Which bike should I buy after passing my motorcycle test?
We are asked this question by our trainees many, many times. It is the £million question and we hope to help you answer it and hopefully make the process of buying your first big bike easier..
So you took your CBT, passed your theory test, passed your Module 1 test and then that tremendous day arrived when you passed Module 2! You have reached that momentous day when, after such a long process, your motorcycling dreams can now be made real, brilliant!
The motorcycling dream
You informed your insurance company and binned your L plates straight away. You’ve been waiting for that moment for sooo long! That day when you go riding with your mates on your new big bike is ever closer.
You have your dream bike in mind now. It’s been there for a while, a long time actually, and is within touching distance. You can see yourself on it, imagine what it's going to feel like!
Everyone you know is now asking you what bike you’ll be getting and now you find yourself with a bewildering choice.
There are so many brands nowadays, so many styles, so many task specific bikes out there...adventure bikes, touring bikes, sports bikes, commuter bikes, cruiser bikes, fast bikes, light bikes, heavy bikes, pretty bikes, ugly bikes, cheap bikes, expensive bikes.
Your friends will have their own idea on what you should ride. People tend to be biased towards what they know but remember it’s your bike and your cash, not anyone else’s.
You look at bike reviews exploring different possibilities, read magazines and online articles, you even sift through an endless number of those irritating “videos” composed of photographs voiced over by some annoying robotic sounding AI generated voice. You may even go to bike shows and sit on a few. But your dream bike is still there in the back of your mind.
I find that few reviews are sufficiently objective to allow me to make a decision. They are the personal opinion of the reviewer and, just because they don’t like a bike it doesn’t mean the bike’s no good and it doesn’t mean you won’t like it or that bike will not suit your needs. For example, it is totally obvious to anyone in the know that a well known motorcycling news publication has not the first idea of what they are talking about whenever they write about a certain Italian motorcycle brand, which happens to be my favourite. They generally write inaccurate formulaic nonsense leaving you wondering whether the reviewer has actually ridden the damned thing.
Another failing with reviews is that they are generally conducted short term. Basically, a manufacturer invites a bunch of motorcycling “journalists” to a launch event and they let them ride the new model for a bit. A buyer isn’t going to ride a bike for a bit. They’re going to live with it for a long time. They are also not impartial. Basically, a magazine needs readers. Readers want to read about the latest rocket ship from YamaHonSuKwaki. If the magazine dares to write an overtly negative review the manufacturer may forget to invite them to the next launch meaning the new YamaHonSuKwaki will not be featuring on the magazine cover leading to a loss of readers. It is in the interest of the motorcycling “press” to not be too controversial with their opinions.
To buy the dream bike or not to buy
So how do you know if your dream bike is the right bike for you? You’re only going to find that out once you’ve shelled out the cash and you start living with it. Ever heard the expression “don’t meet your heroes”?
When I was a youngster I had posters of three motorcycles on my wall, the Moto Guzzi 850 Le Mans, the BMW R100 RS and the Laverda Jota.
Bear in mind I’m and old git! I have managed to own two of them. One turned out to be as good as the dream, another turned out to be one of the worst bikes I ever owned and the Jota has, thus far, eluded me.
Buying the wrong bike can be a bit of a pain, sometimes literally as in the case of one of the above, but, ultimately, does it really matter? I have never regretted a bike purchase, even the awful one of the three. Anyone who has been around bikes has bought the wrong one every now and again. Usually this happens when we buy with the heart and not the head. Trouble is, a motorcycle is so much about the heart! So don’t worry too much about it. At the end of the day you have your first big bike. It may not be perfect but it’s yours. It also won’t be your last and, whether you chose right or wrong, just enjoy the heck out of it anyway.
With this article what we aim to do is to give you some impartial advice to try to clear the mist. These are not rules to follow more some things to consider before handing over your hard earned dream tokens. We have no axe to grind or agenda to follow. Even though a motorcycle is a thing of passion for us we also have our feet on the ground and our head is at very low altitude below the clouds. We also understand that ultimately opinions are subjective and that this is not a demand for your agreement. We are more than happy for you, the reader, to disagree and maybe we can discuss different views in the comments below.
A means to an end
So, the dream bike. Leave it alone for a bit. Keep it parked in the back of your mind for a little longer, don’t go there just yet. Your first big bike should be a tool, a means to an end, the vehicle by which you become accustomed to more power, weight, performance, handling. The bike with which you will learn many lessons. It’s a bit like your first love. It may not be the person you end up spending the rest of your life with, the one that you really lost your heart to after falling head over heels in love, but rather your first dalliance with matters of heart and soul and one you’ll always remember.
