible head took over and I realised that’s a lot to spend at such an early point in my biking journey.
So, what are your thoughts on my purchase? I expect this might be a marmite bike. Here’s a picture of it; there are a couple of stickers on it that I’ll likely remove but it is in an amazing condition..
I bought a 2001 Triumph 600TT. One owner from new, 7,400 miles, full Triumph history, 12 months MOT,£3,200 including full service by Triumph. I also rode a Tiger 900 GT Pro for a couple of hours and really loved it. But, after considering all the posts you all wrote to my original question, my sensible head took over and I realised that’s a lot to spend at such an early point in my biking journey.
So, what are your thoughts on my purchase? I expect this might be a marmite bike. Here’s a picture of it; there are a couple of stickers on it that I’ll likely remove but it is in an amazing condition..
AJ5641 said:
I'm looking to move my ABS 2009 CBF600 on next month. Will be putting a fresh MOT and service on it. Will be up for £2000 if you're interested. I used it as something to get cheap insurance and experience in my first year of riding and it hasn't disappointed me.
If I’d seen this post earlier, I’d have had a chat with you. But I bought a bike today. Thank you for the offer though. V8RX7 said:
Brave man asking opinions... if you love it and are happy with the VFM then congrats.
I suspect the salesman was even happier than you.
He was. He’s a good friend of mine too. I am only hoping he remains so after this purchase. I am very happy with the purchase thanks. It gives me something to learn on, at a low price, and time to understand what the next bike will be...I suspect the salesman was even happier than you.
Triaguar said:
I will start. I think that is a wonderful choice. All the fun of a sports bike with the comfort of it being so easy to ride. Sometimes mechanically suspect, particularly the electrics, but that is a different conversation. Cannot see what stickers you want to take off but unless they are gross don't. REMEMBER if you steam into a corner too fast keep leaning don't be tempted to sit it back up. Well played that man.
Cheers for that! And thanks for the words of advice; noted. The stickers are not terrible really; two Shell stickers, and a small Ace Cafe and two small flags on the very back. The tank protector is the only think I don’t like as I prefer them plain.
GTiWILL said:
OMG... the OP only done did a buy! Thread gold!
Looks a beauty OP, well done. Enjoy your bike and get plenty of miles on it. Keep the thread updated with how you get along with it as well.
Cheers! Will keep you posted on how I get on. Don’t people usually buy after asking advice on the forum??Looks a beauty OP, well done. Enjoy your bike and get plenty of miles on it. Keep the thread updated with how you get along with it as well.
s1dew1nd3r said:
I was looking at these myself a few months back - i quite like them in pictures but i seen one at a local biker cafe in person and i was quite wowed by it, they are so much better "in the flesh" so to speak. That one in particular looks in great condition and ticks all the boxes, a little bit rich as they do pop up fairly cheap BUT that one is really low miles and with the condition etc i suppose you have to pay a bit more.
Try footman james for insurance, by far the best quote iv had so far is from them on the fireblade - £200 fully comp for the year, agreed valuation with RAC cover too!
I will look at them thanks. Cheapest so far, from GoCompare website, is £240 comprehensive with Triumph Insurance; garaged, up to 4K miles. I don’t think that included breakdown cover though, and that might be handy on a 2001 Triumph.Try footman james for insurance, by far the best quote iv had so far is from them on the fireblade - £200 fully comp for the year, agreed valuation with RAC cover too!
It does seem on the high side alright. There is one other on sale on Autotrader with similar miles for a similar price. But, you’re right, there are more on sale at a lower price. I can only guess the low mileage, one owner, full history, and being sold by a Triumph dealer has bumped the price up over the odds. But I’m happy with what I paid as the condition really is fantastic (maybe through relief that I didn’t end up buying a brand new bike).
It is apparently the ‘right’ model year, having the updates Triumph made over the criticisms of the launch model the year before.
As for being unusual, I’ve always been a sucker for an oddball with cars over the years; it looks like that might continue with bikes!
It is apparently the ‘right’ model year, having the updates Triumph made over the criticisms of the launch model the year before.
