250-400cc bike for commuting?

Originally Posted by nikon70

i hear the clutch goes quite quickly, so as a commuter it might be out of action more than it is on the road.... my mate had one.

Has it got a manual clutch or a centrifugal clutch? Is it not a CVT auto gearbox?

i will plug the dr350 route. just follow the big link in my sig but plenty about robust bikes that are easy to work on with parts plentiful.

filtering is a doddle as your nice and high up and no wider than an sv just got to watch the bars on mirrors as you are abit higher up.
also good pull and will happily do 70mph.

[dyzio]

Originally Posted by Sally

Tried phoning Ecosse or Shirlaws for anything?

Shirlaws have a shiny drz400sm, but it being a drz at Shirlaws, I'd struggle both financially and vertically

[dirtydog]

Originally Posted by custard

sorry. cb1 400... was looking at some on ebay the other day. you can get a pretty tidy one for around a grand and as luck would have it

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/honda-super-fo...item3a647b0b99

Ah thats the CB400 superfour lovely bike, I had the earlier CB1-400 same engine i think but different styling/frame etc. Mine was bought as a first big bike except it wasn't particularly big lol. Did loads of miles on and it was good for 3 figure speeds if you were that way inclined

[dyzio]

Just found out that someone I know may be selling their GS500.
It was his first bike, so it was dropped, parked outside but being a commuter all the servicing has been done. Apparently it's in good mechanical condition, just doesn't look brilliant, something like a YC bike

£500

Last time I saw it:



Bad idea?

Originally Posted by dyzio

Bad idea?

Nobody can tell you that from that photo, but at £500 quid if it is in decent mechanical nick you can't complain. Fuel has to be your biggest bill though and that is where you will make your saving, so people buying larger capacity bikes to save money never makes sense to me, by the time they have paid another lot of road tax, insurance and MOT, do they save anything?

[dyzio]

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

Nobody can tell you that from that photo

Correct, but I meant it more in the way that we were talking about a 250-400cc bikes and suddenly a GS500 comes into play.

I'll need to talk to him about condition and fuel consumption, check tax and insurance.

If fuel bills are the reason for doing this, stick with a 250.

[dyzio]

Lower fuel costs would be nice (Falco does 30mpg on this route), however the main reason is to stop me from going insane from sitting in traffic in the cage.
1h to travel 7 miles is normal in the afternoon.

[mikerj]

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

If fuel bills are the reason for doing this, stick with a 250.

If fuel economy is the ultimate goal then a four stroke 125 would be perfectly feasible for a 7 mile commute, I know people on 50cc scoots that go much further than that. It's the law of diminishing returns though, obviously something that can do 120mpg will cost you half as much as one that will do 60mpg, but neither will cost a lot of money to run in absolute terms.