Tomo Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 Right been looking at things and I have now decided that I intend to have the licence fingers crossed for the easter bank holiday weekend. Theory test is now booked and I will be provionally booking the lessons tomorrow. The dates for the practical can then be confirmed upon passing the theory. Next thing is what first bike after completion of the test? I assume insurance will play a big part but going to be looking at the 600cc market. I am 26 with a clean driving licence and full no claims on the car. Any thoughts on what is suitable. I would prefer a sports style bike. Something with a compromise on speed and insurance but also that I will not be bored of 6 months down the road. Thanks EDIT* Any info on YZF R6 Just had a quick look at insurace £574 on the first quote. Dont think that too silly 119BHP & 169Kg. Some how I cant see me getting bored of that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tomg Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 best of luck to you mate!! all i can say (im the immature one) if you can get an r6 go for it. wever had a couple of people on here with them and nothing but praise. however one donkey managed to write his off in 10ft! so be safe. if not an r6 a fazer, an r1 (thats really silly ignore me), an fz6 is also quite nice. or a hornet.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo Posted January 22, 2007 Author Share Posted January 22, 2007 An R1. Drools However even at 26 I think my mother would kill me before I had chance to kill myself on the bike I am just doing the kitched and things on the house but put £3k to one side for a bike once I have passed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XTreme Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 Best value for money bike to get experience on would be an early Fazer 600 with the Thundercat motor. You could get a mint 2002/2003 for around £3K. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator mervin Posted January 23, 2007 Moderator Share Posted January 23, 2007 well there are some very competent bike out there, whatever you choose just be careful, I do not have much experience of modern bikes but having only a couple of old RD,s and a modern trailie/supermoto type job all i will say is do not try to run before you can walk, you can have a lot of fun on a smaller bike, and the roads are not a race track you have cars coming the other way, my 650 single with only 40 bhp will pull 80 mph very easily, and is great fun you can take to the lanes with it, but it is horses for courses, if you intend only to ride on main roads then a good 600 or even 400 is a good way to learn if like me you ride in the country lanes a nice light single with a bit of punch I:E XT etc is much handier, they are narrower higher so you can see better than crouched over the tank, and resonably economical, then having said that my other bikes RD250/400 are seventies hooligan machines, so anyway be careful choose well and stick around with us and let us know how you get on Merv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black in France Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 I've been out of GB for more than a decade, at least for every day purposes sake, and was surprised to see Tomo saying 'Full no claims on the car'. When I left Old Blighty I could only get maximum 10% ncd for a bike. Here (France) is different as your car insurance discount is the same for a bike. Hence my 0.51 coefficient for the car (all but 50% off the full premium rate) applies for my four or two wheels. Have Insurance companies become more 'car user' friendly to bikeres over there? BeePee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo Posted January 23, 2007 Author Share Posted January 23, 2007 I put in the Full car no claims in that you have to declare any claims and I was unsure if any people knew they would also take them into consideration for reducing the premium. The price of £574 was stating the bike was at my home address Unsecured in the bank garden with only data tag. I have never made a claim, I have no points, no conviction in the past 5 years. Any views on these? To me its a nice looking machine and the prices dont seem to bad. However that is as far as my knowledge goes. Would it be more suitable than the R6? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black in France Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 The fact that you personally declare some thing is not sufficient over here. If you've held motor insurance you have to ask your last company for an authorised statement of your previous bonus, or otherwise, and only the right form of words from them will do to carry your bonus on to another company. Surely only one of many good moves for 'Identification', at least against fraud? It exists here and no-one complains........ Not a political statement, just common sense, I think. BeePee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo Posted January 24, 2007 Author Share Posted January 24, 2007 Generally I believe that is the case here. If I were to change company for the car they would ask me to send proof of no claim entitlement from the other company. I also run a van and the insurance company gave me the full no claim discount when I told them I had full no claims bonus on the car. So In effect that gave me 2 sets of no claims rather than having to start from fresh. I then had to send proof of my no claims on the car for the company to honour the van policy. As you say this is common sense and helps to prevent motorists claiming a fradulent discount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator YamaHead Posted January 24, 2007 Moderator Share Posted January 24, 2007 The YZF 600R (ThunderCat) would make a nice daily hack. My mate I sold my RD400 to, used to have one & let me have a go on it once......Compitent Machine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisw Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 A Thundercat would make an excellent first bike and have for many people. They are fast yet easy going in traffic, comfy but not too soft. As for the insurance, if you plan on running a car and a bike then your existing no claims can only be used for one of those. So if you use it on your car your bike insurance will start at zero no claims