Buying Motorcycle Advice

fossilfuel on 05/02/2017 - 11:03

Hello!

Recently got my motorcycle L's and I'm looking for a bike for less than $3k. Will be using it for short commutes to and from uni and work (both ~40km to and from) a few days a week. Currently looking at the Honda CBR125(R) - found some with low KMs and under 2k - might stick with that but I'm also open to other options. I'd prefer a 125cc engine and either sport or naked bodies. It's my first time making such a large purchase so any advice on what to look out for and bargaining would be much appreciated!

Cheers.

Automotive

Comments

  • matthewperk on 09/02/2017 - 12:01
    +1

    I ride a CT110 posty bike. There are two issues with it:

    1. Max speed 80-85km/h on the flats (uphill…. we don't talk about riding up hill).
    2. Size for my 6'2" frame. My legs are a little cramped - i'm looking into spacing up the seat so that my legs are extended a little more.

    The max speed only really comes into play on longer rides or where you need to get on the freeway. Freeways are scary when you cant match the speed limit. And not being able to sit easily at 80km/h on other roads can be dangerous with other drivers getting frustrated.

    The size issue isn't so common for most, and most bikes are usually a bigger fit or offer adjustment.

    Saying that. my CT110 cost me $250 to pick up. It's not the best on fuel, but it's not bad. It's built like a tank. I've dropped it, not done a whole lot of maintenance and it is easy to fix if anything does go wrong.

    And finally being a 110cc, it is cheap to register!

    Personally, I'd probably go a more modern 125cc or 250cc so that it has enough power to hit speed limits. I don't care about overtaking power, but holding the speed limit does drastically improve your safety.

    Saying that CT110s are holding their value, a CB125E is about the same value as an old CT110 with rego.

    each their own.

  • chowmanly on 09/02/2017 - 19:48
    +1

    Ive been riding for years. I owned a scooter twice (125 and 150), I had a honda cbr125 a Suzuki gsx 750 and now a Kawasaki ninja 300.
    I will hands down advise you to get a 250cc. They are great allrounders. Shop around and bargain,
    You should be able to get something decent for 3k. 40km is a bit of a stretch for a 125. If no other way get at least 150. It makes a difference:
    I bought my jacket on eBay. I don't think you need a lot of gear, helmet, jacket, gloves and (maybe) a rain suit. Also got my helmet from eBay. Aldi seems to make quality helmets and gear (when they sell). My jacket brand is ixon and is pretty awesome . I think I paid $220. Very happy with it and owned it for 4 years.

  • typhoonadventure on 09/02/2017 - 22:26
    +2

    i've been riding for 7 years.

    Best advice I can give you? if you are a young rider, (this may only be relevant in SA) judging the options by insurance could cripple you.

    I always found the system stacked against males ages 16-25 in SA where we got classed in the most expensive category for just about any car, and many companies would not even talk to you even at 23 with a clean driving / riding record, and if they did they absolutely took you for a ride with pricing.

    When I did my rider safe training (it's two stages in SA), i'd ridden a scooter for 6 months beforehand to get used to it, and was in the process of buying a bike at the time.

    As awesome as it sounded to buy a new bike 'to be sure", with everyone telling you horror stories of buying second hand ones.

    Instructor pretty much said the following, your going to damage your bike, if you are buying a bike now thinking i'd be stupid not to get it without comprehensive, you're going to be scratching your head when you realize you would have been better off putting the money you would have put towards insurance into a bike repair fund for that inevitable time(s) your going to damage it. Even gave a great suggestion of several places to checkout especially after the clipsal here in adelaide who provide and then later on sell after they've had limited use safety checked and maintenance logged and backed up bikes for sale much cheaper and many of them will have dents, scratches etc.

    His advice was, your going to add to the sctaches and dents, so save the money doing it, and then this way your also not going to get stuck with some backyarders dodgey repairs.

    As for insurance he recomended going with third party theft if you can get it which is what I went for, I think my coverage was about $14 a month which was pretty good.

    I got a kawasaki GPX 250, the bike was absolute magic, weigh 90kg, 192cm tall, bike still had great power to weight ratio and my mate who went out and bought a brand new CBR and kept calling my 2007 bike crap couldnt keep up with it doing 80 going up the hills, similar height and build to me.

