[Closed] Learner Legal Motorbikes ?

personally I would go for a 2 stroke. The hassle of topping up with 2 stroke oil is more than offset by the better performance.

I passed my test on an rs125 and would do the same again given the choice.

We bought a CBF125 for my missus after she passed her CBT and it was a great bike.

Obviously not sporty like an RS etc, but it was cheap to buy / run and really good to learn on.

A quick look on autotrader shows you pick up a brand new CBF125 for £2095 with a factory 2 year warranty.

[IMG] [/IMG]

I would ignore the rubbish about 2 strokes.

To be honest, if you take to it as a form of transport, in 6 months you'll be gagging to do your test, and upgrade to a proper bike.

Old 2 strokes are totally rubbish once you've grown past impressing pre pubesensts outside the chip shop on a friday night, and need reliability and economy. They are usually suggested by 40 somethings who are recalling things through a haze of nostalgia.

Yes they are a bit quicker, but thats like having the best brass band on the Titanic. Its totally in an a to be comaprison of bikes, totally out of context that if bike a is 10% quicker than bike b, that both a and be are still 50% slower than everyhting else on the road and should be graduated through immediately. Going 2 stroke, for say an Aprillia 125rs (anything else is so old you need to have a dry warm garage and lots of tools) that ooh, 65mph out of a bike, or ooh, nearly 69 mph out of a bike is the kind of comparison.

An aprillia 125 will resemble a rusty mechanno set years before a nasty but venerable Honda cg125, and the latter is easier to sell on when you pass the real test, as you probably will.

The CBR is a nice wee thing, quite sensible- it's not like that daft Yamaha 125 that goes so far to try and look like a big bike that it ends up not working as well. CBF makes more sense though

The Varadero's not light, and they're expensive to crash from memory, though the fairing and big screen should be useful- not a lot of 125s do that. The DT125 supermoto is a bit rare but they're surprisingly practical, and a blast to ride (without pretending to be something they're not). No wind/weather protection though.

Performance is a non-issue on CBT, most 125 4-strokes have no problem reaching the power limit and end up with much nicer engine characteristics than an equivalent L-legal 2-stroke. RS125 is a fabulous bike with the restricters out but restricted they're pretty nasty.

(assuming here that you're not going to be daft enough to ride a derestricted bike, the police don't like it much but insurers like it even less)

Oh and good luck!

If it's just for getting from a to b with minimum fuss then buy a scooter.

If you're into bikes and see a 125 as a stepping stone then forget about 125's and do the direct access test.

I bought a RS125, had it derestricted after a month (only using it on closed roads occifer) and after 3 months had passed my test and traded it for a 400, taking a £400 hit on the trade in price on the Aprilia.

I had a Varadero as my first bike and I can't recommend it enough. Excellent