A newbie with a dilemma!

[Guest]

Hi, I'm Louise and I'm a newbie to all this biking lark! I'm a bit old to be a newbie I think, at 28... but I was forbidden from riding a bike when I was a teenager by my over-protective Dad (he's an ex-biker), and ended up driving a car for 10 years...

I've had a 49cc Peugeot Speedfight 2 for 3 months now and I absolutely love it, I don't know why I didn't get a bike/moped sooner. I've booked it in to be de-restricted this week, but have suddenly realised a problem:

I'm on a full car licence, have taken my CBT and I wanted to go for an A1 Motorcycle test. Problem is, if I de-restrict my bike, it's no longer a Moped class, but I can't use it for an A1 test either as it's less than 75cc (for an A1 it has to be between 75 and 125cc).

So what do I do? I don't want to get a Moped licence, I want the A1 for now. Are there any modifications I can have done to push the cc up to 75? Or does anyone have any recommendations for bikes 75-125cc? I assume if I can't modify it I'll have to trade it in for another model.

Incidentally, as it's an automatic, how difficult is it to adjust to using a manual? - edited to say, I mean if I got a bike with clutch & gears, how would it compare to riding an automatic, as I'm doing now? Easy to adapt to?

All these questions, sorry...!

Edited March 11, 2008 by Anonymous

[Guest]

Hi, I'm Louise and I'm a newbie to all this biking lark! I'm a bit old to be a newbie I think, at 28... but I was forbidden from riding a bike when I was a teenager by my over-protective Dad (he's an ex-biker), and ended up driving a car for 10 years...

I've had a 49cc Peugeot Speedfight 2 for 3 months now and I absolutely love it, I don't know why I didn't get a bike/moped sooner. I've booked it in to be de-restricted this week, but have suddenly realised a problem:

I'm on a full car licence, have taken my CBT and I wanted to go for an A1 Motorcycle test. Problem is, if I de-restrict my bike, it's no longer a Moped class, but I can't use it for an A1 test either as it's less than 75cc (for an A1 it has to be between 75 and 125cc).

So what do I do? I don't want to get a Moped licence, I want the A1 for now. Are there any modifications I can have done to push the cc up to 75? Or does anyone have any recommendations for bikes 75-125cc? I assume if I can't modify it I'll have to trade it in for another model.

Incidentally, as it's an automatic, how difficult is it to adjust to using a manual?

All these questions, sorry...!

 

I hope not, I was a newbie last year and have nearly 10(yes I did say nearly.........that means somewhere between 5 and 10) years on you.

Can't answer the question except I'd probably change bike.......they'll be someone along in a bit that's more kowledgable then me

but enjoy and ride safe..........

[Stu]

why not use a training school's bike to do test on then you dont have to pay out for a new bike

or even better do DAS would only cost a little more then the A1 but you will have a full licence and wont have to do it again when its harder

you will have to do the same test as the A1 for DAS just on a bigger bike if starting from scratch it costs about £500 but you already have cbt and a few months riding exeprience so would be a lot cheaper

Stu

[Korben]

What Stu said sounds good to me.

Don't know if you know or not, but the DAS bike test will be changing in October and will become a lot tougher.

I would recommend doing the full license now, and you won't have to do anything again.

Use a biking school's bike. That solves all sorts of problems for you.

Go say hello in the Newbie section as well, and introduce yourself. Let us know where you are from as well, and I am pretty certain someone on here will be able to help you find a good training school.

P.S. I started biking at 31. Same problems as you with over protective parents. My Mum still questions if I really like riding, and comes out with the phrase "You will grow out of this phase"

[Guest]

use a bike from the school. usually charge you like 10 per hour for it. speak to your instructor. as for riding a manual, if you have drove a car youll be fine. jus getting used to the bite etc and the changing gear youll fly. good luck and 28 aint old lol

[Guest]

Hiya,

I'll definitely take the advice here (thanks!). I did my CBT at MSM in Manchester, they were great so I think I'll go back there to do training / direct access to get an A licence.

The new test in October sounds really harsh, took me 3 attempts to pass my car test because I was a total bag of nerves, so I've got to pass the bike test this summer or I'm surely doomed to ride on L plates forever!

[Guest philgale]

another manc....

have a look at scotti knights in sale, next door to sale yamaha i did both CBT and DAS with them and they were good...

also you could look in sale yamaha while your there and see what 125cc they have or if your doing DAS instead now have a look at some r1's

oh welcome to the forum too

[Guest]

Are there any modifications I can have done to push the cc up to 75? Or does anyone have any recommendations for bikes 75-125cc? I assume if I can't modify it I'll have to trade it in for another model.

Incidentally, as it's an automatic, how difficult is it to adjust to using a manual? - edited to say, I mean if I got a bike with clutch & gears, how would it compare to riding an automatic, as I'm doing now? Easy to adapt to?

