Looking to start biking..

Its been a while since i passed my test but even with a full car license dont you still need to get a provisional motorcycle entitlement before you can do your CBT? I had to send my licence off to get the entitlement put on.
Apologies if you already have this sorted.
 
svbooga said:
Its been a while since i passed my test but even with a full car license dont you still need to get a provisional motorcycle entitlement before you can do your CBT? I had to send my licence off to get the entitlement put on.
Apologies if you already have this sorted.
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I think they all come with the provisional entitlement on them unless specific reason why not??? don't know about recent ones mind
 
maccapacca said:
I think they all come with the provisional entitlement on them unless specific reason why not??? don't know about recent ones mind
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When i got mine I specifically had to add the motorcycle entitlement as well as car. It only lasted for two years as well, if you didn't pass your full test in that time you lost the motorcycle entitlement for a year then had to re-apply.

Might have changed since then, it was 10 years ago :D.
 
I've just checked and I should have provisional motorbike entitlement on my license as I got my license before Feb 2001. I just phoned the DVLA and they said I should do as well, however they said it won't say on my plastic card, only on the paper bit which I don't have with me to check!
 
Street said:
Turns out I do have provisional entitlement already.. Thought I did but you made me worry! :p
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Sorry about that :D. Yeah the rules have changed now, automatic motorcycle provisional on a full car license and no more 2 year limit on the provisional entitlement.
 
Street said:
Well I've got my CBT all booked up for next week.. Got home and told the missus and she moaned at me for ruining my birthday surprise! Apparently she was going to book it for me anyway in a few weeks! :)
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Ah just get her to book the entire DAS, save yourself a few quid :p. Unless you've got a shared bank account, in which case, you're screwed either way lol.
 
I think it changed after Feb 2001 and I got mine before that so I was safe and got provisional A included! :)

Its probably a con by the DVLA to get more money by make people have to apply to get provisional motorbike instead of just including it as standard..
 
Street said:
I think it changed after Feb 2001 and I got mine before that so I was safe and got provisional A included! :)

Its probably a con by the DVLA to get more money by make people have to apply to get provisional motorbike instead of just including it as standard..
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My provisional A licence was included in my licence when I originally planned on learning to drive a car in 2002. That just never came around as I still don't have my car licence hah.
 
Street said:
I've been thinking about it for a while and am planning on taking up biking at some point in the near future (after I've persuaded the missus as shes dead against it!)

However after reading the DVLA website I've got a bit confused about what tests and things I need to do! I'm 26 (27 in a few weeks) and had a car license since I was 17 from January 01. Do I just need to book up a CBT then do the Direct Access? I've read elsewhere that as I got my license before February 01 I don't need to do a CBT, is this right?

Thanks for any pointers! :)
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You can only ride up to 50cc without doing CBT (which lets you ride up to 125) as you passed your car license before 2001. Riding 50cc is not much fun at all imo.

Then you have the option to do CBT/Theory Test/DAS(which consists of Mod 1 and Mod 2 - 2 practical exams).

I am 30 years old and I am in the middle of doing my full license. Done CBT, and Theory Test, going for an assessment drive tomorrow and then booking my training for Mod 1 and then Mod 2.

Good luck with everything.


EDIT: As someone above mentioned, do CBT first and then ride 125cc for few weeks/months, 125cc is perfect for commuting and you can easily get speeds of 60mph, this will be enough to decide if biking is what you want to do. At first it's difficult to get used to wearing helmet, gloves, boots, jacket etc, lack of storage space, exposed to rain etc but then you don't get stuck in traffic etc as you can just overtake cars.
 
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apatia77 said:
EDIT: As someone above mentioned, do CBT first and then ride 125cc for few weeks/months, 125cc is perfect for commuting and you can easily get speeds of 60mph, this will be enough to decide if biking is what you want to do. At first it's difficult to get used to wearing helmet, gloves, boots, jacket etc, lack of storage space, exposed to rain etc but then you don't get stuck in traffic etc as you can just overtake cars.
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The only issue with that is that 125s are no cheaper to buy than a larger bike if you want something that looks "cool", and in fact in many cases a larger bike is cheaper to buy.

