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

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?

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.

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

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.

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...