Which uk learner legal classic bike should I buy? and where do you get them cheapest?

Question

I am looking to buy a bike that is learner legal in the uk. The only problems are that 125's seem to be ridiculously expensive for what you get and thre don't seem to be as many around as there should be. I was hoping for something with a little more class than a chinese copy of a japanese copy of a british bike. And so I was thinking classic british, which seem to be even dearer and rarer. I am in glasgow and have been looking on ebay, bike trader, gumtree, adtrader and can't find anything. So I am looking for advice on

Which classic bikes are learner legal?

Which would be recomended?

Where are they sold?

How do I get a cheap example?

I am OK with the spanners so as long as it is around MOT standard I would be happy. Would be looking to spend 300 - 500.

If you can buy a car with remnants of mot and tax for 100 why can't I find a bike?

Answer 1

the reason why 125 cc bikes are so expensive is because there are always people looking to buy them second hand. They tend to hold their prices very well, unlike larger bikes. Because bikes are easy to repair compared to cars (simply because there is less that can go wrong) they have a much longer lifespan.

Any bike that is 125 cc is legal.

I would recommend a big brand bike, like a Honda, Yamaha, etc as if you buy a less popular bike you will struggle to get parts. The build quality is also an issue and bikes like Honda have excellent build quality.

Because riding schools go through a lot of bikes, then carefully check any bike's previous owners as any bike coming from a riding school will have taken a lot of abuse.

I must admit, I bought both my bikes through friends. I would avoid ebay like the plague as generally the only bikes that end up there are horrendously expensive or total rubbish. Probably your local papers are the best bet or Autotrader.

Getting a cheap bike will not be easy as demand is high. A lot of people think like you do. However with the summer coming to an end, you may find there are more bikes for sale as people are put of by the bad weather.

If a bike is at MOT standard, then I'm afraid that there is very little else that needs done to it so the price will be high. Basically a lot of people will run a bike until here is little chance of it passing an MOT by which stage it is probably beyond saving. People will trade their 125 bike sin when they pass their test and upgrade, but because there is still a lot of demand, these bikes are usually sold quickly.

One place you could check are police auctions. I think there is an auction house close to Glasgow that deals with it, and it is possible you could find one there.