16 and have a passion for bikes. Where do I start?

[Mattxd]

I've researched this beforehand and from what I understand is I need to complete the following in order:

1. Provisional Licence
2. CBT
3. Theory test
4. Practical test

Before I get into questions, here is my situation.

I am currently unemployed and almost starting school, I will be looking for a part time job once I start school to get money however I am planning to be in full-time education for most of my life, eventually getting to a point where I am able to get a degree apprenticeship where the employer funds travel, accommodation, vehicles, teaches me the job and pays me for it once Im doing it.

Im 16, living in the UK. I have my eye on a Honda CB125F as my first bike and currently have around £450 with £1000 which someone recently borrowed (which I am getting back in small installments) I don't want a moped or a 50cc bike. I want to rather save up for a better bike than waste my money.

My question is, what do I do and how should I approach this?

Should I get my provisional licence and CBT done now or start of 2017 because I've seen threads where people said a CBT for 2 years, even if passed for a 50cc bike will still let you ride 125cc bikes at 17.

What I want to get out of this:
- A full licence at 17 so I don't have to renew anything after two years and ride my 125cc bike

I want to ride 125cc for a while until it gets to the point where I can get a full A licence at 24 years old.

[Pjay]

Incoming Tef wall of text to put you off the forum and motorcycling forever.

[MahatmaAndhi]

If you're absolutely against a 50cc, then (if I'm not mistaken) you *have* to wait until you're 17. I don't know of any situation where, being under 17, you could ride a 125cc on the road.
I would wait until then, or potter about on a geared moped locally after doing a CBT to get some practice in with gears and how much everyone else on the road hates you.

[Mattxd]

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

Don't spend £4k on a CBF125, just a used one.
____________________
My Flickr

[Alpineandy]

What do you do...
If you don't want a 50 then you have to wait.

When you get to 17 then find your local training school and dicuss it with them.
If you'd put your location in your profile then some here may even recommend schools in the area.

Do not buy a new bike (well certainly not a £4k new bike).
____________________
The above comment isn't necessarily the truth and anyone that says it is, is only correct if it's the truth or they're bigger than me.

[Mattxd]

[NJD]

[Teflon-Mike]

At 16 you can only ride 50's & you don't want one any way. so matters not.

At 17; you can get an A1 licence for 125's. You have to wait until 19 to take tests for anything bigger.

At 19, you can take tests for A2 45bhp 'restricted' licence. Hold one of those two years, so 21 at the earliest you become eligible to test for a full 'Ride What You Like' 'A' early; else you have to wait until you are 24.

Tests are the same, regardless of the entitlement level you get for them; you need the Motorcycle Theory, then a Mod 1 'technical exercises' practical, then the Mod 2 'road-ride' practical.

Legacy laws, in the UK though, allow any-one over 17 to ride a 125 on provisional (Learner) licence entitlement, on L-Plates, unsupervised, on the road. Provided they don't carry passengers or use motorways.

Compulsory Basic Training, CBT is just that, basic training, you must complete, which 'validates' entitlement of the learner licence.

As you can ride the same bike on CBT as passing the A1 tests allows, many dont see the 'point' in taking tests for the full licence; though there are many, and IF you have the passion you say, then getting the licence sort of shows it.

Main advantages are it is a full licence, and lets you carry passengers, use motorways, and ride abroad. starts the clock on your 'Full' licence's New-Driver-Act 2-year probation, and the 'date' you can declare for obtaining a full UK Driving licence.

Testing for A1 is also reasonably cheap and easy. There is no legal requirement for training beyond CBT, for any licence entitlement, system is the same, for A1, A2 or RWYL A; you book test appointments for the two practical tests; for which you have to pay a fee; turn up to the test centre, and show them paperwork; Licence, CBT cert if required, Theory Pass Cert if required,, & Mod 1 Pass cert if testing for Mod 2. Then you can go outside and get on with it.... which sort of begs a bike to get on.... and you have to make that available, DSA don't have the bikes for you to do the test on...

Bike to do tests on must be 'Road-Legal', so it has to be taxed, insured and if eligible MOT'd, and you may have to show the examiner the paperwork to prove this.

