Any bikers here? (Page 1 of 2)

Bike choice is a personal thing just like guitars, I've always been a Suzuki and Kawasaki man but that is purely down to taste. A restricted 250 4 stroke is the best way to go IMHO. As for leather/textile, leather is very restrictive on what you can do off the bike, With textile you can wear other clothing underneath, it is also more waterproof and warm by far.
The most important thing is, get a good training firm, ask around others who have used them, before you choose. If you want credentials, I rode motorcycles for 34 years up to three years ago when I had already converted to soft top sports cars (MX5), was police class 1 for 25 of those and have ridden hundreds of thousands of miles in that time. Biking is safe, as long as you treat it with respect and remember that you never stop learning. All the best

Suzuki V strom 100, Kawasaki ZX10, Honda cbr1000, BMW 1300Rt, GSX100R, TL1000R etc etc right back to Royal Enfield 250 and BSA 250 C15

do you mean the CBR250R? The CBR250 is no longer in production. I have a neighbour with a CBR250R and he loves it, - it has a full licence so could choose a larger bike.

Leather v textile,- some of the textile suits are really good these day, but good stuff does not come cheap, - leathers wise personally I would not go for Alpine Stars or Dianese these are more fashion over quality, - good brands that I have experience with are Furygan and Revitt (textile). I would not go cheap on gloves or boots, - if you are worried about cost then look at Hein Gericke stuff.... Helmets? Try before you buy and spend as much as you can afford. Oh and do not forget ear plugs.

32 years of riding experience, have also worked in the industry and done a lot of racing photography and magazine testing of bikes. To be honest I really do not like Japanese bikes, but for starting out they are great. As you might guess from my screen name and avatar the greatest bike ever made and that I did once own is the Ducati 916, - owned quite a few Ducati's, had a BMW R1200GS, and even a Harley! Early days was Jap stuff, - FZR1000, GPX750 (went round Europe on that), GPZ1100B2 (first fuel injected bike), GSX1100 Katana, CB750, RD250LC.

so wish I had kept that 1100 Katana, - it scarred the life out of me when I first got it, - picked it up in Wimbledon and rode it back down the A3, - could not believe the torque when I opened it up in top from 80mph.... it just kept going! Funny you should mention MH, in that I so nearly bought a MH replica from Moto Vechia but just could not stretch that far, so ended up with the Katana! The Katana turned into a very sought after bike, - I was offered a swap for a Harris Magnum but it had a Honda CB900 engine it and having already had a lot of problems with cam chains on Honda's turned it down.

The GPz750T looked so much better in black/red to the GPz900, still remember the launch of that bike, which changed the game quite a bit.

Dream bike that I never owned: Laverda Jota or the Montjuic twin.

Hey Andy....very nice.  Used to myself but....well....it's what led to my circumstances.  Almost talked my wife to give the ok to the new HD trike....but had to settle for a convertible instead.  Sure do miss it though

You can get a Suzuki sv650 restricted, that way you get a good sounding good handling street bike for not a lot of outlay.

I know it has been done for that bike. The power output is the same for both, if anything the brakes chassis and suspension will be better quality and when you pass tests and get to upgrade you can  just remove the restrictions. I can't say about the premiums but can't see why they would be dearer. The bike has been around ages, there are lots of parts and not too much expensive plastic. Why not check out the premiums first? Good luck.

OK I shall do a bit of research on restricting a 600cc bike ... must admit I'm not a fan of the look of the SV though.

Rick you never told me you used to ride a bike?! I've heard the old Triumphs had an oil problem