I am starting mine on 11th June, have'nt ridden a bike for about 13 years, not sure what to expect, I have 4 days training, 1st day CBT, 2nd day 125cc, 3rd day 500cc, 4th day 500cc then test.........fingers crossed, its costing enough

In the meantime I have to do my theory, have never read a highway code, not even when I past my car test 13 years ago LOL

Dan,

How is the licensing-system over there? In germany you need to have done a specific amount of lessons (theoretical and practical) with specific topics (in practice, f.e. highway, city, slalom) before you can apply for the test. How do you get your license in england?

Vain

I did mine in 3 days...

Had been riding a 125 for 2 years so didn't start on that, went straight onto the 500cc bike

First morning was low speed control in the car park, makeing sure you can use either brake to stop, clutch control and using clutch and brakes to control speed

Then went out on the roads from then on, my training was with 1 other other person, instructor was always in the middle, one person following him to learn, and the other in front so he can see what you're doing wrong, do about an hour in each position before swapping

Always in radio contact so sometimes can be distracting, but it's fairly simple as long as you get on with the instructor!

My instructor noted I was a fairly good rider, so didn't try to teach me how to ride (Waste of time), just taught me the specific things I had to iron out to pass the test....

Thanks for that Thorvertonian, I rode a 125cc for ages, but a long time ago.

Vain, car or bike?, when I passed my car test 13 years ago you didnt need anything, if you wanted you could apply for your test without any lessons, now you have to do a theory test before you can take your test, but I dont think there is any limit on the amount of lessons/training you need, obviously the more you have, the more likely you are to pass 1st time.

I want to get mine done ASAP, there is a nice little CBR600 with my name on it locally...............

Dan,

Both car and bike. For each one. Though you don't need that much lessons (about 20% fewer) when you already own your car-license to be able to take the test for the bike. There are mendatory lessons and on top of that you can do lessons until you feel confident to take the test. Problem is, when you're confident enough before you attend the driving school you still have to take the mendatory lessons, which alone cost about 800€ ( ~550£) plus the fees for the theoretical and practical test.

@CBR 600: I can fully understand that.

Vain

Where abouts are you doing the course Danowat? I've been seriously considering a direct access course myself.

All in all, including bike hire, test fees, training etc, its costing me £430, which TBH I didnt think was too bad.

@sinbad, in Norwich, a place called, Apex Motorcycle Training

This is the object of my passion ATM, and why I want my license >

Quote from thisnameistaken :

That's a girls bike.

Pfffff......girls bike my hairy arse

I did look at getting a Honda Firestorm, or a Suzuki SV1000/TL1000, but I can't really justify the sub 30mpg fuel consumption.

Dan,

The last thing my instructor told me on day 1 was, if your going quick, remember to turn the wrong way round a corner...

I thought WTF.......

I then learned all about counter-stearing a motor-bike, which if you overtaking people on the dual-carrigeway can be very useful in the test! (I nearly got flattend by an impaitient Porsche 911 but managed to get out the way safely!)

Be very careful Thor. From what i can see, you are going to die if you go on like that. Go take some motorbike safety lessons.

LOL - since riding a big bike (well, Kawasaki ZX6R) I've calmed down alot, I'm now safe.. It was only because I'd driven a Yamaha DT125R for 2 years, it's an off road bike so I could go round most corners full throttle with one foot down!

I'm off in the summer to race school to learn to race for the R6 cup, will cut my insurance alot as well as letting me race these wonderful machines!

Awww... this thread started my "must get a bike this summer" obsession again.

About the CBR, I'm sure it's a very good bike. You can't go wrong with Hondas. Only thing they lack is .. hmm .. attitude.

couldn't afford to do direct access, as the wife and i did it at the same time!!!

we did the basic course, restricted to 33bhp for 2 years. had our zzr600's restricted to satisfy the insurance, then whipped the restrictors out after a couple of weeks, WEHEY, 90 ish bhp !!! had to be carefull for 2 years but saved some dosh!!!!

all the best, cos motorcycle handling and speeds are seriously very addictive, my last bike was a kwacker zx7r (dream bike) and that was glorious.......could write pages of stuff bout bikes!!!!

ps did our course in bristol, and it was good fun, we were racing the instructor along a bypass on the 125's, flat out, head on the tank at 70.25mph!!!!!