Bike must also meet the 'Test Requirements';

So if you are testing for A1, it must be a 125, meeting Learner-Legal requirements of being under 15Kw power, and again, examiner may, ask for paper 'proof' of this, if its a bike no-one has ever heard of, or known to be one of the L-Plate-Cheater's, that as standard isn't 15KW compliant.

If testing for A2, similar deal, only bike has to be, I think over 395cc now, and less than 45bhp, and over a certain weight.

If testing for RWYL 'A', again, minimum cc applies, think its 595, now, and again must be over minimum power and weight requirements.

This makes an A1 licence peculiarly 'easy' to do; as you can literally just book tests, and ride a 125 you have possibly been riding for months on the road, on your own, to the center, get on and do.

For A2 or RWYL-A, you cannot legally ride bike complient for tests to the test center, without a qualified and approved instructor supervising you... which for most begs booking a course and taking formal training, to get any practice on such a bike before tests, and to make bike available for them to take tests on.

But, A1 on your own 125 is relatively cheap and easy; and IF you are safe enough & clued up enough to ride one to and from work/college every day, you aught be safe enough & clued up enough to do exactly teh same thing with a chap with a clip-board instead of a personality following you for half an hour and get a licence for it.... if not... then you probably oughtn't be trying to beat the system doing it on L's!

Once round the houses on a 125, then, is a stepping stone to the higher licences later; you have shown you can meet the standard and pass the tests; and come A2 or RWYL-A, its merely doing the practical's over on a bigger heavier bike; and while the niggles of needing supervision to practice and make test bike available remain, having the full A1 in your pocket shows you are clued up, and keen, and can do it, and a school shouldn't waste too much of your money trying to teach you to suck eggs; but get on, tidy up any bad-habbits you have picked up, refresh your memory over stuff you might have forgotten, but concentrate on getting you getting the feel of the bigger bike, and doing tests. Should also count on higher tests, when examiner sees that A1 licence and 'knows' you are more dedicated, and 'serious' rider, as well as already qualified and potentially experienced, they may more easily give any benefit of the doubt anywhere it may be needed.

Oh-Kay... BIKES

Last thing on the list of shit you really need, to ride on the road....

CBT & L's is the first, then you really aught think about the gear; Hat, gloves, water-proofs, as I sit listening to summer storm hammer on my open window! some protective aparell may be useful if you fall off too.. so leathers, or textile riding jacket & jeans.

Dedicated bike gear, is also not usually all that cheap, and where bikes are one big expensive item, you can readily save on buying 2n'd hand; a lot of bike gear you will probably need, want or have to buy brand new, and lots of smaller items; bill quickly adds up.

Crash hat, usually the first thing folk stick on the list as law says they must wear one; and they oft put big chunk of their spend into one. Ironically, you can buy a reasonably 'good' certified crash-hat for less than a pretty mediocre pair of gloves! They are pretty simple things to make, they are a plastic washing up bowl stuffed with the polystyrene foam they pack Hi-fi and the like in. costs are in the approvals they have to have, but you can buy an approved road legal crash hat, brand new for £30, and as far as crash protection goes, its probably no better or worse than any thing else on the shelf... You SHOULD buy new though and in a shop; so you can try before you buy and make sure you get one thats a good fit. One that gauges your temples when you put it on or makes your eyes go wonky when you wear it, ent going to do much for your safety trying NOT to fall off; one that slops about your bonce like a pea n a pint pot, similarly isn't much good. while a crash hat is good for ONE crash; once bashed the impact absorbing foam be crushed and done its job and be dead, and wont do it again. Plastic skin outside it can 'pop back' and just look a bit skuffed so you never know though; so buy new for some assurance its good, and it fits.

Gloves; not legally required when riding; though DSA guidlines mean that an examiner or instructor is likely to refuse to let you ride (or do test) if you don't wear some, as you aren't 'suitably attired'. small, and fiddly to make, there may not be much material in a pair of gloves, but they are awkward to make, with lots of seams and stitching and in awkward places to get to; they tend to be disproportionately expensive for what you seem to get. BUT, again, if they are too tight you cant waggle your fingers; you ent going to have the same fine control on things like clutch and brake levers, so worth the 'safety' getting good'ns. And possibly a couple of pairs; thing ones for the summer to keep hands cool and not slippy and sweaty, thicker ones for winter, so your fingers dont freeze solid so you cant move'em! Like I said, often more expensive than a cheap crash-helmet... this is the reason and why they are worth it. And again, buy new.. I wouldn't much like sticking my hands in a glove some-one else has sweated in for months!

