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

[Participant]

No, you will be limited to 125cc/a power limit that I can't remember (11kW?).

Thanks, that's what I thought, but provisional code A is described as follows:

- A motorcycle of a power exceeding 35kW or with a power to weight ratio exceeding 0.2kW per kg, or
- A motorcycle of a power not exceeding 35kW with a power to weight ratio not exceeding 0.2kW per kg and derived from a vehicle of more than double its power.

Also here: https://www.gov.uk/driving-licence-categories

Now I'm probably being thick, but that wording seems ambiguous in that it states that I can provisionally drive a motorcycle of a power exceeding 35kW. Then it says 'or a motorcycle not exceeding 35kW'...

The word 'or' makes zero sense in this context to me, as it negates the previous bullet point!

 

[TallPaul_S]

Is there a "79(tri)" on the same line as a the A entitlement? You have a "A" provisional licence. You can ride a trike on just a car licence, the 79(tri) means you're limited to riding a tricycle.

 

[Participant]

Is there a "79(tri)" on the same line as a the A entitlement?

Nope. I've just taken a pic of it:

You have a "A" provisional licence.

I know that . The question is - what does 'provisional - A' actually mean?

Kreeeee seems to have answered that though .

 

[Kreeeee]

You should have tri on your card part though.

 

[Participant]

Weird. My card doesn't even mention motorbike entitlement .

Front:


Back:


Oh wait...that's because it lists 'licensed to drive' vehicles rather than provisional entitlements.

Anyway, no mention of tri or (79)tri anywhere. But anyway you've answered my question so thanks. Outcome is to ride 125s until I pass direct access and theory (and CBT).

 

[TallPaul_S]

If you ever send away your licence you'll get a new style ones back which has the dates in the A section but with the (79)tri on it. I only have a provisional, but have dates in the A section from 19.1.13 to 12.5.51. That confused a lot of people, thinking they suddenly had a full A licence.

 

[Participant]

Thanks guys. All makes sense now.

Booked my CBT in for Saturday...bit impulsive as I've only been thinking about it for four days!

 

[One]

There's no time like the present. Gives you less time to umm and arr and back out too

I wish mine was on Saturday, I've got to wait until the 12th July

 

[Kreeeee]

Got my mod 2 coming up soon so I've been through the whole process recently if you have any questions.

 

[Participant]

Cheers. My main question is whether or not it's possible to skip formal lessons for mod 1 and 2 and pass from practising on a 125, reading, and watching youtube tutorials!! Don't fancy some of the costs I'm seeing for lessons.

 

[TallPaul_S]

Cheers. My main question is whether or not it's possible to skip formal lessons for mod 1 and 2 and pass from practising on a 125, reading, and watching youtube tutorials!! Don't fancy some of the costs I'm seeing for lessons.

You can take the mod 1 and 2 on a 125, in fact the mod 1 for A1 (125cc class) is only about £15, so good practice for the full A mod 1. Obviously this limits you to riding just a 125. Gone are the days of doing this then 2 years later getting given a full A licence.

You could (as many do) buy a 125, potter about on it for 6 months, and this will reduce the amount of training needed by a day or 2. Still looking at £500-600 though, rather than £700-800 for a full DAS course.

 

[matt1993]

hi, its been a while but im back working now which means i can start thinking about ditching the car for a bike, so my question is;

if i do my cbt [never done before] and i know how roads work already, is it possible i could get my A2 license quick rather than riding a 125 for a year like a lot of people do.

EDIT: im too young for DAS

 

[One]

You could rock up to the test centre the day after your CBT if you wanted to. The CBT will allow you to assess what level of training you might require. You'll be able to get the opinion of the instructor too. The people that do spend some time on a 125 are not getting used to the roads, they're getting used to riding before they stick 100 hp between their legs

 

[matt1993]

You could rock up to the test centre the day after your CBT if you wanted to. The CBT will allow you to assess what level of training you might require. You'll be able to get the opinion of the instructor too. The people that do spend some time on a 125 are not getting used to the roads, they're getting used to riding before they stick 100 hp between their legs

oh fair enough. thanks. i guess i didnt think about it that way.

 

[wazza300]

you can have planty fun on a 125cc,get used to the roads and your riding system,lifesavers ect

put in for your test when you feel your ready,with a few lessons then when the times up think about a bigger machine,the biggest difference I found was the bulk and weight of the bigger bikes compared to the nimble 125

 

[One]

One step closer to an A license, I passed my theory

46 out of 50 for the questions, which is lower than i had hoped for but a pass is a pass. Interestingly I didn't get a single question that required more than one answer.

I don't know which questions I failed though so have no way to improve, makes me question the point of the test!

66 out of 75 for the hazard perception. I got 8 on the double hazard, eight 5's, four 4's and one 2.

My CBT is on saturday which I can't wait for, it will be my first time riding more than 10 meters

I had a look on the book a test website, just out of interest, the closest mod 1 is 26th august but mod 2 can be booked for 16th july. I don't know if my learning place will have priority bookings or not but it seems I won't have passed before september I hope this doesn't mean I'll cave and buy a 125 before doing the DAS

 

[TallPaul_S]

Most training centres pre-book test slots, so if you booked a week long DAS course starting on Monday the 14th you'd do MOD 1 on Friday 11th am and MOD 2 in the pm.

Some say it's best to space out the mod 1 and mod 2 training/tests in case you fail the mod 1, you won't lose your MOD 2 fee.

Good luck with the CBT, the morning slow speed stuff is the hard bit, you'll have a huge amount of stuff to do/info to take on board, the afternoon ride out is where you get to enjoy yourself! And remember to look where you're going!!! Solves 99% of problems

 

[Kreeeee]

I got my training centre to sort the tests out for me, they had pre-booked a few slots each week as Paul said so I could do it whenever suited me.

 

[One]

Passed my CBT (not that it's a test)

I was on some Korean thing called a Wolf by Syn. While apparently being pretty slow it was good fun and has the looks of a bigger bike. I was limited by the chap on a moped anyway so I only got 50 out of it once when overtaking to get back to the group. I mainly sat at 30 leading the group.

The instructor was very impressed and decided to let me on the 600 after the cbt was completed and had me doing some slow maneuvers on it and said I can do the mod 1 as soon as they can book me in which is a couple of weeks away.

I don't know if it was the day's riding that helped or not but I actually found the slow maneuvers on the 600 easier than I did on the 125. Then I went and razzed it in the industrial estate and hit 60 quite quickly which was awesome, could feel the front wheel go light under the acceleration.

The only tricky thing I found was going from idle to revs always seemed a tad jerky and likewise going from very slow revs back to idle, perhaps that's just what happens.

For the time being I am going to concentrate on getting my full A license rather than faffing about getting a 125 that I'll need to sell in a month or two.

edith and I definitely need to buy some summer gloves, I used the gloves I bought a while ago (I was unaware of seasoned gloves I have winter gloves), sweaty sweaty

 

[TallPaul_S]

Theory test booked.

What with work holiday availability I managed to get one a in 2 weeks time, otherwise it would have been the 23rd August!

Has been 13 years since I did my car theory test (got full marks back then) the only bit I'll struggle with will be the hazard perception, I did my test before it came in.

Got some time for practise though.