Shouldn't worry too much about age - 26 isn't old for bikers (even first-timers) these days. At least you're not waiting for a mid-life crisis to get onto two wheels, whatever the reason behind it.

I think you'll find it's simple market forces in action, driven by three things. Firstly, there are fewer bikes than cars around, so less competition in selling them. Secondly, bike spares are proportionately more expensive than cars (partly because of reason 1), so even a wreck has a comparatively higher breaking value: this is compounded by quite a lot of bike owners being happy to do some of their own mechanical repairs and hence needing to source parts. Thirdly, there's a lot more in the way of bolt-ons attached to the average bike - particularly exhausts - but with even sports racks and suchlike being aftermarket extras, owners tend to try and recoup those costs.

It doesn't always work in the buyer's favour at the cheap end of the market, but if you look at anything over a couple of grand, the bang-per-buck ratio definitely works in the bike's favour. You won't get an equivalent-performance supercar for the price of a secondhand Fireblade...

It's still possible to find a bike for absolute pennies on eBay or at auction, though, if cash is a problem.

By the way, if you're just commuting and not particularly fussed about style, the best all-round learner bike in the known universe is the Honda CG125.

>> ex silens nox noctis <<

On the prices-you will have to pay more fpor a sub 125vv bike, as they're learner legal. Go for a Honda CG125, as they are pretty bullet proof. You should be able to get a good one for £300-700.

Once you have your test, things become much easier. There ARE cheap bikes out there. In my local Friday Ad last week, there was a 1981 GS250 for little more than £200. All road legal, if tatty. Look for less popular bikes. Kwak GT550 and GT750s go for peanuts, for example. They don't look pretty, but they are solid machines and have shaft drive. You can get a decent BMW K100 for less than a grand. Motoguzzi v50's in good nick often sell for about £600.

On the slightly better end, Things like SV650s often go for sub £1500, in excellent condition and they arte nice little bikes that you can tour on. Early Hinckley Triumphs often fetch little more than £1000 or so, sometimes less. Kawasaki zx9s arte often cheap. I could go on...

Try Ebay for really cheap stuff, too.

Loads out there!!!. You can always buy my Spada 2. But that would be £1550 ovno...

Looks like a W model of some sort: very late 90s, perhaps? In which case it's quite possibly an M10 fitting but at a finer pitch (domes, I believe are usually 1 - 1.25, whereas M10 standard is pitched at 1.5). Might be worth a trip to your local DIY shop, if you haven't got anything like that lying about in the shed - or a Honda dealer'd probably post one to you for little extra cash, if there isn't one locally. Unless you've already tried all that, of course...?

>> ex silens nox noctis <<