Buy a Motorbike/Scooter

[bobbybobson]

I want to buy a 125cc scooter or (automatic - no gears) bike. My budget is about �500 - don't want to spend much more than that, as I'm a skint student and have to insure it/road tax/may have to registser it etc, so it all adds up.

I live in Fife, Scotland and after spending lots of time searching for local dealers and looking at eBay, I've learned that if the bike is cheap, it's impossible to get an insurance quote, as the make/model is not known or common and if I CAN get a quote easily, the bike tends to be expensive.

Money seems to be the issue but I've had my heart set on getting one - just wish I could find one at a reasonable price.

Any ideas/suggestions?

Cheers.

[bobbybobson]

Another thing is, most of the items on eBay are pick-up only, which means I have to go to their house, pick up the bike and take it home. I don't have a van to put it in and am not allowed to ride it until I'm insured. Just need to keep looking! :P

[electricblue]

have you tried the bike auctions??Do u have them up there??

[bobis]

hi, have you tried bts motorcycles in lochgelly, you will find them on ebay, just type in gy 125 and there site will come up, they do brand new copy bikes around your price range, they also register and tax them for you, they even deliver to your door for a very reasonable price, good luck and happy safe riding, all the best john.

[bobbybobson]

Thanks, guys, for all of your thoughtful suggestions.

Thanks, John. I have checked and contacted BTS Motorcycles but the bikes I like (or the ones without gears) are makes and models which aren't recognised when I try to get insurance quotes for them, unfortunately, which tells me I'll need to spend a bit more money.

Electricblue suggested bike auctions, which I hadn't thought of but I'll see what I can find.

I'll keep looking but thanks a lot for your input. :) Much appreciated.

[bobis]

hello again, i had the same prob of insurance when i bought a bike from bts, however all i needed was an insurance code, which bts gave me for my bike, once i had that i had no probs getting insured, really cheap to ((�107) fully comp, this was through swinton, if you do have your eye on a bike from bts it may be worth your while to get the insurance code and check the price, hope this helps, all the best john.

[bobbybobson]

Cheers. I bidded on a nice scooter tonight at the last second but my PC gave up and it didn't work!! Really got my hopes up.

Got a couple of good insurance quotes today and the more I look, the more bikes I'm finding that I like. Got my CBT in 12 hours, so hope all goes ok :D

[bobis]

hi, good luck with your cbt, you will walk it with no probs, all the best john.

[bobbybobson]

I only got half of it done yesterday. Ran out of time. Had lots of long breaks though. Had tons of layers on in case I got cold and ended up roasting hot! It felt SO cool. I got to ride a Honda CG 125. Was NICE! Roared quite nicely too.

Finishing it on Thursday. Had no problem with changing the gears - only thing I didn't like was the bike was a bit heavy for me (I'm a wee 5'3".) Kick started it and it made a good sound. Grrr!

Hey, John. What kind of bike do you have? :)

[bobis]

well done, good to see you enjoyed yourself and had no probs with cbt, hope all goes well on thursday, the cg is not a bad bike at all to learn on (my first bike was a cg 125) i have 3 bikes at the moment cbr 600, zzr 600 and have recently bought a gy 200 from bts as i live in the middle of nowhere and the bikes get so corroded over the winter so decided to buy one of these cheap copy bikes to use for work, i hope you get your licence real soon as it will give you no end of pleasure, happy safe riding, all the best john.

[bobbybobson]

Wow! Your bikes sound great! Really powerful. I'm looking forward to Thursday but my confidence on the road at this point is zero. I've never even used a bicycle on a main road and don't drive a car either.

I've been practising the highway code and loads of theory test questions and am at the stage of getting 35 out of 35 every time but still have no actual experience on the road.

Everyone's saying I'll do fine but when I'm falling asleep at night, I have vivid daydreams of stalling at junctions, falling off the bike(!) and losing my balance and falling onto cars lol! Hope I'll be ok.

I also have daydreams about how free and happy (and cool) I'll feel when I have my first bike and am on the open road by myself. Can't wait! :P