rabbitstew

Yep, ive had that happen to a couple of my mates before. One broke his arm in 2 places and I had to call the ambulance and wait for him until it arrived. When we are out riding we tend to keep track of the person behind you to make sure they are okay and its not a good feeling when you come around a bend then cant see your mate behind you any more. I remember it being weird when i first started. I was used to push bikes, but on motorbikes you have to lean into the bend and turn the handle bars in the opposite direction it seems. Took me some getting used to! Another thing is that speed doesnt feel the same on a bike as it does in a car. If your doing 100mph on a motorbike it feels like 50mph. If your doing 100mph in a 350z roadster then you know it!

I can count on my hands the number of zeds ive seen on the road over the last year but by far the most common colour ive seen on the road is black. Second is silver, 3rd is azure blue and then a couple of red, gun metal & ive only seen one bronze one and one midnight blue one. Thats one reason I went for the GM one as from what id seen it was more rarer, but not so rare that it was an "acquired taste" like a red, bronze or orange one which may be more difficult to resell. To be honest though I didnt have much choice, there was only 2 313 roadsters for sale within 100miles of where lived. One was a midnight blue one which just looked too boring in that colour, the other was mine.

kin ell that was a bit close! bet there were a lot of brown trousers there...

Thats mad. My mate past his test a few years back and I sold him his first bike which was a Kawasaki ZX6R and his insurance came in at about 600quid. One thing I will say. Back in "the day" when I passed my bike test, nearly everyone`s first bike was a 250cc bike. You rode that for a year or so, then moved "up" to a 600cc, then after a bit longer maybe a 750cc, and then maybe a 1000cc when you`d been riding for years. The other key thing is that back in those days, a 1000cc bike like a Yamaha FZR1000 only produced the same amount of power as a 600cc bike does these days. It amazes me those people these days who pass their tests and jump straight onto a GSXR600 or R6, which is miles quicker than people with years of experience would have a few years back. I guess its not helped by the manufactorers stopping making the 250cc bikes and the 600cc bikes are sort of pitched at as a good entry level bike!!! As someone else said, the bike only goes as fast as you make it. Theres no reason why you cant ride around slowly. Noone forces you to wring its neck. I used to be the only guy out of all my mates who had a motorbike, and one by one they all saw mine and started to pass their tests. What I used to do is to always go out with them for a few months of riding and teach them to ride properly. The key mistake a lot of people make is to try and keep up with a faster more experienced rider, rather than keep up with their own ability. It takes a long time to learn your bikes limits, and more often or not you may have a few crashes. For example, knowing how far you can lean the bike over... you can really lean it over a lot more than you think. Typically you can get the footpeg scraping the road and still have a safety margin. As I said on the other thread, riding a bike makes you 200% aware of your surroundings. You find yourself turning into a mind reader and predicting what other car drivers will do before they have done it. That guy 2 cars ahead who just looked over his left shoulder.. is he going to turn left? Whats to his left? Another car... okay, in that case the car in front is likely to brake suddenly etc. etc. At 30 your plenty young enough to learn to ride a bike. Taking the CBT is a good start. You do it in a day, gives you a little bit of experience on a bike etc. However personally I found I didnt start learning anything until id passed my test and started getting that experience on the road myself. Having a mate whose a biker who can show you the ropes and look out for you would be an excellent help. Even getting a pillion ride on a few bikes can give you a feel for what its like. Feel free to drop me a line if you need any advice on anything.

Very helpful information. I don't have a rip yet but very handy to know +1

Yep, you nearly always get an easier sale for a standard car than a modded one. Ive kept a keen eye on the used prices over the last 6 months or so and what I do notice is that the variation in prices is staggering. With most cars you get a slight variation, but with zeds they seem to go from one extreme to another without any real reason why. You can see the same spec car advertised at anywhere between 10k and 16k depending up on the garage advertising it.

i'm looking to buy a wippet and a flat cap if you know of anyone selling

Hmmmm.... no idea what the socket thing you are talking about is. Hopefully you can manage to get a pic up and we can see. Welcome!!!

