Do your bike test soon

[Guest]

In the next two years the route to a full licence is going to change. There will soon be an enforced 2 year gap between each jump in engine size. For example at 17 years old on a 125cc bike, even with a full licence you will be restricted to a 125cc machine for 2 years. Then at 19 and after more training and/or a test 50BHP machines will then be available. After another 2 (now 21) years and training and/or a test unlimited capacity machines will be available.

More HOOPS to jump through. The DAS route will also be moved to 24 years of age!

If you are contemplating taking up biking, do it as soon as you can but make sure you pick a good school who can train you to a high standard ready for your Mod 1 test.

If like me, you think extra tests in between capacity jumps is unnecessary please e-mail me at the address below. The plan by the DSA is to intorduce a minimum SEVEN hours of training for each jump in capacity. E.g. 125cc to 50bhp machines and 50bhp machines to unlimited. The licences will be A2, A1 and A for the new route. There could aloso be a TEST on top of the seven hours training. I believe if seven hours training is compulsory then there is no need for another test as the rider already holds a full licence.

Instead of making it harder for people who can already ride and have had a few years riding experience behind them, concentrate on making the CBT more comprehensive and to actually allow time to train NEW riders correctly. This includes counter steering and all of the routines used in the MOD1 and a longer road ride section as some schools only do the BARE minimum which does not make a safe rider. There has to be some common sense and the most important part of a bikers career is his FIRST training course. This is the CBT which should cover as much as possible to make a safe rider. Did you think the CBT gave you enough confidence and knowledge to cope with our road system?

If you can go for your full licence now DO IT . [email protected]

[Guest akey]

Hi do you have any references from where this information has been gleaned from?

I would be interested to see the original proposal documents.

[polecat]

on my mod 1 test last week my DSA examiner did say in 2012 some radical changes will take place in the motorcycle tests as the numbers of death or injury hadnt come down as much as they wanted the only thing he mentioned was the new age for das though (24)

Adrian

[Guest philgale]

For example at 17 years old on a 125cc bike, even with a full licence you will be restricted to a 125cc machine for 2 years. Then at 19 and after more training and/or a test 50BHP machines will then be available. After another 2 (now 21) years and training and/or a test unlimited capacity machines will be available.

More HOOPS to jump through. The DAS route will also be moved to 24 years of age!

 

is it just me or does this not actually seem such a radical change....at 17 you pass your test you can ride a 125, then 2 years you can then get a bigger bike....but to be honest how many people can insure a bike with more than 50BHP after 2 years anyway.

[Guest akey]

This is very similar to the Japanease test system (hence they have alot of good 250s) which is why I am interested to see any real evidence that this is likely to happen or is it just good old biker jungle drums again.

[Guest]

This has come from the very quiet governmet consultaion which is now set in stone and can not be changed (but its implementation can be). It attempts to bring the UK in line with Europe but as always the UK has taken things too far and gold-plated the requirements. The 'third directive' as it has been called is an attempt to reduce accidents which should not be criticised, but they are in my opinion making it harder for new riders. They will have to in some cases to gian a full unrestricted licence do the following :- CBT, Theory test, Mod1, Mod2 to ride a 125 without L-plates. Then take another 7 hour of lessons followed by another test to middleweight bikes. Then another seven hours of lessons followed by another test for unlimited bikes. Thats three courses, and four exams and four years to gain access to large bikes not including the lessons required to pass your Mod1 and Mod2.

My point is - to reduce accidents the CBT should be longer and more comprehensive as you can ride on the road for 2 years having only the bare minimum of training. Can you imagine car driving instructors telling you that because you drive a small car and not a large saloon, your training will be inferior and all you need is the bare minimum to drive on the road. There would be a national out-cry if this happened. If the government had the common sense to bring in comprehensive trainig from the start, there would not be the need for extra tests and training days for bigger bikes. By all means have laddered access to bikes, where a younger person can not get access to powerful machines until he has had experience on smaller machines. But the principals behind a motorbike are the same regardless of size and I can not see the benefit of extra tests. Good training from day one and a supervised introduction to more powerful bikes is enough for a biker who has a full licence and has ridden for a couple of years.

