Car Licence vs CBT

BillScarab

I'd second the suggestion of doing the GetOn course. It will give you an idea of whether you like riding a bike or not. It also gives you a chance to test the test centre out and see if you like the staff and setup.

If you only want to ride a 125 there is no need to do the theory test as that is only required for the full test. Personall yI think it's worth doing the full test eventually anyway as then you don't need L Plates and don't have to keep renewing your CBT every two years.

BikerEd

boyse7en wrote: »

Even for higher-powered bikes, it need not be expensive.
My bike is 3 years old, performance of a high-powered car and costs me under £100 fully comp per year for insurance. Tax is £70 and I get an average on a 15 mile commute of 68mpg - more on a long steady motorway or A-road run.

Don't get me wrong, I'm strictly two wheels only, but that isn't the full picture. Bikes generally need servicing every 4500 to 6000 miles with much higher costs at each service. Bike tyres last a fraction of the time that a car's do because by necessity they are stickier and therefore wear faster than car tyres. On one of my bikes I'm lucky if I get 2000 miles out of a back tyre costing £150. On the slower bikes have never had more than 7500 from a back tyre, or 14000 from a front.

What you do save on a bike is two things - time and sanity. You spend far less time on your commute because you don't get stuck in traffic. Plus you get to flip the bird at any cage-driving numpty that gets in your way and disappear off over the horizon before they know what has happened (unless of course you are on a 125)

Cool_Mint

I'd love to buy a motorcycle or scooter again - just a little 125 or 250 - but honestly the insurance difference between even a 125cc bike and a small car is virtually nil. If I could get one insured even third-party for £100 a year I'd be shopping for a bike tomorrow!

boyse7en

Cool_Mint wrote: »

I'd love to buy a motorcycle or scooter again - just a little 125 or 250 - but honestly the insurance difference between even a 125cc bike and a small car is virtually nil. If I could get one insured even third-party for £100 a year I'd be shopping for a bike tomorrow!

"[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]KYMCO has announced that it has extended its unique ‘Anywhere’ subsidised insurance scheme until the end of 2010 on selected models.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The scheme which has been created in association with MCE enables customers to take advantage of superb subsidised rates, irrespective of their age or postcode. The TPO* scheme is divided into three clear price bands based on age and the machine’s engine size.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The first band offers customers aged 25+ TPO cover from only [/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]£49*[/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif], the second provides riders of [/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]all[/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif] ages TPO cover from only [/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]£99*[/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif], and the third category is for 125cc riders aged between 17 and 24 years and offers TPO cover from only [/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]£149*."[/FONT]


Not that I'm pushing Kymco, I've no connection to them at all, but I know they are doing Insurance offers. Piaggio (who also do Vespa and Gilera) had some offers on too a while ago, don't know if they are still going.


Obviously, insurance costs depend on age and location. I live in a low-risk, rural area, so my ins is cheap compared to some, but t ry quotes from Carole Nash, ebikeinsurance, Bennetts, Devitt, Rampdale (especially good for Chinese bike insurance, which some brokers won't touch) as they are bike specialists.

sparky7

Cool_Mint wrote: »

You will NOT save money riding a motorcycle, sadly the days of motorcycles, scooters and mopeds being a cheap alternative to a car are long gone, the insurance for a bike is the same as for a car and the fuel costs aren't much different -scooters and mopeds are cheap on fuel but modern performance bikes guzzle more petrol than the low-revving machines of yesteryear.

Not quite true..

My 125 Scooter tax - £15/yr
Insurance - £78
Petrol 40ish mpg.

My Car (Megane) tax - £160 ish
Insurance - £340
Petrol - 30ish mpg.

My scooter saves me so much money, dont forget free congestion charge if your london, free parking in most places and alot cheaper servicing/tires etc.. overall its considerably cheaper than the London 1-4 travelcard (based over 3 years with the initial cost of the bike). Your own mileage will vary though..

My scooter saves me so much money!

