Its been something I've wanted to do for years, but never got round to it.

Today I've booked my CBT and tomorrow I'm booking my theory test.

Annoyingly, the rules have changed, so from the 19th of January, the rules change, and I'll need to be 24 to get my full license. So, I've applied for a credit card to pay for it, and hopefully I'll get it before the 19th.

I wouldn't normally get a credit card, but because of the time I have, not much choice, I'll be able to pay it back within 3 months anyway.

Rather looking forward to it!

Bound to be a few bikers on here.

My mate is in the same rush to get it done before the 19th, he can't wait to pass he wants to come pick me up for work despite how cold it'll be and it'd be much more practical to take my car but where would the fun be in that

Kier said:

Its been something I've wanted to do for years, but never got round to it.

Today I've booked my CBT and tomorrow I'm booking my theory test.

Annoyingly, the rules have changed, so from the 19th of January, the rules change, and I'll need to be 24 to get my full license. So, I've applied for a credit card to pay for it, and hopefully I'll get it before the 19th.

I wouldn't normally get a credit card, but because of the time I have, not much choice, I'll be able to pay it back within 3 months anyway.

Rather looking forward to it!

Bound to be a few bikers on here.

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You took your time didn't you? Unless I'm sadly mistaken, which is entirely possible, I thought you had a post on the same subject last year.

I rode 'bikes from the age of 17, when you could legally ride a 250 for several years although never took a test. I decided to take my test but then decided to chop my 250 Kwak S1 for a S2 350 and planned to take my test any time, but then I got distracted by a lovely Mach III 500 and was then lured away by a girl so I didn't actually take my bike test until 2002.

I've never regretted it and my 1992 Yamaha FJ1200 is lurking down the side of Chez Beard right at this moment.

So get stuck in my son. Take your test ASAP and then buy a bike and don't ride it much until the weather gets better. By buying one in the winter it should keep the price down but take it really easy until the spring. Motorbikes can be great fun but can also be unforgiving mistresses

The Beard said:

You took your time didn't you? Unless I'm sadly mistaken, which is entirely possible, I thought you had a post on the same subject last year.

I rode 'bikes from the age of 17, when you could legally ride a 250 for several years although never took a test. I decided to take my test but then decided to chop my 250 Kwak S1 for a S2 350 and planned to take my test any time, but then I got distracted by a lovely Mach III 500 and was then lured away by a girl so I didn't actually take my bike test until 2002.

I've never regretted it and my 1992 Yamaha FJ1200 is lurking down the side of Chez Beard right at this moment.

So get stuck in my son. Take your test ASAP and then buy a bike and don't ride it much until the weather gets better. By buying one in the winter it should keep the price down but take it really easy until the spring. Motorbikes can be great fun but can also be unforgiving mistresses

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I've been thinking about it for two years or so. Its only because of the changes that I'm doing it now.

Won't be getting a bike for a while though. At least until July I would think.

Going to be doing BikeSafe with the Police and most likely IAM or whatever the other one is called too.

Insurance isn't as bad as I thought either, around £700 for a Suzuki SV650 which I've been looking at.

From what I've seen of you on here over the last few years I don't think you're going to be reckless, but I hope you remember that you need to be so on the ball when on a 'bike that the concentration levels required when driving a car fade into insignificance.

Even the aforementioned Suzi SV650 can hit 60 in the same sort of timespan as a Ferrari 458 or Aston DB9. No ABS or traction control; no airbags, in fact nothing between you and a tree except your helmet so buy a bloody good one and make sure you learn from every ride you take.

Personally speaking I love visceral feeling of riding a motorbike, the sense that everything is so direct. The front discs are only about 18" directly below the lever and the fact that you will learn new techniques such as counter steering and rear brake trailing.

I could be the best rider ever, all it takes is an idiot not paying attention to kill me.

Just booked my theory. 6th of December.

Done a few practice ones online and passing them, only ones I'm failing on are ones about chains, so will be reading up on them.

One question I do have. Looking at what you need to do for the CBT and Mod 1, emergency braking...whenever I've done it on a push bike, it's always ended up with me going over the handle bars. Is this likely to happen when on a bike?

I need to get my thumb out my ass and do mine. I'm 26 so I'm not in the same rush but I'd like a license before summer so I can get a bike cheap during winter.

Nothing stopping you buying a bike now .

ive wanted a bike for years and after being made redundant this year i bought a 125 done cbt just for travel to and from my new job thinking ill get something better after i fall off it a few times, but did it for 2 months and that was enough for me personally too many people trying to kill me for my liking

I'd love a bike, from 250 up to about 600 will do me.

Although I only want it to travel 12 miles a day cheaply - so even a 50cc puttputt may do

I went the easy route to a car license, a yam 125, then a Jawa350 with sidecar.
The test was easy because I had an easier practical.

This then allowed me to drive a Reliant Robin which gave me car experience so the car test was easy.

Not exactly the route to a car license people can take these days.

The 24 thing is going to upset my son, or it would if I told him (we dont want him on a bike).

EvoStevo said:

The 24 thing is going to upset my son, or it would if I told him (we dont want him on a bike).

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I can completely understand why my parents don't like the idea, and I do respect it (to a degree ). If I had a child, I'm sure I would be thinking the same lol.

I think my mum is coming round to the idea. Before I wasn't allowed to keep anything to do with it in the house (bike, gear etc), now she is considering allowing me to put it in the back garden!

Will need to improve the gate though .

Can't believe how cheap insurance is, around £200.

