r/MotoUK

Hey guys!

Amateur here looking for some advice from riders who’ve been through this step.

Background

Female, late 20s, 5’8

Just finished my full licence

Been riding a 125 for the past 3 years

Comfortable on two wheels since young

Feel ready to step up to my first proper big bike

Riding style

- Mostly for commuting, city use, a lot of A roads

- Love a sports bike with big presence (for example the CBR 600RR feels too skinny for me, love the feel of litre bikes but the power is unattractive)

Current shortlist

Suzuki GSX-R600 K3

Suzuki GSX-R750 K5

My questions:

- Is the 750 too big of a jump from a 125 in terms of power and throttle control, or does it become manageable pretty quickly

- Or Would starting on the 600 be the smarter and more enjoyable move, or is the 750 just more fun and satisfying long term

Money side of things

Insurance isn’t an issue

The 600 is cheaper by 1k in insurance and purchase cost

But part of me wonders if it’s better to spend the extra now on the 750

Especially if it means keeping the bike longer and avoiding the urge to upgrade again soon

Appreciate your perspectives as always! Love this forum.

For me, I always get people moving to the left along the bypass so I can pass them, even when they are at the speed limit. My little 50 simply does not have the capacity but its always a nice gesture to see.

Another is waving through filtering bikes past junctions they cant see are clear, and simply moving to the left when you are filtering.

Was just wondering what small things you guys have picked up on from cars that makes you assume they were/are bikers?

Any recommendations for thermal options specifically designed to keep the old fella warm on a cold morning?

Put up my CB125f bike this weekend for sale. It’s in immaculate condition with only 1000 miles on the clock and only 1.5 years old.

A man with 2 Facebook friends messaged me asking if he can come look 1 hour after I put it up. I messaged him and asked for more information as his name seemed fake on Facebook and he only had 2 friends.

Anyway he messaged back stating his real name and he only uses Facebook for social groups as he’s quite an oldish man. Anyway, after a few messages he actually came across as genuine. I gave him my address and sure enough a little later he arrived.

He was a fantastic older man who said he has a 3 year old one of these bikes but it has been vandalised and he’s after another one as he loves them. He was a really nice bloke and we talked for about 40 mins.

Anyway…..he looked at the bike and just said it was a beauty, asked for my bank details before even asking me to start the bike. I then showed him the bike started before giving him any details . He said that’s fine, didn’t really sit on the bike or anything. He then transferred me the value of the bike (£2400). It hit my account and I was suprised he seemed to have so much trust.

But then what surprised me more is he then said can he come back for the bike later in the week as he only has him and he needs to repair his trailer to pick the bike up.

I agreed and said that’s fine and he said he will be in contact with me to let me know a day.

The thing is , it’s been 24 hours and I’ve heard nothing else from him. At the moment I have the bike, all the paperwork, the bikes still in my name, and the money he’s transferred me . And all this to just wait to hear from him at some point in the week.

He was genuinely a lovely bloke, but I can’t help but feel this seems really weird.

Is it weird or is the guy just very trusting? And luckily I’m also trusting so will follow his wishes with keeping hold of the bike and just hope he picks the bike up in the next few days.

Any thoughts?

London riders, what’s the actual rule in real life with putting your bike on the pavement for a short stop? Or pushing it into the pavement for a photo.

Not asking for the strict legal answer, I mean what people actually do in London.

I’m thinking stuff like:

• stopping for 2 mins
• popping into a shop
• leaving it for 30–60 mins while going to a cafe or restaurant, or taking photos of the bike

If it’s properly out of the way and not blocking anyone, do people generally see that as fine, or is it still a hard no?

And realistically, how likely are you to actually get a ticket/fine for that in London?

Just trying to understand the real-life etiquette, not the textbook answer.

I did 2 days of CBT on a manual and then ended up passing it on an automatic. Instructor recommended to finish it on automatic to just get my CBT and finish getting used to manual in my own time instead of spending more money to keep going at the CBT with a manual especially as any mistakes I was doing I knew the mistake I was doing and correcting it so he didn't see the reason for me to keep paying to just have him not have to tell me how to fix the mistakes as I knew what went wrong.

I got everything down with a manual and could shift between 1st and 2nd while moving but was shaky with the U-Turn especially, and was just not to a good enough standard to finish CBT on.

So I was thinking of picking up my 125cc manual and going to the nearby car park when it was quiet (it's only 3 mins away) and practicing there and on quiet roads during later at night/early morning, would you lot say that's sensible or should I just keep with an automatic scooter as I do really wanna ride manual.

Hi everyone,

I’m having a bit of a nightmare tryinf to get some appropriately sized gloves for my wife so am looking for some advice on gloves for really small hands.

We got a set of triumph XXS ones that, according to their sizing chart, should have been a good fit but in reality they were massively too big. In the past with mountain biking gloves we’ve had to resort to buying children’s gloves instead.

Anyone got a good recommendations for brands available in the U.K. that are true to their sizing charts? Her palm circumference is about 17.5cm(6.9 inches) and hand length is 16cm(6.3 inches).

Any help or recommendations are much appreciated, it’s always a pain getting hold of gloves and shoes like this for her and she understandably gets pretty frustrated as her size is very poorly catered to.

Thanks in advance!

Nervous as hell and tying myself in knots over the most silly things. 2 years experience on a CBT, so very conscious of bad habits and being complacent etc.

Looking to get a new bike, I've had my R6 (1999) since 2013, a lot has changed since I got it and and a lot has changed since it was new.

I really don't know what I want MT09, street triple, speed triple, The list goes on. What are people thoughts on requesting demos of multiple bikes knowing that you might end up just hating it and wasting their time?

