What should I do?

[ReadySalted]

Okay so I was here a few years back when I had a CG125. Fantastic bike, and my first and only bike. I rode it for a year until I got knocked off it by a taxi driver. It was a write off, so I took my insurance pay out, plus compensation for my injuries. (As a note, fair play to my insurer at the time; Swinton, and also Minster Law. They delivered me a current year CG125 as a courtesy bike the following morning, and rang me once or twice a week to give me an update on how the file was being handled until a few months later when it was settled). By then I had learnt to drive and I used my money to buy myself a classic mini. I drove that for a year and have had a few classic land rovers since. Now driving a discovery. Snore.

Anyway, I do miss riding a bike (albeit a 125!), and would like to get back on the horse as so to speak. I would have to do another CBT now which is fine but I'd be faced with two options;
Save up a month or two and then get myself another 125 and use it for the slow tootling enjoyment, low fuel cost, and to beat the traffic. Perhaps a little while down the line take the full test.

Or alternatively save up for a good few months longer, and towards summer time, do full license, and get a proper bike.

I suppose the only limitation is that if I was to opt for a 125 I'd want a classic. Something that I could tinker with all the time, and something that I wouldn't feel stupid tootling along on. Id like a BSA D1 Bantam, but they're about the only classic 125s I can find. If anyone's a classic 125 buff, then please give me some other bikes that would fit the bill.

I imagine this forum (like most forums), is full of posts saying, "ooh shall I do this... shall I do that... I'm so unsure" which can get on your tits. I'm just looking for what you guys think the best route into riding a bike is. I miss enjoying journeys.

[P.]

Compo for injuries and given a bike the following day

That aside...

Grab a CG or YBR as a cheap bike and spend £121.50 doing the 3 tests and get it out of the way. Then the world is your oyster.

inb4 Teflons 6 page rant on how you should have passed before you were born

[Rogerborg]

Agreed, get any old hack and get your tests out of the way. Passing on a 125 gets you the same "full" license in the end, and there's little point in getting a 'classic' 125 until you've passed - nothing looks good with L plates on it.
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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

[Teflon-Mike]

For the Disco-Bore; chop it in for the 'original' it's based on; the Range Rover Classic.... V8 on gas... you'll never want a bludy aga engine again!

For the bike; dilema's dilema's dilema's.

How old are you?
How much money have you got to chuck at the idea?

At this moment in time; we are facing a raft of licence changes that will come into force this time next year.

If you are under 24, they will effect you, and hence your choices, as in 12months time that's the age DAS eligibility goes up to.

At the moment, you can take the bike tests on a 125 and get a full licence, or if over 21 take tests on a big bike under DAS rules.

BUT when new laws come in; you will not be able to test for a 'full' licence on a 125; you will HAVE to test on a big bike.

Meanwhile a query 'hangs' over unsupervised L-Plating, and whether you will still be allowed to ride on CBT and L's after next year, or if you will HAVE to take a test to get the A1 licence, as the starting point, instead of CBT.

FORGET the Bantam; 125 D1 is only one you would be able to ride on CBT, and its crap. It was not made for modern traffic; it's about as old as the 80" Series 1 Landies, and just as agricultural! Its also NOT 'Test Eligible', so a waste of time. (Bike has to be 125cc AND on DSA list of approved machines meeting minimum performance criteria. Gives the hint; or ought to. 125 Bantam is so 'inadequate' it doesn't even meet minimum performance requirements for bikes deemed to have minimal performance to be Learner-Legal!)

So we are talking Tests, and that opens up all possibilities by way of 'big-bikes', and if you want something 'classic' loads and loads of options.

So; question is; do you get a 125 to test under current rules to get a full licence with 2-year 33bhp 'probation' on it; or DAS to get unrestricted licence straight off?

Personally I suggest you get a 125, and get back in the saddle; get some road training beyond CBT on it, and use it to practice to your hearts content between lessons; and then decide whether to test on that bike, or to hire a School bike for a couple of 'accompanied' DAS test lessons, where you get an hour or two hours of familiarisation & a bit of last minute prep on the school DAS bike and use of for the actual tests.

After we can talk old Brit-Bike's vs 'Modern Classics' to our hearts content! Remember, Brit-Bike industry went 'bump' in the mid-70's and there's not a lot of 'classic' Brit-Bikes under forty years old... though early Hinkley Triumph's, now twenty years old are beginning to be considered 'classic'.... bulk of contemprary classics are eighties Jap machines.

For now; to get tests on; I'd reccomend looking at something like a Yamaha YBR125, around three or four years old. This is about the best value Learner on the market at the moment; and spirtual successor to your old CG, which these days are commanding a bit of a premium as a 'Cult' bike; but with a diminishing pool of decent examples out there, too many succumbing to thier own reputation for 'indestructability', since they have been out of serial production.

One thing for sure; AVOID Chinese Bikes!

And think 'Tests'
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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?'

[moppy]

Pass tests, get an Enfield, boom, jobs a good un.

https://www.hoohoohoblin.com/RoyalEnfieldPictures/IMG_2068.jpg

I'm well aware you probably know what an Enfield looks like, I just wanted an excuse to post a picture

[Rogerborg]

[ninja_butler]

I think you'd be better off waiting a little while and getting your license, the price difference between a 125 and a 250 is minimal and while 125's are fun and great for pootling around town , it's easy to forget just how weedy they are.


If you're interested in classics, take a look at these.
Q: How old are they?

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c1bsms82dpw/SVCHfApXicI/AAAAAAAAABc/hzSZk9h1uxg/s1600/l_2013.jpg

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c1bsms82dpw/SVsMcC7YSWI/AAAAAAAAAGU/V0CntfnA160/s1600/kawa+250TR+3.jpg

A: Brand new.

[Clanger]

Pass full test, and then ride what bike you like, when you like. Go out and get a 125cc, ride it forever / ride it for a while and trade it in for something else.

With a full test certificate under your belt, you have choices.
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Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter won't mind - Dr. Seuss