Welcome in Paul, I agree with Paul (clarky) Paul is a good name, it's my middle name

my first name, according to colon is CILLA but he does have a strange sense of humour, decent bloke though.
So welcome to the mad house, our inmates are mostly polite and those that arnt have been muzzled. Some on he have a great sense of humour and there is loads of banter and General p!ss taking, but in reality, we are one big biking family and we help and support one and other.
Regarding the Big Bang R1's they are a fantastic bike, I'm on my third, but generally people either love em or loath them, even some diehard yamaha fanatics on here don't like them, so I guess they are a bit like marmite... Love it or hate it.
If you are going for a used banger or as they are sometimes known on here as a sausage.... Big Bang, banger, sausage.... That was PJC's foray into humour. my advice would be to test ride a few, in the early days some wee better than others, so pick a good one. If you are looking fir a younger bike then then a 2012 or onwards 14be with traction control and a redesigned nose cone is a really good version of the bangers. Whilst they will be down in the overall power stakes compared to a 4c8 they are like a v twin with the power hitting you from the off, oh and the sound of the engine is intoxicating. They are a big bike physically and do have to be muscled around on track, but they are so so rewarding to ride and don't half shift. They are good for commuting long distance and ride outs to boot andtheir size does help on the comfort side of things on a long run. They can be a bit of a pig though at slow speeds.
Anyway, good luck in the bike hunting and welcome to the forum, oh and enjoy and join in with the banter,
Cilla.
