Experience with small motorcycles?

Kevin Ascher · Mar 7, 2014

I thought about getting a small motorcycle like a Ninja 250R or so for commuting!
As I am going to be a university student, I naturally would not have a lot of money.
I would love some insights what you guys think how practical that would be regarding clothing, costs and fun.
Any help is appreciated.

Rui F. Martins · Mar 7, 2014

If you want a small motorcycle just for commuting and don't want to spend a ot of money either on the bike or in fuel i would sugest a Honda cbf125, i have one and it's fast enough for comuting on the city and on the on the highways at around 80-100 km/h, doing an average of 2liter per 100km.it's also good for some small rides just for fun.
As for the gear i would sugest, besides the helmet, some gloves and a jacket, they are not mandatory but if you fall you will be very gratefull if you are wearing this equipement, specially the gloves, i've chrashed twice and i was really gratefull for being wearing my gear or else i migth have had some serious scratches due to the tarmac.
good luck with your buy

Hiroshi Awazu · Mar 8, 2014

I'm currently in the process of obtaining my Class 6 Motorcycle license. Once i pass i plan on buying one of these for getting around town during the summertime.

A 2007 Honda CBR 125. It is cheap (@$2000) and a great starter bike for a beginner. When i gain more experience i plan on moving up to either a 400cc or 600cc motorbike. I thought about a scooter because you could ride one with just a Class 5 car license but meh, i'd rather have this plus the scooter i like costs the same so why not go for this, and it doesn't take a whole lot of effort to obtain a Class 6 license.

As for clothing, i'm thinking about going full leather simply because regular pants aren't very protective when and if you bail.

William Levesque · Mar 8, 2014

@Hiroshi Awazu, I would really recommend a 250cc instead. They aren't much more expensive, you can go on the highway if you ever need to and they'll feel more similar to the bigger bikes. Pretty sure you'd have more fun in a 250cc.

Kevin Ascher · Mar 8, 2014

William Levesque said:
@Hiroshi Awazu, I would really recommend a 250cc instead. They aren't much more expensive, you can go on the highway if you ever need to and they'll feel more similar to the bigger bikes. Pretty sure you'd have more fun in a 250cc.

I used to like the idea of a 250 more as well! Simply, because I thought I would get bored very quickly on a 125cc. Which bike would you recommend?

Rui F. Martins · Mar 8, 2014

when i bougth mine i was divided between the cbf and the cbr, but i went for the cbf it was a bit cheaper and had a little better fuel consumption.

William Levesque · Mar 8, 2014

Kevin Ascher said:
I used to like the idea of a 250 more as well! Simply, because I thought I would get bored very quickly on a 125cc. Which bike would you recommend?

Well, I can't say I have experience, but if it was me I'd go for the Ninja 250. It's sportier than the Honda.

Wish Aprilia would make a 250cc though

Hiroshi Awazu · Mar 9, 2014

William Levesque said:
Wish Aprilia would make a 250cc though

Bloody hell! bike would probably cost like $10000+..... but i sure do like Aprillia's though.

William Levesque said:
@Hiroshi Awazu, I would really recommend a 250cc instead. They aren't much more expensive, you can go on the highway if you ever need to and they'll feel more similar to the bigger bikes. Pretty sure you'd have more fun in a 250cc.

I chose the CBR125 because one of my girlfriend's friend has one and she let me take hers for a spin around my neighborhood and i liked it. Yeah i wasn't licensed to ride at the time

but i do have basic knowledge on how to ride a bike. I think it will be a good bike for me to start out with.

I'm not a tall person, I'm 5ft6 and i weight like 140lbs. The 125 will be zippy enough but we'll see when the time comes, i've been known to change my mind a lot

William Levesque · Mar 9, 2014

I'm like 5'9" or so, 135lbs. 250cc's are pretty comfortable, at least for me. I just think that it will be a better school if you plan on going bigger in the future, and the performance/money ratio is better too

Stetz · Mar 11, 2014

I love small motorcycles, they are the most fun to be had on 2 wheels. I have a Vulcan 1500 right now, and find myself wishing I had a CB250 or something similar to poke around town with. Anything over 500cc in a city setting is overkill, a 250 will be quicker than cars away from lights and much more maneuverable.

A 250 has a lot of range, go with a 250. Perhaps a DR Z250 with road tires?

Hiroshi Awazu · Mar 12, 2014

I went with William's advise and i'm going for a 250. I also decided to just go with a brand new bike seeing that it didn't cost much more than a used one. I put a deposit down on a 2013 Honda CBR 250R today and i'll be picking it up on Friday

Tiens Van Zyl · Mar 15, 2014

@Hiroshi Awazu Glad you went with the 250.
I have the CBX250 Twister that I use to commute to work and back. It's a bit slow on the highway here in South Africa. I do 120 to 130 km/h easy but the cars are way over the speed limit on highways so it's not that safe for me on the highways, I tend to stick to the back roads.

