Having struggled through another winter on the SV I have to admit, some of the fun of biking was fading away. It's hard to stay as enthusiastic when you can't feel your fingers.

Anyway, I had some new tyres fitted on Friday which feel like they're made mostly out of glue and the weather's on the up. After a couple of rides I've definitely got the bug again. Here's hoping I can get together enough cash to re-insure the damn thing next month. :lol:

just out of curiosity, do you mind me asking how much ins. costs over there.

yeah, biking in the winter months is a pain in the arse. particularly when you almost lose it on some black ice. ive got a full winter suit, and rain siut.

It varies a massive amount and depends on the insurance group of the bike (ZX-10R will be high, CG125 very low), how many years experience the rider has, the age of the rider, how many miles you'll be doing and where the bike is stored (garage/road, good area/bad area) as well as a few other bits.

As a very rough idea, if you're over 25 with a few years no claims bonus you could probably insure a sports 600 for £250 or less (probably £100 or less if you're 35 plus). If you're 20 odd you'd probably have to pay about £1000 for it.

In a word, lots. :cry:

Then you've got road tax (600cc and above is £60 per year), having the bike MOT'd every year (to see if it's roadworthy, £20ish per year) and the fact petrol (or gas as you guys call it ;)) is well over twice as expensive (http://www.see-search.com/business/fuelandpetrolpriceseurope.htm) compared to in the US, too.

And they're talking about bringing in all these European regulations which restrict people to pathetically underpowered bikes for years, something that you could only get around by being over 25 and doing DAS (direct access).

With all that and the weather over here, it's a wonder any of us bother. :lol:

Its been awesome here! 80 degrees yesterday and suppose to be about 86 today. Took the 49' panhead out yesterday for one last ride before I start its tear down. Hoping to get away today sometime, but had company show up yesterday :(

truth be told, getting a license here in the states is way too easy. basically you drive around a parking lot, avoid some cones, and stop quickly. then you turn your blinker on, toot the horn, and get your license. it no wonder that bikers have such a horrible reputation for being irresponsible and why most ppl believe that bikes are death machines waiting to kill you.

my bike, (1988 cbr600f1) costs me $268 per year for liability only. basically what gets it legal for the street. i travel 42 miles one way for my commute, i do that 5 times a week. i average like 400 miles per week total. i only spend about 25-30 dollars a week in gas. (at 3.00 dollars a gallon.) we have a tag tax, mine is about $40ish, per year.

its wierd, cuz here we have the privilage to buy a zx10 on our 16th birthday, and since i work at a dealership, i have seen it done. i still ride a 600, an old one at that, and i think its plenty of bike for the street. if only yamaha made an r4...

i wish our license set up was like how it is over in europe.

i wish the 400cc sports bikes were sold state side. id love to have a rvf400rr ... specially were i live its summer 7 months out the year ;)

truth be told, getting a license here in the states is way too easy. basically you drive around a parking lot, avoid some cones, and stop quickly. then you turn your blinker on, toot the horn, and get your license. it no wonder that bikers have such a horrible reputation for being irresponsible and why most ppl believe that bikes are death machines waiting to kill you.

my bike, (1988 cbr600f1) costs me $268 per year for liability only. basically what gets it legal for the street. i travel 42 miles one way for my commute, i do that 5 times a week. i average like 400 miles per week total. i only spend about 25-30 dollars a week in gas. (at 3.00 dollars a gallon.) we have a tag tax, mine is about $40ish, per year.

its wierd, cuz here we have the privilage to buy a zx10 on our 16th birthday, and since i work at a dealership, i have seen it done. i still ride a 600, an old one at that, and i think its plenty of bike for the street. if only yamaha made an r4...

i wish our license set up was like how it is over in europe.

zx10 at 16? Boy, his parents were keen to get rid of him. :lol: I think that on the whole the UK setup makes more sense than the US one, license-wise. Unfortunately it's all going to get to the point where the restrictions are so huge that people will be turned off bikes completely which would be a massive shame.

i wish the 400cc sports bikes were sold state side. id love to have a rvf400rr ... specially were i live its summer 7 months out the year

Yeah yeah. :P 400cc sports bikes are common as muck in the UK as a result of the 33bhp restriction for under 21s. Very nice bikes they are too. People buy restrictor kits for them and then they 'fall out' shortly after. ;)

yeah, a lot of ppl have more money than sense here. we try to be more of an upscale dealership, and as such, we get the "better off" type of crowd, which is more interested in cruisers, and the occasional mom and pop with too much money. i would love to have a zrx 400 or rvf 400...33 hp or not. a nice 60 hp would be the shiznit...

exactly, you dont need a 150hp superbike to kill yourself on ;) though, a 600cc might be better here with all those idoits drivers. im not sure 60hp would be enough for one to get up to speed quick enough. though, with proper manipulation, my barelly 100hp, 9 year old cavy will move :lol:

exactly, you dont need a 150hp superbike to kill yourself on ;) though, a 600cc might be better here with all those idoits drivers. im not sure 60hp would be enough for one to get up to speed quick enough. though, with proper manipulation, my barelly 100hp, 9 year old cavy will move :lol:


i dont know, 60hp will get you to 60 in 4 seconds on most sporty bikes. an fzr 400 will do 0-60 in about 5.5 seconds, and that is roughly 55hp on a good day... i think plenty quick for the street. although, if you get in trouble, its like...click, blip click, click...wide open...wipe sweat off forehead.

I think 60bhp is certainly enough to keep you out of trouble. I mean my SV's 70 in theory and although occasionally it would be nice to have a bit more grunt it is generally more than enough to get by. That doesn't mean I wouldn't prefer to have 40 odd more though. :lol:

yeah i see what you mean...really, i was looking at buying an FZ1, an '06 model...i built on out of the crate a little while ago at work, and man is it sexy. that and 150 hp...probably like 130 or so at the wheel. yeah, its nice to have a lot of power like that, but what i think works really well for the street is the torque that a 1000 or bigger has. on my lazy old 600, i have to down shift from 6th to 3rd just to pass a few cars...on a two lane road. i took a zx 12 out about a month ago, and holy shyte, i nailed it on the onramp to I-75, and where the pavement changes from concrete to blacktop it gave me a nasty tankslapper at ~100mph. funny thing is, i dont need the 180 hp or so, but its nice to pass traffic without downshifting.