A2 motorbike help!

Hello everyone!

I wonder if anyone could help me. I have my CBT and theory test, bu
screwed up my practical today. I'm very dissopointed, as it was £40
for the 3 day course. Anyway.....


I'm thinking of buying a bike to ride about on with L plates. I believ
really getting used to my own bike and using it for my next test wil
really help. I am going for the A2 subcategory license.

Could anyone here recommend a good first bike for me? I'd reall
appreciate it.

Billi

 

You could always take your test again?

Until you've passed an A or A2 test you wont be able to ride anything
over a 125, L-Plates or not.

After you've passed your A2 test a Honda CB500 or Kawasaki ER5. Both
can be restricted cheaply without too much of a loss in power. You
will probably be able to pick up a pre-restricted one off of ebay.

It's worth knowing that "biking season" is coming to an end and if you
buy a shitty 2nd hand 125 you wont be able to sell it at cost or with
a profit. I suggest you re-consider taking your Class-A test,
especially if you've already done the DAS course. Test fee = £55,
half day course from most riding schools including bike = £100. Even
if you have to do it multiple times you're still saving yourself money
compared to buying/flogging a 125.

 

While you're all at it - do you [all] think that is the way to go - to
buy a 125 and ride around a while getting some experience prior to doing
the test?

I'm about to do my Theory test in a week or two and will do the CBT
shortly afterwards. I was toying with buying a 125 but I was also
thinking about just doing one of those 3-5 day courses with it all
thrown in, full test and all.

I'm a car driver for the past 20 years and have never really been on a
bike before. I'll be doing direct access.

Talking of first bikes - if I just do the DA course/test straight off,
what would be a good bike for me? Medium height and build, want
something that would be suitable for going to work (100 mile round trip,
mainly motorways / main roads) but would also be fun in the summer on
weekends. Fairly new.

How much should I spend on a helmet - there seems to be a big variation
in prices. Do you really get what you pay for, and if so is the increase
linear - or are you just paying for the name?

 

I'm not a fan of 125's, but they are cheap to run.

It appears that towards winter one can pick up a 2nd/3rd/4th/5th hand
125 quite cheaply, run/crash it through winter and then flog it for
the same price as you bought it for (or for a bit of a profit) come
spring.

Personally, I'd just go the direct access route.

That's what I thought, but my driving school and I both decided that I
wasn't ready for direct access, so I did an A2 licence and bought a
Kawasaki ER-5 (which I'm very fond of) and restricted it to 33bhp.

Honda CB500, Kawasaki ER-5, imho. Reliable, unfaired (cheap to pick
up WHEN you drop it,) repair (AFTER you've crashed it) and fuel (About
£8-10 for a tank which will do 120-150 miles depending on how you ride
it)

All helmets on sale in the UK have to pass the same tests, but some
pass by more of a margin than others. Lozzo is your expert in
helmets, but the *correct* advice is:

*Buy something that fits and is comfortable, be it £79 or £379.*

My first helmet (HJC SyMax flip up) cost me about £150
My second helmet (OGK Gay Glitter Pretty Power Ranger) £99
My current (and fave) helmet (Shoei X-Spirit) cost me £300

When you do your CBT your riding school will have a selection of very,
very used smelly helmets for you to put on - during the CBT they will
show you how to care for your helmet.

If you purchase your helmet before your CBT then please be careful
with it, don't throw it around or bump it or leave it next to a
radiator. Put it on the floor in a corner where it wont get kicked
around.

 

If you're talking about all weather(ish) commuting, then the DA and
something with a shaft drive & a fairing of some sort will absorb the miles
in greater comfort. In addition to other advice given, you may consider a
helmet, of whatever flavour, that includes an internal dropdown sun visor. I
use a Schuberth Concept, but there are cheaper. Wet roads and low sun can
be a lethal combination.

If you wish to talk outside of this forum

scraggy at g mail dot com

 

BGN wrote

It is a bit more to it than that really imho.

If you spend six months running around on a little 125 and at the end of
that time if you are:

a) Still alive and
b) Wanting something much, much bigger then

You can call yourself arrived and get on with the lifelong process of
being ripped off royally by every **** in the chain and healing.

 

Scraggy wrote

We tend not to do that Mr Newbie. Our 'Read here reply here' policy has
it's advantages. Especially when some **** talks utter fucking bollox.
Plenty of critics there are and some of them quite knowledgeable.

 

That's precisely why mine *do* get kicked around.

**** it - it's a helmet. If it wilts and dies after a few kicks, it's
not going to be much good at protecting your bonce, is it?

 

How does shaft drive make a bike more comfortable?

Oh dear, another newbie rider who thinks he knows it all.

 

The Older Gentleman wrote

You can be confident that the front wheel will never leave the ground
under acceleration, no matter how hard you try?

 

Good point.

 

On Mon, 22 Aug 2005 19:27:06 +0100,

It depends how hard you kick it and how often you get kicked in the
heard, I suppose. But a helmet is going to be used in the Real World,
be it on floors with feet or on tarmac/Ford Fiesta/tree while at
speed.

 

Good point.[/QUOTE]

And all CG125's come with ABS as standard.

 

BGN wrote

Standard now is it? Amazing.

 

Actually, it's not standard any more. They've fitted a front disk brake,
and... they've removed the kick starter, and swapped the enclosed chain
for a non enclosed one.

 

<drum roll> You'd never lock a wheel with those brakes, would you?
<laughter and applause>

 

Verdigris wrote

Agree strongly.

Disagree strongly. For a start there is a matter of the power to weight
ratio to consider and you, even if you are a thinner fat **** than you
were and looking much better for it if I may be allowed to comment,
carry a penalty that would make real a difference to a sub 200kilo bike
with only 40newfangledunits to go around.

And another thing, 40 or 50 horses is more than enough for 99% of what
99% of newbies will actually be able to use regardless of their desires.

You went out for a ride wiv your mates on Sunday right? How much of
that journey was in town traffic trying not to get another 3 points on
it's license? I suspect your actual blatting times were not that great
in the overall scheme of things.

Agree strongly

Disagree slightly. Mind you I wear reactolites.

Convenient? Kin essential they are.

A 500 pound helmet is 300 pounds of a wasted of money even if it does
fit.

 

BGN said:

You're a lovely chap Nick - but you really should try to get a clue.

 

Oi! I did. On a wet road, admittedly, but I locked the front on a
CG125 (makes Sign of Holy Pushrods) and went over the bars. Picked
myself and the bike up, kicked the forks straight again, and carried
on...

 

I'm very likely to put it away for the winter. I've got a car after all.