Recommend me a 125!

seamus

According to my friendly local mechanic, my poor little bike is on its last legs, and the only thing that could save it is a full cylinder transfusion. A combination of a not-so-careful previous owner, being fixed using second-hand parts by a cowboy bike shop, and myself driving the **** out of her, and delaying services by a short while due to a lack of funds.

But I had planned on a getting a new bike anyway, so I've decided to cut my losses, sell it to a shop (Celtic motorbikes still take bikes in any condition for cash don't they?), and buy myself a new, or nearly new bike.

Now insurance is still my big problem, so I'm stuck with 125s for probably 2 more years. My plan is to get a two year loan to fund it, and I'm fiscally solvent.

Recommend them group 2's to me people!

Varadero is my favourite, but ridiculously expensive, and seemingly tend to depreciate by about €1,200 in their first year. If took a loan for €5,800, I might as well be pissing it down a drain with that kind of depreciation.

tk123

Why not go for a group 1 125 if your poor - thats pretty much what i'm sticking to for the mo....I have a suzuki van van 125 and i love it! It's nice and light but really sturdy and it has nice big tires too!

Tree

the vanvan's group2, that or the insuracne company is screwing me over!

the vanvan is a fab bike! you'll prolly love her if you love the varadero, the honda cityfly an dhte yamaha TW are also nice lookin (the cityfly is no longer available new BTW)

seamus

Originally posted by Tree
the vanvan's group2, that or the insuracne company is screwing me over!

Yeah, it's group 2 alright.

the vanvan is a fab bike! you'll prolly love her if you love the varadero, the honda cityfly an dhte yamaha TW are also nice lookin (the cityfly is no longer available new BTW)

I am/was riding a Suzuki Marauder. Quite slow (especially in low to medium winds), poor acceleration. I'm a pretty big guy, so a bike with poor acceleration gets even worse once I'm on it.
Two things about the Vanvan - It's less powerful than the Marauder (so probably poor acceleration and poor top speed), and it's a single cylinder. I'm kind of edging toward a V-twin for performance and the ability to take some abuse.

I forgot about the Suzuki Intruder. I drove Doodee's for about 30 miles in total, and was very impressed with it. Definitely superior to the Marauder, and a good bit cheaper than the Varadero.

Any comments? Thanks for the input guys.

tk123

I was sure they insured me as group 1...I paid 1000 for fully comp on a provisional licence - it'll be interesting to see what I'm charged next month when I renew the policy!!

rymus

Originally posted by seamus
I forgot about the Suzuki Intruder. I drove Doodee's for about 30 miles in total, and was very impressed with it. Definitely superior to the Marauder, and a good bit cheaper than the Varadero.

I had an intruder as my first bike. Very impressed with it. If I ever had to go back to a 125, that's probably what I'd get. Either that or a drag star 125.

Gmodified

full cylinder transfusion

Surely this will be cheaper the getting another bike?

This, if you still like they bike

seamus

Originally posted by rymus
I had an intruder as my first bike. Very impressed with it. If I ever had to go back to a 125, that's probably what I'd get. Either that or a drag star 125.

Yeah, I'm definitely pushed that way now, cos it's easier to get a good condition one for a reasonable price. Second hand Varadero in good nick, and one year old, you're looking at upwards of €4500. Which is close enough to the price of a brand new intruder.

How does it hold up against wind? My one major gripe with the Marauder is that once any kind of wind picks up, I'm constantly changing back and forth between 4th and 5th gear to hold it at 50mph (say on the dual carraigeway/m-way), because I get it to 50, begin to lose speed in 5th, and have to accelerate back up to 50 in 4th, and change back to 5th to save my engine. It gets stressful
That's mainly an issue because my parents live about 30 miles away, so I rarely go down to them on the bike, since it's a stressful endeavour. It would be a lovely drive with a bike that could handle it though.

Surely this will be cheaper the getting another bike?