    I had 1 incident on the scooter, I looked like an idiot wearing full biker armor on it, but considering I had the kickstand lock holding the stand up fail while going over a speed bump and deploy the kick stand….. it was a positive experience as you learn from a lot of these, I was doing about 5km/h when it happened, still launched me quite a distance and made my slide quite a distance, I had entry level biker gear on and that still tore the crap out of the pants.

    Do NOT be tempted to re-use the gear to save money, after seeing how easy those basic armor pants were torn open I went into a bike shop and showed them the pants, they even showed me some injuries on a few of the older bikers there who never used to wear armor back in the old days and it's an eye opener how much damage you can do at low speeds.

    Ended up going with a pair of armor plated jeans, I highly recomend going for these, i've had to buy 3x pairs of these in my life time riding so far.

    Had two more injuries on the bike, first came due to allowing an idiot tire fitter replace my tires, again with bikes, failing to do checks, failing to do research and cheaping out can screw you over heavily, or even kill you.

    Had a bike shop I was going to try to rip me off after quoting me a price and then changing it, so went to a tire power shop where they offered to get in my tires so much cheaper, and they had the apprentice fit the tires. Fitted the front one the wrong way around, after it was done I questioned whether it was safe, I was told by the kid it was fine, i didnt trust them and asked the manager who also told me it would be fine. Rode around for a month fine, then we got rain…

    Coming back from CFS (I live at the bottom of the adelaide hills) and due to the tread being the wrong way around, according to the police I had absolutely no ability to navigate a wet road, started raining heavily on the way home and as soon as i went past a big wet section front tyre spun throwing me onto the ground being pinned under the bike sliding another 50m before it finally stopped. Again theres some more safety lessons in this, it was pitch black and low visibility, as cool as it is to get riding gear with sleek discrete colors, I was fortunate enough my jacket had reflector strips on the back, the rest I went all black for, the next driver who came by was speeding doing 100 in the wet in an 80 zone and nearly ran me over, luckily enough saw the reflector strips at the last second, when he stopped he reckons he only saw me at the last second.

    I was lucky that there was a cop following him up the hill and both of them helped me out, I was pretty dazed after that but yeah, maintainence, get good people to work on it, wear high vis, and those jeans? survived me being dragged that far it tore them down to the stitches, but in my books, they stopped my legs getting mangled.

    And despite it being an 80k rd, due to the conditions I was only doing 45, so yeah if i'd been going after i'd probably be dead.

    And then the final injury, I repaired the bike myself, it took very little damage, i've had mates with cbr's and ducatti's (do NOT get a ducatti if you arent rich, cost him $6500 to repair scratches and faring pieces).

    About 6 months later, i'd been riding with no drama and was heading on northeast rd to the city, had some (profanity) weaving through traffic, when you ride a bike you CANNOT be aggressive, you have to ride like a pacifist, you don't want to get involved in any on road crap as you will ALWAYS lose.

    Kept dropping back hoping this (profanity) would get so far ahead of me he wouldnt be an issue some how he gets locked into a middle lane and ends up way behind me, after the next intersection in hampstead gardens traffic has really cleared up, only obstacle coming ahead is a bus dropping off passengers in the left lane (that I am in) middle lane has a few cars in it, i am slowing down to leave the bus plenty of room as it tries to merge back in, and im looking for backup options to slip into the middle if anything comes up.

    Then out of nowhere the car i'd had issues with before pulls out from behind a car in the middle lane and absolutely guns it not taking any notice I am ahead of him, leaving me with not many options and hardly any time to react, I need to slow down or I will hit the bus, if I slow down this guy will hit me, if I try to merge to the right I could still be hit by the bus merging, if I try to slip in and speed up i'm playing roulette, the only real option seems to be to try to bank left as much as I can and get prepared to ditch if I have to atleast clearing traffic hitting me.

    As this is happening I just don't get the time I need, the idiot driving has now realized the bus is pulling out and instantly decides after flooring the engine to merge back into the middle lane and as im trying to bank left I nearly get out clean only to have the back of my bike clipped.

