Bloody annoyed

[muldoon74]

So last week I contacted the place I done my CBT with to ask about training costs for DAS..

 

Previously quoted £575 for DAS with MOD1 and MOD2 as was entitled to a discount on account of doing CBT with them. 

 

Received reply this week saying training school now closed indefinitely so any discount etc invalid as they have no school.. 

 

Been scouring online and anywhere even remotely local is minimum £900... I am now facing a 50% increase (near enough) to get my full license. 

 

It's so disheartening. I've still got my wee Honda CB125F  to pootle about on (when weather is better as ice, grit and cold are good for riding in particularly when you don't have proper kit) and I love it, I really do. 

 

However due to life stuff my Theory/hazard perception ran out last August (booked it for February now) CBT runs out May... Cheapest renewal in my area is circa £200.. Still won't have full license after it though and it's all money money money. 

 

I'll have done my hazard perception 3 times after this one. Twice for bikes and once for HGV class 2. No word of a lie the questions for my bike test 2 years ago were 70 odd % the same ones as for my Class 2. It's ridiculous we have to go through this just because its a different class of license. Same test (near enough) 3 times for a different license.?? I've held a car license for 28 years.  Robbing bast*rds. Time consuming and completely pointless, except for more money in the coffers of the ***** who make these ridiculous rules up. 

 

Small wonder that fewer and fewer young people are taking up motorcycling. So many hoops to jump through and I'm 50 years old! Imagine being 17 wanting your license and you have to either stay on a 125 (paying through the nose for insurance, renewing CBT, renewing hazard perception and theory every two years)  or step up through the levels when age/experience dictates you can but still having to complete the same tests again and again. 

 

What other countries have such constrictive regulations? Supposed to be a civilised country yet screws it's populous over everything (not a political rant, referring to motorcycle training/ownership mainly...).. 

 

 

[bud]

Unfortunately this licencing system was brought in as an EU directive. Without much thought being put into it.

This is why we had to have special test centres built as the road bit is 31mph in most countries.

[muldoon74]

2 minutes ago, bud said:

Unfortunately this licencing system was brought in as an EU directive. Without much thought being put into it.

This is why we had to have special test centres built as the road bit is 31mph in most countries.

Yet we have left the EU now but because these directives generate income they are kept in place...

 

You can not trust politicians. Greed before need. Someone, somewhere is making money off of this.. 

[Yorky]

27 minutes ago, muldoon74 said:

You can not trust politicians.

You can always tell when a politician is lying.

 

You can see their lips moving.

[Capt Sisko]

On 26/12/2024 at 18:33, muldoon74 said:

Imagine being 17 wanting your license and you have to either stay on a 125 (paying through the nose for insurance, renewing CBT, renewing hazard perception and theory every two years)

Whilst I agree the current system has major flaws in it, too many licencing layers and the theory & hazard perceptions tests that only have a limited amount of questions to chose from (most of which are online) it's almost pointless, however you are missing to point of why the two part system was introduced; to get riders to take training and prove they can ride up to the minimum standard needed to pass the test. Basically, the powers that be don't want unproven riders riding around on L plates forever. Pass your test, prove you can ride up to the required standard and the problem goes away (subject to what I said about having too many layers).

 

Ref the price increase, maybe that reflects the real cost of running a business, they need to make a profit or as you've found out they'll close up shop. We've all seen what's happened to our bike / house / pet insurance over the the last couple of years, I can only imagine what the cost of business liability insurance is nowadays given you're dealing with learners & motorcycles in the same sentence.

 

 

Edited December 27, 2024 by Capt Sisko

[Mold]

WOW, I had no idea it cost so much. I knew it was a right polava getting a licence these days but I didn't think it was that bad or that expensive. I'm 52yo and I never even had a motorcycle lesson, I just went in for my test at 17 and passed, I was riding my CB900 the next day. I had one car lesson and the instructor put me in for my test and I passed. They're two of the few things I didn't F.up in my youth. I've had two minor accidents since I got on the road, one on the bike and one in my car and neither involved another vehicle. I don't believe all these new rules improve road safety, if anyone does, send me the statistics. I feel sorry for the kids of the future when it comes to motor vehicles and the cost of just getting on the road. 

[skyrider]

i dont know why they didn't just leave it as it was when i took my test in 1980 put in for your test turn up at the test centre a couple of months later and waiting for you was the examiner with a clip board under his arm and gave you the route he wanted you to take and off you went you just saw him legging down the road and hiding behind lamp posts then emergency stop a few questions on the highway code and then you found out if you had passed or not, much simpler, things don't get any easier

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

16 hours ago, skyrider said:

i dont know why they didn't just leave it as it was when i took my test in 1980 put in for your test turn up at the test centre a couple of months later and waiting for you was the examiner with a clip board under his arm and gave you the route he wanted you to take and off you went you just saw him legging down the road and hiding behind lamp posts then emergency stop a few questions on the highway code and then you found out if you had passed or not, much simpler, things don't get any easier

They didn't leave it as it was because the speed of 250cc machines more or less doubled and the accident rate was soaring. 

 

I'd hate to have to go through the current system, but I can see why the 1980s system needed to be updated to match more modern bikes and traffic conditions.  

[Capt Sisko]

On 28/12/2024 at 08:12, Mississippi Bullfrog said:

They didn't leave it as it was because the speed of 250cc machines more or less doubled and the accident rate was soaring.

 

I'm another one who sent off for their provisional licence in the post, stuck L plates on my 250 and went on to pass the very basic town centre test where I didn't get above 30mph. It was a complete farce. From the same time I also remember MCN having a big headline stating an X7 had hit 100mph. With hindsight it's up there with the stories of how the testing of AC Cobra's on the M1 led to the introduction of the 70mph speed limit. Interesting, but only part of the story. The main reason the two part test was introduces was as MB said, we were killing & maiming ourselves in the thousands back then and the Government had to do something about it.

The stats below show a nearly 1/3 drop in the accident rate before & after the introduction of the two part test and restriction 125s. The 2022 rate is 123 fatalities per billion miles so we're well under half of what the fatality rate was pre two part test was, however also remember that better medical techniques & equipment will account for some of that recent improvement.   

Edited January 2 by Capt Sisko

[M-WTE]

Having only taking my test at 40 last year I must say, despite the cost of circa £950 including CBT, trading, MOD 1 & 2 tests for direct access wasn’t a waste of money.
I do feel the training received and the competency gained along with knowing the test was actually decent testing was worth while.

Obviously depending on the school chosen will have a difference in the experience, there were 2 days where I actually said to the instructor that I felt they were not good and wasted days - I thought I’d not learnt anything. He then reminded me the difference from the start and that in actual fact he’d seen improvement in my abilities and maybe it was right I’d not learnt anything new… but in fact just put into practice what I had learnt. 

[Terry Came]

I agree with the extra training. I too go my licence back in the day and the training was 'well here's your L plates and off you go!' Something had to change. When I look back at my first 12 months of motorcycling, all I can say is my guardian angel needed to put in an overtime claim. I'm still here to tell the tale, but many others are not. I remember the Yamaha RD250, capable, if the hype were to be believed, of 100mph, straight out the box, 17yr old, straight off his pushbike, or, if he or she was lucky, his or her FSIE. No wonder the accident rate was so high. The theory test on the other hand, well, when it was first introduced, if you had a full driving licence, you did not need one for your motorbike test, and the same if you had a full bike licence, no need for your car test. I can only think that the reason for the change was financial.