400cc Street bikes?

thirtythirty

Ok so I've started looking at what bike i'm gonna swap out my TDR for, even though we're still talking 4 - 6 months down the road. But i like to think about these things early, and then obsess about them on the web before I actually go out an buy!

I had pretty much decided on a ducati monster 400


..until I realised that finding one was going to be pretty difficult. So I started thinking about alternatives.

I'm not into racers or cruisers at all, i think my favourite type at the moment are the likes of the Yamaha MT 03



or the ER6N





Unfortunately, i'm limited by insurance! 600cc bikes tend to be €640 up to about €750, which is way too much considering this is more for pleasure use than anything else.

So, can anyone suggest any 250 - 400cc bikes along the lines of those 3 above?
I should say i'm also not into pure scramblers, or courier type bikes! Picky I know.

Cheers

Wossack

cb400 super four, bros, bandit 400, fazer 400... um all I can think of on the spot

thirtythirty

No to the bros and fazer, but the others aren't bad alright

MargeS

I'm a bit like you with regards to the type of bike I like.
The bandit 400 are supposed to be troublesome. Another good looking bike if you can find one is the xjr400.

Wossack

only ones I'd really consider from that bracket, of that style, would be hornet 250, bros400, cb400/cb1

bandit 400's not got a great name for itself alright MargeS

Cuddlesworth

Er-6n was pretty cheap on insurance for me considering.

Aon grade 2, 25, dublin, full license(1 month in), 1 NCB, about 520.

thirtythirty

yah, i'd put the hornet, bandit, and xjr all together as a style. It's certainly a style I'd consider, but not something that really jumps out at me like the er6n, or suzuki gladius:



Or yamaha xj6 (which i just found!):


It's that kind of style that i really like (bar the monster which i just love!)

thirtythirty

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

Er-6n was pretty cheap on insurance for me considering.

Aon grade 2, 25, dublin, full license(1 month in), 1 NCB, about 520.

Those are exactly my details! I have Aon grade 2, im 25, in dublin, and i will be buying the moment i get my full license! (What's NCB?)

Also, where did you get your ER6N and how much?

edit: duh, no claims bonus!

Wossack

if 600's are back on the table, gwan the Street Triple :P

Cuddlesworth

spottyelephant wrote: »

Those are exactly my details! I have Aon grade 2, im 25, in dublin, and i will be buying the moment i get my full license! (What's NCB?)

Also, where did you get your ER6N and how much?

edit: duh, no claims bonus!

A 06 is worth around 2.5-3k now. I bought mine second hand well over a year ago.

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/motorbikes/1394261

There is one with insurance which is even cheaper. 08 with dirt low mileage. Don't worry about the full power bit, restrictor is a single screw stopping the throttle pull, takes about ten seconds to take in or out. Looks like he dropped it but it should be pretty easy to fix. You could query bikeworld on the cost of the replacement parts/fairing.


That Yamaya is lovely as well. I saw one in Redzone the other day and it was amazing.

thirtythirty

I was drooling over the Street Triple a while back, but not a hope of finding one of them around the 3K mark!

I can't say for certain whether 600's are back on the table until i actually called AON - they're online quote system gives me a quote of 7 or 800 for the ER6N, which is a bit of a jump from the ~€350 I'm paying now...

Cuddlesworth

spottyelephant wrote: »

I was drooling over the Street Triple a while back, but not a hope of finding one of them around the 3K mark!

I can't say for certain whether 600's are back on the table until i actually called AON - they're online quote system gives me a quote of 7 or 800 for the ER6N, which is a bit of a jump from the ~€350 I'm paying now...

Really, they gave me a quote of 2.5k. Bastards. Quinn will accept Aon assessments(making quinn ones useless) and addelaide might come out more expensive but you can have up to three bikes on one policy.

thirtythirty

Well, turns out 600's are back on the table - quinn's system said €500...

Kinda of gutted, there's so much to choose from now that i'll never decide! Thank god i've got a few months before I have want to buy!

EGOSHEA

The MT-03 looks beautiful. Supposed to be tough as nails and real easy on the corners too. Ideal for twisty roads and great for city/suburban commuting. If you're interested in long-haul, open road driving though, its single 660 engine doesn't have it at the top end.

Re: insurance, Quin usually quotes me the same price for restricted bikes as it does for 250s. Shouldn't make much of a difference.

