Bungleaio

You should do it, there will be 2 of us then.

I get your analogy but you don't need to achieve the ultimate dream from the start. I'm not saying that you need to get a slow bike but as you're looking for your first bike whateer you get will be special. Even if you only keep it for 6 months it will be 6 months of valuable experience. That said if you can afford to go for the top from the start then why not go for it. The bike will only go as fast as you make it. This is a good read for an example of not doing anything sensible. Learning to ride so you can buy a Desmo is a bonkers plan but this guy did it - https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=74&t=1348262&i=0

You say you are 6"4 but where's your height? I'm 6"3 but I only have 32 inch inside leg, my height is in the torso, it makes a difference to what bike you might look at. You're a bit like me and are coming to biking late and are presumably doing it just for the fun of it rather than for necessary transport. I know you've said you only want to do hour long rides but don't rule out going out for full days, weekends or full weeks away. It's very addictive. I wouldn't get too hung up on what bike to buy at the moment, just buy something that will do the job and give you experience whilst you actually work out what sort of bike you really want. The MT07 will do this very well and should fit you fairly well too. one from 2017/18 should be fairly cheap to buy and not lose much money over 12 months, I had an MT07 for my 1st bike but I soon changed to a Triumph Street Triple RS, nothing wrong with the MT07 but I got offered a deal on the Street that I couldn't turn down. I covered 14k miles on that in 18 months, as fantastic as it was it was just too small for me. I have since moved on to bigger bikes which fit me so much better, they are just as thrilling to ride and I don't have to fold myself up to ride them. The visual appeal is something I understand but you can't see it when you're riding it and the riding is the whole point of passing your test. Don't spoil your enjoyment of riding just to get a pretty bike, plus in 12 months time you might find that what you want to do on a bike is not what you think you want now. If you want something good to look at just get some sort of sports bike to look at in the garage but don't try and ride it as it'll be as uncomfortable as hell.

I did it about 6 months after passing my test and it was good, my original instructor did it and it was about £60 I think, the rest of it was paid for by the council as part of a road safety incentive. It was recognised for a discount by my insurer. If you signed up with the IAM then you've already paid for the test, why not take it? I've done very well from being a member of the IAM through their associated discount schemes.

No maintenance or seats coming off for me today but I did do a nice 230 miles around the peak district.

I have indeed had the seat off but it was just to adjust the height rather for maintenance reasons. The key only releases the pillion seat which then reveals a leaver to release the main seat. There’s also the complications of the wiring as both seats are heated. It is a quite exciting process.

I'm hoping for it to be a while until I buy a new bike but it works be great to have a spotter. The tiger is lovely to ride and has enough power for me, I need to get it all run in but I think it will be a very worthy successor to the GS.

It's the 1200 gt Explorer, GS went in February with the plan of getting the new model GS when it's announced but the plan went out the window when I tried the tiger. I also tried the multistrader v4s which was fantastic but I couldn't justify the cost and the fuel range was too much of a compromise/inconvenience when touring.

It was a close call between this and the Multistrada V4S, the head overruled the heart though as the compromise of cost and fuel range on the multi were just too big to ignore. The Tiger is far from a poor 2nd choice though. I've been out on it this morning and it's a lovely thing to ride.

New bike day for me. I took it back to where it was made even though it only left there on Thursday

I couldn't fit my beet on a Tracer 9 GT, I kept catching the pillion pegs. They may have revised it now. Having a new license you may not be given the option of test riding so I wouldnt spend too much just in case you don't like it.

I've never ridden a 125 on the road, my only experience was the carpark element of the CBT, the road section I did on an MT07.

You can cook next time we go to Germany then!

For breakfast I'll do a fry up or take a pot of ready to heat up porridge. Rice or pasta is dead easy to do mixed with something out of a tin thats heated up for a meal later in the day. I have a fire pit that I can also cook burgers and sausage on if required. Often I'll just eat in a restaurant, it just depends on how remote the camp site is but I enjoy cooking something up. Photos are from easter weekend. I've got a really compact pan set which takes up very little room but is really versatile. https://www.seatosummit.co.uk/products/camp-kitchen/x-set-32/

It's all about the practice but the bike will do it easily just keep looking into the distance, the revs up and the clutch slipping. I really struggled with the U turn, my instructor said to me you're shit and there's no point you going for the test. I told him to f**k off and nailed it 1st time.

When people who dont ride say to me "I bet it saves loads of time by having a bike ", my response is always the same. The time on the bike is a lot quicker than the car but the faff of getting dressed and undressed at either end means the car is probably quicker.

For when you have far too much to spend on touratech stuff.

Well I am looking forward to September regardless of what has been said in here.

A harsh fail but at least it's something you can easily avoid doing next time. I hope you don't have to wait too long for the retest.

google maps will direct you too.

Is it me or does this thread make no sense

I'm a big advocate of advanced training either iam or rospa. I went the iam route and ended up doing the car version too. IAM has some awesome partnership deals too, I saved a fortune on my GS and Mini with BMW, almost £10k

I've been though a claim with 4th Dimension and the bike came back immaculate, it looked better then when I bought it (2nd hand). I tend to take reviews on line with a pinch of salt. Companies like 4d are huge and they handle a lot of claims so they are bound to have things go wrong. People who are involved with things that go wrong are annoyed so look to vent any way they can and poor reviews get left. Whereas people who are happy tend to ignore the option to leave a review, I know I'm guilty of it. I'm sure you'll be fine.

I've never actually rode a 125 on the road, I struggled with the car park element of the cbt as it was like riding a kids bike. The instructor let me ride an mt07 for the road element which was way easier to ride. I'd say sack the riding a 125 around for a bit idea off and go straight into DAS after the cbt. As long as you're sensible rather than lairy you'll be fine