Best route to licence

[Chunks]

Hi all,

Just wondering which route is best to get on the road. I realise you all don't know me or my particular foibles, I'll fill you in with some of it so you have an idea of who you're dealing with. But mostly, I'm just after opinions from you more experienced riders out there.

I'm pretty old to start with biking at 38. I've been driving (passed first time) for 17 years, on and off so I have some road sense. I'm decent with vehicles, took a few rotary wing flying lessons in the past and the instructors seemed happy with my progress (money ran out ) so that didn't get anywhere. Otherwise, twist'n'goes, jetskis, w/e on holiday, and I'm still alive.

I'd mostly be riding around London and I doubt I'll be doing any country riding or get on any motorway. I wanted a bike when I was a kid, but my first job took me out of London so the choice was a car. Now that I'm back in London, the only practical form of private transport is a bike.

I dunno what that says about how I'd be on a bike, but hopefully, this intro paints a picture.

My routes are:

1) Buy a 50cc and don't worry about the rest.
2) CBT and get a 125 until I'm bored and upgrade.
3) Throw down and get through the DAS and try and kill myself with a big bike.

I suppose it's mainly down to how much I want to spend to find out if I like bikes. Which is why I'm hesitant to go for the 3rd choice. On the other hand, I'm not sure how much fun a 50cc is.

I've been reading through forums and articles and whatnot and one has to filter out a lot of words, and read what people have to say in context. So now I just need someone to tell me to do it this way and why.

Thoughts?

[N cee thirty]

i'd say go do DAS and get it out of the way,you should be able to do a few taster sessions before you go the whole hog though
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'00 Aprilia RS50 > '92 Honda CG > '99 Yamaha Fazer > '91 Yamaha RXS > '79 Suzuki X5 > 01' Honda Cg > 07' Honda Cg > 82' Kawasaki Z200 > suzuki gsxr 400 gk73a > honda vfr 400 NC30 Mod 2 Passed 09/06/2011

Jewlio Iglesias wrote: I actually did vote BNP once

[Blob]

Don't get a 50. You'll soon be bored to shit with one when you realize getting to 30mph will take you your journey

IMO do you CBT, get a 125 commuter and see how you go. 'Big Bikes' aren't for everybody, some prefer the smaller capacity bikes so it's all down to how you feel.

If it turns out you love the 125 and crave the extra power than by all means start planning a DAS course. The experience of using a 125 would be of great help if you do decide to do the full test.

Hope this helped.
Will
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Bikes - Honda XR125 (SOLD) Suzuki GS500E (SCRAPED) Yamaha XJ600 N (CURRENT) -- Theory Test - 12/7/2011 (PASSED) -- Mod 1 Test - 13/7/2011 (PASSED) -- Mod 2 Test - 15/7/2011 (PASSED)

[Teflon-Mike]

Bike for fun, or transport, or mix of both?

You mention whirley birds..... tiss bludy expensive innit! Ended up flying microlites instead, though never went for my tickets. DID re-think trying for helicopter licence again a few years a back when I was on Holiday in Weston Super-Mere and they had a heli-show on & local anouncer up in a bell-ranger, interviewed the pilot that revealed that the ruddy thing, burning kerosine in a ruddy great gas turbine ACTUALLY returned better MPG, and on fuel not subject to RFD than the Range Rover that took me down there...... but we detract!

Mention some high adrenaline sports there; bikes attract thrill seekers. Many get them, along with lots of speeding tickets and injuries.......

If you want a bike for fun and frolics..... worth having a look at bike sport; track days and organised sport. For the low annual miles many 'week-end-warriors' ride, can often be quite economical, and deliver much more of the kind of thrill you seek, with far less risk to life or licence.

For getting about.... bikes are horrible, impractical, uncomfortable, dangerous, and easy to nick........ sure you can cut through traffic on them.... but ramps the risk of being knocked off, and that's high enough just sitting in a queue of cars!

Anything much over 30bhp, will also probably be as expensive or more expensive to run than a car; some bikes may offer tempting mpg figures, but even at 70mpg, they are challenged by super economy hatch backs these days, and the maintenance costs will be a lot higher.... they only have two wheels to need new tyres, but they often cost twice as much and last half as long.... and the more powerful and or heavbier the bike, more it will cost.

Fast? Again, 30bhp bike is only about as quick as a family hatch back; accelerations fairly brisk, but they top out at about a ton. Yes cutting through traffic, and judiciouse use of acceleration can cut journey times, if you are happy with the risk, elce they are subject to same speed limits and same traffic 'snarl'# as every one else.... and anything you MAY gain in journey time, will easily be lost again togging up in weather and crash protection either end of the journey!

Fun? Doing battle every rush hour with seventy thousand homicidal maniacs armed with leathal Volvos, listening to Terry Wogan, convinced that air-bags and ABS make THEM invincible... AINT much fun... they are ALL out to get you, and it can be a precursor to an early nervouse breakdown, BEFORE you start grumbling about cold fingers, rain in your face, cold water seeping through your water proofs shriveling your family jewels to raisins, oil strewn roundabouts or icy manhole covers.......

