First Bike

Welcome from rainy Seattle!!!

I suggest you take a safety course and learn the basics to start with. You will probably hear that a lot here. We are big on safety.

I just took up riding again and was also looking at 70's Hondas, CB's and CM's mostly. Ultimately I went with a modern classic Triumph Scrambler, as I wanted the dependability of a newer bike, and the disc brakes. Some of the old Hondas do have disc brakes, some do not.

Where are you exactly? If you are in the PNW I have a friend that is selling a 1970 (I think) CB450. It's pretty clean but has not been restored so needs some work. I think he was asking $1000 for it, and I am certain cash would talk.

arth2020 said:

I enjoy vintage things and like working on machines, so its age would be no problem.

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I don't doubt that, but finding parts for 40+ year old motorcycles can sometimes be challenging, so it'll be in the garage if you have to wait for parts.

Thanks for the advice, Fiskenmorder. I will certainly take a safety course. I'm located in Vancouver, so we both have to deal with lots of rain. The 125 I was looking at had front disk and rear drum brakes, as was the same for most model years. As for the CB450, I appreciate the lead but I should be able to find that bike in my town, no need to go down to Seattle to pick it up.

I'm not really interested in paying more than $2500 CAD for a bike, so I'm fairly sure a new one won't fit my needs. Aside from dependability, can you see any other issues with the CB 125?

Thanks!

Xt600 mate, look it up
Perfect for med/short journies and it will take you everywere.
Maintain it well and it will last a lifetime, especially the older ones -00 and so on.

arth2020 said:

Thanks for the advice, Fiskenmorder. I will certainly take a safety course. I'm located in Vancouver, so we both have to deal with lots of rain. The 125 I was looking at had front disk and rear drum brakes, as was the same for most model years. As for the CB450, I appreciate the lead but I should be able to find that bike in my town, no need to go down to Seattle to pick it up.

I'm not really interested in paying more than $2500 CAD for a bike, so I'm fairly sure a new one won't fit my needs. Aside from dependability, can you see any other issues with the CB 125?

Thanks!

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I don't think you will have dependability issues with a CB125, for the most part, so long as you can get it in good running order to begin with. The big concern people have with a new rider on an old bike is that often times the old bike isn't running right, the clutch is a little wonky, the shifter sometimes gets hung up on 3rd gear, the throttle sticks occasionally...and now instead of concentrating on your ride, you are fiddling around with your controls. If everything is in great working condition on it, that CB125 is a great starter bike.

Fiskenmorder said:

If everything is in great working condition on it, that CB125 is a great starter bike.

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Got it, I'm not really in a rush to buy a bike, so I'll wait until a quality example comes up for sale. Thanks for the good advice.

hey, arth

i am in the vancouver area. from what i have seen, honda 250cc rebels seem to have asking prices between $2000 and $2500 in our market, and i would expect to pay a bit less after labour day. the 250 would enable you to use the freeway if you needed to and parts shouldn't be a problem. the cb125 is as sweet-looking as the day is long but, as someone who has some experience owning a 45 year-old bike i will agree with what has already been said regarding the availability of parts. if having it down while waiting for parts isn't an issue for you then go for the cb125.

I have to agree with Joeasaki73. A 250 Rebel is a great starter bike that combines Honda reliability with modern safety and electrical updates and easily available parts. And when Fall gets here you can find very good deals on them.

Great, thanks for the advice Jag and Joe. I don't mind having some downtime, as I'm just getting into the hobby this will be more of a "feeler" bike. I appreciate the 250 rebel, but honestly, I'm not looking for something so sporty as that. I'm more in the market for a basic commuter and town runner. While I'm sure the 250 would be a great bike, I'd rather go for the most basic bike to suit my needs.

Thanks!

safety and size

arth2020 said:

Hi There,

I'm new to this forum and to motorcycling in general, so I was hoping for some advice. It's time for me to get my first motorcycle. Here are some facts:

1. I'll be using this mainly for getting to school and to town. Therefore, I do not need a high-speed bike and would like to have some sort of storage space (panniers, boxes, etc.)

2. I've been riding a bicycle my whole life to get around, so I'm quite familiar with riding a small, unprotected vehicle in traffic.

3. I live in a rainy city. I'm fine with wearing raingear, but I'm not sure about safety on the bike I'm going to suggest.

Those are the main points. I thought a 70's CB125 would be a great starter bike. I enjoy vintage things and like working on machines, so its age would be no problem. Again, the low CC's are fine with me, I don't need to go quickly.

Thanks for any advice!

Arthur

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What was said about the safety course is number 1. Most of the courses I've seen use 250 cc bikes for their trainers. By all means, take the course before you buy a bike. Assuming you'll complete the course and decide to continue with riding, low CCs and lack of speed are not the only issues. I suspect if you are over 5-1/2 feet and 140 lbs you will outgrow a 125cc street bike almost immediately. You didn't mention your age or size so I thought I'd throw out those factors for consideration. While the 125cc (unless it's a dirt bike) low speed might not be a consideration normally, it might not have enough oomf to get you away from a bad situtation involving cars. Good luck and be safe.

arth2020 said:

Great, thanks for the advice Jag and Joe. I don't mind having some downtime, as I'm just getting into the hobby this will be more of a "feeler" bike. I appreciate the 250 rebel, but honestly, I'm not looking for something so sporty as that. I'm more in the market for a basic commuter and town runner. While I'm sure the 250 would be a great bike, I'd rather go for the most basic bike to suit my needs.

Thanks!

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I would not consider the Rebel a Sporty Ride .. But is an excellent beginner ride with great reliability and excellent for what you asking for in a First Ride ..

Quote from Fiskenmorder, "If everything is in great working condition on it, that CB125 is a great starter bike" unquote.

Hello Arth2020,

Fiskens is right as I had a Honda SL-125, a great starter bike, but NOT for the hi-way. I rode all over with that bike
from Attleboro, Taunton, Rehoboth East Providence R.I. never needed the Hi-way because even main roads were good for up
to 50 -55 mph, this was an on/off road bike with knobby's headlight, horn, tail and brake-light, I would imagine the CB125
would have direction signals. That SL-125 would do an easy 60. Right now what ya need is getting out there, learning good
positioning to see down the road more, dressing to be conspicuous and after you get your license, keep yourself educated on
riding a motorcycle, on a smaller bike, it will be much easier for you to do off-set cone weaves and u-turns. Being SERIOUS
about safety, you'll be riding a long time.

As always my advice it to get a dual purpose bike and get it in the dirt to learn to ride. When I say learn to ride I don't mean holding it up and staying between the lines. Off road riding requires a connection between you and the bike on a continuous basis that is more in line with the connection needed during "Oh, [email protected]!t" moments on the street. You'll pick up skills in weeks on the dirt it would take years (or never) to acquire on the street. Off road you are constantly feeling/testing your connection to the earth, turning, accelerating, weight shifting, up shifting, down shifting, clutching, braking, etc. It is also great for excitement, adrenaline injection, and high pucker factor response.

I started (in June lol) on a Buell Blast 500 (single) and a Honda Rebel 250. People warned me that I'd grow out of the Rebel fast and they were right. The Rebel was a fun bike for all of a month.....then it just felt like it was limiting my growth as a rider.

The good thing is that 2nd gen Rebels are pretty much near the bottom of their depreciation curves and so long as you keep it in the same condition you bought it, you could sell it for about what you paid for it. I paid $600 for my Rebel then sold it for $600 two thousand miles later.

If you don't mind the whole selling process once you grow out of it, the Rebel is a spectacular first bike. The bright coloured ones also turn a lot of heads.