DSA Trainer

[biaggiboy]

Last time I rode a bike was 30 years ago! I have decided I might pay for some training and Advantage Wimbledon in South London have quoted me £700 for 4 days with Module 1 on the final day which is 3 days training on a 650cc (I'm doing my full license passed CBT & Theory) this price seems on the high side. Is this the cost generally? Seems a heck of a lot of money to invest in which is 3 days really, I feel I might jut buy a cheap 125cc Manual then do my test myself.

[NJD]

You can do the test on a 125 but you'll be doing a category A1 test not A and therefore once you pass both modules 1/2 you'll be limited to a 125. In summary there's often little benefit, if any, to an A1 license and I'd advise when you could do A just go for that instead. I'd much rather pump the money into an A license than spend an equal amount on a 125, insurance, tax and then still have to go for a license.

DAS courses are not cheap, just be glad you won't have to go through one twice. Well, down to the license system anyway. That being said for about a hundred more I had both modules and one re-attempt out the way plus three and a half, maybe, days of training.. of the top of my head. Also considering you are taking it in London so does that bump up the price? Maybe someone on here or google has recommendations for better and or cheaper places.

If money is an issue then do some training and then Module 1 wait a bit and then repeat for Module 2.

Can't say I see why they want you to do three days prior to Module 1 when all it is is a 15-20 minuate run around a car park and some cones. Sounds like the school wants all the input from you up front before letting you get what you want, they've got their money and outcome even if you don't. For Module 1 training even half a day on a weekend at the actual test pad is overkill. You can fail Module 1 and it will still only take 20 minutes or thereabouts. Sounds like 3 days would be mostly, if not almost all, Module 2 training when you're not heading towards that just yet.

Take the route you're comfortable with. Could probably do a crash course for £700. In summary whether it be in small steps or all in one go that's the cost of a license course sadly, or thereabouts.
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[biaggiboy]

Thanks, yes I'm going for full A license. I suppose its not worth buying a 125 as I still need to train on a 600cc for Mod 1/2 anyway. The training is for Mod 2 as well (4 days well really 3) but you cannot do the Mod 2 till about a month later they say because Mod 2 is overbooked everywhere then the want more money from you for training prior to Mod 2 which I'm not doing! I need to speak to them in more detail and get facts! Price - probably London I guess, everything is expensive here!

[NJD]

Well you've done your CBT and want more so that's a plus. Wait until you've passed your A tests to decide what works best for you bike wise. I've got an A2 and still only ride a 125 there's nothing wrong with it but I'd wait until post license to make an informed choice. Just a money draining investment otherwise and will only prolong license. No commitments and A tests is a no brainer to me.

Don't settle on one training school, I'd rather travel for the right place. Tests are always high in demand on a first come first serve basis so there's no real shock there. I'd imagine the cold weather and winter incoming should put a few of them of, depends how you feel about cold weather riding.

See if you can get two days then a Module 1 and the same again in a month otherwise I'd be looking elsewhere. You're going to need more training pre Module 2 after a month anyway after only having your first ever bite on a big bike a month before regardless but I'd want to shop around at different schools and see what one can produce dates that best suit you rather than the other way around. Shop around an investment in a school that gives you the best return. Based on my limited experience your dates and there's are almost never going to fit together, pain in the rear.
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The do it all, T̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶r̶o̶k̶e̶n̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶,̶ ̶T̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶i̶g̶ ̶l̶u̶m̶p̶,̶ ̶C̶h̶o̶n̶g̶ ̶N̶o̶o̶d̶l̶e̶

[Alpineandy]

Phone around some other local bike schools and see what cost they quote.
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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.

[Ste]

You want to know how many hours of riding you'll get for your money as well as knowing how many days it'll be spread across.

[Teflon-Mike]

[SuperMike]

I did my training with these guys last year and can definitely recommend them. They will get you on a Honda CB650. I did the 4 days but can't remember how much it was. Probably in the region of that I should imagine. I did do some calling around from memory but there was nothing out there that was drastically cheaper to make it worthwhile travelling there - I live just down the road from Advantage.