Boots? Dedicated bike boots are something of a minefield; and cheaper ones, can be rather questionable quality. good boots are comfy on and off the bike, and do offer a good level of crash protection, and can last years. Cheaper ones may offer little more practical protection than a sensible pair of school shoes, and often wont even last as long as them. Making savings, again, I wouldn't buy 2nd hand. Very idea of sticking on some-one elses sweaty footwear makes me gag; but they'll also tend to be 'broken in' and worn to the way they wear them and likely not be that comfy anyway. again, fit is all, so buy new in the shop like a crash hat. BUT, for saving money, more sensible non 'biker' out-door footwear can be just as practical and useful and possibly offer a good level of crash protection. Sturdy army or work boots are common alternative.

Water-Proofs!!!! Its raing as I type; staying dry and warm and reletively un-miserable is a primary aid to safety... water dripping down your neck or puddling round your groin, tends to be distracting.. and you dont want to be distracted when you have least grip to do an e-stop in a hurry! I say it and annoy folk for it every time, FAR more useful than leather's or kevlar riding gear, that may be wonderful useful in a crash offering impact & abrasion protection... but thats the only time that feature IS so useful. I find I get wet more than I crash, so I find water-proofs by far the more useful, offering stuff I actually use, far more often, and potentially helping me to NOT crash!

Conveniently, tend to be pretty cheap, as well; one-piece water-proof overalls start from around £25, its not really worth trying to save looking to press army surplus or hiking kit into service, (which was often the only choice we had when I was your age!!!) Nor buying 2nd hand.

They also cover whatever you wear underneath, so you can 'look the part' (if that's important to you) without having to spend £100's on matching riding wear, or even dedicated bike wear! You can layer up under them, with sensible out-door wear, to give padding that keeps you warm, and offers some cushioning in and off, and can be as good for crash protection as anything you buy for the job in the shop.... and if its stuff you had taking up space in a bottom draw since you smiled sweetly at who-ever gave it to you, useful 'cheap' as well.

Basic riding gear after that is Jacket & Jeans. Old-Skool, that was the ubiquitous BLJ or Black-Leather-Jacket & a pair of Levi's. Pair of levi's dont offer much crash-protection, but they can be comfy and let you move your legs! Useful when you stop and want to put your foot down, that is! 100% cotton, though IF you come off, natural fibre doesn't 'melt' like nylon.

Paradox of the old-days when leather jeans started to become cheap enough to be common; many a rider who came off, was 'saved' road-rash from tarmac grinding through trousers.... instead friction caused heat, which melted the nylon lining material & they got 3rd degree burns instead.... I am one of them!!!! Its not nice, and having nurse try and gouge the shit out the burns, was/is probably worse than the wire brush and detol they'd've used to scour away grit and gravel!

Avoid man-made fibres next to your skin, kid!

Good denim, still has advantages; and a basic leather jacket? crash-protection issues set asside; useful riding wear, 60mph moth-splats hurt! Hail-stones do too.

Point is, dress to ride, not to crash. Fears of safety are a wonderful lever the salesman has on your wallet... apply common sense, and place spend in the most useful places, and don't be over-sold on so much safety... Crashing Hurts end of, whatever you wear, try NOT to crash, dress to ride!

Oh-KAY!!!!!!

If I was sorting out one of my kids to get on the road; bare minimum, Hat gloves, boots and water-proofs; I would anticipate having to spend around £100. Making do, and improvising, burrowing into the bottom of draws and seeing what 'gear' any-one else had going begging, could probably suit them up. More realistically; £200-£250 would sort them out, with a trip to the bike shop, and a tour round the market & work-wear place. That would sort them out probably as well or better than a "My first Motorcycle Outfit" that's likely around £500 and up if you let it run away with you.

NEXT... before buying bike, buy locks... or you likely wont have bike for long.

