Small capacity retro/naked/street bike?
Small capacity retro/naked/street bike?
Author
Discussion

Pizzaeatingking

Original Poster:

819 posts

89 months

Tuesday 16th September
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I flogged all my bikes a few years back, once I went self employed I no longer had the time to use them and needed to divert funds to the business. The past couple of weeks I've been toying with getting another 2 wheel'd vehicle, my last two bikes were a XSR700 and a Piaggio BV350, I'd say I had the most fun on those over all the super fast bikes I had. Similar to the cars I guess, I have a riot in my Panda 100HP since I can make use of all of the performance on the road and not get in trouble. The Piaggio in particular I could fly about on, quicker than most traffic but also never in danger of a ticket.

I've been looking about and there are a good selection of 3/4/500cc bikes at the moment thanks to the A2 licence I'm guessing, has anyone got any experience with these sized bikes? In my head they'd be fun, bit more power than the scooter but with gears for engagement, less power than the XSR which while not ballistic but still felt quite quick at times.

I'm never going to tour on it, commute on it or use it for anything other than a play about round some backroads and maybe very occasionally visit family in London on it. I don't want something that will struggle to keep up with traffic or overtake the 40mph club else I'd just get a MSX 125 or something. There's also the consideration of build quality I know 125s often are built to a budget, while I'm not expecting BMW levels of fit and finish it'd be good to know it'll last a few years.

I'm just thinking one could make for a bit of cheap fun, if I can pick something up for £3k perhaps then I wouldn't feel guilty if it didn't get used much. My lid is well out of date and all my kit too big for me since I lost weight so I'll not be in a position to test ride just yet, thought I'd ask here in the meantime!

TIA

66mpg

689 posts

125 months

Wednesday 17th September
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When I passed my test four years ago yesterday (16/09/21) I got a brand new BMW G310R. 164Kg (IIRC), 34bhp. Capable of about 88mph, I averaged 79mpg over 7k miles. Radial mounted front brake, braided lines. Revs to 10500rpm. Nice gearbox. Handles well. Buy a 71 plate with LED lighting because it has a ride by wire throttle that fixed the stalling issues that plagued the earlier models.

I have no experience of the KTM 390 Duke but it’s worth a look.

Triumph Speed 400 is nice but with low gearing in first, second and third and a rev limit of 8000rpm I kept hitting the rev limiter trying to get away from the lights quickly on my test ride. Probably can be improved by going up one tooth on the front sprocket.

Alex Z

1,854 posts

94 months

Wednesday 17th September
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I’d find it hard not to go with a BSA or Royal Enfield.

On the BSA front, it’s either a used Goldstar or a new Bantam for £3.5k
https://www.bsacompany.co.uk/bsa-bantam/

With Royal Enfield there’s a whole range to choose from in budget, and even some big discounts on new bikes with a Continental 650 for £4K
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/bike-details/20250514...

Or a Scram 411 for £3k
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/bike-details/20250815...

Neal H

431 posts

212 months

Wednesday 17th September
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Triumph's 400's are worth a look. I had a 400x Scrambler which impressed me. The performance was fine on the road up to 70 mph or so with plenty of overtaking punch at 40 or 50 mph.

bimsb6

8,472 posts

239 months

Wednesday 17th September
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Neal H said:
Triumph's 400's are worth a look. I had a 400x Scrambler which impressed me. The performance was fine on the road up to 70 mph or so with plenty of overtaking punch at 40 or 50 mph.
Cheapest one on ebay is £3900, budget is/was £3k

srob

12,219 posts

256 months

Wednesday 17th September
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I'd second the BSA Bantam suggestion. I had a look round one and a good chat with someone who's ridden one and they said they're really good fun and 'eager' was the word they used.

I recently bought a new crash helmet (I'm guilty of not changing them very often...) and I was surprised at the choice to go with something like a retro bike.

Mine came from Urban Rider who were easy to deal with.

trickywoo

13,243 posts

248 months

Wednesday 17th September
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Have a look at mr darcy and the old man on YouTube, they review all these kinds of bikes.

TurboHatchback

4,217 posts

171 months

Wednesday 17th September
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Alex Z said:
I d find it hard not to go with a BSA or Royal Enfield.

On the BSA front, it s either a used Goldstar or a new Bantam for £3.5k
https://www.bsacompany.co.uk/bsa-bantam/

With Royal Enfield there s a whole range to choose from in budget, and even some big discounts on new bikes with a Continental 650 for £4K
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/bike-details/20250514...

