Buying your first big bike
by Andrew Dalton on Sep.12, 2012, under Andrew Dalton
Choosing your first bike can be a daunting task with so many options made harder with the two different motorbike tests. If you have passed either your CBT or DAS and are looking around for the perfect ride, tell us in the comments below what your experiences are. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and if you have been a biker for a few years what would you recommend as your first big bike now that you have real world motorcycling experience behind you?
Some of our lawyers pass their test just before they join us. Of our current trainees Gavin Grewal had passed his CBT before he came for interview and passed his 33bhp test. Mandy Sahib and Natalie Vickers passed the full DAS test and have been teasing Gav that they are proper bikers and he isn’t.
Gav is doing his DAS but they all keep coming up with different answers as to what their first big bike should be. All of them have good quality protective kit. Doing our job means you wear the right kit. So what should they be looking for in their bikes. Here is what I have suggested.
The bike fits you
Gav stands at a bit over 6 feet tall and is a solidly built man. Mandy and Natalie are both much smaller and are quite petite. Both the girls felt very at ease on a Kawasaki ER6. Gav wants something sportier. Riding a bike is a much more personal thing than driving a car. My little camper van broke down in France and I was given a diesel Kia. Perfectly good little car, but I had no emotions to it at all.
My bikes have names, they are always female. My BMW R1200GS was the big German girl when I liked her, the Panzer Tractor when I didn’t. The Ducati was the Mutley, and I spoke cod Italian to her. My Triumph is Dora (the Explorer) and when I sold the Panzer Tractor I described myself as “falling out of love with the big German girl” – so bikes have for me an emotional resonance that cars do not have. So you have got to like the bike.
Picking a bike for its spec sheet just doesn’t work so if all my boxes are ticked, say an NTV 700 Deauville, but the bike doesn’t fit me or I don’t like it, it won’t work. Jo Readman made that mistake with a Suzuki 500GS. On paper it worked for her, small, light and unfaired. She hated it. She loves her Hornet, so she rides it.
My first advice to all our newbie bikers is sit on lots of bikes and work out what fits you. Rule out anything that does not fit you. A bike should be light enough for a novice rider to easily control, the ability to get your feet down confidently (taking into account road camber) is essential and riding in a comfortable position which is natural for you are prerequisites for a first bike. Smooth and reliable power coming through the throttle, progressive brakes and a clutch which isn’t at all snappy will all help instil confidence in your early days.
Motorbike Styles
Back in the 1980’s when I started riding there was a glut of 250 bikes, which had suddenly stopped being learner legal. We had all sorts of silly two stroke screamers, sensible 250 four strokes and a range of small bikes, the VT250, the 350 Powervalve and so on. For the last few years this class of bike has been utterly neglected by the manufacturers but there are now a lot of brand new, light weight but full size bikes around. I have been around bikes for 25 years and bikes go through phases.
Now people are riding because it is cheaper than a car, waterproofs work and tyres don’t give out at the first hint of rain. A bike is a practical and economic proposition as a form of transport. Kawasaki, Honda and Suzuki all have 250/300cc small, attractive, light sports styled bikes. They look and brake like big bikes and they are a hoot to ride. They are quick enough to obliterate cars, but to get to the performance you don’t have to scare yourself. Personally I think these bikes are perfect to do your riding apprenticeship on. I passed my test back in the day when once you passed you could ride what you liked/ could afford/get insurance on.
My first big bike was a 2 stroke, air cooled triple Kawasaki KH250. It rarely fired on all three cylinders but I loved that bike. Its performance was frankly rubbish compared to its 250 Ninja descendent. KTM produce a supermoto style 200 and Honda and Kawasaki produce well built 250 enduro style machines. If I was starting riding now, that’s what I’d be looking at. Cheap to drop is a real plus point.
Faired or naked motorcycle?
I dropped my first few bikes. Silly things, all low speed but back in the 1980’s no modest capacity bike had expensive body work. All of the old sweat bikers here say the same thing to the newbies. Make sure it is cheap to drop. Because you will drop it. I first dropped mine as an 18 year old showing off to sixth form girls at Aylesbury’s girls’ grammar school. Being light enough to pick up on your own is an advantage!
