Post #1949991

2026-05-03 21:50 UTC

Good luck with your licence. I found it a hard test when I did my DAS a few years ago but did pass first time, doing both MOD 1 and 2 back to back. You say you’re not fussed about top speed, but smaller bikes are very buzzy at the top end of their range (as you know on a 125) so don’t be afraid to go bigger for motorways and it’s nice to have power in reserve. Big bikes ride better there and less twitchy in side winds, but are less agile in the city. If you want a solid commuter bike, you can’t go wrong with Honda cb500 or similar. There’s a lot of older ones still chugging away - tatty and less stealable, but ultra reliable and cheap to maintain. 70mpg, more than enough power for the motorway, not too fat to filter. Some of the older (2000-2010) BMW 1100-1200s are fairly good, either GS or RT. Lovely torquey engine, good presence, comfy and nice on the motorway. A bit fat for filtering sometimes. Good shout on keeping your 125. They’re a hoot and great for bombing around the lanes or cities.

Replies (3)

@Technoworcester@feddit.uk 2026-05-04 10:56

Ta. Will have a look at your suggestions. Cheers for the comments re: power and yes, Deffo keeping the scooter! 😀

Open ##1953857
@SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 2026-05-04 12:48

Hard no on 2000+ BMWs, they are mortgages. NC700s last forever, have built in storage. It’s an automotive engine derived from a Honda Fit, valve clearance intervals of 50,000 miles.

Open ##1954638
@mack123@lemmy.world 2026-05-04 05:19

Ask 10 riders and you will get 10 answers. For cummuting in Cape Town, which has some of the worst traffic in the world and wet UK like rainy winters, I would look for something with a fairing, good fuel consumption and a bit of power, to stay out of trouble. The Honda NC750X was high on my list the last time I evaluated options. The high seating position makes lane splitting easy, the fuel consumption was amazing. The power there, but not unmanageable. What did I do, well I bought a BMW K1300R with too much power, no fairing and a ridiculous amount of grins per kilometre. So ride what makes you happy, just stay safe within your limits.

Open ##2262937