As per above, £700 isn't really that much in the context of what you are getting. The tests alone will eat a quarter or so of that, and then you get to hire a motorbike for 4 days and have someone ride around with you. I hired a 125 Honda a few days before my Mod 2 to practice on and that was £70 for a day!

I'd echo the advice about not doing anything else other than your A license. Don't mess around buying a 125 for a bit, you'll just get bored. 4 days training, big license, big bike. No question about it

[bigdom86]

friend just passed with advantage and recommends them highly. im doing my DAS next week with phoenix in crystal palace as close and did cbt with them which was great.

that price is about right for london

[pinkyfloyd]

If you have already done the CBT our course is 3 days + test days, total cost including test fee's is £580. For that you get 2 full days training on a big bike prior to module one which we schedule for a day or 2 later. A week after module 1 we do day 3 which puts the final polish on for module 2 which is a day or so later.

We're down in Gosport. The fee you would save would be enough to get you a hotel for a few days.

When shall we book you in?
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illuminateTHEmind wrote: I am just more evolved than most of you guys... this allows me to pick of things quickly which would have normally taken the common man years to master
Hockeystorm65:.well there are childish arguments...there are very childish arguments.....there are really stupid childish arguments and now there are......Pinkfloyd arguments!
Teflon-Mike:I think I agree with just about all Pinky has said.

[Andy_Pagin]

About four years ago I paid around £600 for two days training + tests, so I'd say £700 for three days + tests is ball-park for London.
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They're coming to take me away, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-haaa, hey-hey,
the men in white coats are coming to take me away.
Yamaha Vity -> YBR125 -> FZS600 Fazer -> FZ1-S Fazer

[owl]

[colink98]

[loughy]

I just recently passed my DAS a few weeks ago, theres only 1 school within a 15m raduis of me so I went with them.

They wanted me to take atleast 2 x 2 hour lessons before my mod1, then 4 more before my MOD2 (which at £65 per 2hr session certainly racked up the miles.)

In the end I basically said to them you can have my custom but I choose the amount and frequency of the lessons, else i'll just take a van and my 640 up to the test centre and you'll get none of my custom

First time ever (legally) on a 600+ bike was my first lesson followed by MOD1 straight after, passed with 0 minors. As soon stated earlier, its basically just 10-15mins around cones.

Get yourself on youtube and research it, you'll soon see you dont need that many hours training (certainly on a mod1)

[155mph]

Certainly is the going rate in London. Doing my DAS next week. 5 days, £699, MOD1+2 fees and bike hire covered. Tea, biscuits and optional chinwag included for free.

[Kentol750]

£700 for 4 days training and test fees is about the average. Location means nothing, many companies....more competitive prices....if they want your money, they'll work around you!
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Some bikes.

[Azoth]

Quite often, motorcycle trainers and instructors have a strong personality, or may even be 'characters'. That can work really well in a training environment, but more often than not, it can paper over the cracks in professionalism when they're having a bad day or are having some kind of difficulty. Therefore, when looking for a training school, the price is one factor, but the quality of the training, and whether you can put your training in front of the instructor's personality, are other more important ones.. My DAS instructor's personality often got in the way of the actual instruction. That wasn't helpful.

Another important thing is to look at the facilities they have. There are cheaper Cardington-qualified instructors who operate as one-man bands, hiring other trainers to help them out on an ad hoc basis according to business needs. Generally, they have less ideal bikes and training compounds than more established businesses. If you're cutting corners on price, you're more likely to find this type of setup more competitive. However, you should probably avoid them unless you have them on word-of-mouth recommendation. If a place has new ER6s and its own training pad for CBT and Mod 1, but charges twice as much as a place that uses a gritty old car park with a really bad surface and clapped-out bikes, you should probably choose it anyway.
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