Good Budget 1st Bike?
Discussion
Got my DAS all ready and waiting, and have been alotted money to purchase my 1st bike!!! 
Question is, what to get? I know of what I would get if I had more, but on that kind of budget, I have no clue, as older models come into play??!?
Looking for something like the SV, as its comfortable and able, putting up with long distance trips easily. Also, its insurable!
What would be my options around the £1500 mark??!!?
All help appreciated, thanks!
Question is, what to get? I know of what I would get if I had more, but on that kind of budget, I have no clue, as older models come into play??!?
Looking for something like the SV, as its comfortable and able, putting up with long distance trips easily. Also, its insurable!
What would be my options around the £1500 mark??!!?
All help appreciated, thanks!
*ahem* mutter mutter my VFR400 in the classifieds mutter mutter
It will be a very shagged out SV at the £1500 level & a very old cbr 6 too.
However Bandit 600's are cheap as chips now, get a good un for £1500. For less power but great starter bikes are the Honda CB500 & the Kwak ER5 all are supprising fun to blast about on.
Edited to add- DOH! note to me, read e-mail before posting on PH! Raks just opened my e-mail, got ya mail YHM.
>> Edited by iguana on Tuesday 1st July 23:26
It will be a very shagged out SV at the £1500 level & a very old cbr 6 too.
However Bandit 600's are cheap as chips now, get a good un for £1500. For less power but great starter bikes are the Honda CB500 & the Kwak ER5 all are supprising fun to blast about on.
Edited to add- DOH! note to me, read e-mail before posting on PH! Raks just opened my e-mail, got ya mail YHM.
>> Edited by iguana on Tuesday 1st July 23:26
DennisTheMenace said:
How did you manage to fit on a vfr400 iguana
I tried but couldnt hence the purchase of a ZZR600
Well mine is an NC24 which is a bit less of a crunched position than the later & more popular NC30's or the NC35 (rvf 400) which I also ride (tho the 35 is not mine)
I would be lying if I said either wasnt a bit tight,
after all I am a lanky sod 
but perhaps its my shape, coz I find some modern jap sports stuff like the R6 tighter mainly cos of the position of the tank cutouts which dont seem to suit my long legged praying manis like frame so well . My kness do get a bit cramped after a bit but only on a long run, in the twistys for say a nice 30 mile blast I'm too busy hanging off all over the place to feel sore & after a knee bashing 'off' a few yrs ago I have the habit of doing the leg out streach thing a I trundle through the 30mph limits anyway.
I also tend to ride practiacly with my heel on the peg when not in the twistys & only when cornering use the ball of my foot on the pegs which i find feels much more comfortable.
My trusty old Bandit on the other hand feels like a supermotard in comparison
(got flat bars on the old girl for a better stretch too) I'm in a similar position, but with about £2,000 to spend, barely know one end of a spanner from the other and have nobody I can get to check out a bike for me.
Therefore I have been looking to buy from a dealer and have been looking mainly at ER-5's. They are pretty cheap and supposedly bullet proof. I would like something more exciting but don't really know much about older models.
Therefore I have been looking to buy from a dealer and have been looking mainly at ER-5's. They are pretty cheap and supposedly bullet proof. I would like something more exciting but don't really know much about older models.
Another recommendation for a Bandit from me, mines done 20k+ in 5 years without a hitch, finish is looking a tad tired but it's commuted year round (snow excepted), lived out doors and gets cleaned once a year for the MOT. It've done long trips on it (London to North Wales) without problems, but did get a fly screen and tend to use the A-roads. After a full tank (100 odd miles) my knees get stiff - I'm 6'2", but my knees tend to stiffen any way, given the opportunity.
£1500 should get a very good one, I'd have thought. But the same could be said of the other "commuter" bikes mentioned here.
£1500 should get a very good one, I'd have thought. But the same could be said of the other "commuter" bikes mentioned here.
I was happy with my GPz500. it was 2yrs old with 3K on the clock and I got it for £2500. One which is a year or so older should fit into the budget. It was a valuable experience as it taught me to get to know the limits of a bike because it didn't have that much power compared to my mates who all had 600 sports bikes so I had to ride better than them to keep up. Used it to go to Liverpool from Reading about 5-6 times and never had a problem.
Mech sympathy could have also added that despite the Bandits rather out of date image compared to Hornets Fazers etc, neither of us were really embarrised on a track day by anything and there where a lot of sports 600 owners who could not quite belive we could stay in front of them or keep up with them for the whole session.
Must admit we did have a similar banzi approach to riding ie leave brains at home in a jar and ride like you are about to crash at evry bend tho
Must admit we did have a similar banzi approach to riding ie leave brains at home in a jar and ride like you are about to crash at evry bend tho
On a blast the lack of fairing will probably save your licence (unless you rest your neck muscles through villages), but for long motorway trips a fairing would be a bonus over 80mph, which is why I tend to go by A-road. It doesn't take long to work out good route for a regular trip, and TBH doesn't add enormously to journey times.
The old GSXF or the teapot as it is sometimes called is an ok little bike, basically a Bandit 600 engine and an early cbr600-esk fairing. Not very sought after & should be quite cheap. Pretty good weather protection & as quick as a bandit 600 but very slightly more top end coz of the fairing.
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