Motorcycle lessons

[Lippy 0]

Hey

 

I was looking to to asking for motorbike lessons for by birthday later this year. Was wondering if anyone could recommend someone in the Manchester region and provide any pearls of wisdom.

 

What is a good CC to get as a starter bike? 400 / 600? Are you limited to the capacity if your a newbie :lol:

 

Cheers

 

Andrew

[Lippy 0]

oh yeah info on insurance and bike storage also appreciated.

 

G/F just vetoed using the dining room!

[chrishill 0]

I looked into this a while ago, you're limited to a 125 while you're a learner, although there are some pretty nippy 125's out there! I was looking at cagiva mito's which dont look like a small bike really, so no pointing and laughing from other bikers :lol: ;)

 

never went through with it in the end since I worked out I'd have to rebuild half the back yard in order to keep it securly.

[iow_corrado_g60 0]

lippy if you do your bike liscence you have to have i though anything under a 250cc for the first 2 years & has to be restricted to 33bhp i may be wrong or after u can then do a another course called direct access i think which allows you to go up to something as big as you like but still restricted to 33bhp for the first 2 years someone else may be able to tell u the right answer

[Lippy 0]

33 bhp your joking for two years! I can run that fast ;)

 

cagiva mitos don't look to bad, feel like a bit of a loser tho strangling a cat at full beans then limping my ass past on my 33 bhp.

 

Power to weight goes out of the window when my ass sits down, 6'3 and a rugby player frame DOH!

[chrishill 0]

yeah i was worried about lawnmower sounds too, but apparently if you stick a 'race-can' on you can disguise the weedy engine note quite well

 

6ft 3 rugby player on a mito might look a tad odd, has to be said!

[steve_16v 0]

lippy if you do your bike liscence you have to have i though anything under a 250cc for the first 2 years & has to be restricted to 33bhp

 

not true, a friend of mine did a test that allows him to ride anything, he got a 600cc as a first bike. Don't know the details but I think you might have to be over 25 to do that though

[Lippy 0]

ah ok - curses am only 23 :(

[iow_corrado_g60 0]

steve i did mention that its called a direct acess off you can de-restrict the bike from the bhp limiter but obviously illegal! 33bhp in a 125 is quite alot lippy

[iow_corrado_g60 0]

lippy power output of a 125cc

[Lippy 0]

jackpot information on DAS (Driect Access Scheme)

 

http://www.motorcycle.co.uk/articles/tr ... aining.htm

 

21 minimum age WOOHOO!

[iow_corrado_g60 0]

lippy here you go information on what i was saying about the direct access course

 

it has the power outputs on there

 

http://www.begin-motorcycling.co.uk/training.htm

[steve_16v 0]

That's the one my mate did cost about £600 all in for the week, wasn't sure if you had to be 21 or 25, lucky for you Lippy it's 21! R1 in no time eh :twisted:

[Lippy 0]

r1 hehehe, mate has one gsus, never seen anything go like it. Does look funny as he is 6'7!

 

thinking along the lines of a aprilia rs250 or kawazaki zxr400.

 

Only problem is no garage, so what are the options for storing them? a shed????

[bcstudent 0]

You won't regret it! The direct access licence is your best bet for sure.

 

For the record the Cagiva Mito is made of cheese, like all of the hot-snot 125s. If you plan to use the bike for more than the odd weekend, and you're not confident in your ability to rebuild a two-stroke, I'd avoid the RS250 as well. They're getting on a bit now and two-strokes aren't generally maintained as well as they demand.

 

If you're not in a position to pay £700 quid for insurance the 400 class is probably for you. If you can bite the insurance bullet for a year or so then you can do worse than a CBR600 from the mid-'90s. They're legendary, plentiful and affordable.

 

Get it done...the summer's on the way...

[Jonny_L 0]

I agree with bcstudent, you might as well do the direct access, that way you don't need to wait for 2 years like i had to (was too young when i took my test).

 

As for bikes, The race replica 125's are pretty annoying, they still sound like 125s and parts get expensive coz they're so highly strung.

Personally for a 1st bike, i'd reccomend something along the lines of a honda cb500 or maybe a 600 bandit. Good for insurance and servicing.

I currently ride a CBR600, but I reckon if it was my first bike i'd of overdone it and stacked it by now, tho it could just be me.

Definately do it for the summer tho, nothing better than a good ride on a summers day!

[dazzyvr6 0]

im thinking about doing the same,ive got my heart set on a gsxr600

[bcstudent 0]

I started riding on a TS50X when I was 16 and worked up to the litre-class over about five years. Consequently I've never had to deal with massive power increases between bikes. I don't believe that I would have been any more reckless if I'd started riding on a CB500 over a CBR600 though.

 

Plenty of my mates have got into bikes over the years and several have started on bikes such as ZX-6Rs with no problems (other than insurance). Sometimes having too little power is just as dangerous.

 

A 1998 ZX-6R, for instance, is not going to pull your arms off by any stretch of the imagination!

[PhatVR6 0]

I jumped straight on an 850 as a first bike. I thought it was slow!

[bcstudent 0]

The TRX is slow...relatively :)

[billinjah 0]

so difficult to give advice on bike to peeps new to riding,, best bet is buy whatever you like and can afford and remember the throttle goes both ways! and i completely agree with bc with regards to too little power being dangerous, that why i feel the 33bhp rule is silly but thankfully easily reversed!

[Jonny_L 0]

Yeah i see your point there. In fact, thinking about it I guess in many ways the cbr's a safe option for a new rider. Mine's an 02 reg 600F, so i dunno about earlier ones. the power band is very gradual so they're as good round town as they are on a B road burn.

The brakes are brilliant too. (compared to my old 400 bandit, anyway)

 

when I started at 16-17 years old, i made some silly mistakes at first, some of which would've been worse if i was on a fast bike, but I was young and reckless then!

Well, more so than i am now, anyway. I still find nailing it down an open road hard to resist sometimes.

 

As for insurance, try http://www.motorcycledirect.co.uk

I can't say what they're like with claims (touch wood), but the premiums aren't bad.

 

Mind you, i still don't get why they're charging me £150 more to have the cbr over an R6!

[STORM 2 0]

Mind you, i still don't get why they're charging me £150 more to have the cbr over an R6!

 

Cos the CBR is the number one stolen bike methinks...

[STORM 2 0]

Mind you, i still don't get why they're charging me £150 more to have the cbr over an R6!

 

Cos the CBR is the number one stolen bike methinks...

[bcstudent 0]

Mind you, i still don't get why they're charging me £150 more to have the cbr over an R6!

 

Cos the CBR is the number one stolen bike methinks...[/quote:8a628]

Are you just guessing or do you have statistical evidence to back that up? I'd be very interested to see some up-to-date motorcycle theft statistics. I thought such a thing would be easy to find on the 'net...but I'm not seeing anything.