    Luckily manage to clear the bus despite them staying in the left lane as this (profanity) takes off down the middle lane, they knew they hit me, they would have felt it. Thanks to trying to bank stopped me being launched into traffic and instead has launched me down the gutter which again probably saved my life, if i'd been forced into the bus, or been knocked off into the main lanes on the road i'd be dead.

    I nearly died anyway, I was just lucky the cars behind this were paying attention and they all braked and gave me a hand, a few people even commented that the saw the driver of the vehicle that caused it stopping further up the road, seeming to pannick and then gunning it off down a side street.

    When the police arrived, it got put down as a hit and run, no one got a complete plate though, so no charges got laid, was even told by the police, just due to that, even if i'd had comprehensive, they would have treated me as if i'd caused it due to a culprit not being caught by police.

    Bike suffered extensive damage but was repairable, again the high vis markers on the armor gave me good visibility, to stop the drivers behind it hitting me, and you wouldnt believe how much glass shards I picked up being slung down the gutters. And this was all at about 30km/h.

    The kawasaki believe it or not was repairable, the damage was about 3-400, mainly lights and faring repairs, this is why you want to go for a first bike that can take the abuse, my mates cbr….. had a smaller incident happen and cost more to repair.

    As for the final note on this story, have the most comprehensive health insurance you can freaking get.

    Didnt know it at the time and abmo's didnt work it out, but hitting the concrete at 20-40kmh shoulder first and then being slung along about 40-60m like that? well the armor jacket and pants did their job, the helmet stopped me from getting my neck snapped, the armour stopped my shoulder getting broken, but as we found out later, I ended up having torn ligament and numerous small fractures.

    As nothing got found, and x-rays showed up clean and the bruises cleared up, figured I was good and kept working and going to the gym and boxing for the next 9 weeks until my arm siezed up. Few weeks later doctor decides to do an ultrasound and found all the damage we couldnt see. Ended up needing a shoulder rebuild later on from extra damage found, so had my ability to work cutup like crazy for 3 years (still recovering only had the surgery 6 months ago), and still in rehab program for it.

    If i'd had comprehensive health cover, I could have had the operation within months and been out of rehab within 6 months as well as loss of income protection and been back at work instead of having my life turned upsidedown for a fair bit.

    So a bit to think about mate.

    • fossilfuel on 10/02/2017 - 00:19
      +1

      Oh wow thanks for the lengthy response! I'll definitely look into health cover. Definitely worth extra money to be safe than dead.

      • typhoonadventure on 10/02/2017 - 00:41
        +1

        i'm not gonna lie to you mate, its one of those things you think will never happen to you, and if you have family like mine all they ever seem to drill into you is "you must have first party insurance, what if you scratch a Bentley?", but health and welfare is far more important.

        And definitely get the best body armor you can get, I learned from experience that a set of RJay's basic protection pants are good…. but they're useless for anything more than sliding 10-20m, set of kevlar armour jeans, even better, and I can't reiterate this enough don't go for looks over functionality.

        Amount of times I see girls who go out and get a scooter and you see them riding barefoot here with their stilettos etc draped over the back of their vespa, a scarf around their neck and an open faced italian style helmet they think makes them look so stylish, or the biker who might have some kevlar jeans on but has to wear their leather jacket/vest with an open faced helmet…

        Kinda relates to the whole me not wanting high vis stuff because I didnt wanna look bogan, but even having the best armor on earth still wont save you from a driver not seeing you and running you over, and having the best armor is useless if you don't wear it. Stilletto girl and biker guy? or JDM speed demon on their R1 doing 150 through the hills? we've scooped enough of their grey matter off the pavement or had to tell them they arent gonna walk again / look the same again a fair bit….. I don't know if it will sink into you but the important of protective gear and safe riding practices, you just cant over emphasize them.

        And on a side note about the open faced helmests / open jackets etc. Bees. Wasps.

        It's not happened to me (i've had a bee sting) but a mate had a wasp fly into him during a trip to victor harbor, he loves harleys, wouldnt be caught dead wearing high vis gear, and thinks his fathers leather vest has to be worn to honor him each time he rides the bike so he wont wear anythin other than a leather jacket over it. Wasp straight into his jacket, stinger went straight in, nearly knocked him off, little bastard kept stinging and when he slapped it away, it went for his face. So yeah…. close faced helmet and armor lol.

