Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

honda hornet

Good luck.

No? Reliable as anything from what I’ve seen

I have have only ever bought old cars- which invariably require a fortune spending on them to get them into good condition. I’m tempted by the BMW (or other) single payment for everything with only servicing required.

Would the 350 linked earlier be good for three years, or would it prove to be a bit small within that time?

/opens eBay, types “Ducati 999”

It will very quickly be too small

Not knocking them.

It's just that I spent ages looking for a decent Hornet. Ymmv, but I found that they were either fucked or really expensive for what they were...a Bandit on the other hand, especially the 1200, totally different story.

(doubt either will be ulez compliant)

Ah yes that’s true too. A lot are shagged

The problem for you will be size / experience/ insurance.

Anything cheap to insure for your experience level will be way too small for you and you’ll be cramped.

Anything big enough will be big engined will cost a fortune to insure.

You’d fit nicely on something like my tracer 900gt and they’re a solid £7k less than a gs1250 and monthly pcp is super cheap. Problem will be where you keep it and your experience.

Wouldn’t be surprised to see insurance in the £2k range.

Would the 350 linked earlier be good for three years

What do you want the bike for?

My 2p is modern smaller bikes are great and plenty fast enough for fun. But you'll be ragging it quite a lot and they won't have smooth torquey power.

If you want a bike to ride around London and rince some B roads then I reckon it would do you a lot longer than you'd expect. But if you're thinking of light touring or time on big A-roads, I'm not sure.

(NB. I haven't riden one of those BMW 350 - altho a mate had the equivalent Yamaha MT03 and loved it, but sold it for a stripple)

I have have only ever bought old cars- which invariably require a fortune spending on them to get them into good condition.

Relative to AMGs and creating the 996 that nobody else deemed necessary any old(er) bike will be a veritable bargain to do any restoration/ upgrade work on...

£10k vs £100k new though. I think it would be quite hard to spend a fortune on a bike...

That is entirely true. You can buy an awesome, 170mph, super-car eating motorcycle for 3k, that will run and run with basic maintenance once in a while. If you are that way inclined.

The big new GS's are fabulous apparently but I wouldn't buy anything like that as a learner. Drop it, which you will and it could get written off. Ouch.

Get the license and then do a load of test rides.

Harley are also doing the "buy a bike, we'll fund your test" thing, if you fancy a bike that requires imperial tools and nobody wants to fix – that's a bit like having an old bike?

Fuck all this sensibility.

If its leisure out of bikes you want, get something fun. Do test, pass test, test ride bikes and see what you want out of it. Giant bikes are great and all, but what do you really want out of a bike?

Or just get this and ride away into the sunset cackling like a maniac

That is entirely true. You can buy an awesome, 170mph, super-car eating motorcycle for 3k, that will run and run with basic maintenance once in a while. If you are that way inclined.

This. Although my current bike cost £4k, to be fair.

It costs me £1,000 to insure both the AMG and the 911- another 2k for a fast bike?

Depends on the bike and probably more likely where is kept (London, on the road is £££).
My first year was £370 with a bike that has a sub 3s 0-60 and top speed somewhere around 165mph but it’s in a locked garage in a medium risk area.

I insured a ktm 990 at 24 for £600 full comp

but in london you'll find it tough if it's a nice bike - to impossible. Even garaged.

Check insurance quotes before getting anything.

Was it garaged? I do have a garage, but it’s for the 911 in it and no room for a bike alongside.

Without a garage you'll struggle to get sensible prices, but try. That was garages in Essex. Also insurance has gor worse in London since.

Just run some quotes and see wont take long.

Is it deep enough to squeeze a bike in front?

I forgot about ULEZ when I went to the Bike Shed Show😩
there's no get-out-of-jail[£80]-free for this is there?

Yes, but only if I remove the shelves at the back that store all my tools and so forth.

I need another garage, clearly.

Have you called and asked?

The Dartford Crossing usually give you a break the first time round.

https://youtu.be/Nw07YkJodfc