CBT passed.

Bit scary how easy it was really.

Theory on Thursday, then going to book a few lessons and my tests for after Xmas.

Theory passed .

Lessons booked for the morning. The plan is a days training Monday, bit of training Wednesday and Mod 1, training Thursday and Mod 2 Saturday.

Kier said:

One question I do have. Looking at what you need to do for the CBT and Mod 1, emergency braking...whenever I've done it on a push bike, it's always ended up with me going over the handle bars. Is this likely to happen when on a bike?

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Unlikely, will only happen if you use front brake on its own. Even then you've got front forks which will take the weight.

Most modern bikes have combined braking systems nowadays to even out braking for you.

Bikesafe is a good idea, but do it after you've got a bit of riding experience under your belt.

Best advice my instructor gave me years ago was to treat every other road user like they are out to kill you! Even with hi-viz on and headlight on, car drivers won't see you!

P100 GRR said:

Unlikely, will only happen if you use front brake on its own. Even then you've got front forks which will take the weight.

Most modern bikes have combined braking systems nowadays to even out braking for you.

Bikesafe is a good idea, but do it after you've got a bit of riding experience under your belt.

Best advice my instructor gave me years ago was to treat every other road user like they are out to kill you! Even with hi-viz on and headlight on, car drivers won't see you!

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I treat every other road user like an idiot anyway. Had three people pull out on me today.

Passed my mod 1 today, 1 minor for putting my foot down on my U-turn too early, but apart from that it was fine. Was struggling with the figure of eight all week, but that went without any problems.

Mod 2 somewhen next week, or after Xmas .

Treated myself to some clothes too, gloves, trousers and jacket. Its rather scary how quickly you can spend money! £750 in 30 minutes!

Had mod 2 today...passed .

Two minors. Best feeling in the world!

Kier said:

Had mod 2 today...passed .

Two minors. Best feeling in the world!

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Congratulations

This thread takes me back.

I bought an old 250 AJS single in 1971, stuck a couple of L plates on it, and taught myself to ride it. Insurance cost me £8, half a week's wages then. Took my test about 4 months later, which basically consisted of riding up & down the road with an examiner standing on the pavement watching.

So I now have an unrestricted A licence, despite never having had any formal instruction or taken anything but the most cursory of tests.

Kier said:

Annoyingly, the rules have changed, so from the 19th of January, the rules change, and I'll need to be 24 to get my full license.

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I want to thank you Kier, this was the first I'd heard of any new rules coming in and I too am under 24.

I was getting worried when you hadn't posted the results of your mod 2 earlier. I would have though you would have sat it early in the year so that if you failed the first time, you'd have the 10 day waiting period to get a 2nd go.

My story is rather long btw, lol. Just warning ya'z haha.

As soon as I read your post and I had checked out the details of what the new rules were, I knew I'd be stuck for about a year till I could get my full license and I'd read that they're possibly going to change it again next year. Why do they hate us so

I knew it was now or never for me too, the problem was though, I had zero spare money to pay for training and tests. So the day after I read your post, I set about rebuilding the engine of one of my bikes that I had sitting in my shed in the hope of selling it as soon as possible after it was finished to pay for everything.

Your post was on the 22nd of November - 2012 and I didn't have the bike rebuilt and running great until the 23rd of december and this was the morning of the bikes first viewer, thankfully it all came together and he bought it there and then.

So now I had my cash, but it was the Christmas and new year period, all the bike schools were closed for the holidays so my window of opportunity was slowly shutting on my fingers

After a LOT of chasing & phoning of local bike school, I found the one for me. I did my CBT on Saturday the 5th of Jan 2013, big bike training on the 6th and 7th, Theory test on the 8th, last full day of training on the 9th and then my mod 1 & 2 test both on Thursday the 10th (I'll never forget that day haha).

Thankfully I passed my mod 1 with no faults and only got 2 minors on my mod 2 (I wouldn't have cared if my sheets were full with the maximum allowed minors though, a pass is a pass lol).

Sorry for going on and on, but mine was quite the tale to tell about the mad rush to get everything done in time so I figured I'd tell it lol.

Thanks again Kier, I would still be blissfully unaware of the impending deadline if it wasn't for you starting this thread.

Congratulations kier and stilo nutter and welcome to the world of leather.....er, when I say world of leather, what I mean is, er, oh never mind.

Well done. I think, as I mentioned earlier in this thread, that the main difference between cars and bikes is the feeling of immediacy. There is no servo assistance (on the vast majority of bikes) for the brakes, no power steering, in fact no nothing between you and the responses of the machine. Your gear changes can be lightning fast and most bike engines will rev way beyond what the majority of car engines can produce.

As for your query about brake use, kier, although you will see stunt riders, and the like, performing "stoppies", it is really rare for a 'bike to end up on its front wheel when braking. As P100GRR says, the forks will play a part as they compress under braking which absorb some of the energy. If you think back to your bicycle you may have gone over the handlebars on, it won't have been over about 4' long and probably weighed about 10 kgs. Your motorbike will be about 6' long and will weigh anywhere up to 20 times the cycle. So the length to height ratio and the differential in weight between you and a pushbike as opposed to you and a motorcycle will also have a bearing on the inadvertent "stoppie".

Length of the bike can have an effect as well. A short bike like a Hornet 600 or perhaps the SV650 will be more likely to "wheelie" or "stoppie" than a longer one like my FJ1200, which is actually more likely to spin its rear wheel when moving off (quickly) and lock up when stopping.