If your looking to ride for a while to lower your insurance premium then id stay away from any for of Super moto/street triple/Speed triple/Ktm/Ducati
My first big bike (Bigger than a 125) was my fzr400 that I streetfightered and made bootiful:
I got bored of its top speed fairly quickly and moved onto a bandit 600 (which wasn’t much faster)
Both bikes (IMO) are great first bikes and cheap on insurance.
Would you rather faired or naked?
I’d like a bit of wind protection but I don’t really want full fairing, as the panels are expensive to replace if I drop it again.
850 a year … that’s not too bad for a new rider in reality … is that fully comp ?
£850 is a bit much, i paid much less than that when i started out, on a 600 naked, no garage and i was a little bit younger. think you shiuld be aiming fir the 5-600 mark, shiuld be acheivable with the right bike.
I remember my insurance doubled when I went from a 125 to a 600 (insurance group 11) c£400
That was garaged with 1 year no claims.
Depends if you want to suffer a few years with something boring, in order to keep your insurance down.
spot on, and he’s paying £250 FC at the mo, so expect double to move up a rung as it were. by the way, when I switched up to a 1000cc6months later with a newer bike worth twice as much, insurance went up £60, go figure.
I mean £850 for a street triple isn’t too bad considering their risk ( desirability) in the current time …
I remember my insurance(fully comp) went up by £3 (£125)when I moved from sr125cc to gpz500cc then increased by £24 when I got my zzr600cc and omg by an extra £33 for the zzr100 and now its dropped £12 for Fuggly
As we all know, insurance is a law unto itself. My naked CB is a (retuned) CBR in guise but because its not a SPORTS bike, its a hell of a lot cheaper to insure.
You just have to play around and see what pops up.
I’d definitely be looking at nothing bigger than a 600 til you’re used to the extra umph.
Yup, full comp.
Given I pay £500 for a 3 year old BMW 3 series (albeit with 5 years no claims) I’m not willing to pay over that for a 3 year old bike.
How about:
Spend a couple of grand max (or £1500) on a Divvy/Hornet/SV
Insure it TPF&T for about £100
Ride it, drop it, learn on it, do the Bikesafe etc without the paranoia of new bike scratches and marks.
Then buy the Street Triple after a year or two?
That makes a lot of sense.
Can definitely recommend buying a bit of a sh1ter, it will get dropped!
Got a 2002 Hornet 600, reliable, reasonable insurance considering I live in South London, and it crashes well (i.e. cheap to repair if it’s just a minor scrape).
Hornet… reliable cheap to run and insure and great looking handling bike. go for the classic/best looking one '05
Thanks people- I think I’ve decided to limit my search to Bandits and Hornets.
I can get a bigger bike when I am a bit more experienced.
Can people comment on the issue of getting a more recent, but more expensive bike, versus getting an older one that might need more spent on it?
I bought a 2012 YBR 125 because I got it fairly cheap and it still has a warranty.
I wasn’t really thinking about getting a 10 year old bike but if these things are indestructible then I’m prepared to give it a go.
go Hornet if you are buying older, they age better if they have been looked after, and Honda engines will outlive you if you service them properly. first big bike, go used, you WILL drop it, and you wont mind quite so much.
Thanks mate.Definitely check them out properly.
or buy a Moto Guzzi V7. 
you cant go wrong with and SV650! you literally cant miss - its a great bike and i think meets your criteria very well
With your budget you have a lot of choice and if you want ABS this might not be you cup of tea but i will suggest a wildcard.
how about getting yourself a very good 400 as your 1st big bike? They are rare as well as fast and some start becoming modern classic and I am loving my zxr400.
Hi mate,
I hadn’t considered a zxr because it is quite small and I’m over 6ft.
How do you find the ride?
A physically bigger 400 could work though.
Cheers Tom, I’ve added it to the list.
