1st bike vs license

[TerminalAddict]

Here's the deal.
I've got a learners license, but I can sit my restricted whenever I want, coz I've had my learners for 2 years.
I plan on doing some riding courses with the Hamilton motorcycle school, which will reduce my restricted time to 3 months (coz I'm old :) )
So now comes the question of which bike.
I went and had a look at a fzr150, which was a big let down. It's not much more than a scooter really, and spending $1500-$2000 on an FZR would be such a waste of money because I'm gonna want to upgrade as soon as I get a full license.
I haven't seen a GSX250, or a ZZR250, or a CBR250 .. but I'm hoping they are more of a real bike.

My question: Do I abide by the rules and by a 250 or do I by a bigger bike and risk it for 3 months?
If I choose to risk it, will a shop sell me a bike even tho' I'm not licensed?
What are your thoughts?

[sAsLEX]

if your license is clean look at doing CBTA http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=14504&highlight=CBTA, which could get your full pretty quick, just beg borrow 250 to learn on, if you need learning then buy a sensible 400-600 thing on getting your full

not having your full on something bigger than 250 is very bad......well not really just no insurance and a lovely 400$ fine if your caught

[gamgee]

i'm assuming you mean a suzuki fxr150, and yeah compared to a cbr, fzr, zzr, gsx and my beutiful vt250 it is just a glorified scooter!

[TerminalAddict]

oh yeah ... :wait: I have 60 demerit points so CBTA is a no go (I've rung them already)

I can hire a gn250 to do the actually license on for $40 from the Hamilton motorcycle school

[TerminalAddict]

yes I meant a fxr150 .... not even glorified ;) just a scooter

[gamgee]

it has a gearbox...

[justwriteitoff]

i guess now is not a good time to mention i HAD a fxr? im actually quite glad now that its writen off, in the pipeline for a fzr250!
I'd say grab a bigger bike if you think you can get away without being caught, its only 3 months. but also if you dont have the experience get something sensible instead of an insanely big expensive beast. Cops are pretty easy to out run on a bike, especially if theres a couple cars on the road or you know a few alleys. i even got away from some on the fxr!

[TerminalAddict]

Well i've got plenty of off-road experience, and plan on doing courses for on road learning.

I'm thinking of a ZZR400 or 400 hornet .. something like that

[unhingedlizard]

buy a 2 stoke dunger. Will only set you back a grand and you have a POS 50hp bike for three months (which is good, as it will need rebuilding by then).

[placidfemme]

Hmm... well if you can rent a bike, and if you can bring it down to 3 months, then why not rent a bike for 3 months, that way your not braking the law and you still get the bike you want after 3 months...

[Edit] Oh and FXR's arn't that bad... if you compare it to a scooter then you obviously ride like a nana... they're better than GN250's anyway

[TerminalAddict]

$40 a day for 3 months equals $3800 ... eek.

yes I do ride like a nana ;)

[placidfemme]

Do you have any other transport to get to work? Other than biking?

*just trying to find a legal way to do it without costing you a bomb*

[TerminalAddict]

yup .. I got 3 cars :shock: .. 1 for sale (which is partial funding the bike) .. I've got about $6k to spend.

I'm tempted to buy a 400, and only be a fair weather rider for 3 months (maybe weekends only) .. rent a bike to do my 2 tests, and basically risk it .....

Thoughts?

[sAsLEX]

ita only like 50 bucks to hire a bike for the CBTA tests, and for the three months you could drive your cars maybe hire the bike for a couple of days prior to your last course to freshen up.

[TerminalAddict]

yeah that's what I thinking .. I'm going to check out a GSX250, and a ZZR250 .. they might be cool once I see/ride them ;)

[placidfemme]

ita only like 50 bucks to hire a bike for the CBTA tests, and for the three months you could drive your cars maybe hire the bike for a couple of days prior to your last course to freshen up.

Like he said ^^^

It's only 3 months, not worth getting demerit points or fines or losing your license over that...

[Flyingpony]

[Edit] Oh and FXR's arn't that bad... if you compare it to a scooter then you obviously ride like a nana... they're better than GN250's anyway
Second that, and yes I've ridden a couple GN250's.

[Gremlin]

Don't bother with a ZZR400, apparently the same weight as the 600, same chassis etc, but less power.

I have a ZZR250, can't complain, stable predictable, but certainly not as quick as the cbr or zxr. Brilliant first bike if you are looking at getting into sportsbikes.

You certainly seem to have a lot of options at your disposal...

[blocker]

Well I've got the GSX and it doesn't look like a scooter.
Was only when i had it in at the workshop last week I realised what a big bugger it is as it was parked next to a CBR when I picked it up (which it dwarfed).
All that extra weight/size doesn't do wonders for performance so if you are already pretty confident on bikes then go a cbr, zzr or zxr or similar. (unless you're andre the giant and need a large frame bike).
Don't forget if you buy a 250 at a good price you should be able to flick on in 3-4 months at a similar price so it should't really cost you much extra, just a bit of pain in the arse trading between bikes.

[ZorsT]

i agree with unhingedlizard, a two-smoke 250 would do the trick nicely :)

[anhrefn]

Why not get an older bike like an RD200? Its 2 stroke, pretty good power and you should be able to pick one up pretty cheap. Plus if yah kill it someone is always buying one for parts :whistle: :Oops:

[TerminalAddict]

well ... interesting afternoon.
I took a ZZR400 for a spin today.

I've decided that 250 it is I think .. .holy crap, I've got a lot of learning to do.
Funny how I feel so brave standing on my feet, and so not brave riding :)

ah well lesson learnt, no harm done ;) time to go trademe searching again :(

[Pathos]

I DONT RIDE A SCOOTER GOD DAMMIT!!





but it could do with a couple more dozen horses..but year a decent 250 will have over twice the horse power and I'm still learning how to use all its power. But then again you will always feel insecure on a new bike and you will quickly grow used to it. I didn't enjoy riding my friends .02 bhp motorbike at first.

The decent 250's are expensive/too old.

[GN1NiteStnd]

Id say a Gn wold be the best bet. :ride:
And you dont have to go all out by getting the newest one out there either. Theres plenty of them around so getting parts are cheap. Although they are lacking in the grunt department, so if it intergillactic speeds is what you need(120km/h+) then maybe a GNs not the way to go after all.