Mike P
Trade: Pickwell Audio
Yesterday I got my full motorcycle license and so it's time to sell the 125cc and go bike shopping.
The trouble is I've not been interested in bikes for long and I don't really know what to go for.
A bit of background...
At heart I'm really a classic car guy but we moved house a few years ago and I've now only got a cramped single garage which isn't really roomy enough inside to be able to work on a car. So, I had the bright idea of getting myself a classic bike to tinker with instead.
I had a 1950 BSA Bantam for short while which was a charming little thing but I quickly realised that is was too under-powered for the steep hills around here and not a very sensible bike to develop my riding on.
So the Bantam went and I replaced it with a Yamaha YBR125 custom which has been a great little bike for developing my riding on but it's time to upgrade to something more interesting and that's going to give me greater pride of ownership.
The original intention was to get a classic bike as a substitute for a classic car. Something British and from the 1950's-1960's but having ridden around on a modern 650cc Suzuki for my lessons and test I'm starting to see the appeal of a more modern bike.
I've a feeling that 70's Japanese or BMW might be the sensible middle ground in which you can still have a classic bike but one with performance that can keep up with modern traffic but with much better reliability than bikes from a generation earlier.
I like to work on my own bikes so something relatively easy to work on with good parts availability is a big plus point.
I'm not a big chap (5' 8" and 64kg) so I don't want a bike that's too tall or too heavy and I don't want a 2-stoke.
The bike I'm currently favouring is a Honda CB 400/4 Super Sport which I figure ticks all of the boxes for me.
Your thought please gents.
The trouble is I've not been interested in bikes for long and I don't really know what to go for.
A bit of background...
At heart I'm really a classic car guy but we moved house a few years ago and I've now only got a cramped single garage which isn't really roomy enough inside to be able to work on a car. So, I had the bright idea of getting myself a classic bike to tinker with instead.
I had a 1950 BSA Bantam for short while which was a charming little thing but I quickly realised that is was too under-powered for the steep hills around here and not a very sensible bike to develop my riding on.
So the Bantam went and I replaced it with a Yamaha YBR125 custom which has been a great little bike for developing my riding on but it's time to upgrade to something more interesting and that's going to give me greater pride of ownership.
The original intention was to get a classic bike as a substitute for a classic car. Something British and from the 1950's-1960's but having ridden around on a modern 650cc Suzuki for my lessons and test I'm starting to see the appeal of a more modern bike.
I've a feeling that 70's Japanese or BMW might be the sensible middle ground in which you can still have a classic bike but one with performance that can keep up with modern traffic but with much better reliability than bikes from a generation earlier.
I like to work on my own bikes so something relatively easy to work on with good parts availability is a big plus point.
I'm not a big chap (5' 8" and 64kg) so I don't want a bike that's too tall or too heavy and I don't want a 2-stoke.
The bike I'm currently favouring is a Honda CB 400/4 Super Sport which I figure ticks all of the boxes for me.
Your thought please gents.