New starter - totally confused about new licence classifications

[Via]

Firstly I am a "mature" driver starting out in biking, I am 35 and have been driving for 13 years now. Aprox. 12+ years ago I did a CBT (hadn't been driving for more than 6 months) but never got on bike again (got offered CBT through work for free and thought why not - didn't like riding a bike at the time though so never got on one again).

Now fast forwarding to today I really want to ride, have a lot of friends and family whom are bikers and want to get on a bike myself, I am sure the dislike from previous was being new to the road + totally new to bikes was just a lot off stress. When I first got in a car I hated it, did my 10 paid for lessons at 17 and never got back behind a wheel until I was 22 but now love it.

So I have my CBT booked for just over a week away and been looking at all the new licence changes... Now I am totally stumped! As I cant see any way of getting on a decent size bike without paying a fortune.

Old style (pre 2013?) progressive access I could pass my test on a small bike and just be patient and rack up some experience eventually I would get on something bigger. But now to get even an A2 licence I would need to pass a test on a bike I cannot legally ride as a learner.

So how do I even get on a larger bike to get experience? Other than going on a course which cost a fortune lump sum. Or alternatively find a bike to borrow (feasible as previously stated do have friends and family with bikes) and a bit of private land (harder as I am not trying to get off road experience)... and even after that would I even get insurance on a bike I cant legally ride to then do the test? And would I then have to push the bike all the way to the test centre as I can't ride it on the road.

Totally flummoxed as to what to do, even though I am forward thinking at the moment as first plan is to get at least 9-12 months experience just riding on my CBT.

[Hoggs]

Hello! Short answer is its gonna be expensive to pass your test if you want any kind of formal training. Including cbt and theory and three days training plus mod 1 and mod 2 is gonna be ballpark £600

Your cbt is valid for 2 years and you can ride up to a 125 with L plates. Not allowed on motorways

As you're over 24 you can do the direct access scheme (Das) which upon completion means you can ride whatever you can afford to insure

You will need to do a bike specific theory test (practise questions and hazard awareness videos available for free online for practise) think that's about 25 quid. This is also valid for two years

Mod 1 is slow speed stuff and mod 2 is your road test. You need a valid cbt and theory to do these and mod 2 cannot be taken before mod 1 is passed

These must be taken on a minimum of 500 (I think....) cc bike and as you said you won't be able to be insured on a privately owned bike to do this.

In theory you could practise on a big bike on private land and just hire a bike and instructor for a couple hours to go to and from the centre on but really everyone is gonna need some proper tuition to pass. Also the centre bikes may be different so you'll be on an unfamiliar bike which won't help!

I'd chat with your cbt place to see what courses and prices they offer.

Good luck with the cbt have fun and keep us updated

[Oasis]

Mod 1 is £15.50

Mod 2 is £70

You can just pay by the hour at some places but the best price I found for that was £50 for 2 hours (inc bike hire). You can also do this for your test, you'd need to book the instructor and bike for enough time to get from the instructors location to test center, length of test and then journey back (I think).

If you price all that up the courses aren't too expensive. I've booked 2 and a half day course for £480 inc test fees.

[bonio]

The cheapest way to get your licence is likely to be to pass the CBT, get a 125 and run around on it for a year or so. Add a few lessons in from time - I think you do better to have the lessons spaced out and give yourself time to practice so that you can go on to learn new stuff at the next lesson. Then you could choose whether to do the A2 test , or it might make more sense to do some lessons on a big bike (it has to be over 595cc) and and go for the full licence.

At least I *think* the rules allow you to do it this way.

[Via]

Cheers for replies, well cbt and ride for a bit definitely first step, think only sensible option is full licence though as any other route just means paying for multiple lessons and tests, will see if there are any local "by the hour" places all I've seen so far is bulk bookings and there's a massive difference between £160 for a day or £800 for 5

[Joeman]

Just bite the bullet and go for it.

600quid to get your full licence, compared to doing a CBT, buying a 125cc bike, insuring and taxing it, running about for a while, then doing lessons and tests... Then selling the 125 for a loss..

600quid will seem cheap once you add that little lot up!!

[soll]

Hello! Short answer is its gonna be expensive to pass your test if you want any kind of formal training. Including cbt and theory and three days training plus mod 1 and mod 2 is gonna be ballpark £600

Your cbt is valid for 2 years and you can ride up to a 125 with L plates. Not allowed on motorways

As you're over 24 you can do the direct access scheme (Das) which upon completion means you can ride whatever you can afford to insure

You will need to do a bike specific theory test (practise questions and hazard awareness videos available for free online for practise) think that's about 25 quid. This is also valid for two years

Mod 1 is slow speed stuff and mod 2 is your road test. You need a valid cbt and theory to do these and mod 2 cannot be taken before mod 1 is passed

These must be taken on a minimum of 500 (I think....) cc bike and as you said you won't be able to be insured on a privately owned bike to do this.

In theory you could practise on a big bike on private land and just hire a bike and instructor for a couple hours to go to and from the centre on but really everyone is gonna need some proper tuition to pass. Also the centre bikes may be different so you'll be on an unfamiliar bike which won't help!

I'd chat with your cbt place to see what courses and prices they offer.

Good luck with the cbt have fun and keep us updated

 

Most Motorcycle schools use 600cc/650cc for das now as they are really common and easy to get hold of, A2 they use 500cc or restricted big bikes from my experience..

A2 is normally trained on a 500cc, but theere are some great 300cc bikes being release from all manufacturers

Category AM

You can drive 2-wheeled or 3-wheeled vehicles with a maximum design speed of over 25km/h (15.5mph) but not more than 45km/h (28mph).

This category also includes light quad bikes with:

unladen mass of not more than 350kg (not including batteries if it’s an electric vehicle)

maximum design speed of over 25km/h (15.5mph) but not more than 45km/h (28mph)

Category A1

an engine size up to 125cc

a power output of up to 11kW

a power to weight ratio not more than 0.1kW/kg

This category also includes motor tricycles with power output up to 15kW.

Category A2

power output up to 35kW (roughly 500cc or restricted bigger)

power to weight ratio not more than 0.2kW/kg

The motorbike must also not be derived from a vehicle of more than double its power.

Category A

You can drive:

motorbikes with a power output more than 35kW or a power to weight ratio more than 0.2kW/kg

motor tricycles with a power output more than 15kW

Cars

Category B

You can drive motor tricycles with a power output higher than 15kW if you are over 21 years old.

Physically disabled drivers with provisional category B entitlement will also have provisional entitlement to ride category A1 or A motor tricycles.