Mines fine at 40k, although nearly all of that has been motorway miles and it certainly spent most of its live poodling about rather than being track day`d.

From my experience, the 313 feels a lot smoother and more "revvy" than the older engines. For me its a nicer car to drive, but if you are simply talking about real world "on the road" performance, I would not expect there to be anything much in it at all. In order for a car to be significantly quicker on the road you need quite a big difference in performance.

Which 3 buttons? The early roadsters didnt have the remote stereo controls on the steering wheels - they just had the cruise control buttons if they were the GT pack. But, the later ones, like mine have both the cruise control buttons (2 buttons and a toggle switch), plus the remote stereo controls (4 buttons). They dont have the bluetooth phone buttons however...

Lovely!

That is *very* cheap. As an owner of a 313 roadster ive been keeping a close eye the prices and 2007 models tend to be around £12k with around 35k on the clock. Okay, so that one has a bit higher mileage, and although it has the bonnet bulge its listed as a 296bhp model. (maybe the dealer isnt sure what it is!) The extras on that particular one from new would have been the GT pack (nearly £3k), the metallic paint (£600) and possibly the Rays wheels - although Nissan did seem to put them on a lot of the face lift roadsters as stock. I think theres a thread on here for the differences between normal & facelift. The differences ive noticed are, the front bumper is different, the interior has more alloy trim inside (like around the air con knobs), the ignition switch is illuminated and the centre console bit between the seats is different. The LED rear lights also came in around this sort of time and the dual xenon headlamps. For your money, ive seen 2004 model roadsters for sale recently. So really id go for as new as possible as long as its got a good history.

Lovely! Again, couldnt run it that low where i live. I had problems with my old car grounding all the time and i hadnt even lowered it that much!

If he was that level with you, then he wasn't trying. The TTRS is fast as fook, and I'd do well to keep one honest in the 911. 336bhp, 4.6 0-60. So not hugely more than the 313 zed in the real world. Maybe he wasnt trying, but seems strange that he followed me for 8 miles, waiting for me to put my foot down, then when we did have a bit of fun he wouldnt try. Either way, they are very nice cars and very tuneable. But for £40k you are spoilt for choice really as to what incredible cars you can buy.

With regards to flat batteries, im pleased im not the only one to experience this with car sales men. It happened to me at least 4 times when ive actually phoned the garage up in advance and agreed to come and look at a car (with cash in my pocket) only to find the car has a flat battery. One car actually had a flat battery, flat tyres and was stuck behind about 3 other cars at the back of the forecourt - so no way was I going to be able to easily test drive it. Makes you wonder really how keen some people are to sell their cars.

Im running cosworth filters in mine, but the general consensus was that you will struggle to get anything better than the oem ones.

Good result there!!!!! I may have to get mine done at some point. Mine were done 12 months ago and looked brand new, but I being the perfectionist I am I can see a few little marks on them now. I think whoever did them originally just touched them up with spray rather than strip the original paint down and do it properly.

Indeed - although they're known for being even thirstier than the zed, less reliable and slower. Not the prettiest car either. £2500 is very very cheap though. 90% depreciation in 7 years is pretty horrific though. 90% over 7 years does sound a lot, but I was working out the figures earlier in the week and all the cars ive owned have lost about 40% over 4 years - both my zed and even normal hatchback cars. Have to say im not a fan of the Audi TT, although I had a bit of fun with a brand spanking new TT RS Roadster on the way home from work a few days back and that did look very nice indeed. It was slightly quicker off roundabouts than I was, presumably because they have 4wd and are a fraction quicker 0-60, but from about 30mph upwards we were totally neck and neck. Had a look on the internet when I got back home and they are about £40,000 !!!

Ive done a few bike track days around snetterton and its a cracking track!