The consultation for the impending changes was not widely publicised and only a few people have heard of it which smacks of under-handedness from the powers-that-be.

[Guest]

This is very similar to the Japanease test system (hence they have alot of good 250s) which is why I am interested to see any real evidence that this is likely to happen or is it just good old biker jungle drums again.

 

Sorry - Not jungle drums this time. It will happen. They also proposed changes where a learner was not able to ride a motorbike on the road (even a 50cc) until they had passed their test. This was thrown out this time but it may rear its head again in the future. I have had a long chat with the DSA about the new directive and they are determined not to change their proposals.

[Guest]

For example at 17 years old on a 125cc bike, even with a full licence you will be restricted to a 125cc machine for 2 years. Then at 19 and after more training and/or a test 50BHP machines will then be available. After another 2 (now 21) years and training and/or a test unlimited capacity machines will be available.

More HOOPS to jump through. The DAS route will also be moved to 24 years of age!

 

is it just me or does this not actually seem such a radical change....at 17 you pass your test you can ride a 125, then 2 years you can then get a bigger bike....but to be honest how many people can insure a bike with more than 50BHP after 2 years anyway.

 

If you pass your test and are under 21, you do not have to still ride a 125 for two years. You can ride 33bhp machines for two years and then gain access to unrestriced bikes at the end of this period.

Under the new rules, even if you pass your test, you can not ride any other bike than a 125 for two years! There will be a lot of people riding 125's for extended periods or maybe not bothering to ride at all. Since the new (current) test has come into play, there has been a 60% drop in people taking up biking as the feel it is too difficult to get a licence. Also the swerve test has put a lot of people off as there have been too many accidents at test centres. I am all for making biking safer, but there are better ways of going about it. As I said a bikers initial training is the most important, not learning how to pass a test. If you have not been trained to a safe standard from the start there will always be accidents and unfortunatly fatalities. The current and the new system is bolting the stable door after the horse has bolted.

[Guest]

Hi do you have any references from where this information has been gleaned from?

I would be interested to see the original proposal documents.

 

PM me and I will send you the lot. It will send you to sleep. Or search the .gov channels as it is on there .

Here is the gist. Each stage will have a seperate trainig and/or test

Category

Specification

GB minimum driving age

A1

motorcycles up to 125cc/11kw with a power/weight ratio not exceeding 0.1 kW/kg (including tricycles up to 15kW)

17 years

A2

motorcycles up to 35kw a power/weight ratio not exceeding 0.2kW/kg and not derived from a vehicle of more than double its power

19 years

A

unrestricted motorcycles above 35kW (including tricycles over 15kW)

21 years (24 years if Direct Access)

3.2.4. Within progressive access, the Directive’s rule of a minimum two years experience

.

[Ratser]

Wonder if something similar will come in regarding motorists too ?

I somehow doubt it.

[Guest]

I've heard of this

also heard of the small change to the test in October...

One day we will be so limited i wouldnt be surprised if motorbiking isn't abolished completely.

[Mightycaz]

Well we can all count ourselves lucky we already have a license, another insentive not to lose em I suppose.......

[Guest]

Dont see a problem with it, its a good idea.

Bikers need to get over the idea that the government has something against us and move to the mindset that actually they are wanting to preserve our lives and the skin of our arses

[bigsisterbiker]

i agree that extra training and time taken to qualify isn't necessarily a bad thing, but i do think that if they are going to radically change the bike test they should seriously look at car licensing too, with comparable power/age restrictions being implemented.

and yes, car driving isn't near as dangerous as a bike but it still needs looking at imo

[Guest]

I agree, maybe it will be tackled next

[lingy3]

Any system that stops 17 year olds passing cbt 1 day,

Riding a 70mph bike the next day & for 2 years without any additional training,

gets the thumbs up from me

[Guest]

i agree that extra training and time taken to qualify isn't necessarily a bad thing, but i do think that if they are going to radically change the bike test they should seriously look at car licensing too, with comparable power/age restrictions being implemented.

and yes, car driving isn't near as dangerous as a bike but it still needs looking at imo

 

Car driving, in ways, is worse.

throwing a 1 tonne piece of metal around a corner and loosing it is going to be worse than a 200kg bike. The car could go through walls/houses/shops. A bike would slide in to the kerb.