Or a Scram 411 for £3k
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/bike-details/20250815...
This.

Plinth

727 posts

106 months

Wednesday 17th September
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Pizzaeatingking said:

...retro/naked/street bike
...quicker than most traffic but also never in danger of a ticket.
... play about round some backroads
.... I don't want something that will struggle to keep up with traffic or overtake the 40mph club
.... it'd be good to know it'll last a few years.
....a bit of cheap fun
I had those requirements back in 2018, so I bouight this from a dealer for £1,275.



2001 Yamaha XJ600N (599cc, 61HP)
Seven years on and I still enjoy riding it.

cirian75

4,861 posts

251 months

Wednesday 17th September
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Plinth said:
Pizzaeatingking said:

...retro/naked/street bike
...quicker than most traffic but also never in danger of a ticket.
... play about round some backroads
.... I don't want something that will struggle to keep up with traffic or overtake the 40mph club
.... it'd be good to know it'll last a few years.
....a bit of cheap fun
I had those requirements back in 2018, so I bouight this from a dealer for £1,275.



2001 Yamaha XJ600N (599cc, 61HP)
Seven years on and I still enjoy riding it.
Later model with twin discs and oil cooler, excellent choice.

carinaman

23,524 posts

190 months

Wednesday 17th September
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Interesting XJ600 Diversion info.

KTM Duke 200 or 390? I don't know if the engines in the 3rd gen. are like the previous one but I don't know if they're in the price range. The Husqvarna branded versions of the 2nd gen. Duke 390s seem well priced.

I had a loaner Royal Enfield Meteor 250 in 2023 and did over 100 miles on it. I found it a lot of fun. If you don't like the feet forward chopper like ergonomics then maybe a HNTR 350 would work?

You want to change gears but a 300cc super scooter would probably work and be fun.

2017 12K mile Cat. N red SV650 before the upgraded Tokico front brakes in Yateley for £3300, but probably too near an MT-07/XSR700 in performance.

hiccy18

3,481 posts

85 months

Wednesday 17th September
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I did DAS on XJ600N's, seemed to be pretty sturdy.

Speed addicted

6,054 posts

245 months

Wednesday 17th September
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Small capacity retro you say?
How about a very pretty Honda GB350?


If it’s good enough for John Mcguinness im sure mere mortals would be fine too!

Pizzaeatingking

Original Poster:

819 posts

89 months

Wednesday 17th September
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Great responses everyone, lots of food for thought! Initial thoughts are;

BSA Bantam, looks decent, £3500 for a new one?! Deffo need to look into these.

RE Scram looks cool, not sure about the super sculpted seat but worth a look.

Triumph is a bit above budget, I'd be tempted to add a little and maybe get a used Husq SM at that money.

As good as I'm sure the XJ600 are, I would quite like something that I like ascetically too and the Yam doesn't do much for me if I'm honest.

Honda CB350 is a nice looking machine, funnily enough my mates dad had just bought one, smart little bike but he did keep saying he wish he'd got the Bantam if I were out at the time!

Thanks for the youtube tip, I'll have a look at that.

Nothing ruled out, lots of good options for me to have a look at! Thanks all.

Pizzaeatingking

Original Poster:

819 posts

89 months

Saturday 20th September
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trickywoo said:
Have a look at mr darcy and the old man on YouTube, they review all these kinds of bikes.
Just watching these guys now, great shout. Nice reviews, easy to watch too! They cover all the details that others gloss over too.

AlunJ

153 posts

181 months

Sunday 21st September
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Might get a used Guerrilla 450 for a shade over 3500. Absolutely love mine, it’s really good fun to ride and still a bit of a hooligan when you want it to be.

grotty

39 posts

33 months

Monday 22nd September
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I had a honda CBR500R, and they do a lot of bikes with that engine as you've probably seen (naked, retro, cruiser, adventure). I swapped it the week I took it to a trackday as it was dangerously slow in that context. But it was a proper good all round sports tourer on the road. Never had any issues, build quality was great. The engine felt really strong as a new rider but now that I've had experience on a few more bikes I think I'd now find it a bit characterless. It does make the most of the A2 rules but I think at that capacity I'd prefer a single cylinder for a bit more personality.

Svartpilen and Vitpilen 701 bikes are super light (about 150kg) and have a 70bhp single. An absolute riot on the road. I loved mine to bits but it was unreliable frown