My job’s moving to another town which will involve a car commute or train trip. Train’s aren’t going at suitable times and traffic is heavy in the mornings so the car will take a while.

Been thinking about doing my bike test for a little while so have decided this is as good a reason as any.

Have never owned a bike before or had a licence so I’m booked in for CBT in a few weeks time.

Any recommendations for a bike? Hopefully I’ll take the full tests sooner rather than later as using the motorway will cut a chunk off the commuting time. Happy with A roads and a 125 to get road savvy for a few months first though.

I like the ‘sport-tourer’ look/type/style whatever you want to call it.

2nd hand, £1500 max.

Aprilia rs 125 and Yamaha r125 both look great and ride really well. Check out the reviews. Older rs125’s can be found for under £1000 and newer versions of both can be foound for around £1500 if you look in the right places.

If it’s for commuting I’d get a scooter like a Gilera Runner

How much A roads? National speed limit roads are torture on small bikes IME. 125 s tend to be tired and ropey second hand from a life of impoverished learners and poor maintenance

Do direct access and get a full size bike. cb 500 is a good start point.

Or get a scooter. Comfort, ease of use, lugger capacity, weather protection. come in all sizes for all uses.

don’t forget that the kit to allow you a comfortable and safeish commute is not cheap – helmet, gloves boots armoured waterproofs etc

£1500 should get you a lot of 125, I didn’t pay much more than that for a 500.

Make no decisions until you’ve done your CBT; you’ll probably have a much better idea of what you want to do next after that.

What TJ said.

iDave – I thought about a scooter but wondered if the 80 mile round trip would be a bit much on one? Also I fancy a bike, just for looks if nothing else.

Also look at cagiva mito’s and megelli 125r’s. All these options should get over 60mpg and reach about 75mph so should be fine on longer runs and A roads. They look good too

cagiva’s and aprilia’s are pretty high maintenance, high revving, narrow power band, constant gear changing but great handling bikes.

Dpends what you want. An RXS100 will give you 70mph and 70mpg, get you where you want to to go with good handling at a pace which suits the bike’s looks, if you know what I mean. Never been quite sure about 125s which look like mini superbikes being revved to within an inch of their lives to beat a Fiesta off the line.

What mountain bike do you ride? Might sound like an odd question, but it’d be a good guide to your preferences!

i would steer away from a two stroke for a commuter. you can’t really go wrong with a cb500 or similar. you need enough grunt to keep up with the flow without it being scary.

Not sure there is such a thing as a sport-tourer 125.

125 Varadero maybe?
cbr 125?

For an 80 mile round trip a 125 is going to be a bit tiresome. Think about direct access if it’s an option then get something up to 500cc ish. I’d go along with what TJ says. Also remember scooters go up to 600cc or more these days.

That’s another option, spend a bit more on a direct access course, then get something like an ER5, or a CB500 for about a grand.

Probably what I’d do.

Direct access makes more sense. I doubt inusrance will be much different and you could probably get a better condition biker by buying something bigger than a 125 (oddly).

Sv650.

Its lowish, so new riders take to it as its easy to get on and off. Its light, so its easier to save when you nearly drop it. also makes for easy moving round traffic in town.

Its a v twin, so its easy to ride, lots of torque so you dont have to do a lot of tapdancing to find the power band. Curvy ones look good, and fall comfortably in your price bracket. Mine does me 45 mpg in commuting traffic, and 55mpg+ on motorways, even at cruising speeds of 80-90.

And will last just a tiny bit longer than the 500cc class bikes, as a tiny bit more powerful, but handles well too.

The naked version has higher bars, lower gearing, and with a couple of crash bungs, doesnt “drop” too badly. Try sv650.org for a uk riders forum.

Direct Access followed by a Honda Bros 400. Slow, but cruise happily at 60-70. And remember, you’ll almost certainly drop the bike at some point in the first few months, so don’t get anything too lovely.