This, if you still like they bike

Ah yeah, that'd be cheaper, but I had planned on getting a new bike anyway, so I've just moved my schedule forward by a month or two.

JohnCleary

My Honda NSR 125 is Group 2 as its restricted - RR Model.

I'm selling it due to a recent purchase of car

Contact me if yo ur interested - im lookin in the €1800 region, its a 2000 model

rymus

Originally posted by seamus
How does it hold up against wind?

to be perfectly honest I can't really remember... it's a few years now since I had it. I feel fairly confident saying that I never had a problem with it wind-wise, always able to keep it up around the 60mph mark. In fact there was this one bitch of a hill on my way home some days that I used to drop to around 45/50mph on, but it would still chug along fine.

T'was a grand little motor... until I became obsessed with that 650cc drag star. Then it just didn't seem fast enough anymore

seamus

Originally posted by JohnCleary
My Honda NSR 125 is Group 2 as its restricted - RR Model.

I'm selling it due to a recent purchase of car

Contact me if yo ur interested - im lookin in the €1800 region, its a 2000 model

Yeah, I saw one of them. I'm not going to get a street bike unless it's fairly fast though. What's the normal cruising speed on it? (I.e. the max speed where the engine sounds happy, and you're not being slowed by wind).
Restricted to 12BHP yeah?
Does it sound like a moped on steroids (i.e. like a gilera runner) or does have a bit more oomph in it?

I feel fairly confident saying that I never had a problem with it wind-wise, always able to keep it up around the 60mph mark. In fact there was this one bitch of a hill on my way home some days that I used to drop to around 45/50mph on, but it would still chug along fine.

Better than the Marauder anyway
Cheers.

MojoMaker

The NSR 125 is Hibernian/AON group 7, insurance company doesn't give a **** if it's restricted or not, but the cops do...

Pity as they are a nice bike but waaay too expensive for young bucks to insure.

Which probably isn't a bad thing in fairness.

Seamus, aside from the journey to your folks what distance would you normally ride in a typical day? If it's fairly low (<15mls) you might consider a 125 trail bike. Much more fun than an asthmatic v-twin, bit peaky mind but much quicker around the place than a cruiser unless your main commute is fast moving motorway/dualcarriageway traffic.

seamus

Originally posted by MojoMaker
The NSR 125 is Hibernian/AON group 7, insurance company doesn't give a **** if it's restricted or not, but the cops do...

Pity as they are a nice bike but waaay too expensive for young bucks to insure.

Which probably isn't a bad thing in fairness.

Most of the shops seem to say the NSR restricted is Group 2. I'm thinking it comes restricted from the factory, which is why they'll accept it. I'd have to query it with CN though.

Seamus, aside from the journey to your folks what distance would you normally ride in a typical day? If it's fairly low (<15mls) you might consider a 125 trail bike. Much more fun than an asthmatic v-twin, bit peaky mind but much quicker around the place than a cruiser unless your main commute is fast moving motorway/dualcarriageway traffic.

Yeah, about 20-25 miles a day. about 2/3 motorway/dual carraigeway, and the rest city/traffic riding.
I would love a trail style bike, but as you say, not very suited for riding long straight cruises.

MojoMaker

Do you have full or prov licence? Might be worth considering expanding search/interest into 250/400cc bikes Seamus. Perhaps not into race rep territory just yet but something like Virago 250/400, Honda Steed 400, CB250 - all low insurance weightings regardless of actual insurance grouping.

Best tips for getting lowest possible quotes - be realistic with the bikes valuation, in fact undervalue it slightly (you can be sure the insurance co's do this anyway), ask for a €250 (or higher) excess on your policy.

If you are genuinely stuck to 125's then think why the Varadero is so expensive to buy used - doesn't depreciate much at all. It is the best* 125 on the market without doubt, unfortunately with one of the highest price tags too. But you won't lose much if you buy a 1yr old and sell it as a 2yr old. Pretty safe purchase too. Only 125 on the market that actually looks like a 400/600cc or bigger bike (which is a good thing).


