How much cost to get a bike license

whitecrook · 31 Oct 2013 at 13:35

Hi All

I'm thinking about getting a bike license. As far as I can tell I'm a car driver old enough to not need to bother with all the stuff so it will go like this:

Do CBT
Do theory test
Do 2 part practical test
I can now ride any size of bike

CBT is about £100? and 1 day
Theory test - how much does this cost, is this the same as the car theory (which i done when it was just pen and paper in late 90's,) is it computers now?
2 part practical test - do I not need to do lessons first? Like when I learned to drive a car? OR what. Are lessons about £20 an hour

After all this I would need to get a bike, leathers, gloves a helmet, etc. What sort of cost for all the gear would I be looking at? £200? £500? £1000?

cheers all

edit seems theory and practical costs are thus:
Theory test £31
Practical module 1 (off-road) test £15.50
Practical module 2 (on-road) test £88.50

That leaves the gear and the lessons? Is it conventionally done via lessons, or in a 3-day course type thing ?

whitecrook · 31 Oct 2013 at 16:20

Buchanan0204 said:
You can do lessons or an intensive course. Personal preference and most places offer both.

You will most definitely need lessons. You're not expected to pay for a basic training course and then sit a full test. Riding a bike isn't as easy as it looks... Especially in November in Scotland.

Are there good recommended places in Glasgow area for this kind of thing that you know of? Is it about £400 for a 3 day course ?

It's looking like probably about £1000 + cost of bike to do this?

Seems a 5-6 day course with CBT included and bike hire etc is probably my best option.

whitecrook · 1 Nov 2013 at 10:37

TripleT said:
I've tried reading this but I'm confused as hell.

I've done my cat and love riding but if I wanted to ride my 125 without L plates and on motorways (A(M) roads actually but same thing). Do I just need to do the mod1 which is a carpark thing?

Have a look at this gov.uk pdf file

whitecrook · 6 Nov 2013 at 02:03

Scythe said:
It's the same test, but on a small bike. You may as well pay the extra money to hire a bigger bike and do your full bike licence. If you've been riding a 125 for a while you won't have any problem passing the bike test, I rode my 125 for 18 months, and 1 day of lessons and passed my mod 2 the next day. I took my test on my 125 as I was doing a 33bhp restricted licence, which doesn't exist any more. I recommend getting a few lessons to get familar with the size and power of a 500cc+ bike if you chose to do it.

yeah I agree. I don't know why the poster wouldnt just sit the 'fullest' test you could? It would be like passing your cat test in an auto -- unless there is some medical or good reason to you are just limiting your self for no good reason. There's no reason you can't pass on a bigger bike and get a full license and then ride a smaller bike.