Planning to Buy my first bike help please

**sheebs** · 09-09-2013, 01:41 PM

Hi im a 20 year old student and im planning to buy my first bike to commute from my house to uni and back and the occasional trips into town. its going to be a round trip of about 20 miles everyday, my hearts set on the superbyke rmr125 as its cheap to buy and insure which is great due to being a student.

My only concern is im a short rider 5ft 4 with a 29" inseam and the seat height on the rmr125 is 35", my riding boots add about an inch and a half to my height. so i was wondering if theres anyone thats close to my height riding a bike thats as big or bigger than the rmr and how they are coping and is there anything i can do to make the situation better.

Ive gone to the store that sells the bike and they didnt have any on the premises or warehouse for me to sit on and get an idea of it is. they did however have the rsr instock and that was a comfortable bike with a seat height of 30" but my hearts set on the rmr

(i just joined the forum yesterday and i think i posted this thread in the right place if not im sorry, my bad)

Thanks for taking the time to look

**sheebs** · 09-09-2013, 05:23 PM

Ive been surfing the net and found a store about a 2 hours drive from where i am that sells the sinnis apache which also has a seat height of 35" but is a bit more expensive than the rmr, they also sell the WK Trial 125 which is 33" which seems like a better option for me, because the seat height is lower and its cheaper than the sinnis and cheaper than the superbyke, only downside of this bike is that it only has fuel capacity of 5.6 litres whereas the other 2 are 10.6 litres which seems like a very big difference at half the capacity. ive heard that the sinnis and superbyke can get anywhere between 230-250 miles out of a full tank so am i right in guessing the Trial will get half of that.

I havnt really been able to find much information or reviews on the WK Trial 125 so if anyone owns one can you tell me about the reliability and cost of running the bike

thanks

**Krasi** · 09-09-2013, 07:02 PM

If seat height is one your main concerns, you'd better look at naked bikes, or even "choppers". If you fancy "enduro" style, than supermoto is the way to go.

**sheebs** · 09-09-2013, 08:13 PM

Its just that i really do like the look of the rmr but being a short guy, not sure how bad things might be and other concern is money, being a student dont have that much money to splash, for the price of a second hand bike i can get a brand new rmr, or the WK Trial. Im going to be restricted to a 125cc and the other similar style bikes that fit my height and are 125cc are the Kawasaki klx125 and dtracker and the suzuki dr125sm only issue there is the price over double the price of the rmr

Budget: My Budget is £2200 that including insurance

Style: The two main styles im looking at in the order of which one i want most is Dual-purpose and Cruisers but has to 125cc

Annual mileage: Il be riding close to 20 miles everyday maybe a bit less and dont really want to have to fill up a lot maybe once or twice in the week

What's your riding experience? my experience is a complete beginner, closest thing to a motorcycle ive been near is a bicycle, planning on taking my cbt and riding on L plates. Dont want anything to expensive that will rip a whole in my pocket if i drop which i probably most likely will do

Reason i need a bike? My cars not very practical for the daily commute in the sense its very expensive to run, petrol and tax wise, parking costs go through the roof, that is if im able to find a spot close to my university, using a car i have to leave atleast an hour early because of the traffic jams

if you know of any bikes that meets my budget and experience level then drop a reply please, pretty much just looking at any and every 125cc i can find

**modron** · 09-10-2013, 12:17 AM

My commute is about 10 miles round trip and i ve chose a scooter to take me to work although i have a bigger bike. Scooters are design for commuting, i know they are ugly hah but comfortable (if you have to buy some milk there is a place to put it), small (can go through traffic jams easily), fast (if you get a 125cc it will have plenty of power as they are usually lighter), no clutch or gear shifting to worry about just twist and go.

If you get bike that is too tall for you it will be a nightmare to ride it in traffic

**culcune** · 09-10-2013, 12:44 AM

The TMEC 125 is ok and a cheap bike. There is a guy on youtube named 'stayslinky' from the UK who has several videos of him riding his bike. The only thing might be the seat height.

**humanbeing** · 09-10-2013, 01:16 AM

JIANSHE 6C http://www.learnerlegal.com/125cc-cr...prod_1136.html (YBR clone) is stylish
http://www.motorfans.com.cn/bbs/view...uthorid=103153

**braillce** · 09-10-2013, 05:34 AM

Usually I'd advise to follow your heart, but it's ur 1st bike, and some minor issues will start to suck real bad, real soon.

5 liters tank is just too small. U'll be at the station every 2 days and sometimes out of gas. 10 liters minimum for ur 125cc x 20 miles a day + out of work commute.

Seat height is a concern, so just forget about enduro & dirt bikes unless u did try to sit on one, and BOTH ur feet can reach the ground. If not, through traffic u'll regularly go down maneuvering among cars.

