I’m on the lookout for a very cheap motorbike to commute on as I’ve pretty much given my car to the missus. Been trawling eBay and there are plenty of chinese 125cc road-legal sub-£1000 enduro style bikes about. I’d rather go with something with slightly knobbly tyres as the roads can be quite rough. Does anyone on here ride one of these? Anything worth getting?

Something like this perhaps…
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/125cc-Supermoto-Motorcycle-Motorbike-FULLY-BUILT-2010-/320639941097?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item4aa7a139e9
‘100+MPG’ really?!

Thanks

Run away very quick. minus 1 million for quality and less for back up. Look for some thing Jap or even European. Try TBM magazine or the local trade it paper. There are good bikes from China but they are few and far between and if you really must have 1 get it from a dealer who you trust to mend it. If you want to chcuk a grand away just give it to me. parts are non existant unless they are some thing like bearings. Many are supposedly Jap copies but things do not interchange.
I repeat NO

ktm 125 exc enduro or dtr 125 (cheaper)

kh 100-ex

knobbly tyres offer less grip on tarmac than road tyres – even rough tarmac.

AS the others say – run away

Trouble is cheap small bikes will have had a hard life and be tired,
Honda C90 is the best bet. Millions made and sold for a very good reawson – they are the perfect no fuss commuter bike Euro scooter 80cc+ next best ( they all use basically the same couple of drivertrains so spares are easy

mattsccm, that was pretty much what I was feared the score would be. I was probably kidding myself when I thought they might not be the engined equivalent of a £99 full-susser.

There aren’t decent cheap bikes anymore, not enough are sold.

£1000 will buy a shed s/h – and don’t underestimate the ‘consumables’ required on any s/h bike.

But tbh, the ebay one – its only £1000 and new – just make sure you look after it (clean, oil, spray with GT85/WD40) – you should get a couple of years out of it.

But you can’t go wrong with a s/h superbike, most have had an easy pampered life – you’ll pick up something decent for £2-3k.

Search ‘2003 KAWASAKI ZX 900 F2P GREEN zx9r’ now on ebay, for example.

Something like this should fit the bill

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SUZUKI-DR-250S-1991-MODEL-/230571267115?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item35af1e542b

Right in your price range. Jap thumpers will run for ever and they’re bloody good fun

a 20 yr old 250 trailie – noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

c 90 is the answer

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1998-HONDA-C90-RED-/270687498937?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item3f063b72b9

Look at a honda lead. I’ve had one since new with 18k on it now. Super reliable, only needed normal servicing and battery. 4 stroke so no faffing with oil, does just over 50mph. Drum brakes but they stop very well. 100-120mpg. Looks like they go for around £600 used.

c 90 is the answer

What on earth is the question? Its not the answer to anyone with an ounce of self respect. Or any sense of fun.

Whats the problem with a 250cc thumper with 16,000 miles on the clock. One that looks particularly tidy at that.

We used to have a ‘group’ XL250 that we caned communally for years as a rat/winter bike . It suffered all manner of abuse, winter after winter, held at full throttle everywhere, without a hint of complaint. You just change the oil once a year and put petrol in it

c90 crap and lo ok s**t for gays lol

Teh man wants a cheap reliable commuter. c90 is the answer.

He didn’t ask for a bike to look good on – that would have got a different answer

for cheap commuting the c 90 cannot be beat. cheap to buy, cheap too insure, loads of spares that are cheap, economical and above all reliable

there is a reason why it is the best selling bike ever.

b r – Member

“£1000 will buy a shed s/h”

Nonsense, a grand can pick up a very tidy Divi, Bandit 600, SV650, Hornet… That’s without going into older bikes.

C90 is basically horrible but also the best commuter ever built- costs nothing to run, nobody’ll steal it, they almost never break and even if they do it’ll cost buttons to fix (or just throw it in a skip and get another). Still, if that’s too objectionable a CG125 or similiar would be almost as good.

OP, do you have a full licence?

x10 for a c90

chinese cheapo off ebay? one of the bike mechanic/dealers i use told me someone brought one in for a check over and fix any problems – they produced a list of faults 6 pages long which included tyres being fitted wrong way round and these words stamped on the frame “not legal for road use”. avoid.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2000-HONDA-C90-RED-/250754616440?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item3a6223cc78

Custom c90

Sachs? Same engine as a C90 but funky.

Buy my yamaha yzf r125 🙂

Its as reliable as can be, costs just over tenner a week to fill up doing my 18 mile round trip go work. 15 quid road tax 🙂 nippy when it needs to be, and will do 70mph for dual carrage ways
But a turbo failure on my car means its up for sale. 6k miles. Full history

£1500

my bmw f650 (1994) with 38 000 miles was £900. Bikes aint that cheap. The latest issue of MCN did a test of cheap comuter bikes including some chinese ones and seemed impressed with a few. I wouldnt want to comute on A roads very far on anything below 125cc.

I wouldnt want to comute on A roads very far on anything below 125cc.

+1

I prefer something that can comfortably keep up with traffic and get me out of trouble if necessary*

Neilc1881, what bike licence do you have?

*by the same token, the extra power can get you into trouble too.

I’m on the lookout for a very cheap motorbike to commute on

C90? Yeah, good call as always they are iconic and unburstable, but so is a CG125. 110mpg can’t be sniffed at these days and they are a bit faster and the bigger wheels give a better ride and handling.

That said, I’m a scooter convert. Far more practical, nearly as economical and a no-brainer if you’re in traffic. (They wipe the floor with motorbikes in traffic every time)
A Vespa GT200 can be had for well under £1000 these days, and will do 72mpg, a GTS250 a bit more but will do 85mpg (Newer injected engine is more economical)
Then there’s stuff like the Piaggio Skipper (125cc) or B/Beverley with bigger wheels and the various Hondas. For scooters the Italians win every time, Honda mostly as good but rarer and more expensive.

The only problem with scoots is the blind predjudice of 99% of bikers…. 🙂

The only problem with scoots is the blind predjudice of 99% of bikers….

I guess I am one of them.

I’ve had a go on a couple while on holiday and just didn’t like them. I’m sure with a bit of time I’d get used to them though. Anyway, if they didn’t ‘work’, they wouldn’t be so popular!

I also confess to having occasionaly looked on enviously at the weather protection and fuel economy from the pilot seat of my Blackbird. 😳