Guy at work passed his full licence. He was looking at 600cc R6 - ive suggested the daytona of course. His problem is cost of insurance, lives in london, etc. Has approx £3k spend. With trade in of his 125cc I suggested demo riding new bikes. But looks like he ll need a more insurance friendly naked. Its also his commuter 1. Street triple? 2. Suzuki SV650 3. Kawasaki er6 and f version 4. Yam MT 07 5. Rc390 He had looked at monster 689 might have got cc wrong. But think they are maintenance heavy no? Anyone other suggestions or personal experience. He's a good guy so thought I'd pick all you good people's brains. Maybe we should do a vote thing
Tough one! I half wonder if anything that's specifically a commuter bike is just as expensive to insure due to what must be a high claim rate. Personally... The KTM Might be a good option as they are new and the overall bike value is reasonable. Out of the list u have put up I would say it's probably the coolest and something u can really go 'giant killing with'. I personally love the monster 696, it's an awesome little Machine, but it's a Ducati, what looser would buy one of them!
i can recommend the Street Triple as first big bike. It will take a long time to "grow out" of it. It was my first, and i still have it, and was much cheaper to insure than the Daytona, when you have 0 no claims after passing. it was about 1/3 of the price to insure, and that for me as 40+ with 15 years no claims car driving etc, but a new rider. in my view, it is still class leader in that market, and much better than any of those other options, hands down.
The street triple and rc390 have to be the favourites, I agree that the others are all sound bikes but u want to be kept interested and neither are exactly impractical! The other option could be th duke 390, although if there is a big motorway stretch involved it will be limited, so the street triple would win
As phill748 said, he could probably get a new rc390 but not sure what condition/mileage street triple he would get for 4K ish.
Street triple is an awesome bike, it was my first bike and not only do i miss it. I reckon i had more fun on it than anything else.
As I bought Street Triple R as my first bike, I'd have to go with that. I absolutely loved it and learnt so much, I still miss it, it was a lot of fun to ride.
i would miss mine if i got rid of it, which i why i still love it after 84k miles, and still commute on it. i went for this so that i didnt get bored quick with a small bike, and it still keeps me entertained now.
Just for balance, SV650 is a good shout. Very plentiful - so many around from £1000 to £4500 for a brand new one (!!) so they're very cheap, loads of mods and spares available. Feels quicker than it is, sounds nice. Bullet proof. http://44teeth.com/suzuki-sv650-best-bike-ever/ If I was after a naked, then I'd prefer a street triple. This is 675cc after all. Faired? Then SV. And as a commuter, I would go faired. They make a big difference in crappy weather.
From your list is go 1,3 then 2 Street is fab, but seems a lot are stolen for bank jobs, so clearly there the criminals fav ride too. Love mine btw.
No bad options in the list. Also, what about a Honda cb600 hornet? Probably get a clean bike for good money. I'd go the ST though.
Yes unfortunately looks like he ll have to wait a year before a full on sports bike. I think the street might be just out of reach. But perhaps with right finance deal and January is best time to haggle.
I've suggested he go and ride a few think street and ktm will be easiest to get demo ride for. I can't remember seeing any er6 or sv650s as demos. I don't think he can ride anything other than a new bike because of dealer insurance.
Wheels in peterbough might let him. They were going to lend me a used bike. Not sure if there was an age/experience limit on it though. I would have like to ride an older street to see if they had more character than the newer ones
Plenty of smaller second hand dealers will. When I first passed a decade ago DC motorcycles in Huddersfield let me test ride half a dozen. More recently, my local independent garage SGT motorcycles in Wimbledon let anyone test anything. Perhaps the key is avoiding big 'dealerships'?
How about one of the Honda 400's NC30, NC35 or even the earlier models? They handle fantastic and if / when he goes down the track route he's got the perfect bike to start on This is on ebay for just over £2k at the mo but you get the picture .
this engine went in at 19k after a problem on the other. still have it and will get it fixed if i need to replace this one in the future. am looking at a low mileage sprint at the weekend to start commuting on, and save/clean up the STR ready for summer weekends and for the mrs when she eventually gets round to doing her test. the daytona will just stay in track trim this year
Demo ride was the biggest ball ache when I first passed everybody wanted minimum of a year some two years. It was only triumph that buckled when I walked in with a rucksack full of £50's and said I want to ride that before I buy it what do you say... Funnily enough they let me have it for a few hours
Much as I would say the street triple, I've always recommended the Suzuki GSR600. I've ridden one and can't even say how easy it is to ride! I've recommended it before and people have bought one on recommendation, and they love it too.