Your first bike is the one with which you will make mistakes. You will end up either dropping it or doing something daft that ends up blowing your electrics or similar. You’ll try to improve its performance and c**ck it up so badly you make it worse and ends up costing a fortune to return to its original state.
You may even put the wrong fuel in it and make a total pig’s ear of it. Don’t let that happen to the dream bike. But your first bike will also be the one you take on your first adventures and because of that it’ll always have a special place in your biking history.
What is it you want from your first bike? In other words, what are you going to use it for? Is it simply going to be a tool to get you to work and back? Is it instead just a toy for use at the week end on sunny days? Is it the bike with which you are about to go and explore the world? Is it a fashion accessory to complement your style statement choices? Or is it the one with which you will be doing all of the above? Where are you going to be riding primarily? Are you going to spending most of your time fighting your way through the Blackwall Tunnel or will you be spending endless hours travelling around the M25?
Specialised motorcycles
There is an endless range of specialised motorcycles out there. Some can wear many hats and blur those specialisms whilst others are really only designed with one purpose in mind. Let’s look at a few of the most common.
Adventure bikes are very popular these days. They really grew in popularity after a couple of actors went off on adventures that way round with nothing more than some factory supplied top of the range bikes and equipment and a support crew of just fifty people in a bunch of fully equipped vehicles.
They are bikes that are designed to have some form of capability on rough surfaces as well as long distance touring capabilities. A decent adventure bike should be reasonably tough, rugged, and comfortable enough for the rider to spend long hours in the saddle. It should have decent tank range and enough capability to carry luggage. They are the SUVs of the bike world and, like their four wheel relations, the vast majority go nowhere rougher or more challenging than the North Circular Rd in rush hour.
Touring bikes are designed for long distance riding at speed and in comfort.
A good touring bike should have good weather protection, a comfortable riding position, a decent tank range and the ability to carry a passenger and/or luggage across long distances.
The engine should be under stressed at motorway speeds and capable of managing high speeds for long periods. Whilst touring bikes are not suitable for adventure riding, adventure bikes can also make good touring machines.
Sports bikes are road going replicas of racing bikes. These are very focused motorcycles where the emphasis is purely on performance.
As such they tend not to make too many concessions to comfort. More important is the maximisation of performance and the screens and fairings are more biased towards making the rider as much a part of the aerodynamic characteristics of the motorcycle as opposed to protection from the elements. Racing bikes are designed for high speed riding in short intervals. A Moto GP race for example will typically last for around 40-45 minutes covering a distance of around 130kms, which is approximately 80 miles.
This means that they generally make poor touring or long distance rides. Fuel tanks tend to be smaller as weight is an important part of the sports bike’s design. Yes, I know that some people do tour on them but they are really quite a poor choice for touring. For example, I have been able to cover more than 1000km in a day’s riding on touring bikes and the following day do the same again, try that on a sports bike! What about that short blast in to work? Yeah, a sports bike can be a good commuter with its performance and agile handling but the engine can be strained by constant low speed riding. The suspension can also be a bit compromised in our crappy city roads. They are strangled and in my opinion wasted in this role.
Cruiser motorcycles are more traditionally styled and tend to be laid back and relaxed with engines designed to produce a lot of torque as opposed to top end performance.
They tend to have larger capacity engines producing peak power in the low to mid range for a chilled out ride with long distance capability. Sometimes they can be quite focused in this regard with low seats wide or high bars and foot forward controls.
They were very popular up to the 1990s in the UK but that seems to have waned a little here. At one time all the major manufacturers had cruisers in their line ups but not any longer. This may still be the case in other parts of the world but here in the UK few are sold. They still have their die-hard fans however and well known brands such as Harley Davidson and Indian have a loyal and dedicated customer base. The wide bars and relaxed riding position with a low saddle can make a cruiser a good long distance choice but in an urban traffic situation they can be a little cumbersome for heavy traffic.
Retro motorcycles, also known as modern classic motorcycles, are standard motorcycles with a styling nod to the past. The retro motorcycle scene has been vibrant for many years but is now more popular than ever with no signs that it’ll abate.
