Thread: Motorbike Buying

There are so many choices. Personally, I like the cruisers and a couple of years back got the Yamaha xvs650 classic. For me it was the perfect Lams bike. I got so many comments from people not believing that it was a 650cc, they all thought it was bigger.

There are many of these on the second hand market that are 2-3 years old with low k's, full service history and thousands less than a new bike price. They are easy to work on, parts are readily available and there is plenty of after market bling if you like that sort of thing.

They will easily run all day at 100-120kph, you'll get more than 300 k's on a tank before you need to switch to reserve and they are very comfortable. I recently sold mine and having put nearly 15,000 K's on since I bought it, it sold for only $500 less than what I paid for it.

Good luck with whatever you choose, ride safe and stay upright!

xr400 or newer drz400 - take you places those road bikes won't , enough poke to be fun ,resonably light & ok on road. Get 2 set's rims,1 for on & 1 for off-road tyres + rack on back.
On the road I like the 600 duke monster, or if a classic a Pantah

Brett

Originally Posted by x-box

Get a BMW GS650 single cylinder, plenty torque, quick enough, comfy on long rides (been there done that plenty times), enough space for camping gear, great dealer service and parts easy to come by and not as expensive as you'd imagine. Damn nice bike and will go for as long as you put fuel in it. It is also light and easy to ride.

Yes, is a BMW so is a gem

I was disappointed not to see the Kawasaki W650 on that list, looks like it will have to be W400. Then when you're allowed, you go the Triumph Bonneville (or W800 if youve fallen in love with the 400)

Anyway, what I'm saying is this, the less a bike looks like a Bonneville or a seventies Italian, the uglier it is.

A Hyosung would go nicely with a SSaangyong in the garage.

A mate has a very nice 1988 Moto Guzzi Lario Sports 4 valve available. It is lams approved. I will pm you his contact details if interested. Bike is in Brisbane.

Originally Posted by William

There are so many choices. Personally, I like the cruisers and a couple of years back got the Yamaha xvs650 classic. For me it was the perfect Lams bike. I got so many comments from people not believing that it was a 650cc, they all thought it was bigger.

Personally I wouldn't recommend a cruiser as a learners bike the seating position and peg position do not allow for good control when learning this is not helpful. They also tend to have short travel suspension so they achieve "the look" which when travelling on backroads is not helpful to anything.

There is a "classic" everyone is forgetting....the Enfield.....made in India but there is absolutely nothing wrong with it if its your style. reasonably cheap, so easy to maintain.

If you are doing some highway riding definitely a 400cc or above. We bought a 250cc to learn on, we had to compromise on size because my wife was learning on it aswell and a Kawasaki 250 fitted the bill nicely. We only ride our around town as a cheap to and from work ride. But on the open road it struggles with my 90kg's on board to get above 90km/h, not that I am allowed to do that on my L's