If bike has disc brakes, disc locks are a useful scroat deterant and assistant to the factory steering lock. Just stop a wheel being turned, so makes it a bit more hassle to wheel away, but that's all. Cheap-ones can be defeated in seconds with a tooth-pick; and a bike can still be easily lifted into the back of a van. £20 or so? Does say, think twice' and can put off the more casual twockker.

Padlock & Chain. NOTHING will stop the deturmined bike thief; but good lock and chain, through the frame and around a lamp-post or other immoveable street-furnature, will make it difficult for them, and a lot less easy to lift into the back of a van.

Lots of scoffing about cheap locks, and yeah, anything much under £50 probably isn't that wonderful; BUT, anything be better than nothing! AND, a cheap £30 lock and chain, that takes only 30 seconds to cut, as oposed to a £50 lock that takes a minute, WONT make that much difference, if they are tooled up to cut it, and got the time, cos you are asleep or other wise occupied in a niosy factory or office!

So spend what you can afford, BUT, budget at least £50 for some 'Hard' security.

I will mention alarms... there, that's that out the way. they dont do much but make noise, really. May be a bit of a deterant, and might not hurt, but imobilisers stopping YOU start bike when you want, and false alarms caused by cats and annoying neighbours, they are often more of a pain in the arse to the owner than the tea-leaf!

Getting CLOSER to talking bikes.... B-U-T...... still plenty to consider.

Law requires you pay road tax' only £157 on a 125... buggers kept it the same for twenty five fucking years, and NOW they decide to keep sticking it up every year! Still pretty cheap though. Gets a lot more expensive if you want anything bigger... my 750 costs £90 a year, almost as much as my insurance!

That raised the matter of insurance, which is usually the biggest impediment to most young riders. Its volatile and prices are conjoured by voodoo we think, there seems little ryme or reason to it; BUT, 17 year old, is likely to be looking at a premium in the £500-£1000 bracket; depending on bike, post-code, declared security measures,time of year etc. NO 'tricks' to this one; you just got to suck it up I'm afraid, and hope for the best.

Only advice on the matter is that the more you like a bike, odds is the less an insurance company will! Older, less desirable machines will tend to be the cheaper to get cover on.

Also at 17, you cant take out the policy on the 'monthly' plan they usually push in your name; as it's not buying insurance monthly, its a years policy sold up front, on a years credit agreement, and you wont be legally old enough for a credit agreement until you are 18. It's also a mine-field, of legal and contractual loop-holes all designed to squeeze money from you, you probably wont discover until its too late, and the 'better' the deal looks on the comparison site, more likely it is to cost you in the long run... so BEWARE, and plan to pay upfront. Saves a lot of hassle and interest charges in the long run. BUT, likely to take a pretty big chunk of your budget off the table, and mean looking hard at the rest of the scheme.

MOT.. is the other thing law says a bike needs to have, if over 3 years old Bike aught to have one, or not need one when you buy it; safety inspection to get one costs about £30, they aren't that expensive; but often the catch-point when folk find the big bills they have ignored or forgotten or not known about in maintaining a bike.

Little guide; but if, for every £5 you spent at the petrol pump, you stuck £1 in a jam-jar marked 'Maintenance fund', you'd probably cover what you should need in oil changes, new spark-plugs, chain & sprockets, tyres and the like, and maybe even have enough left over when the MOT comes round to pay for that, and NOT have the MOT man hand you a big list of works that need doing!

When you buy a bike, you need to be aware that it will need this sort of attension and there will be costs. If you buy second hand? even if it has a fresh MOT on it, good good chance that previous owner hasn't done all the maintenence the bike deserves and you should plan on holding back some cash to tackle jobs it obviously needs, or early use reveals, to get on top of it.

A Chain & sprockets for a lightweight 125 will cost something in the order of £50. a good pair of tyres, something like £90. These are things likely to be needed early on on a 2nd hand bike. More imedietly £20 worth of oil, and a £5 spark plug, will probably be best invested in straight away.

I'd put £100 to one side for such 'new bike' fettling for almost anything, before I went shopping for one.

So, now close to bike shopping... AND, good chance of a good start with few hassles along the way.

Logistics of bike shopping though can be awkward, and you may have to travel a fair way to look at a bike you might buy; so how you going to do that? Where can you get to, walking, by bus, begging lifts etc & how would you get the bike back?