        • fossilfuel on 10/02/2017 - 01:13

          Holy shit that's scary. Yeah I'm trying to spend as less as possible on a good bike and max out on good gear and insurance. Currently browsing clearance items and trying to find something that fits me, at least that'll save me a bit of cash. Won't be skimping on protection.

          What gear do you have at the moment? What armour would you recommend?

          I hope your shoulder makes a full recovery!

        • typhoonadventure on 10/02/2017 - 01:37
          +1

          @fossilfuel: For the jacket, brand doesnt really matter, just make sure whatever you are getting has padding and is thermal rated, bonus if there are back and spine plating/discs/struts, i've got a joe rocket jacket atm, its entry level but if provides reasonable protection, I had another one before it that was better I can't remember the brand but had X all over it, but that copped the massive slide with me pinned under the bike, I didnt trust it to survive another.

          As for pants, Draggin' kevlar jeans are a good start on a budget, you can pickup a pair around the 150 mark. If you were in adelaide i'd offer you a set I outgrew while in rehab for $100 lol.

          As for boots, this one is a tough one, many brands don't recomend you going for steel/composite caps, I dont know the reason, but given the amount of times the caps have saved my legs getting crushed, i'd say they're good, you also want something with heel protection, so johnny rebs and rjay lowriders, avoid, they're fashion crap, not protection, im not a fan of knee high boots but you do want some level of heel/ankle protection, the pair I have at the moment are literally my security work boots which are plastic capped with a composite "spine" running up the back, I dont know the brand sorry.

          Helmets, anything DOT certified that can completely enclose the face, try and resist the urge to get speaker helmets or use earbuds while riding, reason being to work effectively the helmet is meant to feel tight on your cheeks (but not too tight) so that when you are struck, the helmet does its job instead of bouncing your head around in a cage like anthony mundine jumping up and down after losing to danny green.

          Why not use earbuds while riding? main reason being how easy it is to rupture your eardrums, you take an impact and one gets smashed against (theres not much space in there) it can pop the eardrums, this happens, your balance will be screwed, you wont be safe to ride for quite sometime, also its really painfull.

          Second (and yes i used to do this heaps but experience taught me not to) it deafens you to the road, you can't hear that car behind you (again another reason not to be that annoying a-hole with the bike with the super loud exhaust), you can't hear someone opening a door… sounds like a stupid one but you wont believe the amount of times you cant see someone in a car and they dont notice you coming and open the door, atleast this way while you are cruising around rundle st looking for a car park you can hear that idiot screaming at his mate to get out of the car, before he does and hits you with the door.

          Third, and you won't believe how often this happens… people keep cranking them up to drown out other noise, and this causes hearing damage, the mate mentioned above…. when he drives his car, he has to have his stereo at twice what we do just to hear it, part of why he's losing his hearing is a lifetime of cranking headphones right up, he was even told when riding to cover up his ears from the loud exhaust sounds of bike events like rally's, and he doesnt, so he's likely gonna be deaf in the next decade.

          And cheers for the thoughts mate…. have re-up for army next week. Hoping they see good recovery enough to give me active service back, and on the bike front I got cleared to ride as of a couple of weeks ago. It's been a long road and I miss it a lot.

          I hate to sound like the parent going, hey learn from my mistakes, but the injuries sucked, the loss of income sucked, the pain sucked, having to change career paths sucked, selling my bike sucked.

          You can do without things sucking in your life and you can still enjoy bikes at the same time. Wait til you get that feeling where you are cruising with your mates through the hills or out in the country. Nothing else like it.

        • naplutetium on 11/02/2017 - 01:50
          +1

          @typhoonadventure: "As for boots, … don't recomend … steel/composite caps, I dont know the reason". Someone once explained to me that it is not recommended because if you bent your toes up far enough the steel caps can actually chop your toes off instead of protect them. However, I think Mythbusters busted this myth.

        • typhoonadventure on 11/02/2017 - 06:05
          +1

          @naplutetium:

          Sounds like one of those "Would you like to exit via the window or the stairs?" kinda thought processes. I've heard that same thing as well, that saying might have even come from the marketing campaign for plastic composite caps.

