Confused about CBT

[Axey]

Hey, I just recently turned 17, and I want to get on the road. I want a 125cc bike, I don't really want to ride a ped.
Unfortunately, I have done nothing so far, that means I have no driving licence, no CBT, nothing.

I am confused, do I have to do 1 CBT or 2, to ride a bike of more than 50cc's?

Also, my parent's aren't rich, so I have to pay for everything myself, any suggestions for a cheap and cheerful bike? (125cc or less).

Any suggestions will be much appreciated, and please forgive my noobish inadequacies.
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Axey

[nynfortoo]

[st3v3]

Get a CG125 or similar, they're about the cheapest and you'll need a CBT, insurance MOT & TAX, then some decent gear(license goes without mentioning) all this can cost about £2000 as a rough ball park figure, is that the kind of info you need?
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Roger wrote: Women don't get damp for clingy puppies. Get some better happy pills, hit the gym & buy a medallion the size of a dinner plate. Job done

[repiV]

CBT is CBT is CBT. You never need two of them.
I would advise, however, using a reputable school as some less scrupulous outfits are just out for your money and don't really care if you're going to kill yourself on the roads.
Also, if possible, try and use a school that will give you further training completely free should you need more than one day to complete CBT.

If you have no riding experience, don't underestimate the difficulty of learning to be good enough to go on the public roads with only a couple of hours practice time. CBT is not like taking lessons where they go at your own pace, the day moves on and it's your duty to keep up with the pace.
I had to do my CBT three times and even then I wasn't really up to standard, but the only way I was going to learn was to get out there and ride. Passed my DAS first time a month later though.
I had to pay £60 each time to redo my CBT - that's an expense you want to avoid the possibility of.

If you haven't got your provisional yet, apply now because waiting for your license to come through your door while you're anxious to get out there is incredibly frustrating.

As for a cheap and cheerful bike, if you live near London then there is this dealer in Croydon that sells brand new Chinese import Suzuki GN125s for £895. I've no personal experience of them, but they apparently come with a parts warranty and if you get every nut and bolt tightened up solid after 500 miles they should be fine.
Otherwise, look for a second-hand CG125, YBR125 or something along those lines with a similar seating position and price - good learner bikes.

Finally, make sure you budget the cost of protective gear into your costs - jacket, trousers, gloves, boots, helmet. Personally I swear by textile (cordura) clothing because it doesn't get too hot or too cold and it's waterproof, but leather provides better crash protection.
A few hundred quid is nothing compared to spending half a year in hospital if you're fortunate.

[Axey]

ah yes, I forgot to mention that, didn't think it mattered. I dohave my provisional driver's licence. So I should go and book my CBT, then if/when i complete it, I am ok to buy a bike of 125cc's?
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Axey

[Axey]

ah yes, I forgot to mention that, didn't think it mattered. I dohave my provisional driver's licence. So I should go and book my CBT, then if/when i complete it, I am ok to buy a bike of 125cc's?
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Axey

[nynfortoo]

[Axey]

Right, I'll go and book my CBT then, I'll probs look on Biketrader for a CG125, or YBR125.
Thankyou for imparting your wisdom to a humble noob such as myself.
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Axey

[nynfortoo]

[st3v3]

most 125's are below ^that^ anyway so don't worry about it. repIv,

best thing is to do a CBT as soon as you can, the get out there and ride as that's the best way to get experience.
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Roger wrote: Women don't get damp for clingy puppies. Get some better happy pills, hit the gym & buy a medallion the size of a dinner plate. Job done

[repiV]

[Stiffler]

Yes it's not just a 125cc bike it's also not got to produce too much power. But if you're looking at a cheap and cheerful 4stroke CG125 you don't need to worry about the power output being too high!

Aim to pick up a 2nd hand 4 stroke, but be warned they hold their value quite well as they're so desirable to new riders. Ideally avoid the cheap Chinese copy's such as Lifans as they're made out of cheese and depreciate massively dropping like a skydiver. The bikes to look for are the Honda CG125, Yamaha YBR125 and the Suzuki GS125.

I didn't find the CBT itself too physically demanding, but it's quite hard mentally. The day is long and if you have no previous experience with motorbikes there is tonnes of new information to take in and personally I was concentrating very hard on doing everything I was told.
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Current Bikes - Kawasaki ZX-6R (636) | BMW G650GS

[nynfortoo]

[repiV]

[nynfortoo]

[repiV]

[ilovensr]

hehe i love the cane it everywhere mentality required for a 125, great for getting rid of stress after a hard day at school

[rdm3ch]

Good luck with your CBT! Let us know how it goes.

I did mine over 2 days because at the end of the first one I didnt feel ready for the road ride myself and the instructor agreed. The second day was completely free and it helped me personally.

Its good to know that it isnt just me on the aching front! When I did my CBT I ached in my back, shoulders and arms. And I ached on my first few rides too! I think between going to the gym and other rides I've managed to get my muscles used to it!

[Stelmer]

Anyone done Enduro/Motocross?

Brilliant fun, but you don't half pay for it over the next few days...............

[ncrn]

you'll only have to do a second cbt if you want to be a delivery boy on a moped or something, Which you don't need to do if you've got your license (I think).

CG125, SR125, YBR125, GN125 are all good candidates for cheap bikes, and are fairly easy to work on when your new to bikes, my mates gn125 is very easy to work with.

Good luck with your cbt
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Past: 55 Sym Jet, 91 ZZR250, 03 NSR125R. Present: 97 ER-5.
https://www.nsr125.co.uk - NSR Owners forum.

[st3v3]

[repiV]

Yeah, I rode a GN125 for a couple of weeks. It seems to be a largely unknown and untalked about bike, but it does have a couple of great features for the new rider - it's a lot more difficult to stall than a CG, and it also comes with a gear indicator display as standard.
Downsides over the CG are plentiful though - the mirrors are so shite there was no point even looking in them unless you were going round a bend. The brakes suck, it's extremely vibey at higher revs and it's geared even lower than the CG - you have to change into second at something like 7-8mph. Also, it just doesn't feel very "quality" and I'm pretty sure it has a bit less torque than the CG.

The CG is definitely a better bike, but I think the GN is a better learning tool - at least, it was for me. But I wouldn't buy one.

[krebsy]

You should only pay a one off fee (£75?) to do the CBT, no matter how may days it takes as it's Compulsary basic training, NOT A TEST.

I did mine over two days as I needed a little more time to get to grips with the bike before the road section. I spent one morning doing the theory and playground stuff then spent the afternoon hacking up and down the playground to practice the U-turn and E-stop. after that, the instructor said "just come back next week for the road section" as he was happy that I'd be able to handle it.

The CBT was 75 quid and two days worth of hire of the school bike was 30 quid on top.

You don't have to pay for a second CBT unless you go to a different school to try again.

K.
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What's my New Year's resolution?

1280 x 1024.

[Steven_85]

I did my CBT in two days. Mainly because I had never even touched a bike before doing it. so it took me the whole of too days.
Remember it's not a test. It's just basic requirements you need for out on the road really.

As for Bikes, Try and get a 2nd hand one or one of them cheap chinese built things like I did. Which if you drop your not going to be as upset as if you had bought a brand new one.

I got on the road for a total price of £1450

Hongdou CG 125 £700 brand new
Helmet £100 b-n
Jacket and Gloves £50,£50 b-n
Insurance and Cbt £550


Got my CBT done cheap as It's handy to know the person doing it.


Oh and if you have to go back an extra day make sure there don't charge you for it