Bike for the Wife (and also me!) advice.

[Teamtd11]

My wife is struggling to find a job. Mainly due to the limited area we can get to on public transport. So I plan to get her provisional license sorted out and get her through her CBT.
She would need a bike to ride after passing and as i work full time she wont have access to my PCX.

Now I bought the PCX with little thought behind it. Mainly because i thought it looked great and I could afford it!
So if I am going to get a second bike I want to put a bit more thought into it, So i need advice!

As the PCX is a 'a1' class bike I would like something 'a2' for ease of doing doing our testes on/ having a little more top speed so I can take it on longer trips and not be stuck to 62mph
Something with gears would also be good. The wife is keen to learn with gears and I would like to as well. This again would also help for taking our test as we would not be limited to automatics in future?

What would you guys and gals recommend?
Many thanks in advance.

[edscoot]

Honda XL125 Varadero perhaps - they get good write ups and are good on fuel. Tall seat though and they're not cheap, even second hand.

http://www.honda.co.uk/motorcycles/adventure/#!/xl125v/

Haven't got one myself, but its always been at the top of my list of 125cc bikes to get if I want more speed than the PCX offers.

[Fiah]

Just a wild guess here, but if it's too far to ride on a PCX, is it even worth the time, effort and money to work there? I mean, with the cost of gas and maintenance and such. FWIW, I live about 37km from my job, my guess is that for a relatively poor paying job, 60km would be the absolute limit. With a car or a fast bike, that distance would take about 10 to 15 minutes less than on the PCX, but you'd pay out of your arse for the privilege.

edit: that said, something like a XL125V would still get you there faster than a PCX, and the running costs wouldn't be much higher.

[Teamtd11]

It's more a case of her not been able to use the bike when i'm at work. Which is 5 days a week, so for her to commute she would need a bike. I was thinking of something other than another PCX so we have have some choice.

[skuuter]

Having owned a multitude of Scooters from 50cc Ruckus to 600cc Silver Wings, and most ANY Size/Shape/Form of Motorcycle You can name, Triumphs, Harleys, Hondas, Kawasakis, BSAs, Vincents, etc., etc., etc. .......the PCX is the BEST commuter I've owned, "PERIOD"...it has also made several All-Week Extended Tours, logging several hundred miles per day...we own two PCXs, HIS-n-HERS...try it, You'll like it.....

[maddiedog]

You could get a cheap Honda Rebel. I'm not sure if they have them in the UK, but in the USA, they're really cheap, really durable, and relatively economical 250cc bikes.

I really like the NC700, but it might be more bike than you're looking for... http://www.honda.co.uk/motorcycles/adventure/#!/nc700x/

[gn2]

What's the budget for this second machine...?
£1400ish gets you an excellent brand new shiny scooter, the Sym Fiddle 125.
Or a Sinnis Trackstar geared bike, or a second hand Honda CG125
Wee bit more to spend?
Honda CBF125 is an outstanding bike for the money.
Only get a Varadero if you have money to burn.
An ABS S-Wing would be a far better bet.

Useful .pdf link

[maddiedog]

He wants more speed than a 125 though.

And I can tell you from experience a Fiddle 125 is all but fast, my father-in-law has one. Not to say it is a bad scooter, but his has all sorts of variator clatter and is no faster than our PCXs.

The S-wing is nice, but isn't it even slower than the PCX?

[Teamtd11]

Thanks for the advice everyone!

I know i wont be able to go much faster if at all on another 125. Its more of a thing about it just going that much faster for it to be a A2 class bike.
Thanks for the link gn2 thats a great help.

As for budget a new PCX would be the top end, though as a second bike and having transport to go see some second hand bikes I don't think i will be buying new.

I think i will search for either a good second hand CG125 or a lightly used CBF125.

I will get my wife onto my PCX first though before i do anything else. I'm just a bit impatient and also like to plan ahead so I'm looking into what peoples recommended options are now.

[gn2]

He wants more speed than a 125 though.

Too bad.
Need a full licence first.

And I can tell you from experience a Fiddle 125 is all but fast, my father-in-law has one. Not to say it is a bad scooter, but his has all sorts of variator clatter and is no faster than our PCXs.

Speed isn't all.
It's nearly half the price of a PCX and is an excellent little runaround.

The S-wing is nice, but isn't it even slower than the PCX?

No, it's bigger, faster top speed, significantly more comfortable, has ABS as an option, better onboard storage and comes with a colour matched topbox as standard.

[rich666]

I've been looking at other bike options too recently, so the lists of A2 125cc bikes are pretty much like this:

New:
125 varadero - £4500!!!
Sinnis Trackstar - £1500 (2 year warranty)
Sinnis Stealth - £1800 (2 year warranty)
Sym XS 125 - £1500 (3 year warranty)
CBF 125 - £2500 - (2 year warranty)
YBR 125 - £2500 (2 year warranty)
Cheap chinese crap - £800 upwards (vixen, gladiator, arrow etc) - they all claim 70mph (but only if you throw them out of a plane! )

2nd hand is more difficult:
CBF 125 2yrs old - £1800
Varadero 125 2 yrs old £3500
Sinnis - not old enough for any to be found yet. - but reviews have had bad press about electrics.
Sym XS 125 - if you can find one - 1 yr old - £1000
Cheap chinese "bikes" - check your local breakers yard

Just keep checking Gumtree, bike trader and ebay - they pop all the time on there. If you're after something cheaper you can find older yamahas, suzukis and hondas for less than a grand on the above sights, if regularly maintained and serviced properly they last years.

Happy hunting

[edscoot]

She could do the CBT on the bike schools geared bike then you can give her your PCX. Yamaha DT125 (2 stroke) or the Derbi Terra Adventure 125 for you/both.

I'm sure I saw a test of Honda 125cc bikes recently, maybe in mcn, they all took the same route through central London. The Varadero XL125 easily beat the PCX on economy! I'm saying this from memory so maybe wrong. I'll have a look and see if I can find the article.

[edscoot]

Found a video about it on the Motorcycle Monthly website http://www.motorcyclemonthly.co.uk/news ... conomy-run

Varadero did 107 mpg through central London.

[maddiedog]

Does Genuine distribute to the UK? Their scooters are really solid, and just as cheap as the Syms...

[gn2]

Nope, no Genuine Buddies for us.
But we do get a variety of weird and wonderful oriental stuff.