          When they hit the market I remember at our work a ton of safety shoes reps trying to sell them to our business with this whole market campaign claiming that steel caps werent safe, you could get your foot sandwiched in there because of it, where with the plastic caps they'd break after a certain weight rating which would some how help?

          My work reached out to a doctor who took one look at that ad and just went "gimmick, they're both ok, anything that shields your foot is better than no shielding full stop.".

          Unfortunately thats all the info I got really, our SA country fire service boots are extremely similar to the brand of motorbike boots I have and they've been designed for use on the firegrounds, car crashes and general protection. Steep cap with heel protection, and one of the concerns with their design function they had to meet requirements of was crush protection with falling objects.

  • dsgfh on 10/02/2017 - 07:44
    +1

    Best advice I can offer is while you buy the bike assuming you'll never come off, buy all the gear assuming you will. The bill will hurt a lot less than the alternative.
    I've crash tested several items of gear over the years. If you're in a warmer climate, get a well ventilated jacket (A* air style) rather than not wearing protection. Leather is great, and will last several crashes, but it'll turn into your own personal sauna, especially when commuting.

  • naplutetium on 11/02/2017 - 02:12
    +1

    When I went for my license, the instructor told us a story of a guy riding his bike wearing shorts and a t-shirt. He came off his bike and slid a few meters on his back over the road. Apparently his skin which was on his lower back ended up in his neck. He spend a long time in hospital while they picked off the gravel from his back with tweezers.

    I can’t remember if the instructor actually had pictures or just explained it well, but it had the right effect on me: I only wear leathers while riding, even in temperatures like today. I also refuse to take pillions not wearing proper gear. I hope this little story (not sure if it was a made up story or not) has the right effect on you too. If you can’t afford the right gear, wait a few months longer until you do. But, … since you posted the original question here, I think you might be the sensible kind :)

    Let us know what you end up buying in the end. :)

  • Speckled Jim on 12/02/2017 - 14:39
    +1

    I'd suggest something as simple as possible — air-cooled single cylinder, single disc front and rear, lowish seat height etc. Suggest CBF250 or if you want to spend a bit more, the 2012-ish CBR250 which I believe is also a single.

    If your motorway (80-100 km/h) usage is close to 50%, better to get a 250 twin (V or parallel, doesn't matter). They just do higher revs a little easier and they're smoother at those speeds. They'd be a little heavier than a single too, which has stability advantages in windy conditions. My first pick in this category would be Kawa GPX250 simply because they're a proven, good bike. Plenty around and cheap.

    Plenty of CBFs under 3K too. There's a dealer one here for $1900. Missing some plastic bits tho.

  • fossilfuel on 12/02/2017 - 21:50
    +2

    Thank you again to everyone who responded to this thread. I found the advice extremely helpful and I ended up getting a Honda CBR250R, problem free and at a great price.

    I know a lot of people have given me advice on gear and I'm extremely grateful for it. I'll be getting the gear in the coming weeks so if anyone has more advice/tips/recommendations, I'd love to hear them!

    Once again, thank you all!

    • Tech and cars on 15/02/2017 - 10:51
      +1

      I've had that bike! Great bike and congratulations.

  • Sagiballz on 13/02/2017 - 01:04

    I was going to suggest the Honda vtr250 as your first bike. It's a naked bike so you don't have to worry about fairing damage if you drop it. V twin so it's got plenty of torque to get you out of trouble if you need it. The earlier models are carby so they are easier to work on instead of the electronics.

    Get your gear from gumtree or eBay. So many good deals and good condition gear on those sites.

    Good luck.

  • TransportPosters on 14/02/2017 - 13:19

    Maintain that three seconds gap…

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDDSNdRUu10

  • Djtommyca on 17/02/2017 - 18:02

    I recommend you the best scooter for city Suzuki Address UK 110 cheap $2700 with top box fuel $5 a week very fast You can't find better deal

  • Speckled Jim on 22/02/2017 - 14:38

    Damn. I snoozed on a 2013 Hyo 250R with 10K on it. They were asking 1500 and it looked good in the pics.
    Perhaps it's not meant to be.

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