Any Bikers Here? Planning to finally get started.

[bigben]

Hi, Maybe not the right forum for this but oh well, I'll give it a go.

Basically I've wanted a motorbike since I was 14 when my big brother first took me out on his GSX 1400. I wanted to get something nice, so my plan was to wait until 21 and take the direct access so I could ride something with some guts (but nothing too crazy, maybe a Bandit or something). However now that I'm a few months away from 21 I've seen that they have changed the age for direct access to 24!

So now I'm looking at doing A2 licence which lets you ride "motorcycles with a power output not exceeding 35 kW.". However, I have no idea what that means in terms of what I can ride, I popped over to a local bike shop recently but they didn't have any information on power output and the salesman was pretty useless.
What impact does having a restrictor make? Will it decrease acceleration or does it just bring top speed down?

Does anybody have any suggestions on good bikes for beginners (noting that I'm just over 6'3" and just under 15 stone). I like the look of the sports bikes, although I assume most of those will be way too powerful for me. Also, don't suppose there are any other Bristolians on these forums who can recommend a decent bike school?


Thanks, lots of questions I know.

 

[mrducking]

dont know much about motorbikes, but i do know a bit about motors basically when they say you cannot exceed "power output" they are referring to cars "horses power", so what you need to do is find which is the equivalent to 35 kW, because the only people that i know use that measure are the people who wrote the manuals for the driving license. the limit in power will limit both your acceleration and top speed, here is the wiki link (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horsepower) there you have a table with equivalences, hope it helps

 

[mantadog]

Google tells me 35kw is 46 horsepower. That will be more than enough to get you going, especially if you think some 1 litre cars are only fractionally above that in terms of horsepower with many times the weight. I don't think you will be holding traffic up, put it that way.

 

[bigben]

Thanks for replies. Did my CBT about a month ago and was surprised to find that the nasty little 100cc bike I rode was surprisingly responsive (compared to my 1124cc Citroen C2).

Considering getting the bike sooner than planned now as the clutch needs replacing on my car and tax + mot are also due in October. I originally planned on buying all the safety gear slowly (I'm a firm believer in "buy cheap, buy twice" so it's all nice stuff) then saving up for test and bike after Xmas.

I think I'd like a Ninja 250R which I could insure for about £700 and has the following specs:
0-60 mph (0-100 km/h) 5.75 sec
1/4 Mile 14.6 sec @ 88 mph
Maximum Speed 105 mph (170 km/h)
Max Horsepower 36 @ 11000 RPM (26 @ rear wheel)
Max Torque 18 Ft/Lbs @ 10000 RPM (14 @ rear wheel)
Fuel Efficiency 55-75 MPG

 

[Androcles]

I think I'd like a Ninja 250R which I could insure for about £700 and has the following specs:
0-60 mph (0-100 km/h) 5.75 sec
1/4 Mile 14.6 sec @ 88 mph
Maximum Speed 105 mph (170 km/h)
Max Horsepower 36 @ 11000 RPM (26 @ rear wheel)
Max Torque 18 Ft/Lbs @ 10000 RPM (14 @ rear wheel)
Fuel Efficiency 55-75 MPG

Not sure how old you are but just be aware that even if you pass your full bike test, if you are under 21 you cannot ride anything above 33bhp until you have 2 years experience on a lower bhp vehicle.

 

[bigben]

Not sure how old you are but just be aware that even if you pass your full bike test, if you are under 21 you cannot ride anything above 33bhp until you have 2 years experience on a lower bhp vehicle.

Thanks for reply, although the rules did change fairly recently otherwise I would have waited another 6 weeks and done DAS. I believe this is the current rule:

Upon passing, the rider is restricted to bikes with a limit of 35kW/47bhp and a power-to-weight ratio of no more than 0.2kW/0.26bhp per kg, for two years. The power-to-weight ratio is an important qualification because it makes drawing a distinction between 'can ride' and 'can't ride' more nuanced than a simple bhp cap. In real terms, it imposes a minimum weight of 175kg for any bike using the full 47bhp, dashing hopes of super-lightweight 250s making a mockery of the bhp limit.

Read more: http://www.visordown.com/learners/a2-motorcycle-licence-explained/22034-2.html#ixzz3EuiRURgB

 

[HMCC]

Kawasaki Ninja 250
Yamaha R25
Honda CBR 250

not a fan of sports bike, i could give you a whole list of supermotos (offroad+onroad)