What are you using a motorcycle for?
Most of our lawyers ride into work. Some of us use our bikes for pretty well everything. Having a bit of luggage capacity for a commuter makes a lot of sense. Chef and I adopt the “Can you go down the shops on it?” test. Whilst you may plan to use the bike for adventure touring or track days, most of a bikes mileage is spent on errands or commuting unless it is a toy. For me a working bike needs sat nav and loads of carrying capacity. I have had bikes as toys – but they seem to stick in the garage until my wife points out that they never move. Then I have to agree and sell the bike. So I have one working bike that will be the first vehicle that I pick if I am travelling alone.
Your first motorcycle kit
It has got to protect you but also be easy to get on and off. If it is a 15 minute struggle including the help of your significant other/mum etc to get dressed, your bike won’t move, you won’t get the road miles and whilst you may have your licence you are gaining no experience and no road skills.
The one piece Aerostich suit means I can pull on a protective suit in about 10 seconds. Lid on, gloves and I am off. If travelling to court or meeting with a client who is expecting me in a suit, then the Aerostich is brilliant. Likewise in the winter, what the Aerostich lacks in style it makes up for in solid crash resistance and ease of use. Held and Alpinestar do a similar and cheaper one piece “City Overall” – again, if I were starting out in biking now, as a motorcycle commuter who needs to wear a suit at times, I’d have a city overall, and ride a KLX250 or a CRF 250.
If I have to get into one piece leathers, I’ll take the VW camper. Our regular commuters all wear comfortable protective kit. In the summer I’ll wear Kevlar “dad” jeans, armoured but fairly soft city boots and an Alpinestar textile or leather jacket. Once I get into work, off comes the lid and jacket and I am presentable.
As a pleasure rider I reckon the sportier 250’s would take my fancy with a leather jean/textile armoured jacket zip together combination would be my starting point. Some of our lawyers have bought non waterproof boots. All have regretted it. Also, my experience is motocross boots are not a good regular boot. They are clumsy, really hard to walk in and in the event of a crash tend to break the leg through or just below the knee. Short boots can be worn more discreetly and whilst a broken leg is never a fun thing breaking the leg in the middle of a long bone is much better than breaking a joint, if you want a full recovery.
Get a motorbike that fits you and is appropriate
So here is my advice to my 3 newbie biker trainee solicitors. Get a bike that fits you, that you like, that does not overwhelm you with weight or height and gets you into work every morning, reliably.
If you can drop it cheaply then that is a major positive factor. They all have good bike kit already, so if they do drop the bike they are all well protected. Gav a combination of Alpinestar and Hein Gericke, Mandy is an HG girl – hopefully that brand will resurface, and Natalie’s other half works for Triumph so Natalie’s gear is all branded Triumph and it is really good quality gear.
What do you think? What would be the most ideal motorbike for a newbie motorcyclist? What kit would you recommend to buy for those tentative initial outings on the road? Tell us in the comments section below.
About Andrew Dalton
Andrew Dalton is a highly experienced trial lawyer who delights in taking on difficult and demanding motorcycle cases. He has a tough and relentless litigation style and is utterly focussed on getting the best possible outcomes for his clients.
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September 12th, 2012 on 7:38 pm
Good advice for the first timer. I pased my DAC less than 3 years ago an opted for a Triumph T’bird 900 triple. It wasn’t too expensive and had the retro looks I was into. I changed about 18 months ago for a BMW R850R – great solid bike and eases into the bends a treat. Having been on the roads a while now, I’m looking for something with a little more power and like both the BMW 1200 GS and the new Triumph Explorer. Tough decision, both are superb!
As a newcomer to biking, sometimes the choices are too hard to call and I’d say stay with what you can afford and think of the depreciation when moving it on – I’m always looking at the next bike and wondering whether I’ve made the right choice.
Great site AD!
