Winter bike!
 

I am looking to get a 2nd bike for winter. and wondering if anyone has an opinion. The situation is:

I currently have 2002 sv650s, however i dont wish to destory it over the winter. Therefore was thinking of getting a 125cc for the commute to work. As i ride all year round due to lack of never learning to drive one of them four wheeled machines xD

If anyone has an opinion please could you say why that particular bike.

(Preferedally quite rugged and cheap! :) not too worried about age.


Thanks all :p

Edit: Cannot be a moped, they are too scary xD

Re: Winter bike!
 

CG125, or C90 if you don't go onto motorways. :)

Re: Winter bike!
 

Don't buy for a few months though. Wait for the prices to start dropping again after summer.

Re: Winter bike!
 

If its just town work then a C90 will be fine, but they still go for silly money. CG's are great bikes and are better than the C90 in most respects.

The Yamaha 125 four strokes are also good, don't know much about Suzuki 125's, but they must be alright.

Re: Winter bike!
 

My good lady had a YBR 125 and that did her 8 mile commute fine.

Re: Winter bike!
 

YBR125. you'll get 100mpg and it's pretty good fun for little commuter

Re: Winter bike!
 

YBR is good but chinese build quality. Definitely worth a fair bit of preventative maintenance.

Re: Winter bike!
 

You won't. A bit of preparation and a little preventative maintenance it will be fine. Stick with the SV. Or if you are precious over your current SV buy a cheap battered one and use that.

Re: Winter bike!
 

I've been looking at some of these Chinese 200cc bikes as I've sold my car now as it never got used. They are going for next to nothing, but spares worry me. Spose if it does 3 -4 months work then it should be worth it :)

Re: Winter bike!
 

For a winter hack I think it's also a case of what comes up in your area for sale - for the money you want to spend. Last year I ended up with an FZR250 just because there was not alot else about for the money and it was good/bad enough to consider using everyday and not worrying if it went down.

Dont limit yourself to a certain bike - make a budget limit and stick to it. Then see what comes up under that. The last few years I ended up with a Yamaha XQ125 Scoot, an 85 GSX400R, a Virago 125 and then the latest - which has just gone through the MOT easily enough so will be on duty next year too probably.

You can have fun through winter too you know :smt110

Chris

Re: Winter bike!
 

Hmmm, i may very well just use the SV. Just was thinking wether its worth getting something if i drop/slide it wont cost me a fortune and leave me transportless.

Re: Winter bike!
 

I used the Sv for the last 3 years. Make sure that you coat EVERYTHING that may look like it could rust. Mine never let me down, but when I came to do the rebuild earlier this year I was met with this

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-N...0/IMAG0220.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Y...0/IMAG0223.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-W...0/IMG_6179.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-p...0/IMG_6178.JPG

Re: Winter bike!
 

Good God! I rode my Bandit, which aren't noted for their build quality, through 2 winters and it never looked as bad as that! Are all SV's so prone to corrosion? :shock::shock:

Re: Winter bike!
 

Rode my curvy last winter in pretty much all weathers, and stored it outside and it was nowhere near as bad as that. Give it a thorough clean before the worst of the weather sets in, then coat it with a good protective spray (ACF50?) and it'll be reet.

Re: Winter bike!
 

+1.
My problem was that I was a tight git, so didn't coat anything, just washed it now & again.

Re: Winter bike!
 

Yeah that's the problem - get's more expensive replacing all those corroded parts though eh! ;)

Re: Winter bike!
 

Oh yes :)
Tis all nice & shiney now though:p

Re: Winter bike!
 

Agreed.Apart from a small fuel saving getting another bike will cost you far more than a bit of winter use on an old curvy.

Re: Winter bike!
 

Thanks for everyones opinions :)

Re: Winter bike!
 

lol at mister c`s pics, did your winter commute include riding along a sandy beach :D:D

I used mine from january this year, just after the snow, so the roads were still salted, apart from carb icing 9cured by using 99ron tesco momentum fuel) the bike was fine, however I did take much of it apart over the winter to grease bearings and a general check over.

Its only really the snowy bits that stop me using the bike all year, as I detest using the car for work.

Re: Winter bike!
 

Yeah wash all the protective crap off and make sure the salt gets right into the nooks and crannies!