As for being unusual, I’ve always been a sucker for an oddball with cars over the years; it looks like that might continue with bikes!
V8RX7 said:
Golden rule - after you've bought one - STOP LOOKING !
Unless you're going to buy another one
Now THAT is sound advice! Unless you're going to buy another one
I just bought myself a Schuberth C4Pro to replace my LS2 Rookie helmet I used for DAS and car track days. What a difference! Well, so far I’ve worn it for one hour watching tv.
Parenting the new puppy has meant my planned pick up of the bike today has been moved to Monday. Looking at the weather right now I am glad I didn’t pick it up. The bike has been given a full service, a fresh MOT, and Sagem ECU fuel map(s) updated.
Insurance is sorted with MCE (anyone else find them difficult to reach on the phone?) at £280 comp for up to 4K miles annually, breakdown cover, no pillion passenger, in a locked garage overnight, £800 combined. Not cheap but I am a brand new rider.
Will let you all know how the ride back home from Bulldog Triumph on Monday goes. Exciting times. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
Edited by ColonelKurtz on Saturday 31st October 11:11
Edited by ColonelKurtz on Saturday 31st October 11:13
I will leave the tank protector on; definitely not skinny! I want to keep the bike in as good a condition as I receive it as I am now very curious about the new Triumph Trident........I might have to see what it looks like in the metal. I’ve just realised this is an addiction.....
Cheers for the tip on the fuel light; it doesn’t have a fuel gauge or a gear indicator, does it. And I’ll take some pics and share.
Cheers for the tip on the fuel light; it doesn’t have a fuel gauge or a gear indicator, does it. And I’ll take some pics and share.
Edited by ColonelKurtz on Saturday 31st October 14:10
Well I picked the bike up at 10am today and rode it home; about 15 miles. Couldn’t ride any more today as I had a busy day.
All I can say is WOW! I found the bike bloody fast although bear in mind I had a CBF 125 to practice on for a few months and then rode the DAS training school (Lightning Reading) SV650s. So, my experience is very limited. But, to me, the bike feels like a rocket.
I found it quite comfy for the short journey, the riding position is more over the tank than I am used to but feels like it gives me more control. Even thought the Sagem ECU has been updated with the latest fuel mapping I did experience the stuttering below 4k rpm, but I think it was only in 1st and 2nd gears. Is it terrible? I didn’t think so but maybe I might with more miles on the bike.
The only things I don’t like so far are the lack of fuel gauge and gear indicator, but I believe I can get an add-on gear indicator; and these are minor things that are liveable with. But the exhaust. Oh my, is it loud! It screams, pops, farts, etc. and sounds amazing. It is a Dominator brand (never heard of them and not much on the internet), but I think it is a bit too “look at me” for my liking. I don’t know if the baffle is in it; I must check tomorrow. If the bike is a long term keeper I will replace the exhaust. Any suggestions?
![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/JdJRqYWt.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/vpjc2HL3" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/vpjc2HL3.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/vpgPRfGj" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/vpgPRfGj.jpg)
All I can say is WOW! I found the bike bloody fast although bear in mind I had a CBF 125 to practice on for a few months and then rode the DAS training school (Lightning Reading) SV650s. So, my experience is very limited. But, to me, the bike feels like a rocket.
I found it quite comfy for the short journey, the riding position is more over the tank than I am used to but feels like it gives me more control. Even thought the Sagem ECU has been updated with the latest fuel mapping I did experience the stuttering below 4k rpm, but I think it was only in 1st and 2nd gears. Is it terrible? I didn’t think so but maybe I might with more miles on the bike.
The only things I don’t like so far are the lack of fuel gauge and gear indicator, but I believe I can get an add-on gear indicator; and these are minor things that are liveable with. But the exhaust. Oh my, is it loud! It screams, pops, farts, etc. and sounds amazing. It is a Dominator brand (never heard of them and not much on the internet), but I think it is a bit too “look at me” for my liking. I don’t know if the baffle is in it; I must check tomorrow. If the bike is a long term keeper I will replace the exhaust. Any suggestions?
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