even if you have full on the car. Seems a bit unfair that if you've had an accident in your car they use it against you when calculating your bike premium but if you've had no accidents then they don't take it into account and you're still starting from zilch ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo Posted January 24, 2007 Author Share Posted January 24, 2007 Just seems to be the way of the world. Everyone wants to charge more but nobody likes giving discounts if they can get away with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black in France Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 I agree with Tomo and chrisw. My main point is that you can only ride or drive one vehicle at a time and if you benefit from a ncd over a long period for bike or car then it makes no difference. If you then have a claim it affects both car and bike policies. I think that's what you have in England as you should declare any recent claims to existing companies and certainly when starting new cover. (Honest people, anyway) BeePee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BULLDOG Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 thankfully over here in France the ncd from your car is used fr the bike insurance so it's quite cheap to have both. I hadn't ever insured a bike over here and when I got a quote for my FZ it was twice as much as the bike is worth. I found insurance though by using the car ncd for the bike and promising them that I'd insure the car with them as well when the contract run out. Shame they can't do the same thing back home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black in France Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 Hi Bulldog. Glad to see I'm not the only Biking Brit over here. Beaune's a long way for a ride out, more a summer holiday from Brittany! Only thing over here is you have to give 2 months notice to quit your insurance company so you can't just change with a 'phone call like you can in England. I was impressed though with ncd counting for both car and bike. I'm with different companies too. BeePee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boozehound Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 Tomo, I jumped in feet first and bought a 2000 R6 as my first bike. Twitchy, uncomfortable in town, terrible stering lock but not one of those things made me love it any less, they just added to the charm. I loved that bike. First week or so I worried that I'd made an expensive mistake but then I spent a day on proper biking roads (empty, well surfaced A roads around Loch Lomond) and that was it for me, finally realised what everyone was on about. I'd say that if you want the R6 you should go for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slowryder Posted July 27, 2007 Share Posted July 27, 2007 I bought the 2005 yzf600r and it has been awesome. I have been storing it for approx. 1 year. Only problem is when i start it, i have to keep the choke on full for it to stay running and if i turn the throttle it dies, anyone know why???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atlantasmittie84 Posted July 27, 2007 Share Posted July 27, 2007 A 600cc bike is a good bike to start with that can also keep you excited the rest of your life. Any race oriented 600cc is going to outrun just about any car produced. As for riding new. One of my buddy's borrowed a friends R1 to get back to school (200mile drive) near Savannah, Georgia (U.S) from Atlanta, Georgia when he got stranded because our kayaking trip took longer than we thought. He also drove it for the week and had very little riding experience. Infact the first time he rode a street bike was an R1 while drunk at a party. So really any bike can be managable. But for cruising around town (especially the small short streets of say London) it's nice to have a Vtwin compared to a 4cyl. 4cyls require you to keep the RPMs up and if you are constantly stopping and going it gets annoying and tough on your clutch. While the Vtwins have so much low end torque you barely have to use clutch to get going. My buddy now owns a Suzuki SV650s. It's an awesome little bike that my buddy with the R1 says handles much better than his bike. It is also the wheelie master because of the low end torque. It runs just slower than your average sport 600 bike but is much easier to drive. We toped the speed out at 140mph (225kph) and it gets there fairly quick I know Yamaha's version of the Suzuki650 is the FZ6. I'm told it's not as fast as the SV650s but will still be quick enough to get your attention. Also insurance on the Vtwins are stupid cheap. My buddy pays $100 a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atlantasmittie84 Posted July 27, 2007 Share Posted July 27, 2007 I bought the 2005 yzf600r and it has been awesome. I have been storing it for approx. 1 year. Only problem is when i start it, i have to keep the choke on full for it to stay running and if i turn the throttle it dies, anyone know why???? Clogged fuel filter??? With that bike being EFI you shouldn't have that problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thundercat2325 Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 Hey there tono. Good luck with your tests ect . my 1st bike was a 1998 thundercat which i still have to this day. As much as an R6 would be awsome fun untill you get some miles under your belt i dont think you'll get the most out of it. The thundercat is a great all rounder i used mine everyday in the summer to and from work and even scotland and back a few times and i've never suffered with a numb arse!!! i seem to run out of road or petrol for that matter first lol . The cat is a very forgiving bike and allows you to have fun (eg knee down prctice with confidence) and wont through a wobbley if you take a line wrong and want to change. There is plenty of grunt to keep you happy i've top out at 156mph (on isle of man) which isn't bad i've even whipped a few blades round the twistys. There cheap to insure and you should expect 160miles per tank. All in all the thundercat is a very underestimated bike and i think you'd be more than happy with one, there are plenty of spares and they look sexy as lol which ever bike bike you get enjoy and happy ridding x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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