insurance friendly bike for older learner

yamaha4life

hi all, im getting back into biking and im having trouble getting quotes, going to renew my learner permit in the next two weeks its an unrestricted A as im 29, have to resit half my ibt to get recertified @ €245 at least its cheaper than the first time round. i have 1 yr ncb cert which i hope is still valid i doesnt have an expiry on it.

so basically the two bikes i had were a 92 fzr 250r and a 98 bandit 600 for the latter half of the year.

now i want a 400cc to 600cc bike, my prefer bikes would be a ninja 400cc gsxr 400cc cbr 400cc mostly because of comfort they are a nice size for my height, hated the bandit was too tall for me but i managed it. i like the look of er-6f and hornets in the 600cc havent sat on a hornet but im tiptoe on the last erf i sat on joys of being short.

ive been on the liberty website and cant get a quote going on any of these bike or even the 250 and bandit i had before that were only about €400 to insure.

any advice im just mostly afraid if buy something and being not able to insure it or get some quotes that will make my eyes water.

Mjolnir

yamaha4life wrote: »

hi all, im getting back into biking and im having trouble getting quotes, going to renew my learner permit in the next two weeks its an unrestricted A as im 29, have to resit half my ibt to get recertified @ €245 at least its cheaper than the first time round. i have 1 yr ncb cert which i hope is still valid i doesnt have an expiry on it.

so basically the two bikes i had were a 92 fzr 250r and a 98 bandit 600 for the latter half of the year.

now i want a 400cc to 600cc bike, my prefer bikes would be a ninja 400cc gsxr 400cc cbr 400cc mostly because of comfort they are a nice size for my height, hated the bandit was too tall for me but i managed it. i like the look of er-6f and hornets in the 600cc havent sat on a hornet but im tiptoe on the last erf i sat on joys of being short.

ive been on the liberty website and cant get a quote going on any of these bike or even the 250 and bandit i had before that were only about €400 to insure.

any advice im just mostly afraid if buy something and being not able to insure it or get some quotes that will make my eyes water.

Liberty changed criteria last year, they're more "friendly" to current customers.
Ncb cert is valid for 4 years I think, after that you start from scratch.
Ring around and ask, no one can give ya a qoute, you've cn, liberty and princepal, won't take long to find out where ya stand.
Fzs600, bandit 600, hornet 600, sv650 should be insurable easily enough, anything with an r most likely not.

IrishGrimReaper

You should check out the Honda CBF600 too. Between it and a Hornet they shouldn't be too bad even with no NCB, they weren't for me and I was 30. (Carole Nash just watch out for a fee they'll try whack on)

NCB are only valid for 2 years from the expiry date of the policy.

Regarding ergonomics you could check a rough guide on how you'll fit on whatever bikes.
https://cycle-ergo.com/

Del2005

You can get lowering kits for most bikes so don't be put off if they are too tall, just price the cost of the kits before buying the bike

galwaytt

Mjolnir wrote: »

Liberty changed criteria last year, they're more "friendly" to current customers.
Ncb cert is valid for 4 years I think, after that you start from scratch.
Ring around and ask, no one can give ya a qoute, you've cn, liberty and princepal, won't take long to find out where ya stand.
Fzs600, bandit 600, hornet 600, sv650 should be insurable easily enough, anything with an r most likely not.

Your NCB expires after 2 years, btdt, have the T-shirt.

When you're returning, anything with the letter 'R' in it is like a red rag to a bull when it comes to insurers: CBR instead of CB/CBF, GSX-R instead of GSX/F, you get the idea. I went through this with Liberty for my son last August, and previously with my SO when she went back on the bike.

But still LOADS of good choices.

So, one of the great choices is a Suzuki SV650/DL650, Yamaha MT-07, Honda CB500 (in any version bar the 'R' one)/Hornet, Kawasaki ER-6/Versys.

My SO went with an SV605S, and even though that is a nice low - and more important to her, narrow - bike, I lowered it by 25mm - cost me about €60 iirc.

I doubt you're going to be looking as low as €400 though.

yamaha4life

thanks very good information, my ncb is expired by about a year then give or take i had my heart set on something with an R but its not extremly important i googled lowering the bikes but it can effect handling kept cropping up?

the underwriting must have changed a bit as before i could go up to a gsxr 600cc no problem i went and looked at one when my 1 yr ncb cert came but the seller wouldnt come down on price when i was standing there with cash 2 weeks later the bike was still on donedeal bur the price was down to exactly what i offered him, that was when i shelved riding until now.

im going to ring them with some bikes see what happens hate bloody ringing them cost a fortune, 101 questions, then probly get no quote or very dear one

galwaytt

yamaha4life wrote: »

thanks very good information, my ncb is expired by about a year then give or take i had my heart set on something with an R but its not extremly important i googled lowering the bikes but it can effect handling kept cropping up?

the underwriting must have changed a bit as before i could go up to a gsxr 600cc no problem i went and looked at one when my 1 yr ncb cert came but the seller wouldnt come down on price when i was standing there with cash 2 weeks later the bike was still on donedeal bur the price was down to exactly what i offered him, that was when i shelved riding until now.

im going to ring them with some bikes see what happens hate bloody ringing them cost a fortune, 101 questions, then probly get no quote or very dear one

Quotes now are based on power & risk, not engine size. You could probably insure a 1000cc classic or cruiser more easily than a 400cc sportsbike.

Unless there's a very serious need to a 650 won't need lowering. You probably just need more up to date training and practice.

IrishGrimReaper

I got a quote no bother with 1 year NCB and full bike license less than a year on a 2012 Triumph Explorer 1215cc.

Was about €750 :pac:

Del2005

yamaha4life wrote: »

thanks very good information, my ncb is expired by about a year then give or take i had my heart set on something with an R but its not extremly important i googled lowering the bikes but it can effect handling kept cropping up?

You can manage the handling, it's most likely at speeds most road users shouldn't be affected anyway;), being able to stop safely is more important.

airhead_eire

yamaha4life wrote: »

thanks very good information, my ncb is expired by about a year then give or take i had my heart set on something with an R but its not extremly important i googled lowering the bikes but it can effect handling kept cropping up ?

At your experience level, you won't notice any effect to handling. Lowering it at the rear will, most likely, make the steering feel slower but also more stable. You may feel that on track as an experienced rider but in the real world, from your perspective, you won't. Don't worry about it.