N.B. If you can get insured on a Bros 650 get one of those instead.

i bought a brand new ZX6R when I passed – my school of thought was what does a lot, does a little – don’t need to ride it like a hooligan. Had it ten years and only had a couple of ‘moments’

sold it now as I couldn’t fit biking/skating/motorbiking in at the weekend

I did direct access two years ago and bought an old F650 BMW for £900, suits me fine

If you’re doing a direct access then don’t bother with a 125, you’ll soon find them very limiting. You want a friendly 600 like a Fazer, SV650, Bandit or a Hornet

i got an er 6f as my first “big” bike, not fast enough to run away with me.
check out local ride schools for a 2nd hand bike, they seem to renew them every couple of years……mind you they might have seen more than the average number of drops! (damn that turn in the road)

That’s another option, spend a bit more on a direct access course, then get something like an ER5, or a CB500 for about a grand.

Probably what I’d do.

‘s what I did. My first (and only, to date) bike was a CB500. If I was getting another I’d be looking at things like the SV.

Not too sure I’d want to do 80mile round trip on a 125cc, I’d be looking at something bigger, do Honda still have a CB250 (Superdream type)? Or CB500?

If you have to have a 125 then I’d consider something like a Honda CBF125 rather than a two-stroke. I’d definitely backup what others have said about doing your direct access and getting something a 400 or 500cc bike instead though.

My first bike after direct access was a 650cc Honda Deauville and that was great for commuting plus some touring etc. So good in fact that I kept it for 10 years!

I passed my direct access and bought a Yamaha Diversion 600 for £750,
Plenty fast enough for a new biker, bomb proof engine, 60mpg and loads about.
Also look at 600 Bandit’s where the same applies.

If you can go that big get a Fazer or BMW F650 or Diversion or…. You’ll need a bigger more comfortable bike and it won’t take you long to outgrow, speedwise, a smaller bike.

I started with a 2006 honda cbr 125r.I decided to splash out on it to get more riding time behind me while i was waiting to do the direct access.I was happy i got it,hassle free and i knew i wouldnt lose much money on it.I lost 300 quid which i could have easily lost if i bought a piece of junk,plus it was great on fuel with fairy good handling.

The thing is,it was a 33 mile commute on a fairly fast road with a climb of around 1000ft so the ascents were a struggle (13+ stone!)to the point where you would consider it dangerous.You need to get up to speed quickly to be safe and with a 125 in (what you say) busy traffic,i would get something as powerful as possible within the regs.Maybe a restricted 500/600cc would be a bit more grunty but i would consider the traffic level on your trip and think twice about the bike you plan to go for.
Varaderos look like a nice riding position.Would be a nice bike to learn U turns on! Not sure how much slower these would be over a cbr 125 though.

As good as a bike the suzuki bandit may be,the size and weight of one when i first put my leg over it scared me.The thought of owning and learning on one would put me off motorcycling. The cbr had a lot less power but it wasnt a handful.

SV’s are great 😉

It was my first bike and I had it for 5 years without a problem. CB500 or BM650 good options to.

SV650S are remarkably hard to kill, and cheap to fix/maintain. Also, along with the Hornet, it’s the “learner” bike that’s got the most potential to last you if you decide you enjoy it (I’ve had mine 8 years I think, never had any inclination to change. Build quality is a bit shonky but it’s all cosmetic. Suspension is fairly poor but if you decide you want to ride the things sportily, a couple of hundred quid fixes that.

If you decide to go with a 125, go with something unglamorous, I have no idea why anyone would be recommending an RS125 here, that’s an awful idea- highly strung, highly stealable, and an awful lot of used ones are destroyed since so many are owned by kids.

now dont laugh sit down and prepare yourself and think red think 100mpg think £60 fully comp think £30 road tax think honda c90 100k london taxi drivers cant be wrong.. the things go and go and go indestructable ,taliban cross country vehicle of choice, greek taverna’s transit van substitute.. no street cred but more smiles per mile than anything else.. and all yours for circa 200 quid leaving you 1300 for your bike..

,i would get something as powerful as possible within the regs.Maybe a restricted 500/600cc would be a bit more grunty but i would consider the traffic level on your trip and think twice about the bike you plan to go for.