I also wanted an enduro as 1st bike, coming from 2 years on 100cc pit bikes it felt logic, but I'm 5.6" and lost interest after sitting on a few enduro in the shop, I'm too small is all, my heart started settling on a Chinese 250cc street bike on which sitting feels great, even at the red light, after 3 years riding it 14 miles a day in Shanghai I have little interest for anything else than street bikes.

Moreover, enduro & dirt bikes are higher with wider handle bars, making riding through traffic harder, even when comfi on the bike.

Oh and also, I wouldn't buy Chinese designed moto, Chinese built maybe, but never Chinese designed, been there done that, thanks.

I'm buying a new bike in december, 250 street bike again, but Japanese this time.

Ur budget is 2.2K pounds, I'd strongly recommend that u go to a shop and sit on a YBR 125 or honda 150, and see how that feels...

Good luck.

**sheebs** · 09-10-2013, 07:28 AM

Originally Posted by modron

My commute is about 10 miles round trip and i ve chose a scooter to take me to work although i have a bigger bike. Scooters are design for commuting, i know they are ugly hah but comfortable (if you have to buy some milk there is a place to put it), small (can go through traffic jams easily), fast (if you get a 125cc it will have plenty of power as they are usually lighter), no clutch or gear shifting to worry about just twist and go.

If you get bike that is too tall for you it will be a nightmare to ride it in traffic

Hey thanks for the reply (sorry i didnt mention this before) but i have thought about a scooter but i live out of the city in a bit of a rural area where during the summer its great but during the other times roads can get a bit snowed over and my drive way to the house is a bit of a track so i dont feel a scooter would be good in those conditions. i also drive on a few back roads and a dual carriageway to get into town and i think that might be to much stress on the scooter and i wouldnt be to comfortable doing that on one and yeah your right they are ugly haha

**sheebs** · 09-10-2013, 07:47 AM

Originally Posted by braillce

Usually I'd advise to follow your heart, but it's ur 1st bike, and some minor issues will start to suck real bad, real soon.

5 liters tank is just too small. U'll be at the station every 2 days and sometimes out of gas. 10 liters minimum for ur 125cc x 20 miles a day + out of work commute.

Seat height is a concern, so just forget about enduro & dirt bikes unless u did try to sit on one, and BOTH ur feet can reach the ground. If not, through traffic u'll regularly go down maneuvering among cars.

I also wanted an enduro as 1st bike, coming from 2 years on 100cc pit bikes it felt logic, but I'm 5.6" and lost interest after sitting on a few enduro in the shop, I'm too small is all, my heart started settling on a Chinese 250cc street bike on which sitting feels great, even at the red light, after 3 years riding it 14 miles a day in Shanghai I have little interest for anything else than street bikes.

Moreover, enduro & dirt bikes are higher with wider handle bars, making riding through traffic harder, even when comfi on the bike.

Oh and also, I wouldn't buy Chinese designed moto, Chinese built maybe, but never Chinese designed, been there done that, thanks.

I'm buying a new bike in december, 250 street bike again, but Japanese this time.

Ur budget is 2.2K pounds, I'd strongly recommend that u go to a shop and sit on a YBR 125 or honda 150, and see how that feels...

Good luck.

hey thanks for the reply

i did have a feeling the tank size would be to small. as im a complete beginner i dont think im going to try and filter through traffic (knowing me and my luck might end up clipping some guys mirror and get chased with a hammer haha). if theres a space inbetween the cars and its relatively big then i might go through, but i wont go if i have any doubt about it.

is the superbyke rmr chinese designed? i thought the superbyke rmr/pulse adrenaline/sinnis apache were all based on each other and had a licensed copy of the suzuki engine, the bike was made in china i know that but is the engine and frame not based on a suzuki.

I have sat on a YBR125 Custom, it was comfortable have to admit but the price tag was 3000, closest i found used was a good hundred miles away and even then was priced at 2.4k and on top of that i would have to get insurance and that brings me up to 2.9k. i guess i was drawn to the rmr because i liked the look, seemed practical living it a bit of a farm like place, low price fits into my budget with insurance added (even leaves over £30 which can go towards fuel for the bike or me lol).

Anyways

i also looked at the suzuki van van, really do like the look of them but i guess thats a far away dream at 3.8k with insurance.

any thoughts on the Sinnis Trackstar http://sinnismotorcycles.com/motorcy...ckstar%20125cc . different design of bike but seems to fit my purpose well, looks like it has some capability in dealing with rough and muddy tracks. this has a 10 litre tank same as the rmr

theres also the Sinnis Vista http://sinnismotorcycles.com/motorcy...0Vista%20125cc which has a cruiser design going but got a feeling it may not deal with tracks as much but then again 15% of the time il be on tracks and the rest of the time on tarmac. this has a 13.6 litre tank which seems like it can hold a lot and go far, but most of the reviews ive read mention it being a bit slow which i dont really mind but makes me wonder how well it would get me out of danger on dual carriage ways at 50mph and ive read the vista redlines at 50 so got a feeling it might not do so well in getting me out of danger whereas the trackstar redlines at 65