with a winter discount mine was around £600 for all tests and lessons, but it depends on how many lessons you need
with a winter discount mine was around £600 for all tests and lessons, but it depends on how many lessons you need
As amazing as those bikes were I am not going to be getting one as a first bike. I will be getting a 125 and following the advice on here, getting some experience before doing my Direct Access.
The guy in the shop mentioned somewhere that is currently doing the whole shabang CBT included for £500. Was somewhere in Poole.
Tbh if your serious about going all the way with DAS you may as well get a decent 600 naked as a 125, there wouldn't be a massive difference in price but a much nicer ride
A 5 day course is typically about £700 including tests. I got my CBT included in the price as a special deal.
As for bikes, how about a supermoto thing like these? Meant to be pretty fun and they sound awesome Not great for motorway but they are for B-roads.
any one of these should be a similar price to a Aprillia RS125 but a lot more fun
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/Motorcycle...R40&_nkw=sv650
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_od...600&_sacat=422
I quite like the look of some of those Bandits
Probably the best value for money and cheapest bike to maintain there is. Id tend to agree that a 125 is an expensive unnecessary step towards owning a big bike. The DAS will teach you enough to ride safe and well, more than bombing around on a glorified scooter with only your 3 hours of CBT training to fall back on. 125s are a good thing to get the feel of a bike on, but not for the £2k its costs to buy and run one for a year.
Just seen this thread and thought id chime in.
I had a scooter at 16 and did my restricted access as soon as I was 17 as I hated the lack of speed/power/street cred/fun that the sooter gave me. I jumped on a restricted CBR400 which was an amazing handling bike just didnt have the power or the smoothness of a 600. It was good though as it meant it was harder for me to do myself any harm. When I was 21 I got a GSXR 600 K1 which I still have. I was going to go for an R6 but at the time I was working in a motorbike training company and my boss was selling his K1. Im glad I went for it in the end as the GSXR is much more of a bike you can use every day and is much more forgiving than an R6 (aparently). Id still do unspeakable things to get my hands on a new shape R6 but the GSXR is all the bike i'd ever use on british roads. And GSXRs never get a bad reveiw.
As for gear..(I know some pople will have something to say about this but) I got my helmet, leathers and boots when I was 17, I took my bike out today wearing all the same kit, its not looking as fresh (and I had to use my winter jacket as ive gained a fair bit of size since I was 17 but its all still working as it should. My gloves ive had for 2 years all fine. And my backplate I wont ride without, plus I even took it skiing this year.
Now I have an Arai helmet Alpinestars leathers and boots and Dainese Gloves. That all cost me about £1500, but 6 years later (3 of those years commuting all year round on the bike) they still work and feel great and if I do go down, I know I will be protected. The back plate is a really big thing for me im not sure why anyone would activley go out without protecting their spine.
Long story short..R6s are awesome but dont discount the GSXR
Get a good riding school and because of the slow start to the season see if you can badger them for a deal/discount
Spend the time and money trying stuff on, try gear on and then go and sit on a display bike, is it comfortable? If youre getting a sportsbike make sure the gloves have thicker palms as this is where a lot of pressure sits. Everyone in bike shops are so helpful, ive spent a good couple hours trying stuff on, its a lot of money so you gotta be sure.
Finally if you fail your module 1 and you have a module 2 booked for the next day, you will lose your module 2 slot and money AND may have to pay for another training day. What I used to suggest to people with no riding history is maybe do a CBT and 2/1.5 days training, then your module 1. Then the week after do the same for module 2. This means you dont have to book module 2 until you have passed module 1. Depends how confident you are.
Im gunna shut up now
This is a genuine question, because I simply don't know - There was no such thing as DAS when I took my test .
Can you ride around on a 600 gaining experience between training sessions or do you have to be accompanied by an instructor (or someone else that has passed their test) ?
I'm pretty sure that with a 125, you could spread your training over a few weeks and practice what you are being taught step by step.
For anyone that is going to say "Oooo, how dangerous", in the good old days, you could ride around on a 250 capable of 100 mph indefinitely.
IMO, you can't absorb anything like as much in 5 days as you can 1 day a week for 5 weeks practicing what you learn between times.
If the training center is like the one I went to, they let me do my CBT on a KLX250 instead of a 125 as I wanted to "go all the way", was better from the start I find it easier to control and safer to ride the bigger bikes
Jonny as far as I know you can only ride a 125 of no more than 15KW having done the CBT and nothing more until you've passed all tests.
CBR, that's a good point about booking tests I wouldn't wanna waste money. I've been watching any and all videos on youtube to do with the tests, well Module 1 only because I can't find anything on Module 2. Seems simple enough but you never know
If the school has some kind of arrangement with a test centre you might be lucky regarding money if you fail, I'm sure the place I did mine with had a certain number of slots a week allocated to him if he wanted them? as I got in within a weeks notice of him saying I was ready (2 days for my mod 1)
from what I can remember:
A 16 year old can ride a 50cc after they've taken a CBT
CBT is then valid for 2 years so when they turn 17 without a test they can jump on a 125cc
A 17 year old can do a CBT jump on a 125cc for two years and then will have to keep redoing CBTs till they get their licence
A 17 year old can do a CBT jump on a 125cc do their training and test on a 125cc and then be restricted to 33bhp for two years. After 2 years that restriction comes off and they are free to ride whatever they want- no further testing required.
If the rider reaches 21 before their 2 year restriction comes up they can do a test on a 500cc bike which is called accelerated access and allows them to ride whatever they want.
At 21 and above you do your CBT on a 125cc, then do your training and test on a 500cc bike. You must be accompanied by an instructor and display L plates on this 500cc.
I hope that answers things
That's changed as of January this year. The restricted licence no longer automatically upgrades, you have to do another test to get a full licence. Also the full cat A licence is 24+ now.
^^^ That....is annoying. Glad I did mine early
Yeah, a rider who starts young now has to do basically the same test 3 times to get a full licence now.
This has been on my mind recently as well.
tbh I just have an unswerving desire to own a VFR400 and I can't for the life of me work out why!