jimmy Posted September 29, 2012 Share Posted September 29, 2012 Having just been quoted over £2k for my son to get insurance on a restricted bike, I am looking to pick him up something a bit smaller, within the 33bhp limit. He is into the cruiser style so looking at an xvs400 or summit similar. From the collective experience of the board, what is available to him. What bhp is a 535 Virago or the xv650. Any advice, help, ridicule welcomed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Cynic Posted September 29, 2012 Moderator Share Posted September 29, 2012 GO CLASSIC An rd250. Even a 350 may be under the limits for new pilots. Classic cool plenty of poke and good insurance. Nicely avoiding a lot of modern eu crap too. I have a 125 top end ready for the dt when my daughter is wanting a bike, for that very reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canny lad Posted September 29, 2012 Share Posted September 29, 2012 agree with Cynic... a well fettled 250.350 LC will fairly shift and has the gawp factor... stand out from the crowd instead of blend in with it Same with an X7, RD250/350/400 Air cooled...or a number of other bikes.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator DirtyDT Posted September 29, 2012 Moderator Share Posted September 29, 2012 I pay more for the TS than I do for the SV. The TS has the benefit of full recovery and agreed value at about £113 a year fully comp. The 535 is around 44hp. and a v star 650 about 33hp. Have a look here LINKY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neversaydie Posted September 29, 2012 Share Posted September 29, 2012 Having just been quoted over £2k for my son to get insurance on a restricted bike, I am looking to pick him up something a bit smaller, within the 33bhp limit. He is into the cruiser style so looking at an xvs400 or summit similar. From the collective experience of the board, what is available to him. What bhp is a 535 Virago or the xv650. Any advice, help, ridicule welcomed. Virago xv535 is 45 bhp. There is no xv650, next one up is xv750, or xvs650. Xvs400s are rare in the uk, imported only Xvs250 would be under 33bhp, if you can find one Much easier to buy are the xv535s, sold by the million in the 80s and 90s, plenty of good ones still around, easily cutomisable, rock solid motor, easy to ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmy Posted September 30, 2012 Author Share Posted September 30, 2012 Cheers folks, I'll give it some thought, although re: the Elsies, he's not into 2 smokes so wouldn't be keen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Cynic Posted September 30, 2012 Moderator Share Posted September 30, 2012 Cheers folks, I'll give it some thought, although re: the Elsies, he's not into 2 smokes so wouldn't be keen Calm down there he cant ride anything liquid cooled they have way too much poke. I mean old skool cool the aircooled stuff. Even dare i say it the old brit iron. Motorcycling is being an individual. Being the one to follow their own path as best they can. Not mass market annonymity. All the fasion police are going old skool. Crist my daughter wants a satchel for school ferchrisakes. A kin sachel. I got lumbered with those things when i was at school. Ugggh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmy Posted September 30, 2012 Author Share Posted September 30, 2012 Sorry mate, when you said "rd250 , or even the 350 may be under" I assumed you were talking about the LCs. I thought the air cooleds were 250 and 400s. I agree with the Brit option tho, I am going to get him on the insurance for my Speed Twin (28bhp) but will keep looking at other options. Thinking xt/sr500 but its up to him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ttaskmaster Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 Ridicule welcomed? Don't tempt me, heh heh..... Actually, this is a pretty darn sensible thing to ask and I don't (usually) kick off for no reason :-) IIRC, most 400cc bikes are pretty much bang on 33BHP and won't need restrictor kits. They last nicely past the waiting period as well, so all is good. The XVS650 Dragstar has 40BHP. However, the drop to 33 with a restrictor kit doesn't actually make much difference to the performance. It's a low-end torque machine and will still shift nicely, reaching motorway speeds quite happily for a Cruiser. Even if you get the Classic model which is 20kg heavier, it does fine. Keep as is, or whip the restrictor off when finished with the 2 year period thing and you've got a great bike! I'm not actually biassed this time, I'm just speaking from experience ;-) Viragoes are pretty much the same, but better suited to smaller riders and have that little extra BHP (once derestricted) as mentioned in posts above, but parts are starting to get harder to find. Also, very low fuel capacity - 13 litres if you have the add-on. About 8 without, I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neversaydie Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 Ridicule welcomed? Don't tempt me, heh heh..... Actually, this is a pretty darn sensible thing to ask and I don't (usually) kick off for no reason :-) IIRC, most 400cc bikes are pretty much bang on 33BHP and won't need restrictor kits. They last nicely past the waiting period as well, so all is good. The XVS650 Dragstar has 40BHP. However, the drop to 33 with a restrictor kit doesn't actually make much difference to the performance. It's a low-end torque machine and will still shift nicely, reaching motorway speeds quite happily for a Cruiser. Even if you get the Classic model which is 20kg heavier, it does fine. Keep as is, or whip the restrictor off when finished with the 2 year period thing and you've got a great bike! I'm not actually biassed this time, I'm just speaking from experience ;-) Viragoes are pretty much the same, but better suited to smaller riders and have that little extra BHP (once derestricted) as mentioned in posts above, but parts are starting to get harder to find. Also, very low fuel capacity - 13 litres if you have the add-on. About 8 without, I think. Yep, they upped the tank size from 1989 onwards to 13.5 litres, so a tank full should deliver around 150 to 160 miles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ttaskmaster Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 I thought there was also an add-on for the 8 litre one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neversaydie Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 I thought there was also an add-on for the 8 litre one? Not sure on that one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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