So CBT first..... £125 ish depending where you are in the country... and again, you need to get to and from.

Which begs some thought on further training and tests for the A1 licence....

BUT, gets you pretty close to getting on the road, on L's and getting things moving....

And IF you have the passion you say, you will find a way to do it... or at least the money... which is usually the main problem.

So plot to save up is sound... its merely at what point you might stop saving and start spending..... and on what....

Doing an industrial apprenticeship? You don't say what in.. sounds like maybe construction or plant maintenance? Hint in there of using company vehicles....

If SO... it MAY be worth putting the passion for bikes to one side for a short while.

As a hobby it's fantastic, but it Is a hobby, and like any hobby, will consume as much time and money as you let it... and then some.

Short term; investing a little in 'work' to earn the crust that can pay for hobbies.... I would SERIOUSELY suggest you ponder getting yoru car licence done and dusted 'first' when you turn 17.

Round here, car driving lessons are regularly advertised for £99 for six. cost of tests are much the same as for a bike, about £120, and it's eminently reasonable to suppose you could get up to test standard with just a dozen lessons, and have the licence in your pocket, in maybe eight or twelve weeks, maybe even less, for well under £500.

Show the licence to your boss; get it photo-coped and yourself stuck on the approved driver's list... if you can.. and you don't need your own car if they'll let you drive the works vehicles.

I was, in an era when my mates were scratting to put petrol in Mummy's fiesta on a Friday night, or getting oily trying to keep a shit heap old mini of thier own working, doing the 'late' site runs in works BMW520, in full knowledge that the yard gates would have been locked up by the 'lazy Micks' by the time I got there to park it up... (They were actually most productive chaps on site, ISTR but they DID like to get away to the Irish club early on a Friday afternoon!) and I'd be able to use the wonderful inovation of the 'Car-Phone' to call the gaffer and tell him I couldn't put the car away... and have him tell me I'd have to keep it until Sunday.... when he'd sobered up to drop it back at the yard!

I recall regs getting tighter in my 20's, though, and I had to wait a month until after my 25th birthday to be put on the ADL with Lucas when I started with them; and previouse company, one of the lads, actually older than me, being told when he finally passed his tests they still couldn't put him on the ADL because he hadn't held his licence 3 years...

No idea what the regs and company policies may be like these days; BUT, one certainty is that sooner you get a car licence, sooner it will open doors for you, its one of those stock questions on job application forms; do you have a full UK Driving licence, how long....

And as an excersise; its worth the doing, and worth setting back the bike passion plan a month or three for perhaps..... I'd certainly suggest you consider it.

Otherwise, advice is DONT RUSH, rushing be fast way to hurt on two wheels... and buying them or racing to get onto them. Take your time, do as you plan and save up; take a step back and look at the wider picture of all that surrounds a bike, and the 'associated' costs and DONT be in too great a hussy to start spending them! Save up, make sure you have them covered, and covered comfortably.. nothing worse than not having a bike to ride apart from having a bike you CANT ride.. like because its broken, or you cant afford the insurance, or whatever.

For two years a 125 is as much as you can hope for; and they are great little machines, but thier greatest virtue is in cheapness; so looking at expensive ones that dont deliver that 'cheap' tends to be something of an expensive indulgence... they pretty much all do the same thing, get you from a to b and the differences in performance between them are miniscule in comparison to the differences they cost for that miniscule difference in performance... save it for the big bikes, or put that 'excess; if its available towards the car licence to impress the boss and keep the cash to pay for bikes coming in... or the licence.... as said, it isn't a complete waste of time doing A1, and like the car licence, its putting in the ground work and foundation to make things easier later, when you may go for A2 or RWYL-A.

But either way, if you have the passion, you will follow it, one way or the other, and heed advice or not, and race ahead buying troubles or not.... If you dont you wont, and you're passion will cool quickly in the face of adversity and what we say wont matter much anyway.

Advice of old wizened bearded biker in my youth for you; "Most problems in life can be solved simply with the expedience of spending large sums of money..... this them means that the only 'real' problem, is in how to make large sums of money"....

