Morning all, it’s been a little while! 18 months ago I sold my 09 Blade for financial reasons and have been bike-less (and miserable!!) ever since. I will shortly be starting a new job in London and as commuting by bike would be both cheaper and quicker than the train; the other half is on board with me getting another bike (YAYAYAYAYAY!!!). I live in Suffolk so this would be a 140 mile daily round trip, and I would do it 3-4 days per week, 6-7 months per year…..so potentially 15,000 miles per year. The only riding I ever get to do is the commute, so buying a cheap hack defeats the point for me. Yes half the journey will be motorway & central London boring, but the other half will be amazing Suffolk roads. The first and last 40 mins of my working day will be burning a Blade round some of the best roads in the country, which would make it all worth it. Budget is going to be about £4k-£4.5 so maybe high mile 06-07 or lower mile 04-05. The question is really whether it’s worth paying the extra for a low mile bike when I’m then going to rack up the miles and kill the value I’ve paid for…….or if the low miler is worth the investment given how much I’m going to use it?
More importantly Mattie, I hope you've got somewhere secure to park it in Central London! If it's parked in the street a nice looking sportsbike will draw the attention of thieving scumbags.
Yeah, if it's been well looked after with a load of stamps in the book, and is garaged and not ridden in the wet then you will pick up a great 06/07 possibly even an 08 with higher mileage. Best bet would be to go see a few, and judge the owner as well as the bike itself. Good luck.
You say that but it does say strictly no offers in the ad I commute 300 miles a week, I got an 05 with just shy of 12k, documented service history is sketchy however the engine sounded good when I turned up to view it. Done about 3 weeks on it now about 1k and I'm happy with my choice Going to service it myself soon (when some bobbins arrive that'll actually let it fit on the paddock stand I have) and then plan in for the 16k service at Honda with the valve adjustments or whatever next year.
Buying used is always a bit of a gamble so do your homework first. Seen some low mileage dogs and some high mileage minters so don't go off mileage alone. I'm surprised at the amounts these are still fetching. I got a mint RR5 2 years ago from a dealer with just 10K on the clock and it had plenty of extras on too such as an Akrapovic can and PC 3 for £4100. 12K later I'm still very happy with it but may trade it in at the end of the year if I can afford to do so as it will be pushing 30k by then. Still lowish miles for a well looked after blade though.
Cheers for the all suggestions and thoughts. The idea of getting another 08> is very tempting, it was my favourite bike ever. I start the job in May, so want to confirm the parking situation then hopefully will be back on two wheels