Parking? You cant dump a bike anywhere you like, they will still hand out parking tickets if you leave it on the pavement or on a double yellow. Car Parks tend to have lots of car parking spaces; they are supposed to make provision for bikes, but since you cant really slap a P&D ticket on a bike, so they dont generate any revinue, they tend not to make many available. Push bike sheds are also hit and miss. Works may have one, and your lucky... provided you dont work with three hundred health nuts all bringing the mountain bike to work whenever the sun shines, AND you CAN actually get the bike IN the rack... plenty of cycle sheds are too short and have racks too close together to get even a larger 125 into them. But WORSE..... park a bike in the street, so easy to lift it in the back of a van or simply smash the steering lock and wheel it or ride it away, chances of it being where you left it, when you return are not good. Leave a bike parked outside your flet, SOMEONE will note where it 'lives' and when its most easily nicked, should any-one ever suggest they need a new engine, or whatever for a similar model. Likewise left regularly at or near a place of work for 8hrs a day......

HAVE I PUT YOU OFF THE IDEA YET?

If NOT, then you may have that certain bit of eccentricity to over come all these foibles, and MIGHT actually enjoy 'biking'.....

In which case..... forget 50's.

All the inconvenience; all the risk; all the hassle; PLUS the added frustrations of a bike as stable as Gordon Brown imedietly after loosing the election... (if he was ever more stable any other time!).... in fact probablyt less so, but you get the idea, and they DONT even hgave the acceleration of a milkfloat, let alone the top speed, to keep up with, let alone get ahead of traffic.

125's..... we MAY be starting to get somewhere with these.

There are 125's and there are 125's though. I advocate against 'posey' ones. Ones trying to look like little Harleys, or ones with knobly tyres, or ones with a big air fix kit around them trying to look like a GP bike.

For a learner, they are all compromised for the job at hand, 'easy riding', and tend to cost an awful lot of money to do the job badly!

Regulation 'Learner Commuter'; boring, things with sit up and beg riding position, and styling that makes Edwina Curry look atractive without beer goggles or massive doses of drugs... are great learning tools. They just work, and cost peanuts while you get to grips with them; and are very good at getting swiftly from one end of town to the other.

Learner Bikes tend to live hard lives though, and older cheaprer ones will have had a succession of newbie numpty owners hammering them with clumsy gear changes and poor clutch and throttle control, thrashing the knackers out the engine trying to do 65 on the by-pass and popping the fork seals and warping the brakes practicing e-stops in the car-park...... before they ap[ply similar numtyness to basic maintenence... if they reven realise that bikes need some!

Newer is definitely better, for the most part.

And as a toe in the water excersise, probably where I suggest you begin.....

Book a CBT on school 125, and see how it goes.......

If you LIKE it, you can go hunting for your own 125.... and can get as much practice in as you like on it, while enjoying riding.

But, out to look to do tests, ASAP... but eligible to do DAS.... my reccomendation is to book a few weekly lessons on your own 125, so you can learn the right stuff right at the start, and practice what you are tought between lessons to your hearts content.

Very cheap and effective way to go; doing DAS you are paying an awful lot for bike hire and an instructors time, 80% of which will simply be fullfilling legal requirement for you to be under radio supervision to ride DAS bike, while you practice.

Lets you learn at your own rate; and practice as much as you like, no pressure to get everything 'done' in the three or four days of an 'intensive' course.

Intensive DAS often teaches you minimum to get through tests; and cramming an awful lot is lost in the rush.

Weekly training; tend to take stuff in in more manageable ;chunks' so better absorbsion, and practicing on your own, you get solo riding experience, which DAS with an instructer in your earpiece 'nanying you' the whole time doesn't give, so yopu dont get such a falce sense of security, and you get more contect and relevence from your practice to not just take in, but understand what you are tought.

THEN with the back of your training 'broken' and it need not take more than maybe three or four lessons over the space of a month; IF you want; you can do DAS conversion lesson, and try out a 500, and if you like it, do a couple of DAS lessons and DAS tests to get unrestricted licence... but nothing stopping you practicing your road craft on your own bike between lessons.

That gets you lon the road, on a 125, and a chance to as ecconomically as possible find out of biking is for you, and you can live with the niggles and practicalities; opens the door to big bikes, and sets you on the right road, with least outlay and risk.

Bottom line; 125's are over priced, but sought over machines. They sell readily, and unless you pick a dodo to begin with, you will rarely loose much money selling one on, IF it don't all work out.

If it DOES and you get tests; 125 way or DAS... you can still sell 125 and use proceeds to fuind bigger bike, and be in teh same place, pretty much at the same time as chucking yourself in the deep end....

HENCE win-win... hence my reccomend.
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My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'

[Rogerborg]

tl;dr Mike. CBT, 125, take it from there.
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Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike