Sad news.

[Captain]

A couple of weeks ago I was involved in an accident. At the roundabout of the North Devon Link Road with J27 of M5, I came to a stop due to other vehicles already on the roundabout. The car behind me stopped, then decided I should go, so drove into the back of me, pushing me forward, dragging my foot along the ground and causing the bike to fall over on top of me.
I'm not ashamed to say I screamed like a schoolgirl.

Fortunately, the only damage done to me is a ripped pair of boots and a swollen ankle (which has now gone down).
The advantage of wearing the proper protective gear, Ladies and Gentlemen.

Anyway, the bike suffered slightly worse. I could see the indicator was smashed, and on my ride home I found the chain was catching on the frame. It looks like the back wheel has been pushed in making the chain go slack.

Anyway, insurance were on the case and took the bike away.
They got back to me today, and have apparently written the bike off

So it looks like I'll be in the market for a new (as in new to me. Happy for other people's cast offs!) bike.

Now, as many of you know, my knowledge of bikes is minimal. I know they go brumm brumm, and.. that's sort of it.

I have use of a Honda NC700, but frankly, I don't like the riding style. It's too upright for my taste.

So go on people. What bike should I be looking at? Are there any makes/models I should be avoiding?

(I'm thinking Sports Tourer style, but then I don't know anything really.)

[cornishredbaron]

hi captain sorry to hear your news , you really need to go ride some different bikes so you know what you want and what it is going to be used for then go get one . I have and 2001 R6 but its a fun thing for me just used to make me smile and boy does it do that , I find it comfortable but I know others would not like it so it down to you decide what you want by trying them out and go from there all the best with your search cheers.

[Dailaughing]

I agree.

Sorry to hear what happened although I am finding the overall standard of awareness of bikes much better than 25 years ago there are always going to be a few idiots.

My daughters bike was written off formally yesterday so she had to decide whether to get the same again or not. She is still only in her first few months and reluctantly went with me to look at a Suzuki Marauder 125 despite being scared by how big and heavy it looked. No way she would have bought it without trying and no way would she let us leave without it once she had! So definitely try a few because what one person likes you may not (I hated it).

I didn't try a few I bought the first one I looked at without even a test ride and don't regret it but after nearly 25 years I just needed a bike of some sort so I would know what I was test riding if I ever go for something nicer. Apart from it being a bit twitchy on the throttle pick up it's turned out to be an excellent bike so maybe I won't even need to look again for a while.

[Andy900]

How about a ZX9R, sporty enough, eats miles.

[Kata]

Get a few test rides at the dealers, find what suits you best. Can't go wrong with a Bandit though.