There are numerous manufacturers out there offering a huge range of bikes from 250cc thumpers to larger capacity machines. Emphasis here is on style but this is not a form over function scenario, these are perfectly good motorcycles in their own right with adequate performance. The modern classic sector is the best selling motorcycle sector in the UK at the moment not just because the bikes are generally terrific looking but also because they are very compatible with the retro clothing fashion scene which makes them a favourite for the fashion conscious out there. Triumph and Royal Enfield are very popular and we also have models from Moto Guzzi, BSA and Norton to name a few who have blended traditional style with modern equipment, technology and reliability. Being street bikes they are very comfortable in an urban traffic environment with the engines being flexible enough to cope with that riding environment but also offering enough power to make that run to Brighton through the lanes fun and exciting. As such they can make a useful commuter for that run to work each day. If style is more important to you than fire breathing performance this is the sector for you.
Commuter motorcycles are probably the most efficient at getting you to work and back. These are hard working every day machines that will draw your ever lasting admiration for handling the heavy traffic on the M25 with dependable ease every day in all weathers without complaint.
You probably won’t obsess of fuss over it like you would another type of bike. That’s not dirt and grime you’ll tell yourself, it’s weather proofing. You won’t buy it gifts to make it look good but you’ll fit sensible accessories like a top box to carry crap that you may need. It won’t get noticed when parked outside the biker cafe and you’ll probably only take photos of it when you’re about to put it on faceache marketplace to sell it but one day, you’ll be having a pint with your mates talking about the bikes you’ve owned over the years and you’ll be reminded of what a great machine it was. How reliable and tough it turned out to be and you will look back on it with fondness, if not love or desire. Unspectacular it may be in terms of performance or style but it’ll be every bit as good in its own environment as other bikes are in theirs.
Down to earth with a bump
Whenever one of our trainees goes through the process of completing their DAS or PAS and they pass the test I always ask what it is they’ll be going for. Replies are as varied as the range of bikes available to buy but I know from experience that reality has a habit of bursting the dream bubble and bringing new licence holders crashing back down to earth with a heavy jolt, so that dream bike may have to wait a bit longer before making an appearance.
That heavy jolt comes in the guise of your insurance quote and this, more than anything else these days is what will be influencing your choice of motorcycle, certainly in London. Pounds and pennies will affect your choice much more than performance figures or horsepower comparisons.
In London, motorcycle insurance is the devil’s own industry. Insurance companies are charging unbelievable premiums for motorcycles and this has affected a change in buying habits. When I started riding a 500cc motorcycle was still considered a big bike. That changed very quickly and sales of 500cc bikes declined. 600 cc bikes were considered middle weight machines. These were the entry level to the world of big bikes or large capacities and high performance as insurance quotes were more favourable to that displacement category than for larger capacity machines, especially for new riders. For years that 600-650cc category was the mainstay of the motorcycling industry. These days a humble 600-650cc machine is not an option for many new riders who simply cannot afford the premiums, how things change.
This has affected market forces to such an extent that nowadays, certainly in London, the most popular category in terms of sales is for bikes in the A2 licence category. In other words, motorcycles in the 250-500cc bracket. Most manufacturers now produce bikes in that capacity class which had been forgotten for so long by the major producers.
Other manufacturers that had made bikes with what was traditionally considered modest performance found themselves making great sales figures, such as Moto Guzzi with the superb V7 range. Royal Enfield has very cleverly capitalised on this market trend by offering great looking machines with style but also with an affordable price tag which also has an approachable insurance premium, which is why Royal Enfield is such a powerful name in the industry today whereas go back a few years and they were thought of as a joke brand, certainly by the same press who today sing its praises. You see? The press know nothing! The other major bike producers also have bikes in this range. BMW, Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, all of them have released smaller capacity machines because sales had dropped. Only Suzuki seem to have not noticed this important trend which may be why Suzuki dealers are struggling to sell bikes in London.
New or second hand?
The Motorcycle Industry Association, whoever they are, always seem to be complaining that people aren’t buying motorcycles and there’s always some random excuse. Recently I read an article where some member of that association or other was blaming the Mod 1 test for lack of sales. Apparently, it was stopping people passing the test and therefore buying a new bike.
In the same magazine I turned the page and there was another article hailing the £11000 price tag for the latest incarnation of the CBR600 a “bargain”. Really? £11K a bargain? I can accept it's undoubtedly a great motorcycle and I know I’m old fashioned but that is crazy. Why would I pay £11000 for a ‘24 model when I can buy a slightly older second hand one for £6000? Is the performance £5000 better? I doubt it very much. As a motorcycle training school we are very well placed to see what is opening the wallet of new motorcycle buyers. It isn’t fancy graphics or shiny paint. It’s the insurance quote and the rising price of new motorcycles.