Check these out:
http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/motorbikes/1364508

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/motorbikes/1420199

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/motorbikes/1406370

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/motorbikes/1355726

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/motorbikes/1343558

Wossack

take a screen shot of the quote page, including the reference number..!

not sure how long they're valid for (1 month..?), but would hate to buy a bike, only to find the random-number-generators/online-quote-page hike the price on ya. They wont be able to feign ignorance if you've a reference number

might be worth while giving adelaide a call - if you're over 25, I found them hard to beat. Very easy to talk to, and they seem to genuinely want your business - unlike what I experienced with the irish folks.. (Aon in particular)

thirtythirty

EGOSHEA wrote: »

The MT-03 looks beautiful. Supposed to be tough as nails and real easy on the corners too. Ideal for twisty roads and great for city/suburban commuting. If you're interested in long-haul, open road driving though, its single 660 engine doesn't have it at the top end.

Re: insurance, Quin usually quotes me the same price for restricted bikes as it does for 250s. Shouldn't make much of a difference.

Check these out:
http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/motorbikes/1364508

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/motorbikes/1420199

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/motorbikes/1406370

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/motorbikes/1355726

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/motorbikes/1343558

Not into the R6, but the rest are all v nice. Particularly the MT and ER...i think they're front-runners for me at the moment.

The worst thing about looking at ads now, is that I get ancy and want to buy them - but i'm just definately not until i've got my licence!

Cuddlesworth

If you do pick up a Er-6n this is the place to go for info.

EGOSHEA

spottyelephant wrote: »

Not into the R6, but the rest are all v nice. Particularly the MT and ER...i think they're front-runners for me at the moment.

The worst thing about looking at ads now, is that I get ancy and want to buy them - but i'm just definately not until i've got my licence!

Same as myself. Can't wait to move up from a 125 but I need to do an assessment first to bring the insurance down a bit. I also share a Ural Dalesman (750cc) with some friends but I can't do the test with a sidecar!

Back and forth between something quite sporty (like a CBR 600 or a Fazer) or else something a bit more dual-purpose-inspired (like the MT-03 - I also have my eye on an MT350). Gotta save some more money first in any event. I think my wife may just despise Donedeal.ie at this stage!

Cuddlesworth

spottyelephant wrote: »

Not into the R6, but the rest are all v nice. Particularly the MT and ER...i think they're front-runners for me at the moment.

The worst thing about looking at ads now, is that I get ancy and want to buy them - but i'm just definately not until i've got my licence!

There is a post here and on irishbiker about how to pass the test. I read up on them and the sample questions then went out, all without lessons as passed with one grade 2 in total. Its a piece of piss compared to doing the insurance assessment with David Lyons.

thirtythirty

Ye I think the dual-purpose is the way to go. It just offers you way more freedom in terms of even just simple things like carrying sports bags and putting on panniers or a small back box, which wouldn't look great on a sports bike! I also just prefer being that bit more upright - i prefer my mountain bike to my racing bike too!

I found the insurance assessment grand - almost got a flawless result, with just one grade 3 instead of 2 on the lifesaver because i missed the last one on the last turn. Stupidly.

Im not worried at all about the driving side of the test - it's the feckin theory questions that throw out ambiguous questions and answers that I reckon i'll mess up on!

Cuddlesworth

spottyelephant wrote: »

Ye I think the dual-purpose is the way to go. It just offers you way more freedom in terms of even just simple things like carrying sports bags and putting on panniers or a small back box, which wouldn't look great on a sports bike! I also just prefer being that bit more upright - i prefer my mountain bike to my racing bike too!

I found the insurance assessment grand - almost got a flawless result, with just one grade 3 instead of 2 on the lifesaver because i missed the last one on the last turn. Stupidly.

Im not worried at all about the driving side of the test - it's the feckin theory questions that throw out ambiguous questions and answers that I reckon i'll mess up on!

You can't fail the test on the rules of the road alone. I think you can only get two grade 2's in it.

Del2005

Wossack wrote: »

take a screen shot of the quote page, including the reference number..!

not sure how long they're valid for (1 month..?), but would hate to buy a bike, only to find the random-number-generators/online-quote-page hike the price on ya. They wont be able to feign ignorance if you've a reference number

might be worth while giving adelaide a call - if you're over 25, I found them hard to beat. Very easy to talk to, and they seem to genuinely want your business - unlike what I experienced with the irish folks.. (Aon in particular)

+1 for Alelaide.

I called them and got a quote but forgot the quote number. I called back to get the quote number and the person on the phone kept knocking money off. 1st time I've ever had a insurance rep beating their own price. Don't like Quinn because I've heard too many bad stories about them, they where also much more expensive.