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Same boat as you.
I was thinking VFR 800X (CrossRunner), but then I went to the bike show at the NEC and sat on a load of bikes, and felt most at home on the Triumphs and BMWs.
Great suggestions here and the advice is fantastic - thanks all.
It has given me lots to think about!
You can see the crash bungs on my red SV above.. I actually dropped it on a trip in Italy about 600 miles from home! Right hand junction, mate tells me we should go right, late indication and on the brakes and didn't see a meter of gravel in front of me the width of the front wheel and as I started to feather the front brake the bike went suddenly to the ground.. I didn't even have chance to take my hands off the bars.
Probably only went down going 15 mph but the crash bung and mirror on the bar end saved my bike. No damage anywhere apart from the bung and the mirror and the back brake pedal... fixed it the week later for £40.
SV's are pretty light too which is another reason I got one and a fairly low stand over height.. making all the learning as a beginner easier.
The smaller bike logic is a good one, just make sure any of them have good brakes.
Oh and start looking out for ebay bargains on leathers ect..
Upright riding position as well for newbs - not race style - again easier to control and easier to learn to ride properly on
Whys everyone banging on about SV650s? They're very long in the tooth now and the build quality is shocking so used ones tend to look tatty.
I've never had a 4cyl bike (I've ridden a couple, they felt gutless to me) but I've had plenty of twins* the newer parallel twins all have a 270 degree crank to make them feel like a vee twin and it works. Even my 700cc Honda feels like 70% of a 1000cc Ducati!
I defy anyone to get off an SV650 and onto an MT07 and say the SV is better. The SV has just been round a long time so loads of people have ridden one and people generally recommend what they've owned/own.
Suzukis basic bikes always seem to rot to pieces IME. I know a bloke with a Bandit that's done 10,000 miles or so less than my Honda and there's virtually no point left on the front sides of the engine cases or the fork legs and all the bolts look like they've been rolled in sherbet!
1998 CB500s (34,000 miles)
2008 Monster 696 (7000 miles)
2006 Ducati ST3s (15,000 miles)
2013 Honda NC700x (27,000 miles and counting)
Mrs PP has had
Monster 695
Kawasaki GPZ500
Yamaha MT07
And I've ridden all those too, obvs..! 🙂
I loved my Monster but the MT07 is a better bike, no doubt at all, and a LOT cheaper. 🙂
I defy anyone to get off an SV650 and onto an MT07 and say the SV is better.
MAte of mine runs at the pointy end of fast group on track when on a sports bike... He'd had 150+ bikes in last 20 years.. Now runs an SV650 and loves it (mostly standard), he had an MT-07 about 12 months back and couldn't get it to handle.
Doesn't make it a better bike. That's just the opinion of one track rider.
The MT handles brilliantly. That's just the opinion of one 12,000 mile a year road rider (me)
🙂
My SV looks as good as day 1 so I can't comment on them being rot buckets because they aren't if you look after them with any degree of sensibility. I coat mine with acf-50 twice a year.
Yes the components are cheap (basic suspension, parts ect) but they are cheap to buy and cheap to replace and they hold their value... chances are if you buy a sv, you'll sell it for near the money a year on.
I don't have a bad word to say about them other than I personally don't like that look of bike but riding it is so effortless and fun hammering up col's in France it's not left me yet.
There is a reason like has been said why sv's are so popular and why they are used excessively on track days.
I've not ridden the MT-07 i admit, but i've ridden the SV650 at Donington, it was fine, competent and capable. IMO it didn't handle as well as my KTM690, but it had more power and more top end.
It did grind the pegs/boots a little too easily...
It's major fault for me.... it felt cheap, cheap, nasty and horrible... everything about it felt cheap.
comment on them being rot buckets because they aren't if you look after them with any degree of sensibility
I do absolutely bugger all to my Honda. It maybe gets washed 2-3 times a year and I clean the lights virtually every day. It's got 35,500 miles on the clock now and when cleaned up it looks virtually spotless, well, it did 2 weeks ago when I last did it. Now it's covered in grit, filth and road salt again.
In what way did it feel cheap though & was this a mk1 or mk2?
The only bit on the bike I feel looks cheap after changing the suspension is the chrome bars and the boggo swing arm design.
The bikes pretty light and nimble
The 690 is a nicer bike but it's more spendy for a first bike and probably requires a little more tlc I'd assume being a KTM.
