Motorbike beginner

DA-LION-619

DA-LION-619

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Hi guys
Any recommendations for a 2nd hand bike that would be more than 125cc for a beginner?
 
Budget? I got a BMW F650GS (old single cylinder) as my first bike five years back and it's been a great beginner's bike yet still holds me in good stead today. Honda's NC700X is also great as a beginner's bike, I test rode one the the other day, not worth trading in for myself but a very easy to ride machine nonetheless.
 
Budget is really important.
But yes, most 650s are great (obviously the brand you prefer is better :P).

I started and still have my 650, Kawasaki ER-6F. No regrets.
 
Toitjie said:
Budget is really important.
But yes, most 650s are great (obviously the brand you prefer is better :P).

I started and still have my 650, Kawasaki ER-6F. No regrets.
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Under 20K? Anything worth looking at?
 
Are you okes seriously recommending a 650 bike for a beginner?

Under 20k you won't get anything decent above 125. Unless you want a old 90s' bike, but I wouldn't recommend that at all.
 
hawker said:
Oldish KLR 650 but it's tall and heavy. For cheaper you won't get much else.
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I see its way over 250cc, I like to add I'm gonna be learning on the bike and possibly going for my license on it from what I've read on the forum doing your license on a fast bike is a bad idea. I just want something to learn the basics on as I will upgrade later.
 
Motomia and Big Boy. It's not as popular as a Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki etc, however it will do the job. Because believe me, you will make mistakes where you will fall or make some scratches on it, but it will be so cheap to repair it would not matter. I Have a 200 cc Motomia and has now driven over 40k kilometres without any major issues.
I only had to replace the chain and sprockets twice and bulbs. Which cost altogether under R1200.
The thing is it is reliable and it won't break your budget when you want to upgrade. Also you will have better idea how to control a bigger more powerful bike.
 
ShaunyCT said:
Motomia and Big Boy. It's not as popular as a Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki etc, however it will do the job. Because believe me, you will make mistakes where you will fall or make some scratches on it, but it will be so cheap to repair it would not matter. I Have a 200 cc Motomia and has now driven over 40k kilometres without any major issues.
I only had to replace the chain and sprockets twice and bulbs. Which cost altogether under R1200.
The thing is it is reliable and it won't break your budget when you want to upgrade. Also you will have better idea how to control a bigger more powerful bike.
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Thanks! I see Big Boy has a dealer in Durban, any idea about Motomia?
Motomia looks like a better bike reliability wise.
 
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Out of experience I would recommend a Bajaj, not sure what they go for these days but I had bought one new for 14k back in 2010. (180cc)
 
Second hand well looked after Honda CBX250. Bajaj Pulsar. Moto Mia seems like the best Chinese bikes. I wouldnt touch Big Boy or Jonway. Gomoto seems ok.
 
Thanks for the information so far guys, anything else a first time bike owner should know?
 
I would definitely say go for a Honda CBX 250 Twister if you find it. They can go between R14,000 - R20,000 with mileage around 5k - 40k.

I've been looking at getting a twister for many months and the amount of them I see popping up and disappearing shortly after on gumtree was surprising.

At the end of it all, I settled on a Kawasaki Ninja 250R, which I'll be getting tomorrow morning :)

Also, I'm a beginner too, going for my learner's this month and booking for driver's right after.

To the guys suggesting 650's, lol, why?

Edit: As Hefty suggested, avoid Big Boy or Jonway. They're horribly underpowered and if you get a brand new one, you gotta take the entire thing apart
and put it back together ensuring everything is 100% tight, otherwise, a couple weeks in, something's going to fall off.
 
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Nerhzelok said:
I would definitely say go for a Honda CBX 250 Twister if you find it. They can go between R14,000 - R20,000 with mileage around 5k - 40k.

I've been looking at getting a twister for many months and the amount of them I see popping up and disappearing shortly after on gumtree was surprising.

At the end of it all, I settled on a Kawasaki Ninja 250R, which I'll be getting tomorrow morning :)

Also, I'm a beginner too, going for my learner's this month and booking for driver's right after.

To the guys suggesting 650's, lol, why?

Edit: As Hefty suggested, avoid Big Boy or Jonway. They're horribly underpowered and if you get a brand new one, you gotta take the entire thing apart
and put it back together ensuring everything is 100% tight, otherwise, a couple weeks in, something's going to fall off.
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Service wise, what's the costs looking like? The Honda looks like a really neat bike!
 
DA-LION-619 said:
Service wise, what's the costs looking like? The Honda looks like a really neat bike!
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I'm actually not sure on that one, sorry. I do see a lot of people using this to commute to work, I've seen 3 in my area already.

Quite a few of the ads on Gumtree were students selling as they no longer needed it.

Based on that, I'd assume the bike is pretty cheap to maintain. But I'd ask around for more info.
 
Nerhzelok said:
I'm actually not sure on that one, sorry. I do see a lot of people using this to commute to work, I've seen 3 in my area already.

Quite a few of the ads on Gumtree were students selling as they no longer needed it.

Based on that, I'd assume the bike is pretty cheap to maintain. But I'd ask around for more info.
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Yeah I'm student looking to get one lol
 
DA-LION-619 said:
Yeah I'm student looking to get one lol
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Haha awesome! Well good luck with your search. I'm sure it won't be too difficult to find a great 2'nd hand Twister if you decide to get one.

When I was still looking for a bike, the ones I considered were:

Honda Twister
Honda CBR250R (found that even 2'nd hand, these were still pricey)
Kawasak Ninja 250R
Suzuki InaZuma (250cc, found only 1 second hand in CPT at the time, disappeared hours later)
 
Nerhzelok said:
Haha awesome! Well good luck with your search. I'm sure it won't be too difficult to find a great 2'nd hand Twister if you decide to get one.

When I was still looking for a bike, the ones I considered were:

Honda Twister
Honda CBR250R
Kawasak Ninja 250R
Suzuki InaZuma (250cc, found only 1 second hand in CPT at the time, disappeared hours later)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestions!
 
Honda won't be that expensive to maintain. Take it to a reputable mechanic instead of a dealer when it's out of warranty.
 
HDS said:
Are you okes seriously recommending a 650 bike for a beginner?

Under 20k you won't get anything decent above 125. Unless you want a old 90s' bike, but I wouldn't recommend that at all.
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A 650 is not a 650 is not a 600.

Capacity means nothing, power and torque mean everything and inline with that different engine configurations.

A single cylinder 650cc or parallel twin are perfect for a beginner, while a 600cc inline four cylinder or V-Twin are not.


HOWEVER to the OP.

Before buying a bike or even looking for one....LESSONS LESSONS LESSONS.

And change your budget to 40k and buy something decent that will last and won't kill you while it falls apart or can't keep up with traffic.
 
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