This is offset by the fact that you are simply "trying it" though, thus not spending all that money on the full testing
 
rypt said:
The only issue with that is that 125s are no cheaper to buy than a larger bike if you want something that looks "cool", and in fact in many cases a larger bike is cheaper to buy.
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However there is always a high demand for 125s so they're fairly easy to sell on when you're done.
 
Morbius said:
However there is always a high demand for 125s so they're fairly easy to sell on when you're done.
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That is also true, so while you are not going to make a loss, the outlay for the bike is no different than that for a larger bike that you end up keeping (but you save money on the training as you would need less of it probably)

Why are all 125s bar RV125, XL125V and perhaps the CBR125 so ugly (and in the case of the CBR125 tiny as well)
 
apatia77 said:
EDIT: As someone above mentioned, do CBT first and then ride 125cc for few weeks/months, 125cc is perfect for commuting and you can easily get speeds of 60mph, this will be enough to decide if biking is what you want to do. At first it's difficult to get used to wearing helmet, gloves, boots, jacket etc, lack of storage space, exposed to rain etc but then you don't get stuck in traffic etc as you can just overtake cars.
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I wouldn't even say bother with a 125 for any time. Do your CBT, you will know if you enjoy it or not from that ride. I thought 125's were OK for 2 days, until I moved onto the 500's as I was doing my DAS, and I'm honestly glad I went straight for the bike bike and didn't get stuck with a 125. I think I would have got bored pretty quickly if I had done my CBT and got myself a 125.
 
Ghosteh said:
I wouldn't even say bother with a 125 for any time. Do your CBT, you will know if you enjoy it or not from that ride. I thought 125's were OK for 2 days, until I moved onto the 500's as I was doing my DAS, and I'm honestly glad I went straight for the bike bike and didn't get stuck with a 125. I think I would have got bored pretty quickly if I had done my CBT and got myself a 125.
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I don't think that CBT is enough as you only get a chance to ride for maximum 2 x 45 minutes on quite roads and the rest of the time you do some easy maneuvers in closed area (most of the time you just sit and listen anyway). I think I got the confidence once I rode my bike alone for about 10 hours.
 
apatia77 said:
I don't think that CBT is enough as you only get a chance to ride for maximum 2 x 45 minutes on quite roads and the rest of the time you do some easy maneuvers in closed area (most of the time you just sit and listen anyway). I think I got the confidence once I rode my bike alone for about 10 hours.
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We aren't talking about confidence, but about whether "biking is for me"/him/whatever ... for which CBT should be enough time really
 
rypt said:
We aren't talking about confidence, but about whether "biking is for me"/him/whatever ... for which CBT should be enough time really
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Exactly, confidence on a bike is something that does come with time, and even if you had ridden a 125 for a while, you will still need to get your confidence again once you jump on to a bigger CC bike, and again when you go up to the next size.

I did my CBT and knew biking was for me, I had a massive grin on my face for the rest of the day after I'd been on the bike for the first time at my CBT.
 
Confidence on a saturday CBT in the sun is one thing, confidence after a couple of hours of lashing rain in December in the dark on roads you don't know is another.
 
Ghosteh said:
Exactly, confidence on a bike is something that does come with time, and even if you had ridden a 125 for a while, you will still need to get your confidence again once you jump on to a bigger CC bike, and again when you go up to the next size.

I did my CBT and knew biking was for me, I had a massive grin on my face for the rest of the day after I'd been on the bike for the first time at my CBT.
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I did my CBT and knew that biking was for me. I was crap at it, but it was still for me! I had a bit of a confidence issue and was struggling with the manoeuvres. I've got permission to use the car park at work after hours to practice, so I shall be trundling around for a bit and then re-doing the CBT when I'm much more confident and can do the manoeuvres easily.

Everyone's different. Some are naturals, others less so :D
 
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