Your youth, as far as riding bikes, is one 'problem' you cant really solve with money; you could be rich as Crassus, and they still wouldn't let you ride a 125 until you are over 17 or anything bigger until you are 19... though you may scoff at the fines if you did..... elsewise though, probalems are same as for any-one of any age; and simply ramped by your age. As mentioned, insurance for you at 17ish is likely in the £500-£1000 a year region, where for me, at 3x your age, its more like £100, for pretty much anything of any capacity! BUT.. just changes the numbers, money still solves it... you just need more of it! And at your age, they'll use the Nat-Minimum-Wage sliding scale by age, and 'educational exemptions' to avoid paying it you... B-U-T... principle remains... and you are on the right track, with the 'Saving Up' suggestion...

So don't rush, and save as much as you can before you have to start spending it... and remember the actual BIKE is the last thing on the list to need much significant thought or spend, not the first.
____________________
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?'

[NJD]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MJX6XQUYA4

Welcome to the forum OP.
____________________
The do it all, T̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶r̶o̶k̶e̶n̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶,̶ ̶T̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶i̶g̶ ̶l̶u̶m̶p̶,̶ ̶C̶h̶o̶n̶g̶ ̶N̶o̶o̶d̶l̶e̶

[Mattxd]

[Shinigami]

Seriously TEF, sort your shit out, you think you're helping but your walls of text are just confusing and off putting to newbies.

do CBT, tax insure ride 125 until you can do A2. Get reasonable gear, its pretty simple.
____________________
Current: Honda City Fly CLR125 2003 Honda CB600F Hornet 2008 Yamaha FZ6 S2 + 1991 Kawasaki GPZ500
"Once you realize what a joke everything is, being the Comedian is the only thing that makes sense.

[chickenstrip]

[nitrosurf]

Orrrrrrrr.....

Cagiva 50....

You're only 16 once!

That would've been awesome when I was 16!

Plus I reckon if you were savvy you wouldn't lose money selling it when 125 time came around...

Makes me wanna find one to do up now!
____________________
"Multiple exclamation marks," he went on, shaking his head, "are a sure sign of a diseased mind."

[angryjonny]

£1000 buys you a serviceable used Japanese 125 like a YBR. Probably been through 5 learners already but plenty of meat left on the bones.

£250 will probably buy entry-level gear. Helmet, jacket, gloves. Boots can come from Milletts. Jeans can come from Tesco. Kevlar lined jeans are good but budget £100.

Insurance varies massively depending on vehicle choice, location and whether or not you have a garage.

The rest is running costs. Petrol, tyres, oil and MOT+ associated costs.

Do your CBT. If you plan to ride a 125 for 2 years then do your A1 as soon as you can. Or ride it on Ls if you must but I would want to be rid of them. You will be tired of a 125 within months so you will want to do A2 as soon as you hit 19. I was old enough to do DAS by the time I learned and bought a 500. I was bored of it in months and upgraded to a 600. Then an 800. Now I have a 1000. That'll do me for now.

[andyscooter]

Now op has read tefs post he can ride any bike he wants too as he is now 53


I'm going to sue him for RSI I think
____________________
gilera runner vxr200 (chavped)
if its spelt wrong its my fat fingers and daft auto correct on my tablet

[Pjay]

Jesus Tef!

Can I get that on kindle?

[NJD]

Just to add a bit more on to my earlier post because more responses;

Trying to budget for everything is not possible and there's always more to buy in every area. Buying a bike for the first time is expensive because it's the first time that you'll buy everything but also biking is something that will never stop bleeding your wallet dry. The lower capity bikes such as 125cc's are cheap in every area in comparison to their much more powerful eventual replacements but are a good starting point to build up your knowledge and collection of everything. Biking is cheaper than owning a car though so there's always someone spending more. My tax and insurance combined is less than some of my friends tax for their "sports car" alone, I don't get why they don't see the light at the end of the tunnel and get a bike but whatever.