All these questions, sorry...!

 

You can modifi anything but at a cost and in this case it would be easier and cheaper to replace

If you can do gears in car then you should be able to learn them on a bike

 

also you could look in sale yamaha while your there and see what 125cc they have or if your doing DAS instead now have a look at some r1's

 

Dont listen to Phill, you would be much better off on a Suzuki as they are

made for the female rider, you don't want an R1 as they are crap

Phill stop it, we dont want females riding around on R1s

[Guest]

Hi Louise

Id advise you to use the training schools bikes for a few reasons.

1: The trainers know teh bikes and will be able to show you round them in anal detail

2: If you do drop teh bike, over-rev it, or give it a scratch..... hey, its not yours right, who cares ? Also means you wont have to replace parts i.e. clutch/brake levers if one breaks

3: The trainers have picked the bikes they see as best for teh job, you'll be driving something designed for exactly what you need.

And also, the change to manual is easy, and infact fun. Admitantly i never owned an automatic, but i trained on one. After about 5 to 10 minutes on a manual i was thinking, Ahhhhhhhhhh

Thats how you do it !!! Infact you wont eb able to go back the way.

Best of lucky ma'm. 8)

[houdini]

Go and speak to a training school as I think you'll find unless you are renewing your cbt you have to by law ride one of thier bikes. Any bike is worth something so you could sell yours and put it towards a bigger machine.

[pumilio]

As above, definitely advise arranging your test on a training school bike. Is there some reason why you want to stick with a 125cc other than that is a next step up from your moped?

Getting some practice on a 125 for a while could a good thing before moving up to a bigger bike. The answer whether to go straight for a bigger bike depends partly on how you feel (your confidence) and how much time/training you want to do, but also on how you plan to use the bike. 125ccs *can* be used to ride any distance but they aren't very comfy and stable at all at speed for longer journeys.

You can definitely use your time in training to see how you feel riding around on either a 125cc or a bigger bike before you commit to your test.

I live in Manchester too and I highly recommend MSM (manchester school of motorcycling). I took training over a period of about 5 months at three different places in Manchester (due to issues in my own schedule mainly) and found MSM to be a head above the rest in terms of being professional. Did you do your cbt in Manchester?

Good luck!

[Guest]

I live in Manchester too and I highly recommend MSM (manchester school of motorcycling). I took training over a period of about 5 months at three different places in Manchester (due to issues in my own schedule mainly) and found MSM to be a head above the rest in terms of being professional. Did you do your cbt in Manchester?

 

Hiya Pumilio

I did my CBT at MSM (a scouser called Jeff), they were all very friendly and professional and put me at ease. Obviously I have no other experience of training schools but I really enjoyed my day there. I was proper wobbly at first (not to mention freezing cold!) and had real problems getting the bike on/off the stand (I'm very weedy!) which was embarrassing but by the end of the day I was problem-free and loving it.

As for upgrading to a bigger bike, I use my moped for commuting to work and it's partially a confidence thing and also a cost issue regarding upgrading at the mo. I think if I got an A licence on a training school's 125cc bike, then after 2 years any restriction would be lifted on bike type anyway, by that time I think I would be itching to upgrade (and be able to afford to as well ). To jump in and train/take my test on a 500cc would be insane - for me personally, anyway!.

[Guest]

Every1 here seems to be saying the same thing and I have to agree...

Use the schools bike... was on a twist and rip myself when I took mine and I would deffinately say go for the Direct Access and get ur full license... then u can upgrade to wot ever u want.

Had never ridden a bike with gears when I did mine either and for the first few hours kept going for the clutch thinking it was my back break lol get used to it eventually but do a weeks course with ur test at the end and riding every day up to ur test u will have no prob getting used to it and should fly thru the test easily got 3 minor faults on mine and was shaking like a leaf when we got back to the test center lol couldnt w8 to go get a pint down my neck! Think inc the test and the weeks bike hire and training it cost me around £360 long time ago it seems now!

Good luck and enjoy

[Guest]

Hi,

If you do get the Speedfight de-restricted there is a resinator tube that sticks out at a right angle from the exhaust downpipe which needs to be cut off and blanked. After blanking it can be welded back on leaving no visible sign that the bike has been de-restricted. 8)

The only other things needed to de-restrict is to remove the restrictor plate from inside the front variator (front part of the automatic clutch) and increase the size of the main jet by two sizes. Some mechanics don't do this and it can lead to the bike seizing after prolonged use.

These bike are designed to be full power, so no problem de-restricting them.

You should get 50mph + out of it afterwards.

There are plenty of suppliers of big bore kits for these bikes, try the classifieds in TwistandGo magasine for example.