Thinking of doing my bike licence.

MeEsH BaKkA · 26 Jul 2011 at 12:25

Hi, I'm starting my own firm so I need to get rid of my car to buy a van and have been thinking of doing my bike licence to replace my car as my evening/weekend drive.

How do I go about getting a bike licence and does anyone know of any good schools around south Hertfordshire/north London way?
Is there still 2 types of test i.e direct access and another type?

I have no experience of riding on the road or road bikes but I used to do quite a bit of motocross when I was younger so have a fair idea of bike controls/clutch/gears, which I assume will help a little bit when it comes to the actual riding of the bike, but obviously riding on the road is totally new to me.

Any help would be much appreciated

Fireskull · 26 Jul 2011 at 12:38

First you will need to check if you have Provisional A license, either on your card or paper license, if not you will need to apply for it.
Once that is done you need to do your CBT (Compulsory basic training), This is allows you to ride a 125cc on L plates for 2 years if you wish.
Once your CBT is done you need to do your bike theory test.
Then you can go on to a full bike license, it is now in two modules, also if you are over 21 you can do a direct access course where you learn on a 500cc motorbike and once you pass your test you can ride any motorbike you like unrestricted.
If you are not 21 or don't do the Direct access then you are restricted to 33bhp for 2 years.

If you already know the controls of a bike then you have a decent head start, you should fly through the CBT and only really need to learn the 'Road Craft'

Good luck

MeEsH BaKkA · 26 Jul 2011 at 12:47

I'm 24 so I will go direct access, I don't have provisional A on my licence how do I go about getting that? Ring DVLA I assume but is just as simple as asking for it?

There is a local CBT centre near me so that's not an issue once I have my licence sorted, know of any decent London/Herts schools or are they all prety much the same?

Fireskull · 26 Jul 2011 at 12:52

Here I guess: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/Motoringtransactions/BeforeyouapplyA/DG_10032690
But I would rink DVLA first and make sure, I got my licenses at 17 so got provisional of both, not sure when you come to add licenses.

I don't know any up that way mate but hopefully some locals will come and recommend some in here.

Morbius · 26 Jul 2011 at 12:57

MeEsH BaKkA said:
I'm 24 so I will go direct access, I don't have provisional A on my licence how do I go about getting that?

I didn't have provisional A on my photocard licence but it was there on the paper counterpart. If it's on your paper counterpart then that's fine, you've got the entitlement.

MeEsH BaKkA · 26 Jul 2011 at 13:05

Morbius said:
I didn't have provisional A on my photocard licence but it was there on the paper counterpart. If it's on your paper counterpart then that's fine, you've got the entitlement.

Thanks I will check this when I get home.

What kind of bike would you guys recommend as a good bike to learn the ropes on (after passing the bike test) obviously I want a sports bike but I'm not a retard and I know I would end up killing my self, I'm quite short about 5'9" and not exactly light at 15.5-16ish stone.

LoGaN_TnT · 26 Jul 2011 at 13:13

MeEsH BaKkA said:
Thanks I will check this when I get home.

What kind of bike would you guys recommend as a good bike to learn the ropes on (after passing the bike test) obviously I want a sports bike but I'm not a retard and I know I would end up killing my self, I'm quite short about 5'9" and not exactly light at 15.5-16ish stone.

Honda CBR 600 just because it is a good all round bike to start off with and you would love it

gillywibble · 26 Jul 2011 at 14:35

Just get the bike that you ultimately want. It won't take long to get used to it.

MeEsH BaKkA · 26 Jul 2011 at 17:55

Thanks for your help guys, Morbius you were right I have the A bit on my paper counterpart.
I'm going to ring my local centre to book my CBT tomorrow.

I will think about what bike to get once I pass and see how I get on, my dad recently had an 08 GSXR 750 as a part exchange and that was the catalyst to me deciding on getting a bike, although I think I will stick to something a bit more sensible for a year or so.

MeEsH BaKkA · 27 Jul 2011 at 23:02

Theory test booked, and training course/tests to been booked next week

Morbius · 27 Jul 2011 at 23:04

Good luck

Metalface Mark · 28 Jul 2011 at 11:08

MeEsH BaKkA said:
Thanks I will check this when I get home.

What kind of bike would you guys recommend as a good bike to learn the ropes on (after passing the bike test) obviously I want a sports bike but I'm not a retard and I know I would end up killing my self, I'm quite short about 5'9" and not exactly light at 15.5-16ish stone.