£7k is a very good budget and you should be able to get a decent bike for that. Id workout first what sort of riding you will be doing, and what sort of riding position you like. Do you prefer the sports bike, a unfaired bike like a hornet or bandit, or something in between like a sports tourer which looks sporty but has a more relaxed riding position. A sports tourer also has a bigger fuel tank, so ideal for those longer runs. Id then check out the insurance. No point in buying a bike if the insurance will kill you. Bare in mind you`ll have no no claims bonus to use on it and as a new rider the premium will be higher as most people crash in the first year of riding. It sounds like your mate may know a thing or 2 about bikes if he has 3 of them, so id rope him in and be asking him loads of advice on what he recommends. If your taking your missus out on the back then she may not feel comfortable on a sports bike. Get her to sit on one and see. All my girlfriends have been fine over the years on my R1 & other sports bikes, but some people find it akin to sitting on a slippery plank of wood whilst having a gale force wind blasting at you as you are perched quite high up. Bikes like my vfr750 are more pillion friendly and designed to cover long distances comfortably.

I agree with the shed option. But, you will have to very carefully check out all the figures to see if you will really save money. I drew up a spreadsheet factoring in all the costs of me running my zed over 12 months and using it as a daily work commuting vehicle covering about 24,000 miles a year. The zed was costing me £900 a month in total, with half of that being purely on fuel. Ive been fortunate enough to be able to use my missus`s old car which is a Peugeot 307 Hdi over the last few weeks, so lets take that as an example of a shed... It does 52mpg average over a tank of fuel, which is exactly double what I get out of the zed. So, looking at the fuel alone i`d save about £225 a month. Looking at sold prices on ebay, it would cost about £1500 for someone to buy a similar car. Depreciation at that level of value is a lot lower than the zed, so over the first 12 months, your looking at about £500 depreciation, insurance coming in at £500, road tax £150, mot £30, tyres £200, servicing around £100. So 12 month running costs are around £1500. So not incl any "hidden" problems, the car would effectively pay for itself (for me) over the first 7 months. Meaning over the remaining 5 months of the year id save just over a grand. Which may sound a lot, but if the shed has some unforceen problem like a new clutch needed, or cambelt, then it soon starts looking like not such a good idea, as your`d end up saving very little. Of course, if you start looking at a more expensive shed, or a brand new 2nd car, then the depreciation and running costs will be higher.

Thats a very very good point which a lot of people who decide to get a motorbike forget about. You must factor in the cost of the gear too. Ive got 2 sets of Dianese leathers, each cost around a grand new. Boots cost around £180, gloves £40, helmet £440. Sure, you can get cheaper stuff, but either way, you are typically looking at a good outlay for decent protective wear. On the plus side, they will last you a long time (unless you put on weight! ahem!) Dont be tempted with cheapie leathers. You want decent stuff with proper protection in them. You can get some good reasonably priced stuff these days from Hein Gerrike and such places.

Ive got a 350 roadster and 3 sport motorbikes, incl an R1. I had a bit of a look earlier in the week and motorbikes are mega cheap now. You can get a 2000 / 2001 R1 or Fireblade for around £2500. I saw a lovely 1999 Bandit 1200 the other week for just £900. All would easily take you & a missus for nice rides out, as well as being fun if you get out on them on your own. A new R1 these days is in the region of 12grand, so you are getting a very good bike for a faction of the price! Insurance wise, ive been riding for a while, but my R1 just cost me £65 to renew the insurance for this next 12 months!!! Personally you cant beat the buzz of a ride out on the motorbike. Its very relaxing, fun, thrill giving and ive not come close to experiencing that sort of experience in anything else. The 350z roadster is fun, but compared to a bike it doesnt come close. I love having a ride out into the middle of nowhere on roads i dont know, without a care in the world. Sometimes you can just park up down a country lane and everything is quiet. - it really destresses you! Ive done track days before on the bike and just hate them. For a while I actually worked at Rockingham with the California Superbike school, training riders up on how to ride properly! One big thing I learnt was that you are more likely to have someone run into you than crash yourself on a track day! With regards to safety on a bike. You are certainly more vunerable, and you soon learn that you have to be 200% alert and predict what other drivers will do. The skills ive learnt as a biker have made me a much safer car driver.