Admittedly, possible more damage to the rider, but that's personal choice, its not risking other peoples live's (or at least, the risk is minimised)

[Guest]

OMG!! How far can we go with this... im sure that statistics are looked at before anyone decides what to do, and yeh a car could launch in the air and land in someones bedroom... but its probably more likely that someone could fall off their bike...

Think logically instead of with your heart

[ricky_v]

more bullshit from the (unelected) EU comission.

most bike and larger vehicle RTA's is the larger vehicle's fault.

the EU loves unnesessary regualation and bureacracy, they need more car drivers to collect more revenue for their failed project.

how about we start with reforming the car (up to a massive 3,500KG) test before picking on users who vehicles couldnt knock over a bladdy sheep

ive managed to do the old test before the EUSSR brought in all this swerve test crap, never looked back since

[Jixerman]

This has come from the very quiet governmet consultaion which is now set in stone and can not be changed (but its implementation can be).

The consultation for the impending changes was not widely publicised and only a few people have heard of it which smacks of under-handedness from the powers-that-be.

 

What they call a "white paper"

They dont hide it.................its just not openly advertised

We get this a lot in the construction industry

Its down to the individual to research what white papers are about, but generally they are aimed at specific individuals or organisations

I think the idea is that these papers are aimed at those that are best placed to provide objective feedback. Something that rarely happens with jo public.

http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm/cmwib/wgp.htm

From experience, having been involved in consultations processes at work, I have noticed an ever growing percentage of people who, while they agree with the proposals set before them, just want to stir things up, generally be a pain in the arse and cause problems. This is known as the antagonist culture.

[Guest]

more bullshit from the (unelected) EU comission.

most bike and larger vehicle RTA's is the larger vehicle's fault.

the EU loves unnesessary regualation and bureacracy, they need more car drivers to collect more revenue for their failed project.

how about we start with reforming the car (up to a massive 3,500KG) test before picking on users who vehicles couldnt knock over a bladdy sheep

ive managed to do the old test before the EUSSR brought in all this swerve test crap, never looked back since

 

Ooooo some more unverified information.

As a car driver im pretty pissed with your accusation... maybe you would like to get the statistics to back up your claim, and also provide stats on how many bike accidents are due to rider error! Thanks

[Lumor_uk]

this is a good document on the stats

http://www.saferrider.org/escms/uploads ... portv8.pdf

[Guest]

When Vicki joins in,,,,, you know the shit really has hit the fan...

[Guest]

Haha... i just dont like people spouting off 'facts' without evidence... it comes from being at uni lol...

Saying that... stats mean shit anyway... they can be manipulated to read pretty much anything u want them too

[Hywel]

Yeah I'd like a link to a .gov site or a credible statistics page when someone says something like "oh actually a new law is coming...."

I think cars are very different to bikes... quick cars are easy for a novice to drive compared to powerful sportsbikes for example, and if an average 17 year old car driver felt inclined to break the law, he could do some very serious speeds through a town centre and being in a 1.1 corsa instead of a scooby isn't going to stop him. Insurance companies make it pretty much impossible for a young guy to drive anything over a 1.6 petrol car anyway unless he has some proper cashflow knocking about, which isn't too likely.

The fact is, riding a bike is on another level of risk, and although I don't disagree with the DVLA easing people into bigger bikes more gradually, I quite like the fact that if I had the money I could start riding a turbo Hayabusa streetfighter to and from work tomorrow having ridden for only 5 or 6 months .