DJ-RK
Well-known member
Hey folks. Thought I'd turn to the community for some feedback on an upgrade decision I'm considering.
I'm currently the proud owner of a 2012 CBR250RA. Purchased her brand new from the dealership last year at the end of July. First bike, or rather, first ANYTHING (never owned a car before). Strangely, I'm not overly attached, I think partially because the CBR250 lacks character and is fairly common to find about, but at the same time I don't feel the need that I absolutely must move up to a bigger bike anytime soon, and have considered just keeping her until I at least get my full M. She's mostly used as a commuter between my home in the beaches and my work in d/t (although, as I'm sure some of you can probably relate, I'm considering going back to commuting on my good ol' bicycle to avoid dealing with the traffic and get more exercise) and getting around town on errands, but occasionally get out on the weekends for some pleasure rides. Just reached 6K on the meter in total and have had no issues/loved every moment (except those 3 hours stuck in a complete standstill on the 401
).
The option that's recently become available to me is buy a Ducati 748 from my buddy. I have yet to get all the specifics off him (year, KM's, etc) and check it out in person. He showed me a video of it running and has been honest that it's been sitting for a while so needs a little bit of work, but nothing major (and I do trust him to be completely honest, although there certainly is the possibility that there could be more issues than he's simply aware of). He offered it to me at a price that if I were to sell my CBR it would pretty much be an even trade (even including the cost of parts that I'll need to put into it).
I did an online quote with my insurance provider to see what that would run me, and it would be about 30-40% more than what I paid for my first year of insurance on the 250 (and I've had a clean driving record, so I would assume that my rate on the 250 should be lowering if I were to keep it and renew my policy on that, so the insurance on the Ducati might really be closer to almost double!), which is substantial, but not to the point that it would be a deal breaker.
I've already read up on the bike, and that it's apparently a nightmare to ride in city traffic (which, currently, 75% of my riding consists of), but the joy of being able to open it up supposedly more than makes up for it. It's apparently high maintenance, nowhere near as good on gas, and of course, it's a 15 yr old bike. Clearly, all my sense of reason is telling don't do it, but I don't think I need to explain to anyone here the little kid inside me screaming "BRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP." Also, I know there's the concern that I'm only just coming up on the end of my first year of riding, so moving up to a bigger bike too soon can be a concern for my own safety, but I'm fairly confident in saying that I've got a very solid feel for riding on my CBR so I like to think that I'd be ok to move up to a bigger bike as long as I knew to take it slow in the beginning.
Obviously will depend on condition and KM's, but lets say for the sake of it, it's a yr 2000 model with 15K on the meter. If that were the case, would any of you consider this a good decision?
I'm currently the proud owner of a 2012 CBR250RA. Purchased her brand new from the dealership last year at the end of July. First bike, or rather, first ANYTHING (never owned a car before). Strangely, I'm not overly attached, I think partially because the CBR250 lacks character and is fairly common to find about, but at the same time I don't feel the need that I absolutely must move up to a bigger bike anytime soon, and have considered just keeping her until I at least get my full M. She's mostly used as a commuter between my home in the beaches and my work in d/t (although, as I'm sure some of you can probably relate, I'm considering going back to commuting on my good ol' bicycle to avoid dealing with the traffic and get more exercise) and getting around town on errands, but occasionally get out on the weekends for some pleasure rides. Just reached 6K on the meter in total and have had no issues/loved every moment (except those 3 hours stuck in a complete standstill on the 401
).The option that's recently become available to me is buy a Ducati 748 from my buddy. I have yet to get all the specifics off him (year, KM's, etc) and check it out in person. He showed me a video of it running and has been honest that it's been sitting for a while so needs a little bit of work, but nothing major (and I do trust him to be completely honest, although there certainly is the possibility that there could be more issues than he's simply aware of). He offered it to me at a price that if I were to sell my CBR it would pretty much be an even trade (even including the cost of parts that I'll need to put into it).
I did an online quote with my insurance provider to see what that would run me, and it would be about 30-40% more than what I paid for my first year of insurance on the 250 (and I've had a clean driving record, so I would assume that my rate on the 250 should be lowering if I were to keep it and renew my policy on that, so the insurance on the Ducati might really be closer to almost double!), which is substantial, but not to the point that it would be a deal breaker.
I've already read up on the bike, and that it's apparently a nightmare to ride in city traffic (which, currently, 75% of my riding consists of), but the joy of being able to open it up supposedly more than makes up for it. It's apparently high maintenance, nowhere near as good on gas, and of course, it's a 15 yr old bike. Clearly, all my sense of reason is telling don't do it, but I don't think I need to explain to anyone here the little kid inside me screaming "BRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP." Also, I know there's the concern that I'm only just coming up on the end of my first year of riding, so moving up to a bigger bike too soon can be a concern for my own safety, but I'm fairly confident in saying that I've got a very solid feel for riding on my CBR so I like to think that I'd be ok to move up to a bigger bike as long as I knew to take it slow in the beginning.
Obviously will depend on condition and KM's, but lets say for the sake of it, it's a yr 2000 model with 15K on the meter. If that were the case, would any of you consider this a good decision?