September 14th, 2012 on 7:05 pm
I started riding in ’49 and, from day one always wore some form of protective gear. On my first motorised transport, a Swallow Gadabout, it was just a heavy greatcoat, boots, gloves and a leather helmet. Up to my first real bike, a Sunbeam B23s and the gear was Belstaff jacket and trousers, black shiny heavy rubbery/vinyl like material. Very waterproof and surprisingly durable. Coupled with a pudding basin helmet and DR boots and gloves it lasted me for a good few years and a wide variety of bikes. Skip forward to the present day and I have two textile jackets to couple with either a pair of leather jeans or a pair of textile jeans both fitted with armour and fairly easy to slip on and off. I have two sets of leathers one set soft supple well broken in and veteran of many track miles. The other set of MTM Crowtrees are a several years old and still not properly broken in – I guess I should use them on track days but despite this I still seem to opt for the well broken in Akitos every time.
I started off on a scooter (The Swallow) and worked my way up through 250s, 3350s, 500s and 650s as my experience and confidence grew. These days I ride a CBR600RR which is a good mid-field bike on road or track. I’d like to move up to a bigger bike, something like a ‘Blade or a Ducati 1098 not so much for the performance more for a lazier, more relaxed style of riding with far less gear changing needed to make good progress.
My advice to the beginner is start small, light and managable, something easily picked up when dropped. Move on the bigger and more powerful bikes as experience and ability grows. Above all make sure you enjoy riding the bike you are thinking of buying. If buying from a dealer try and get a good half hour test ride in on your preferred bike and, ideally ride a couple of similar bikes from other manufacturers to get some useful comparisons before making the final decision.
Ken Lines
September 17th, 2012 on 11:38 am
Natalie is quite taken by the Suzuki Gladys as well as the ER6F – Mandy is looking at the 650 Bandit and the ER6 F but minds are not made up as yet. Natalie has been declined a test ride as her license is so new. Bit harsh I thought. I agree with Ken – you need a test ride.As for Greg’s query – the Triumph knocks the GS into a cocked hat – on the road – off road, I wouldn’t know – or want to find out! I did a back to back test of my 2006 GS with the 2012 Explorer and the 2010 Multistrada – the newer GS may have a bit more performance and is a sound bike, but I love Dora.
September 20th, 2012 on 1:04 pm
The ER-6 and SV650/Gladius would make great first bikes because they’re easy to ride, great fun, and have more than enough power to start off with. Also, thanks to Minitwins race series, crash protection/spares are easy enough to come by.
I bought a Fazer 600 for my first bike, and regretted it; 4 Cylinders mean you generally have nothing lower in the revs, meaning you always have to be in the right gear, but more importantly, generally have too much shove higher in the revs. This latter point, I found out after I opened the taps properly for the first time, which resulted in what WOULD have been an impressive wheelie.. had it been intentional.
The Fazer was also a bad bike to learn to ride in the wet, as the power meant that the rear wheel was very happy to spin up and start the bike drifting, which is also quite unsettling.
After the Fazer came the Versys (ER-6 on USD stilts), which would have been a great first bike; It was good fun, but after the Fazer, it felt underpowered, which was disappointing; Now the Versys has gone, and I sorely wish I had owned the bikes in reverse order; now I have more experience as a rider, I get a lot more out of the Fazer than I initially could, and it is an absolute hoot.
Whatever your first bike, make sure that you don’t let someone talk you in to buying one you don’t want to buy because its a good first bike; buy the one you want to ride the most!
On the kit issue, while the law of the land says you only need a helmet (I think, although I am no legal eagle), the law of common sense is that you really need to protect yourself from all the nasties that usually accompany a crash; not just abrasion and impact injuries, but also the burns from hot exhaust pipes and spilt oil/coolant. On a more basic level, you need to protect yourself from the elements! When the weather is cold and you are only wearing summer kit, you can’t work the controls properly, and you’re only focussed on how much further you can get before your hands fall off.
To summarise the ramblings, your first bike needs to be light, easy to ride and fairly cheap to drop; But more importantly, it has to be fun and has to make you want to ride it! And you should ride it in decent motorcycle protective clothing – not shorts, t-shirt, and flipflops. Yes, it increases the initial capital expendature of learning, but if you ever do have an off, you’ll be glad of it.