* = although the likes of an Aprilia RS125 is a lovely bike the Varadero is the supreme all-rounder.

seamus

Originally posted by MojoMaker
Do you have full or prov licence? Might be worth considering expanding search/interest into 250/400cc bikes Seamus. Perhaps not into race rep territory just yet but something like Virago 250/400, Honda Steed 400, CB250 - all low insurance weightings regardless of actual insurance grouping.

Provisional for the moment. Haven't really been arsed applying cos I'll be about 14 months waiting, so I'm hoping that someone will make some drastic changes to the test procedure
I procrastinate. Very badly. I'll probably go for a bigger bike once I get the full licence.

If you are genuinely stuck to 125's then think why the Varadero is so expensive to buy used - doesn't depreciate much at all. It is the best* 125 on the market without doubt, unfortunately with one of the highest price tags too. But you won't lose much if you buy a 1yr old and sell it as a 2yr old. Pretty safe purchase too. Only 125 on the market that actually looks like a 400/600cc or bigger bike (which is a good thing).

Yeah, that's my gut feeling alright. I like cruisers, but even at a high price, the Varadero seems to be the man.
Cheers.

a_ominous

Originally posted by seamus
Provisional for the moment. Haven't really been arsed applying cos I'll be about 14 months waiting, so I'm hoping that someone will make some drastic changes to the test procedure
I procrastinate. Very badly. I'll probably go for a bigger bike once I get the full licence.
Yeah, that's my gut feeling alright. I like cruisers, but even at a high price, the Varadero seems to be the man.
Cheers.

Seamus, are you with Hibernian? You do know they load provisional riders by 35% :eek: If you do your test your insurance will drop dramatically. Do the Ignition course and another 15% discount. Then you can get the bigger bike you want. You might end up paying what you pay now, but you'd be on a bigger bike.
Do the test, you know it makes sense Check the Driving test for waiting times; they're not all over a year. Athlone is reasonable AFAIK. No big deal to travel an hour outside the Pale for it, is there?

seamus

Originally posted by a_ominous
Do the test, you know it makes sense Check the Driving test for waiting times; they're not all over a year. Athlone is reasonable AFAIK. No big deal to travel an hour outside the Pale for it, is there?

/me squirms uncomfortably
Yeah I know. Procrastination again.
I'll do it when I get back from Holidays

I'm with Carol Nash for the moment, but I'm sure they have a certain loading too.

Anyone know if ISM will rent me a bike to travel to Athlone?

Stephen

I'd love to change my virago for something else, for similar reasons to seamus: its so bloody slow in the wind, and my exhaust is utterly ****ed

What do yis think of a 2nd hand TDR125? I like the look of 'em (especially the lights) but don't know how they'd perform. I would be doing fairly regular 25-30 mile journeys.

I'd love a varadero but they're so overpriced.

I have a full A1 and 5 years NCB so i'm paying about 550 euros for TPO on the virago.

seamus

Originally posted by Stephen
What do yis think of a 2nd hand TDR125? I like the look of 'em (especially the lights) but don't know how they'd perform. I would be doing fairly regular 25-30 mile journeys.

They're 2-stroke....instant disqualification in my eyes.

echomadman

Yeah, i was looking at getting a TDR for a while,
I like the looks but its 2-strokeness put me off too.
Got a 250 bandit last week instead, insurance is shaping up to be 900~1000 but thats in Co. Clare. for a laugh I checked online with Hib and got a quote of 3800 TPO for dublin on the same bike.
have to wait till my 25th b'day next week till i can take it out though.

Stephen

I could live with a 2stroke if it was up to the distances i'd be doing. circa 7500 miles per year.

JohnCleary

Originally posted by MojoMaker
The NSR 125 is Hibernian/AON group 7, insurance company doesn't give a **** if it's restricted or not, but the cops do...

Pity as they are a nice bike but waaay too expensive for young bucks to insure.

Which probably isn't a bad thing in fairness.