You can’t though. You can ride a 125 on a cbt and that’s it. Only if you pass your test on a 125 can you get a restricted larger bike. So you might as well do direct access and get what you want (assuming you’re over 21).

yeah you are right,sorry. So a 125cc with 14.6bhp max is all yer getting!

Thanks for the replies. I was looking at the direct access courses this morning wondering if that was a better option. I would want a bigger bike (I was looking at the Suzuki Bandit and Honda Hornets) as soon as I could but thought getting some hours on the road before the test would be a a good idea.

Yes, unfortunately I’m over 21 – some 15 years ago.

My mountain bike’s a Cube AMS 125.

Having never ridden a motorbike before (but mountain bikes and road bikes all my life, car licence from 17), how challenging is passing via a direct access course.

It is more appealing to just pass and buy a bike I actually want.

It wasnt too hard when i did it aslong as you can still remember the finer points of road etiquette.

for 80 miles a day i would get a big (>500) bike and forget the 125. If you were hard up and it was your only transport then ok but otherwise it might destroy your enthusiasm.

SV is the only midsize with clip-on bars if you want that otherwise the cheapness and availability of bandits, er6, fz6 and hornets are all good. My choice was SV but I only did 15miles in a morning.

Figure for running costs being similar to a midsize car.

It’s like a bicycle crossed with a car. You’ll be fine. 🙂

Have a google for the yamaha mx experience. It’s a day on MX bikes at a track with instruction. I did a press thing with them and they had raw novices there who by the end of the day were getting air and railing berms. Do that and sleep on it and you’ll be the most confident CBT student they’ve ever had.

For an 80 mile round-trip commute forget anything thats small and/or old.

You need safety, reliability and an ability to (more than) keep up with any other vehicle.

I commute a bit more than you every day (done over 8k since Xmas) on a Triumph 1050 – tbh I wouldn’t want to do it on much less than a 500.

And as said, budget is car money.

Also factor in good gear (Hein Gericke are VFM) and an understanding that it is hard in winter – even with good gear, a good (faired) bike and heating.

The plus side is the it pretty much always takes me the same time (50-55 mins), +50mpg, park for free and I enjoy it. And as I’m a contractor the hour or so I gain per day more than covers all its costs.

Stay away from the Bandit 600s unless they’re absolutely dirt cheap, they were always inexplicably well regarded for such heavy, flexy, poorly suspended, underpowered slugs.

Not compared to anything that came before them. Hence the reputation.

The world has moved on though.

C90s are great, some of my best races were on one! (Pesky two stroke 50cc twist and go’s) Got my C90 to 58mph tucked in behind my brothers van 🙂

Edit: Northwind is the master of SV modding BTW 😉

I’ve raced c90s 😆 Part of a winning team in a 6hr enduro event on one. I say one, two. I bent the first one.

Well not going to repeat what the others have said. Specially TJ. I would stay away but very away from anything with 4 cylinders in it, that’s car engine, no motorcycle. As for cylinders, one is good and two is okish. You have to be careful of what you want. Are you going to spend more time in town then on A road? How straight are your A roads? Etc etc. If you’re going to spend loads in town, get a thumper, a XT 600 or a DR650 will do just fine and will be the best tool for the jobs. The F650 isn’t a bad choice at all and so are the old monsters going for very cheap (now I am waiting for the duke bashing wagon). Just don’t hammer the throttle if you get a F650 as it would cost you loads in fuel. DR 800 can be found fro peanuts and there is a massive room for improvement if you feel yourself going CR. You obviously can’t go wrong with a very soft one (Bien Molle)specially a RT80 or a RT90.
There is plenty in the 500/650 range to keep you on the road. The only thing I would had is get yourself kitted first and then get the motorcycle. Good kit isn’t cheap, but will outlast several motorcycle.
HTH

Stay away from the Bandit 600s unless they’re absolutely dirt cheap, they were always inexplicably well regarded for such heavy, flexy, poorly suspended, underpowered slugs

Yupppp I bet you tanks are easier to steer than bandit.