Nikkisun

My son definitely finds his 125 scooter cheaper to run, insurance is £280 per year as opposed to £5400 for a fiesta!!

boyse7en

sparky7 wrote: »

Not quite true..

My 125 Scooter tax - £15/yr
Insurance - £78
Petrol 40ish mpg.

My Car (Megane) tax - £160 ish
Insurance - £340
Petrol - 30ish mpg.

My scooter saves me so much money, dont forget free congestion charge if your london, free parking in most places and alot cheaper servicing/tires etc.. overall its considerably cheaper than the London 1-4 travelcard (based over 3 years with the initial cost of the bike). Your own mileage will vary though..

My scooter saves me so much money!

Are you sure you only get 40ish mpg on your 125?????

My Gilera Runner 125 scooter gives over 80mpg, and even my 800cc sportsbike averages 60mpg.

A geared 125 commuter, like a Honda CB125, will give over 100mpg.

spiro

patman99 wrote: »

OP, you could always buy a Piaggio MP3-400LT. It can be ridden on a full car license as it has twin front wheels, this also makes it incredibly stable in the wet/icey conditions.

You need to bear in mind that this only applies to this model as the others have the front wheels closer together which means that are classified as a bike not a trike.

exup

BikerEd wrote: »

Don't get me wrong, I'm strictly two wheels only, but that isn't the full picture. Bikes generally need servicing every 4500 to 6000 miles with much higher costs at each service. Bike tyres last a fraction of the time that a car's do because by necessity they are stickier and therefore wear faster than car tyres. On one of my bikes I'm lucky if I get 2000 miles out of a back tyre costing £150. On the slower bikes have never had more than 7500 from a back tyre, or 14000 from a front.

What you do save on a bike is two things - time and sanity. You spend far less time on your commute because you don't get stuck in traffic. Plus you get to flip the bird at any cage-driving numpty that gets in your way and disappear off over the horizon before they know what has happened (unless of course you are on a 125)

I think you have a bit of a stigma with small capacity bikes. Even a bike such as a CBR125 (or the 2 stroke 125s such as the TZR etc) do not cost anywhere near that to run, the tyres are only about 30 - 40 quid and last alot longer than something which puts 100bhp+ down on the road.
Also some 125's can be pretty quick too - my NS125R and TZR would do over 100mph, and flipping the bird at someone is liable to get you knocked off when you choose the wrong person to do it to, it also doesn't do anything to help the image of bikers to the public in general anyway.

Advice to anyone thinking of buying a bike - don't believe the hype pushed by motorcycle news and 96% of the biking media in this country and also the "bigger is better" brigade who will look at you on a small bike and sneer because you are wearing leathers (a crash at 40mph is still the same, no matter what you fall off). "when are you going to get a proper bike mate?" I used to hate that comment either to me or when I heard it directed to others
Choose the bike that suits you not what suits others.

Also consider that a supersports bike has a helluva lot of performance for the money you pay for it,
Even something like a 10 year old Yamaha Thundercat can reach 0-60 in 3 seconds, compare that to how much you would need to spend on a car that could get anywhere near that.
The Thundercat is also capaable of over 150mph, again you are looking at least 20K for that performance, a decent Thundercat would cost 1 - 2 K ?
yes British roads have speed limits on, but you are going to have to be really pushing any car well past the legal limit to even try to keep up, most of the time on a powerful bike, you don't even have to push that hard, and any car will disappear from your mirrors.

Cool_Mint

sparky7 wrote: »

Not quite true..

My 125 Scooter tax - £15/yr
Insurance - £78
Petrol 40ish mpg.

My Car (Megane) tax - £160 ish
Insurance - £340
Petrol - 30ish mpg.

£78? :shocked:
The last time I called Carole Nash and asked for a quote for a Honda CB125, 5 years no-claims and garaged they basically asked me to bend over.

I'll definitely have to take a good look to see if things have changed since the last time I was on a motorcycle but I'll be gobsmacked if I can get a quote that low.