Everything really mate, bars, clocks, footrests, then of course swingarm and spindly forks.... It rode a lot better than it looked.
Mk1 but lateish. Has fork springs swapped and a GSXR shock installed for handling help.
This is what it usually looks like.....
🙂
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IMG_5048[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/peter_atkin/ ]Peter Atkin[/url], on Flickr
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IMG_5049[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/peter_atkin/ ]Peter Atkin[/url], on Flickr
The SV was updated last year:
https://www.suzuki-gb.co.uk/motorcycles/sv650/
I'll not argue the relative merits to the MT (or other bikes) other than the SV is cheap (forks being the obvious you get what you pay for) and it's a good bike to get to grips with biking on. My DL was the 'adventure' detuned version of the Gladius and I really liked it, so much fun.
Yes Suzuki's need to be protected against the elements, but then again some of the new Yam's (XSR700 specifically) didn't fare to well in that regards in bike tests run over last winter either...
My 690 had 8500 miles on it.. Although it has been said i have OCD
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I do agree with those points but all cheap fixes apart from the rear linkage design!
I'm certainly not a fan boy of them but I do think they make an ideal first bike that can last a long time.
I just had a look on prices, I think I'll lose £500 if I sold mine now after 4 years of ownership - thats not bad!
The new sv looks shamelessly like it's copying the old monster.. which I also think is a good bike for a beginner but don't like the look personally... it's weird with bikes isn't it something just has to offend to make it not work.
The KTM looks well built, better than my 200exc anyway!
8500 miles is not much. when I rode regularly that would be around 6 months use
OP, get a Triumph Bobber. It might well be my next bike.
8500 miles is not much
But it's still about 4x the annual average... 😯
But it's still about 4x the annual average...
exactly - it's amazing how much money people will tie up in a bike they don't use. Just hire one when you want one! Somebody else can clean and maintain it then!
Oh - and absolutely definitely do silly things on it that supposedly the tyres etc are not made for... 😆
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Rachel
Just hire one when you want one! Somebody else can clean and maintain it then!
Hire costs for last year would have cost £2500+ for the 10 trackdays.
How do you do 10 track days and only manage 500 miles? Is that even possible??
5 for me, 5 for her 🙂
I pay for both though hahahahaha.
Each trackday is about 100 miles.
How do you do 10 track days and only manage 500 miles? Is that even possible??
Ride slowly. HTH.
Almost all of those suggestions (other than the Street Triple) are lame. Motorbikes for fat middle aged men and women in shapeless black cordura textiles.
Get something with some style:
OP, get a Triumph Bobber. It might well be my next bike.
The only problem with those bikes, is that whilst they look nice in the catalogue when ridden by a bearded hipster with his impossibly photogenic girlfriend* pillion to a coffee stop somewhere in Pembrokeshire, no one in the real world cares.
My dad's a bit left field and goes on tours with the kind of people who buy those bikes in the real world (other late-middle-aged dads). Only he rides daft stuff like a Bullet, or an Armstrong MT500, a Ural Sidecar outfit, you get the picture. I think he enjoys watching people on shiny new bikes getting more and mere wound up as the inevitable crowd get's drawn to whatever mad-max looking contraption he's arrived on.
His latest toy is a D1 bantam (rigid frame), modded for trials, makes the trip to the post box an adventure!
*or if the portrayed owner is older than the average hipster, his secretary/daughter/au-pair
I really, really, really, want a sidecar outfit...
Rachel
I've not read any of this thread...so I'm going to recommend a Yamaha MT-07 because I've got one and I like it..
Racheal - I used to have a sidecar outfit - worst of all worlds apart from in snow and ice where its great fun to spin it. I also broke my BMW road bike riding it offroad 🙁
anagallis_arvensis - Member
Goldwing. In for a penny...
Here is mine
That's lovely.
lazybike - Member
I've not read any of this thread...so I'm going to recommend a Yamaha MT-07 because I've got one and I like it..
Never was there a more appropriate username.
anagallis_arvensis - Member
Goldwing. In for a penny...
Here is mine
That's lovely.
Thanks it was my dads, that pic was taken near Devils Bridge in Wales last ride we took together 😥
I passed my test last year. I bought a GSXF650 essentially a faired Bandit. It's smooth as silk really nice predictable power delivery, capable of a turn of speed.
I had never ridden a motorbike until then.