Attempting to save four grand is OTT and you'll never need that much, yet. If that was what was required then I'd never be on a bike, I don't think I've ever had that much in one go. Buy things in small steps as you need them and it will be easier on the pocket. If you're looking at a CBF then my guess would be £1000-£1500, always make a post before buying because as I found out many times recently I've been saved from paying over the odds, many a knowledgeable folk giving good advice for a reason despite the appealing offer to I, or you at the time, hopefully. Another few hundred for insurance and I'd say two grand is more than enough to get on the road alone. Everything else you can worry about as you. Again most importantly keep yourself in a job and keep the money rolling in. There's always the option of paying in instalments for the first year. Well, the option is always there but in the first year when everything's mounting up it just releaves some of the pressure in costs and spreads it out. It's risky-er than paying all in one go but depends what funds you're playing with. Never take out a policy that has a greater excess than the value of the bike (and I think the policy itself), do keep an eye out for compulsory excess and if you can't pay it don't buy the policy.

Most important thing between now and when you're 17 is to save as much money as possible. Don't live on pot noodles but now, when you're commitment free in every area, is when the funds are most disposable and therefore can be saved the most. Once you're in you're all in and costs will mount up.

You could start making smart investments between now and when you're 17, or at the very least make a list of things you'll need to buy. Remember that tyre pressures need checking daily and adjusting when out of spec with the manual. Remember the check, adjust, clean and lube chain on a regular basis. Check the condition of the tyres for foreign objects. Suspension, check it rebounds and is all working and isn't leaking the case of the forks. Just advice that will keep you, hopefully, from being stranded on the side of the road and get the common neglected areas by L platers covered. Oh, and because CBF and from what I've read recently keep a eye, often, on the oil level.

You'll want to carry a basic set of spanners, sockets, tyre repair kit and whatever else with you on every ride to get you limping home also.

I'll finish my ramble. Just do the CBT and see how you get on, don't invest to much before hand because might not like it.

Remember to get yourself a decent chain and bike cover before getting the bike so the moment you roll up at home you're safe and secure from the elements and thief's, to a degree in both areas. Try to avoid carrying things in backpacks because meanwhile I haven't found out BCF did tech I that tailpacks are the preferred method to carry things in the event of a crash for obvious reasons to your spine and back etc.

I'm out. Wall of teff stylee.
____________________
The do it all, T̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶r̶o̶k̶e̶n̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶,̶ ̶T̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶i̶g̶ ̶l̶u̶m̶p̶,̶ ̶C̶h̶o̶n̶g̶ ̶N̶o̶o̶d̶l̶e̶

[SuperMike]

to keep it simple, here's my advice.

1) push bike for now to get you about. Cheap and cheerful
2) CBT booked for the day you turn 17. Pretty much impossible to fail this as long as you are confident on a bike.
3) second hand geared Japanese 125.
4) Theory test booked booked a few months before your 19th birthday to allow for a retake if needed
5) At 19 A1 test giving you ability to ride something bigger. Secondhand Japanese type 500cc.
6) At 21 full license and then away you go. Spend the big money here.

[NJD]

[angryjonny]

[Mattxd]

[Andy_Pagin]

[Mattxd]

[Wonko The Sane]

If it got missed out because it's 4 wheels instead of 2 I'll hopefully clarify Teff's point about the car licence.

Yes, it's a distraction from getting on a bike but…

at 17 you can do your tests for a 125cc and you can also do your car tests.

your car licence may come in handy in your apprenticeship if they need you to go to a site with a van to do something, you never know, they may even require it. But a car licence is also handy to have.

the longer you've had your car licence, the easier it is to get car insurance at a later date - a colleague of mine at the age of 28 has just got his car licence as, while we work near Old Trafford it's a nightmare to commute to on public transport and the only thing he can afford to insure is an old Ford KA
I did my car licence at 17 and happily insure a mid size estate car for £500 with business insurance on it, my colleague pays twice as much for 3rd party only.

Your car licence can be your bike provisional licence, you'd just need to do your CBT and you can then ride a 125cc on L plates on your car licence,

After two years on CBT then do your tests once you're 19 to move up to a larger bike if you wish (you can happily keep the 125cc on the A2 licence

Then after 2 more years, at age 21 you can do your tests again to be able to ride anything you like (we really recommend this)

If you wait to go straight from CBT to any bike you'd need to be 24 if you've not done your tests at 19
____________________
Looking to pass your CBT / Bike tests in Bury Lancashire? try www.focusridertraining.co.uk Would recommend.
They're also on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Focus-Rider-Training/196832923734251