"First post, considering taking bike test" thread in "General Mayhem"
Hi everyone, Due to the terrible state of fuel prices I'm considering taking my bike test. I'm currently 23, with a full car license held ...

Hi everyone,

Due to the terrible state of fuel prices I'm considering taking my bike test.
I'm currently 23, with a full car license held for 7(i think) years with 3 years NCB. I've always had the urge to go for a bike, but due to either money or a million other factors I've never bitten the bullet!

I was hoping you could help share some knowledge with me. I would be looking to take my test on a 125cc bike allowing me to ride in the restricted class for 2 years. Personally this suits me fine as I really dont have any inclination to buy anything stupid at this point

ok so a few points I need to clarify to make the info flow a little easier:

The bike will be used for probably 4-6 months of the year (spring/summer) as a commuter and a little bit of fun at the weekends.

It will be a second vehicle, my primary costs will always lean towards the car.

I would prefer to ride a "sports" replica 125, which I assume ramps up my insurance costs a treat. But even if its not a fast bike I do really like the look of fully faired sports bikes. But I dont want to look alike a wally either!

The bike must physically be quite small, as im fairly short!

O.K apart from that I have no real stipulations! I have no riding experience, the missus needs some SERIOUS convincing and I know the first thing a lot of you will suggest is a CG125 which in all honesty I would consider

Erm, I'll just mention the small points of :
small budget,
I have no equipment,
needs to be quite economical,
age doesnt matter to me personally,

So if you can flood me with some good advice, some idea on costs and also any good arguments to twist my other halfs arm!

oh and I dont mind a bit of a rolling project! not bothered about getting a bit dirty fixing things!

thanks in advance

Well you have to take your initial training (CBT) on a 125 before you can even go out onto the road.... as you are 23 there is little point in paying for training to take a test on a 125 when you may as well go for Direct Access which allows you to choose any capacity bike once passed..... the test is the same irrespective of capacity although the examiner may choose a 'slower' route for a 125 for an A2 licence....

Costs vary and the amount of training you need will be the determining factor but budget around £500 or so.....

Yeah but...you can do a CBT (about £100 including bike hire) then ride a 125 on the road for 2 years on "L" plates. Whether this is the best / safest way is debatable, but it's the cheapest way of getting on the road legally - take the test on your 125 within the 2 years and then ride a restricted bike (as you say in your first post).

This is what my wife's doing. The theory is that I can help her learn the basics for free and then she'll need less formal training before her test. Time and convenience are the main reasons we've gone down that route - if you can afford (time and money) one of the courses where you do it all in a week then I'd think that'd be the better option.

Probably easier to sell the latter option to your other half - more training should equal less chance of problems. If you do go down that route you'll have a much wider choice of bikes as well.

Sum up - do the CBT and / or the DAS and see how you feel after that. Either way you'll get some experience and a bit of a feel for biking before you need to commit to buying anything.

Good luck and enjoy it

My advice, as someone who only passed at the back end of last year, would be to sign up with a training outfit who can take you through your (required) CBT course, and can also give you a bit of further training on a bigger bike. Maybe a couple of half-days.

It might help to:
A) get some more miles done with a trainer offering advice, and therefore becoming more settled on a bike and in traffic;
B) see how you feel with a bigger bike. The extra weight of a bigger bike, and their extra power and smoother delivery, makes them easier to handle (odd as that may seem).

This might help swing it with your missus - extra training etc.
In the end, it's all down to how you settle into riding - if you're comfortable and at ease on a bike after some training, then there's nothing to stop you going straight through a DAS course and going for a bigger bike. Insurance isn't that much worse than for an Aprilia RS125 (what I started on), and the choices are endless

Mmmmmm RS125.... cracking laugh.... use the sensible bits above, and then buy a crashed one of these... you WILL crash and sctrach it anyway, so might as well buy a slightly rough one

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950 SMR, for men who know the difference

Some more:

Fuel prices - I don't know, but I'd guess that of all the 125s the "sports" reps have the worst fuel economy. I'd research this before you commit to buy if fuel prices are one of your main drivers.

Insurance - try http://www.ebikeinsurance.co.uk/ for quotes to compare sports vs commuters etc.

Equipment - very very roughly budget £100 helmet, £50 boots, £20 gloves, £100 jacket and trousers. Deals can be had - if you're in the area get to the BMF show in Peterborough (mid May) for kit at heavily discounted prices.

ha! an introductory post being turfed to The Black Hole that is Bike Chat...

How do you intend to use the bike?
what mileage do you think you will do?
will you ride all year?
is the bike for fun or work, or commuting.....

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*this in the opinion of Aceboy, it is not designed to incite a riot or any other of the normal slagging that takes place on the interweb

"On the lanes no one can hear you scream"

Intend to commute with some fun at weekends.
mileage wise I would guess at about 3K a year, maximum, but probably much less.

90% certain bike will not be used all year. (summer only)

so its for commuting, but also fun!

how do two strokes compare to 4 strokes for fuel consumption? I've done some research so I have an idea of the performance difference.

I've managed to pick up a few quotes, and theres about £20 difference between a cagiva mito and a BSA 125 Bantam. mental.

Could anyone suggest few good budget bikes? Crash damaged or projects really appeal too.

With the training, it seems most of you have plumped for doing CBT (of course!) followed by a training scheme. does this work better than doing a week long crash course? I was considering taking the CBT on a 125 and doing a bit of practicing in my own time aswell as some training.

good feedback so far.

How about a CBR125? Meant to be good fun

Edit: note sure if it falls into the category of budget. Can you tell us you budget for the bike? remember to set aside a couple hundred quid for kit....

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*this in the opinion of Aceboy, it is not designed to incite a riot or any other of the normal slagging that takes place on the interweb

"On the lanes no one can hear you scream"

I think you'd be best off doing CBT and seeing how you get on. That will help you decide:
- whether you like riding
- what bike to choose (to some degree, at least)
- what to consider when buying kit.

Then you can decide whether to do DAS (good training but a biggish wodge of cash up front) or to ride on L plates for a while.

If you go the restricted route I'd recommend extra training anyway, at least to prepare you for your test, but also because it helps you ride better and be safer.

Another point: fuel consumption isn't irrelevant, but is likely to be less significant than other costs such as depreciation and insurance. So look at those too.

budget.. well to be honest I dont as yet know. though it will be sub 1k for certain. (not including the gear etc)

would you reccomend renting a bike to do the CBT on so I can drop/make a mess on somebody else's bike then make a firmer decision at a later date?
but any advice on any of the points would be great.

Spot on, you're learning quickly........

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*this in the opinion of Aceboy, it is not designed to incite a riot or any other of the normal slagging that takes place on the interweb

"On the lanes no one can hear you scream"

Definitely. Even if you owned a bike you'd have to get it to the CBT test place...you can't ride it there yourself

Book a CBT on a hired bike (you can also hire the basic kit). If you enjoy it, great. If you hate every minute you've wasted a day and £100 - that's got to be better than wasting a lot more money on buying a bike, kit etc.