Advice please

[NzNewRider]

Hi Guys,

I have ridden motorbike over 8 years now (overseas), and want to continue riding in NZ.
I m looking to buy a motorbike, struggling to get my head around which one to start with.
Long story short, should I go a small CC bike for 6 months to one year to get used to conditions or otherwise.

If smaller CC, looking to buy a CF Moto 150 or 300. Is CF moto a reliable brand?
If not, any advice on first Nz bike would be much appreciated.
Not very keen for cruisers.
Tourers or sports.

Cheers.

[BMW_BeMyWings]

Hi,

I was in the same situation. Haven't been on a bike for 20 years. I left my bike overseas when we moved to NZ. Then midlife crisis hit and I wanted a bike. :laugh:

My favorite was a BMW 1200 GS. I was riding my cousins 800 G/S back in the 90ies and since then I wanted a bike like this. Not that th e1200 GS has much in common with the old 800 G/S.

So the question was, get the GS straight away or get a smaller one for a start. I ended up buying a 1200 GS. My reasoning was:

Weight - can I lift it if I lay her down? Does the weight impact riding? I.e. is it a lot less safe to sit on a 225kg bike as a returning rider compared to a 170kg one? I do manage to get her upright, I proved it a couple of times. And weight mainly only matters when you are stationary or slow riding.

Power - does it matter if you kill yourself with 95 bhp compared to 60 bhp? My argument was that it is mainly a question of your mindset. If you ride like an idiot then you cause more damage if you sit on a 95 bhp bike. I am at the end of my 50ies and I would say about myself I am a more relaxed rider. When do I apply the 95 bhp? When I overtake. Apart from that I like to cruise along with 100 (or around that speed:msn-wink:). So the power doesn't really make a difference then.

But this is really only my specific situation. It is hard to apply that to others. Some 30+ year old who is into sports bikes and wants to put their knee down might need a different approach and probably shouldn't start with an BMW S 1000 RR.

For me buying the big bike was the right thing to do. I did a couple of RideForever courses which were immensely helpful and if it was only to confirm I am doing the right thing. Others might disagree with my approach. And that's fine. Because riding a bike foremost happens in your brain. It has to do with confidence, skills and mindset. In the beginning I stopped and let cars pass me on a gravel road. I didn't have a problem with that. My safety was more important than to show off. After some time of riding I overtook them. Because I was more confident. We are all different and in the end you need to find out what you are most confident with.

[F5 Dave]

So can you transfer your license?

CF Moto are Chinese. A few years ago you wouldn't consider buying a Chinese bike so bad the reputation for shoddy manufacturing. They really didn't approach it like the Japanese in the late 50s early 60s.

Also dealer support was rubbish with fly-by-night importers not backing them up with parts.

So has this changed? Fucked if I'd want to be the one to find out.


Have a look on TradeMe to get a feel for the market in your price range.

[husaberg]

Wr250r......
Does almost everything reasonably well and is cheap to run to boot.
Don't be fooled by the Name they are not a high strung enduro bike They are a genuine road legal trail bike in the mold of the old XL250.
https://www.yamaha-motor.co.nz/-/media/products/motorcycle/off-road/adventure/2019/wr250rk/product-category-thumbnail/2019_wr250r_dpbse_au_stu_003_750x600.ashx
brand new they are about 10G but dont worry about km over 20,000 as they run forever.
You can get a decent early one for 4-5G