Grover
Saturn V Misfire
Im looking at buying a motorbike soon, and have narrowed my choice down to 3 choices:
1) a Keeway Speed, which is overall the best bike here, but costs £2800 (plus fuel and tax) over two years (this price is the bike itself (paid for over two years) and the insurance premiums for two full years. servicing costs are of little concern, since they will be the same for every bike (roughly) and it has a 2 year warranty
2) a Sym XS125, which is similar to the Speed, but not quite as nice, the Speed is about £600 better, but this bike has cheaper insurance and a longer warranty, having 3 year warranty, and only costing £2500 over two years (plus fuel and tax). i really prefer the Keeway, but the practical side of things shines on this paticular model
ending the brand new bikes:
3) a used Kymco Pulsar LX, which is even cheaper than both of these, but has no warranty, and these Kymcos are known for having poor build quality, and rusting quickly, becoming far less valuable, and more expensive to run (maintenance costs and spare parts)
now, between the first two (since ive almost discredited the used bike now), the Keeway is better in every way, its more powerful, has more torque, is lighter, and is a more rider-friendly bike, since it has a gear indicator whereas the Sym doesnt )and i feel that a gear indicator will be very important to a new rider), but only costs another £300 over two years, with the expense of having a years less warranty, so you basically trade a years warranty and £300 to have a much better bike.
and the kymco requires to be bought outright, whereas both new bikes have 0% interest credit, so i pay for them monthly over two years (each is £50 and £47 per month respectivley)
now, money is rather tight for me, but all of these are affordable for all the forseen, any unforseen costs will make the assumptions on price invalid, which is why the used Kymco has been almost discredited already, since buying parts will probably be VERY expensive. the two year mark is the lifetime of most parts on the bike, and i feel that i would spend far more money on this bike
my final consideration is that i will be doing an incredible amount of miles on these bikes. my university (college if your'e an american reading this) course demands a 30 mile round trip 3 days a week (will become 2 days next year), and my work requires a 17 mile round trip 2 days a week (though overtime will cost another 17 miles per day of overtime). this means that over a year, assuming that i have 26 weeks of university, and work two days a week, i will do at least 4,100 miles per year, possibly 5000 including my social and domestic usage, which is quite a long way (i could do from the north-west of england to cape canaveral with my annual mileage, excluding social use)
what do you guys think? my decision now is about 60% keeway Speed, 35% Sym XS and 5% Kymco, but lest see what you guys think, better yet,i just decided to do a poll on this thread as well, please read my post before voting!
---------- Post added at 08:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:46 PM ----------
ok, some info:
ive voted for the Keeway, because its my favourite so far, and i should hold some sway in my own argument
ill just re-iterate that the keeway's specifications are better all round by almost 10%, thats in terms of power (bhp), torque (Nm), weight (its lighter) style (by opinion) and functionality (by opinion, since it seems more rider friendly with its gear indicator)
1) a Keeway Speed, which is overall the best bike here, but costs £2800 (plus fuel and tax) over two years (this price is the bike itself (paid for over two years) and the insurance premiums for two full years. servicing costs are of little concern, since they will be the same for every bike (roughly) and it has a 2 year warranty
2) a Sym XS125, which is similar to the Speed, but not quite as nice, the Speed is about £600 better, but this bike has cheaper insurance and a longer warranty, having 3 year warranty, and only costing £2500 over two years (plus fuel and tax). i really prefer the Keeway, but the practical side of things shines on this paticular model
ending the brand new bikes:
3) a used Kymco Pulsar LX, which is even cheaper than both of these, but has no warranty, and these Kymcos are known for having poor build quality, and rusting quickly, becoming far less valuable, and more expensive to run (maintenance costs and spare parts)
now, between the first two (since ive almost discredited the used bike now), the Keeway is better in every way, its more powerful, has more torque, is lighter, and is a more rider-friendly bike, since it has a gear indicator whereas the Sym doesnt )and i feel that a gear indicator will be very important to a new rider), but only costs another £300 over two years, with the expense of having a years less warranty, so you basically trade a years warranty and £300 to have a much better bike.
and the kymco requires to be bought outright, whereas both new bikes have 0% interest credit, so i pay for them monthly over two years (each is £50 and £47 per month respectivley)
now, money is rather tight for me, but all of these are affordable for all the forseen, any unforseen costs will make the assumptions on price invalid, which is why the used Kymco has been almost discredited already, since buying parts will probably be VERY expensive. the two year mark is the lifetime of most parts on the bike, and i feel that i would spend far more money on this bike
my final consideration is that i will be doing an incredible amount of miles on these bikes. my university (college if your'e an american reading this) course demands a 30 mile round trip 3 days a week (will become 2 days next year), and my work requires a 17 mile round trip 2 days a week (though overtime will cost another 17 miles per day of overtime). this means that over a year, assuming that i have 26 weeks of university, and work two days a week, i will do at least 4,100 miles per year, possibly 5000 including my social and domestic usage, which is quite a long way (i could do from the north-west of england to cape canaveral with my annual mileage, excluding social use)
what do you guys think? my decision now is about 60% keeway Speed, 35% Sym XS and 5% Kymco, but lest see what you guys think, better yet,i just decided to do a poll on this thread as well, please read my post before voting!
---------- Post added at 08:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:46 PM ----------
ok, some info:
ive voted for the Keeway, because its my favourite so far, and i should hold some sway in my own argument
ill just re-iterate that the keeway's specifications are better all round by almost 10%, thats in terms of power (bhp), torque (Nm), weight (its lighter) style (by opinion) and functionality (by opinion, since it seems more rider friendly with its gear indicator)
