The motorcycle market is bursting with bikes to suit all botties, but not to suit all budgets. For more of us than not, all that?s separating us from the bike of our dreams is a few thousand pounds. Or a few tens of thousands of pounds. But don?t let that put you off buying a new bike, because there are still some real corkers kicking about that haven?t been quite so prohibitively priced. We?ve chosen the bike that we think is the best value for money in five of the main categories of motorcycling. And here they are?

A2 Bike – KTM 390 Duke £5,099

This isn?t the outright cheapest bike that you can ride on your A2 license. That accolade would obviously be reserved for a much slower machine. But armed with a full A2, we think this is one of the best value for money bikes you can get hold of; if not the best bike in the category. It?s not as sporty as some might like but you pay a premium for that. If you want sporty you can always spend the extra £200 and get the RC390. Its thumpy little motor makes 44bhp so it?s probably as fast as most newcomers need. And it?s got a fair bit of kit for a £5k bike too. WP forks (although non-adjustable), fly-by-wire throttle, a slipper clutch and Supermoto ABS mode. That?s more tech than plenty of the bikes with much fatter price tags.
Supersports – Kawasaki ZX-6R £9,699

As the Supersport sector shrinks, the ZX-6R has been plucked out of an increasingly small pool. R6s don?t come with a V5 anymore, ...