Another effect of this is the buoyant second hand market. There are real bargains to be had second hand and if you are looking for your first bike I would completely understand your decision to go second hand as opposed to new. In the example above of the CBR600 I would bank the saved £5000 and the Motorcycle Industry Association can go and find something else to bleat about as far as I am concerned. I care not a jot. This, Motorcycle Industry Association, is why people aren’t buying many new bikes. They are too expensive and are impossible to insure for your newest customers. And any self respecting business owner in any industry will how important it is to keep existing customers happy whilst attracting new ones.
So if buying second hand, where is the best place to find that motorcycle? I always advise new riders to make their first purchase from a dealer. You will pay a bit more than private but you will have the benefit of a warranty of some kind in case anything goes wrong. Buying privately will see you probably getting a batter price but there will be no comeback if you end up buying a total nail.
Now try to insure it
Just to see how insurance affects the decision to buy a motorcycle I did a little experiment. I looked at various bikes from the major manufacturers in the 600-650cc category. I have deliberately chosen comparable “ordinary” motorcycles in that category staying away from the more exotic models they may offer to compare the different quotes for those bikes. The motorcycles I have chosen to use are as follows: Yamaha XJ6 Diversion, Honda CB650R, Kawasaki ER6N, Suzuki SV 650.
For the quotes I used a well known comparison site with the following personal details:
New rider, 30years old, 2x years no claims discount, Administrator in banking industry, SE London address, bike is garaged over night, social use with commuting, up to 4000 miles per year and looking at third party fire and theft on a full UK licence held for just 6 months and with a £300 voluntary excess. Let’s look at the results.
2018 Kawasaki ER6F (70 bhp, 202kg, 130mph)with a value of £3000 with factory fitted security: £902.27 per annum.
2018 Yamaha XJ6 Diversion (78bhp, 222kg, 125mph) with a value of £3000 with factory fitted security: £1062.52 per annum.
2018 Honda CB650R (94bhp, 220kg, 135mph) with a value of £3000 with factory fitted security: £1142.66 per annum.
2018 Suzuki SV650 (75bhp, 197kg, 130mph) with a value of £3000 and factory fitted security: £902.27 per annum.
When the bike in question is considered to be a little more sporty, the quotes change to the following:
2018 Kawasaki Ninja 650 (68bhp, 193kg, 125mph), same values as above: £3063.90·
2018 Yamaha YZF R6 (116bhp, 190kg, 165mph), same values as above: Quote refused.·
2018 Honda CBR650 (86bhp, 211kg, 145mph), same values as above: £3891.46·
2015 Suzuki GSX650F (86bhp, 216kg, 135mph), same values as above: £902.27·
One thing that is interesting is that when one compares the quote for the Ninja against the ER6N, the more humble ER6 certainly seems the better choice against its more glamorous cousin which in essence, is actually the same bike.
However, the moment a bike appears to have some kind of sporting leaning the quote is immediately higher. If I were the subject in question of the bikes above I’d be looking at either the Kawasaki ER6N or the Suzuki SV without question.
Don’t forget many factors affect the insurance quote. Your age, experience, address and the fact that the more skilled you are as a rider the less of a risk you are. More training equals more skill and the more advanced courses you complete and qualifications you obtain the better the quote you will receive. We have another article discussing further training options post test.
In conclusion therefore, to answer the initial question of which bike should I buy? we can see that the cost of insurance will vary massively and will certainly affect the choice of motorcycle we end up purchasing, certainly in the initial years until we can accumulate a more substantial No Claims Discount.
And at the same time, a motorcycle that we may perhaps consider to be humdrum and not particularly exciting can turn out to be a great choice for that all important first bike. But, regardless of the above the choice clearly is yours and the choice is massive. The old saying says that one man's rubbish is another man's treasure. Whilst not wanting to influence your choice we hope we have given you some food for thought and that it helps you make that exciting but important choice!
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My first big bike was one of these, a 350cc Moto Guzzi Nevada. I bought it at Garozzo's in Blackfen, now known as Sondel Sport. I loved this bike. It sounded incredible. It wasn't fast but it was nimble and agile for commuting to London and the torquey motor made the run from Dartford to Central London a breeze.