Seamus, aside from the journey to your folks what distance would you normally ride in a typical day? If it's fairly low (<15mls) you might consider a 125 trail bike. Much more fun than an asthmatic v-twin, bit peaky mind but much quicker around the place than a cruiser unless your main commute is fast moving motorway/dualcarriageway traffic.

My NSR came factory restricted, hence it is Group 2 Hibernian. I removed the restrictors myself so its getting full 27-28BHP, with speeds in excess of 100MPH since all restrictors are removed. The beauty is that the log book states its an RR model, factory restricted.

Stephen

Would you not be ****ed in the event of a claim on your insurance?

seamus

Originally posted by Stephen
Would you not be ****ed in the event of a claim on your insurance?

Hmmm....I don't think I shall be purchasing anyone's NSR 125, if that's the case...

Bank is giving me money. Hunting starts now. It'll more than likely be a Varadero unless I stumble across a good bargain.

seamus

Right, went hunting today.

Found two good picks:

A '03 Varadero with 10k miles (not km). Almost mint condition, slight scratch on the seat rail at the back. Clearly never been dropped, and cared for to some good degree. The guy in the shop said it was traded in while he was on holidays (:rolleyes:) by a guy who was buying a car, so that's all he knows. €4,000 - A normal price apparently, the price of a new Varadero has dropped to €5,500 so they've dropped the price of this bike accordingly. Allegedly.

A '00 Shadow with 35 miles (yes 35, not 35k, just 35). Didn't take a proper look at it (the Varadero was stealing the show), but immediate things that struck me was bad rusting on external bolts. Not necessarily a bad thing, but may provide some kind of clue as to the condition of the rest of the bike. Guy in the shop said it was bought and never ridden, obviously. €3,000. Seems to me that it may be deteriorated after so much time unridden.

If my gut wins out (and is usually does) I'll probably take the Varadero off their hands on Saturday (after some bargaining).

seamus

*bumpy bumpy*

MojoMaker

You're debating between a 4yr old Shadow for €3k or a 1yr old class-leading Varadero for €4k?

C'mon dude.

If the Shadow has rust showing then it's been standing outside exposed to the elements. Exactly what else might show up over the weeks/months of ownership ahead remains to be seen.

If you have a gf, or if you pick one up (same place?) you'llbe glad you have the Varadero.

seamus

Originally posted by MojoMaker
You're debating between a 4yr old Shadow for €3k or a 1yr old class-leading Varadero for €4k?

C'mon dude.

If the Shadow has rust showing then it's been standing outside exposed to the elements. Exactly what else might show up over the weeks/months of ownership ahead remains to be seen.

Indeed. Thanks. I just needed someone else to say it.

if you pick one up (same place?)

lol

MojoMaker

I should add that while standing out in the elements is not great for a bike it does not necessarily mean the bike is damaged or in poor shape, before someone crucifies me. A little exterior rust isn't likely to figure all that much in the big scheme of things however I would be more concerned with a bike that's been stored so long / so little used over that period of time. Bike engines like to be used, and using them (within their limits and with plenty of oil) is good for them. Might sound a bit obvious, but regular use and regular oil changes is the way to keep a bike engine in top tune.

I just think you'll enjoy the Varadero more and it should be easier to sell on when you wish to trade up.

seamus

Went for the Varadero. She rocks. Does 60 comfortably, and 70 easily.

Need to get an on/off/reserve lever for the fuel tap though - ran out of petrol about a mile from the shop (3 mins walk from a petrol station though, luckily) and couldn't locate it for the life of me. Twas only when I got home I noticed it was actually missing.
Also need a headlight bulb replaced. Fiddly little bastard to get around the plastic front bit (called the fairing?)
Other than that it's perfect, could do with a quick wash to get dust off.

malico

On my provisional I was on a Honda Super 4. Great machine, great power and so sturdy. I came off it, and drove it home that night (after i was released form hospital!)

I'm not on an RVF 400R (Race Spec).... Ohhh yeah...