Don't listen to the naysayers, I'm already looking for more power. I say get at least a 650 and take it from there.
Enjoy!
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In the time honoured tradition of recommending what you've got - Tiger 800. Mines an XCX model, absolutely love it, especially after I lowered it by 20mm. Mind you, I've had an SV and I'd recommend them too. Triumph build quality ain't far off Honda, by the way, I've had 7 Hinckley Triumphs and not one issue with any of them. All bikes suffer if not looked after in Winter. BMWs particularly have well documented corrosion issues.
A Bonneville would make a nice starter bike - heavy, but low seat height, 'steady' performance, safe handling and look good IMHO. Buy British (via Thailand in the case of the Bonnie!)
Merak - actually do listen to those with experience - I have ridden motorcycles for 40 years. If you are craving more power after a years riding I bet you two things. You have never maxed out the bike you have - full throttle to the redline in 3rd and that you have never scraped the pegs and have huge chicken strips on your tyres 😉
You will find virtually all experienced motorcyclists will tell you the same thing - those that do their apprenticeship on 40 hp bikes become better riders more quickly than those who go straight to 100 hp bikes
some 650s are suitable but not many. there is a huge difference between a 600 sports bike with 100+ bhp and a 600 single tourer with 45 bhp
I started with something cheap... very cheap. Figured if I binned it I would be less upset than something newer and shiny!
I went with a TDM800 as a result. About as exciting as a Blandit of Hornet or something - but with a touch more character from the twin. I only ran it a year or so - then switched to a 955i Speed triple which was considerably more entertaining!
Some people spend a lot on a first big bike - not sure I would have done that even if I had the funds!
Another thing that really illustrated this point I keep banging on about. a few years ago I joined an mass ride. 100+ bikes. I set off at the back on my bmw r1100rs ( tuned to 95 bhp and loads of torque but heavyish and upright) I set off at the back of the line but soon got fed up of how slow they were going and started overtaking. After a few miles I got up to the front - the leading bike was a hardtail chop with a gs thou engine - riding really hard to keep ahead of a power ranger on an R1. Next was a yamaha 550 single road bike, then a chap on an 80s twin shock gs 1000 then me. NOw my bike is faster than those two in front but could I get close - could I heck. I had overtaken maybe 40 power rangers on sports bikes to get towards the front but couldn't get close to a 40 bhp single and an 80 bhp twin shock bike and I was trying hard enough to almost run off the road! I backed off after that point!
One of the power rangers I had overtaken crashed behind me trying to keep up with the leading group on the ride. an R1 crashing because he didn't have the skills
Its not the bike that makes you fast - its the skills you have as a rider and the best way to get these skills is to thrash a small bike
allthegear - MemberI really, really, really, want a sidecar outfit...
After hearing what he said about it, ive no inclination to try it! Tries to flip over and throw you off turning left. And the swept bars with back to front 'stem' just look all kinds of wrong.
He uses it to take the dog over to the woods for a walk. The dog loves it!
those that do their apprenticeship on 40 hp bikes
I've got one of those too and it's great, don't get me wrong. I simply recommended the Blandit, as I believe it is an excellent first bike to get on after you pass your test.
Just my opinion, like arseholes we all have one 😉
🙂
[i]You have never maxed out the bike you have - full throttle to the redline[/I]
Agree.
When I bought the then newly revamped zx9r in 1998 it would get to 100mph from zero in 5 secs, count it - One Mississippi Two Mississippi Three Mississippi Four Mississippi Five Mississippi...
And that was with 'only' 130bhp at the back wheel.
it's better to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow
I'd agree with tjagain it's the rider skills that make the difference. A chap around our way in his eighties who used to wear hunting/shooting/fishing clobber on his bike, sadly recently passed away (not on bike), road a Honda Dominator single for years which I think was only about 45 bhp. No-one could ever keep up with him, you might be faster on a long straight but never seen anyone go around corners like him, so fluid and flexible in his riding. Turned out he was an ex-TT winner and works rider for BSA and others in the fifties and held loads of track records over the years.
Back to OP. Honda for build quality and reliabilty. Transalp's are a great first bike, not excessive power but enough, comfy go anywhere bikes & cheap enough over 20 odd years of production. Enjoy whatever you end up with.
it's better to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow
Its also better to ride a slow bike slow! Like turning up to a uplift day on a hard tail. Keep up and you're a riding god. Dont and well hey its the bike!