Another reason I went with the Twister is that I'm able to service it myself for very little money.

It's paid off now and fuel costs me R160 per week compared to R600 with the car.

Gear wise: Spend that extra cash on a good helmet as no price can be set on your head and brain. If you have extra cash get yourself a decent neck brace. They are R4000 here but well worth the money if you land in a bad crash/accident. Also invest on a proper jacket, gloves and decent riding boots.

A Mercedes hit me on the side while riding on the highway and if it wasn't for my boots then I sure as hell would have damaged my ankle badly. There is no excuse NOT riding with proper gear as it will prevent a lot of injury.

All the best with the bike and safe journeys

Rui F. Martins · Mar 15, 2014

the only gear i don't use on a regular basis is the riding boots, i ussually spend theentire day with the same boots (hiking boots) that i use for riding and i'ts very hard to find a pair of good riding boots that can be used daily and look like "normal" shoes. But i've heard about cases of people who got injued in the ankle/lower leg because of a small loss of control while going slow and getting injured when they put the foot on the ground for balance and the footpegs hits the leg, which would be protected by the boots

ML2166 · Mar 15, 2014

Been riding bikes for many many years, and worked in a few motorcycles accessory and clothing shops.

Helmet is obvious. Get fitted properly, a helmet must be tight in fitting, as it will mold to the shape of your head over time. If too lose even with the chin strap done up, a bang on the back of the helmet could still remove it from your head in the event of an accident.

Gloves an absolute must!

Ever fallen over whilst running for something and put your hands out to break the fall? Remember how your hands felt and looked? Now imagine that at say a minimum of just 30mph.

Good boots would be an idea too, as Rui has sort of said already. A nice sturdy set of hiking boots would suffice.

Jacket, with a back protector if possible (never ride with short sleeves even in summer) see hands comment above.

Denim jeans are probably a good compromise for the legs as they don't tear to easy...they tend to wear (assuming motorcycle jeans are out of the question). Never shorts.....ever.

Mark Reynolds · Mar 17, 2014

Denim jeans are hopeless........I have the scars on my knee's to prove it

I would never ride in jeans ever again, and as a rule never used to anyway, just this one time and it nearly ruined my knee's.......

Mark Reynolds · Mar 17, 2014

You might as well be wearing shorts than jeans, those pics were from less than 60mph....

Hiroshi Awazu · Mar 17, 2014

This is what i ended up picking up, a used 2013 CBR 250R Repsol edition. My original plan was to buy a brand new black CBR 250R but i started to not like the black all that much anymore so i went with this instead, plus i got a good deal on this bike and this is more visible at night than an all black bike.

I haven't got much riding in since getting the bike on Friday, weather hasn't been good and because i'm a beginner rider with a learners permit i have to ride with someone that has their full Class 6 license and my friend has been too busy to meet with me to go for a ride

. Hopefully i'll get some riding in this week.

As for riding gear, i didn't cheap out. I bought myself a Shoei GT Air helmet and a two piece leather riding/racing suit and proper riding shoes.

Rui F. Martins · Mar 17, 2014

@Hiroshi Awazu your new bike looks really nice, i just love the Honda motorccles racing scheme

Mark Reynolds · Mar 18, 2014

Just make sure you wear the kit, I literally just popped into my local town centre (all sub 30mph) on a lovely hot summers afternoon to get a new tax disc for my bike as it was running out, I wore my jacket, gloves and as it was "just up the road" I thought I would save the time and hassle by not wearing the leather trousers (I had a 2 piece suit), then bright spark here decided to go the slightly longer way back home and come down the bypass, where I decided it would be a cool idea to flip the bike at 60 or so mph.......as you can see the jeans provided sod all protection despite only being slightly ripped. The gloves were badly damaged and my jacket only split on a stretch panel, otherwise took the slide very well, ,had I been wearing my trousers I would have walked away with a broken little finger and dented pride and busted bike, as it was I ended up having to have surgery on my knee and being in hospital for nearly a week, all because dip stick here just nipped into town. Always wear the right kit no matter how tempting it is mate, might even save your life, or at worst some nasty road rash, believe me, it bloody hurt.....

Hiroshi Awazu · Mar 18, 2014

@Rui F. Martins, Thanks i like it too. at first i thought it may look a bit too race-ish being a beginner and all

but eh it's all good plus couldn't pass up the deal i got on it and as i was saying before it is easier for other motorists to see me at night with this compared to a totally black bike.

@Mark, seeing the pics of your injury, I absolutely have no intention of riding without wearing my gear regardless of the weather. You have my word on that.