Really i just want to find out which one I like and go from there 🤔

I will hopefully gain my a2 license soon.

I have a 450 fuel injected motocross bike I use for track days

I want to make it into a super moto for riding about in the nice weather.

Common sense says restricting it to the power to weight requirement might not fair well for a motocross bike.

On top of that I don’t know how to go about it.

Any insights or previous experiences would be much appreciated.

Tldr: Young and stupid wants to restrict a kx450f to A2 is it viable/worth and how’d it be done!

Based in South Wales and have my CBT in few days on a geared bike. I have very little experience of riding a bike but that was 10+ years ago. Plan is to complete CBT and go for DAS course. Any tips on how to best prepare for the CBT test?

I've always been paranoid about my hearing. Only been to one concert (wearing earbuds because I didn't know how to make earplugs fit at the time) and that was enough for me. Don't really listen to music at high volumes. My family doesn't have a history of hereditary hearing loss (a few from loud music/noises, though.) So far, I'm not having problems. But obviously I'd rather not let anything develop. I'm also fairly young (early 20s.)

From what I can tell, the biggest factors seem to be ear plugs (by a massive margin), your speed (anything above 40mph being a guarantee), your exhaust, and to some(?) extent the presence of a (tall?) windscreen, wearing a full face helmet, and riding for hours at a time.

I'm planning to get a 125cc. Don't know if I'll ever upgrade it. Honestly I'm pretty terrified of fast speeds and I would rather not ride on motorways if I can help it, so I'm hoping that covers the speed aspect. I'd like to ride on country roads purely for leisure and adventure, so not every day. I also hate loud exhausts, so I'm trying to find a bike that isn't very bothersome. Unfortunately, none of the bikes I've looked at so far seem to do much (if anything) in the windscreen aspect.

I wanna be careful from the get-go to maximise the chance of preserving my hearing for decades.

Is it enough to stick to country roads at a leisurely pace, wear a full-face helmet, and good earplugs to prevent tinnitus? Or will I get it anyway even despite all these protective measures just because I'm a rider? Anything I've missed? Please let me know

Okay so I’ll keep this brief, as mentioned in my previous posts I am currently post CBT and theory tests, both passed first try with not many issues other than figuring out clutch control in a practical aspect - I am sitting on a bike for the first time in my life and I am 22 years old (hence the A2).

Now this, I felt really comfortable and confident during my CBT, shifting gears, steering, clutch control (although I stalled once at a traffic light I realised what I’ve done - release the clutch fully - and corrected myself which my instructor gave me massive credit for) and even tested a tiny amount of counter steering that I watched videos and guides on prior to sitting my test, all made sense to me and although I’m sure I was more janky than I felt, it still felt reasonable and reliable to me based on my skill and experience level (it was more like reading a textbook and attempting things for the first time).

NOW post both of those, idk if I should go forward with my plan to book and sit my A2 course and see how that goes OR buy a 125 cc - I’m looking specifically at the Honda CB125R and almost exclusively this bike - and get some road experience or real life application to the theoretical knowledge I already have. As I’ve mentioned I don’t want to be some speed racer or demon on the road, I want to be safe and get as much experience, miles and safety awareness as I can, I also know myself though and know I learn best in practical application.

I wanted to ask what you all think? Do I invest in the CB125R or save and sit my full A2 then invest in a rebel 500? I’m not rich/wealthy by any means but I’ve been cursed with being raised in London so I know it’ll cost more than it should - and both bikes come out to be roughly the same cost with everything included, I just don’t know what makes more sense. Any advice is appreciated.

I have very wide feet and a high instep and I’m struggling to find any boots that fit. Anyone got any recommendation?

I’ve seen Altberg do extra wide but it’s no returns and a very long drive to go for measurements.

I'm an ATGATT guy, even to the corner shop for milk. I wear a helite air bag and a proper jacket. Both have certified back protection. Is 'doubling up' the back protection providing limited benefit? Sometimes I'd like to pack the vest in the top case and I read a comment last year by a Redditor who had removed the airbag back protection so the vest could be folded into the top case. Obviously I'd keep wearing the vest but would one back protection armour be sufficient?

Built this after getting soaked one too many times on rides I thought

I'd timed around the weather. It's a free web tool — no signup, no ads,

no app to install.

https://ridecast.onrender.com

https://preview.redd.it/wk595gjfwdwg1.png?width=2316&format=png&auto=webp&s=6e8b882b17eb277551200f624646896a64b80c6e

How it works:

- Enter start, end, departure + arrival time

- Add stops (fuel, coffee, lunch) with per-stop duration

- It routes you via OSRM and pulls hourly forecast from Open-Meteo

for every point along the way, at the time you'll actually be there

- Flags rain conflicts on both moving segments and stops

- Play button animates the ride so you can see where weather hits

Useful if you're deciding whether to leave now, in two hours, or

tomorrow morning. Total trip duration stays fixed — it solves for

moving average speed after subtracting your breaks.

Forecast range: 16 days out (Open-Meteo limit).

Happy to hear feedback — especially if the forecast vs reality ever

lines up or diverges badly on a real ride.

Hi all I’m currently on my L’s and riding a CB300R as a daily In Sydney, Australia (NSW) on my working holiday visa from the UK.

I can apply for my red P’s at the start of next month but im wondering if theres any point trying to progress to get my greens and the full licence..?

I’m 22 so under the threshold for the over 25 for skipping the Green P’s, on my first working holiday visa here of the 3 years and I’m gonna need 3 years and 3 months learning.. (3 months L’s, 1 Year Red P’s, 2 years Green P’s).

Am I setting myself up for disappointment? Or is there any way of continuing this once I go back to the UK??

Anyone been in this situation? Kind of feel like im just waiting to be disappointed..