You will love any bike you ride at first, even the stuff they give you to do your lessons on, when I did mine we had Suzuki GS500's and Kawasaki ER5's, Id have happily had the ER5 as my first bike.

bloodiedathame · 28 Jul 2011 at 11:14

Someone should create a thread then sticky: "How to obtain a bike license"

Fireskull · 28 Jul 2011 at 11:18

bloodiedathame said:
Someone should create a thread then sticky: "How to obtain a bike license"

This! I was thinking of emailing Freefaller about making it a sticky last night!

Morbius · 28 Jul 2011 at 11:29

Metalface Mark said:
You will love any bike you ride at first, even the stuff they give you to do your lessons on, when I did mine we had Suzuki GS500's and Kawasaki ER5's, Id have happily had the ER5 as my first bike.

After 15 minutes on the ER5 you think "Wow, this is brilliant!" Although if you've only been on a 125 before then anything will seem brilliant in comparison.

Freefaller · 28 Jul 2011 at 13:25

Fireskull said:
This! I was thinking of emailing Freefaller about making it a sticky last night!

It's been done.

Fireskull · 28 Jul 2011 at 14:21

Freefaller said:
It's been done.

Thanks big guy

MeEsH BaKkA · 3 Aug 2011 at 20:50

Well... Good news, I passed my theory! Although tbh I would have been rather embarassed if I failed it seeing as I only had to take one for my car licence 5 yrs ago

gillywibble said:
Just get the bike that you ultimately want. It won't take long to get used to it.

Really? Most sites have I have looked at suggest the opposite of this and say start out small.
I would love a CBR 600 F4i but seeing as the last bike I rode was a YZF450 crosser about 3-4 years ago would it not be a bit much? The weigh wouldnt be an issue but I have no idea what to expect from the handling/power. I could imagine the power is rather shocking.

BennyC · 3 Aug 2011 at 21:29

Morbius said:
After 15 minutes on the ER5 you think "Wow, this is brilliant!" Although if you've only been on a 125 before then anything will seem brilliant in comparison.

I can verify this. Especially when your instructor opens his bike up when you reach NSL roads and you get to gun it up to 60/70MPH from about 30MPH. Does catch you off guard as by this point you feel much more comfortable on the bikes.

MeEsH BaKkA said:
Well... Good news, I passed my theory! Although tbh I would have been rather embarassed if I failed it seeing as I only had to take one for my car licence 5 yrs ago

Congrats. I did mine 5 years ago and got full marks back in June

Really? Most sites have I have looked at suggest the opposite of this and say start out small.
I would love a CBR 600 F4i but seeing as the last bike I rode was a YZF450 crosser about 3-4 years ago would it not be a bit much? The weigh wouldnt be an issue but I have no idea what to expect from the handling/power. I could imagine the power is rather shocking.

I rode a CG125 on my CBT which made me think twice about getting a sports 600. then I rode the CG125 again for another 4 hours as a booster lesson. Then I got on the ER-5 which is so much easier and better to ride, everything about it is just better and more solid and planted, lower centre of gravity too. I had 4 hours pre DAS and then 4 full days.

During which time I had gone and bought my ZX6R. Which I'd rode pillion on once when I went to put a deposit down.

If I'm brutally honest it scared the living **** out of me for about 2 weeks. I only ride at weekends for fun and it took some getting used to it's incredibly aggressive for a new rider but also so much fun

You will get used to it quickly but you do need to be quite restrained and very cautious as you'll enter corners too quickly and get caught short which isn't a good feeling!

The chief instructor quizzed me on which bike I was going to get so I just said I hadn't thought about it (not telling him about the ZX I'd just bought) and he recommended something around 60-70BHP as a good starting point. Bearing in mind the Cg125 is about 8 or 12 bhp and the ER-5 around 45/50BHP. He made a point of saying a recent student had bought something around 120BHP and made a point of calling constantly to let him know he was still upright. I didn't fancy an earful for starting on something around 100/105BHP!

Just be sensible as you don't get second chances if you ride like a tool

MeEsH BaKkA · 3 Aug 2011 at 21:40

Nice bike!
The YZF450 was rather quick but then again its a motocross bike so nothing like a road sports bike.

I think I will see how I get on in my tests and then decide on a bike...

Oh, how do you go about test drives or is it pillion only etc...? I can imagine people being rather reluctant to chuck you the keys to their bike, Its something I have never though about...