*** How to obtain a bike license ***

I just double checked it all to make sure and still coming out the same inc. Pillion cover and doing 15k miles a year (originally was set to 6k but made no difference). Not sure I trust the £350 end of the quotes but some reasonable quotes from BikeSure and Bennetts. I will shop around more but happy it's all sub £1k.

God damn, that's good! You must live in the middle of nowhere!


The £350 quote, is that MCE by any chance? Ignore any quotes from them, it'll probably have an excess 2x that of the other quotes too. Avoid at all costs.

I'm with Bennets for my CB400, 90 quid for the year TPFT, 10k miles, ungaraged, 0 NCD, declared as an import. Come renewal it should be under £100 fully comp.
 
I just double checked it all to make sure and still coming out the same inc. Pillion cover and doing 15k miles a year (originally was set to 6k but made no difference). Not sure I trust the £350 end of the quotes but some reasonable quotes from BikeSure and Bennetts. I will shop around more but happy it's all sub £1k.

I'd go with BikeSure. They were amazing with my claim last year (well, saying that, it was BLD that were amazing - the company they pass claims on to). Sorted everything for me, courtesy bike within 24 hrs, and won the claim even after the driver claiming no fault and eventually not responding to their calls or emails. They also claimed my helmet for me from the other company, which was never covered ;).

Also, if you go Bikesure, get them to throw in 'ride any other bikes third party'. It's awesome to have, especially if you know people with bikes.
 
Good to know about Bikesure, they're mid price range from the quotes I've got so will probably go with them. All my gear is covered on that policy too. Didn't see "ride other bikes" but will talk to them about that as have a few mates with some nice bikes.

With respects to keeping the car; It's an old banger anyway but being an MX5 it's about as bad a bike in the snow anyway and I get stranded at home (live out in the sticks a bit) when it snows anyway. I have my wife's car at my disposal though should it snow etc. and I can also work from home on the worst days etc so I'm covered for those eventualities.
 
PS, they will price match and have always beaten competitor pricing for me :). And yes, the ride other bikes is something you need to ask them about, but has never made my premium go up.
 
Last edited:
Awesome... I'll recheck the quotes next month when I get the bike but they sound the best option. Thanks for the info.
 
Congrats...in the same boat as me. Can't wait to get a bike. Any ideas what you're going to get?
 
Nice choice. I'm hoping to get a Triumph Daytona 675 but happily have a CBR 600RR if I can't find the right Triumph.
 
Go for it I say,I found the bigger bikes easier and smoother to ride,its ony as fast as you make it,you can pootle around just fine
 
It's not that fast,perfect big bike

Aslong as your sensible and don't ride flat out everywhere,youll get to live long enough to enjoy it

That's if insurance costs won't kill you first
 
Last edited:
Yer my Z750 is my first big bike and has 105hp and ~75nm at much lower revs.

If anything you don't have to spank it so it makes you much more relaxed (RR is very revy mind).

Pinning it in 1st and 2nd is genuinely scary at first though :p Get used to it though.
 
As your first bike? I probably wouldn't go for an RR, maybe just a standard cbr600?

Ridden and competed on motocross bikes all my life (well since age 6) so im normally used to being on something savage.

Nahhh, they're not THAT fast. 100hp and ~60nm at really quite high revs.

The top speed is pretty high, but as above, just don't ride it flat out everywhere!

Yeah I don't really fancy a big fine and loosing my license lol. So easily done to be fair, one of the 1st things that shocked me on the road was how easy it was to break the speed limit. One second your doing 60 the next your doing 75! ;)
 
Last edited:
Long post incoming.

Had another ride out yesterday and had a big moment. We was riding out on the country roads, and I'm sure you know how these things can be pretty narrow. This was the type which didn't contain a footpath.

I had a wall on my side, around the size of me on the bike. The other side was a smaller sized wall leading over to some fields, both sides was covered with trees and plants, making it harder to see. I was riding along with another student and instructor behind me.

We was probably doing about 20-25mph at this point coming up to the turn, I commit myself to making the turn but I couldn't see clearly the road around the corner, if at all. After already entering the corner and making my way around, a silver van appeared out of nowhere, heading on the other side of the road.

Due to the van being near central line and feeling as though the van seemed a little close to me, I ended up trying to bring the bike up to go around a little wider. This wasn't going to happen as I didn't have much room to manoeuvre within the corner. I smashed into the wall on myside, the impact took me and the bike down, felt my helmet hit the tarmac as I slide along and the bike ended up on my foot. My foot was twisted underneath so I couldn't get it off so easily. My gear has little rips in but they their job.

I must stress how important it is to always wear protective gear. Even if the weather outside is roasting!

Without everything on, it could have been worse. I ended up just having a scrape on my arm and my left side of the body just aching. I seem fine though, it hasn't changed anything. I just wanted to get back on and ride :rolleyes:

Bike handled the fall well with only two items need pushing back into place. Instructor seemed pretty surprised it didn't have any damage.

After I had a rest, we headed over to the test area to practice some Mod1 test as the other student had his test the day after. He also decided now was a good time to teach me counter steering. I practiced counter steering while the other student practiced and wow. Counter steering just feels more natural to me. It probably could have helped me avoid the crash earlier on.

Finished with a little avoidance hazard on the Mod1, where you have to be going 50kph and avoid the last set of cones by going either left or right. My last two attempts I managed to go 49 and 48 which felt pretty good and my emergency braking seemed great. Short ride back to the centre using counter steering and another day complete :p
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom