Please tell me about little motorbikes

[barry2017]

I might be able to find a mooring that is closer to uni, if I take up my offer. Great, but it's 14 miles away.

I could commute 14 miles each way on a bike, I did in the past but I don't know if I'll always want to. I can't really afford a car, so I was thinking a little (50-125ish?) motorbike would be nice for days when I wasn't up for riding.

I can't ride; my one experience of motorcycles is crashing my mate's while trying to impress my girlfriend when I was 16. I never told him I couldn't ride one. :shock:

My plan would be to take a CBT and then do my test, which I guess I'd be OK with (I have had a car license for years).

So what do you think? I don't care if kids laugh at me; no midlife crises here! My insurance quotes are only about £75, with £15 road tax and decent fuel economy(actually, how much petrol does a bike like this use?)it seems OK. But are there other expenses I haven't thought of? Would I realistically get started with, say, £2500? What are they like for working on? Could I do the servicing myself? How much are the running costs?

Any advice appreciated.

 

[orange71]

PM'd you

 

[The Ken]

mate at work did the same but went the scooter route, a bit more weather protection and you get to wear one of those ex army parkers which can only be a bonus

 

[velomaniac]

For commuting a modern automatic scooter is a good bet. Good weather protection, good economy, useful storage compartments built in, very nippy in traffic. Loads of choice with Chinese and Taiwanese stuff based on jap designs fitting well into the cost conscious sector.

Only gripe I have is currently my scoot is in the garage waiting for a tyre. Just one tyre but because no two manufacturers seem content to standardise on tyres even within their own ranges the correct size isn't just sitting on a rack in the shop like you'd find in the world of cars or bicycles :roll:

 

[kaiser]

Not got much to offer but some of the Honda mini bikes are very cool, monkey etc up to the Zoomer . A guy from work has a Suzuki van van and rates it too, looks a whole load of fun.

 

[velomaniac]

Van Van is like a Surly Pugsley with an engine and thus is well cool plus it looks like a 70's trail bike not a pseudo moto crosser

Yamaha and someone like Hyosung(taiwanese) do something similar

 

[Grannygrinder]

.

If you want cheap transport you can't go far wrong with a Honda Lead 100. You can pick up a 3-4 year old one with low miles for around £550-£600. I've got one, £7ish to fill the tank which will take you about 120-140 miles depending on how hard you ride it. As you say £15 tax, less than £100 a year to insure. Also its not the prettiest scooter so no one wants to steal it
I love mine, although Aprillia have recently bought out a 300cc scooter which looks like a right hoot, genuine 100 mph I feel a part exchange coming on

 

[Splatter Paint]

Dunno about a scooter, maybe a full-size bike? Honda CG 125? £2500 will get you a lot of bike, I sold my ZX6R Ninja for £900!

You should be able to get 85+ mpg from a 125cc, they'll be easy peasy to work on, apart from changing the chain and fitting tyres.

You'll find the other road users have seemingly no respect though, it is very scary riding something that'll only just do the national speed limit.

SP

 

[FairfaxPat]

Have you considered an electric bike? There are several i have been looking at, including the PI BIKE, being built in Sausalito, California, about 10 miles from my home. These bikes will go 20-30 MPH (depending which model) for 30-40 miles, and recharge from a wall outlet in about 4 hours. They cost about $3000.00 over here. The other one I like is the Optibike, made to spec in Colorado--BUT WAY PRICY--$12,000.00! It's advantage is it can go offroad too!

 

[mattbrown]

i have Goldie Lookin Chain's Minimoto song in my head when i read the title

http://www.sweetslyrics.com/737026.Gold ... imoto.html