newbie, won the battle but not the war...

hello....

umm...

After 6 months of persuasion I?ve finally convinced my parents to let me get a motorcycle licence, the one thing they?ve been dreading?

I?ll be booking my theory either today or tomorrow and booking my c.b.t. sometime this week. The place I?ll be doing all my lessons is ?quick start? in maidenhead, if anyone knows what it?s like them some extra info would be great.

A few questions I?d like to ask are:

Is the bike theory similar to the car theory?
Having a full car licence, does that help in anyway what so ever?
How long did it take you to pass your test?
Did you buy a bike as a learner or did you get once you had passed?

Any extra tips or hints would be great.

Thanks in advance.

Welcome to the .org! Well done for going ahead with something you wanted to do, despite other's objections. You won't regret it

To answer some of your questions:

Bike theory is similar, still worth doing a couple of mock tests first to make sure your up to speed.

Having a car license can help. It means you already understand the road signs, and what to expect at junctions and general road use. At least I found it helped me. I could just concentrate on riding the bike. How long have you been driving?

Took me 1 week to pass my test from CBT to full license

I had already bought my SV when I was doing my DAS, but couldn't use it until I passed. If in doubt use the school's bikes

HTH and welcome again

Originally Posted by kat_s1

Is the bike theory similar to the car theory?
Having a full car licence, does that help in anyway what so ever?
How long did it take you to pass your test?
Did you buy a bike as a learner or did you get once you had passed?

1) Similar in the way you take it but there are extra bike related Questions...
2) Only in that you have road knowledge.
3) A few months... Getting a test booked was what took the time. Sigh
4) I bought a bike a few months after passing. Couldnt afford one before.

Is the bike theory similar to the car theory?
Um, all before my time I'm afraid My guess would be that they're similar barring a few bike specific bits but await someone younger than I to answer that one

Having a full car licence, does that help in anyway what so ever?
Yes, definitely. Maybe not so much on the test but in general riding, miles on the road, if even in a car, give you experience of situations that raw teenagers don't have. That feeling that the car in that side road is going to pull out, that nagging voice that says that guy on the roundabout doesn't know where he's going - that sort of thing is valuable. Suppose it also means you've figured out clutch control, might use your hands instead of your feet but the principle is the same.

How long did it take you to pass your test?
Personally I did it long before a lot of the new regs, pootled about on a 125 for about a year then did a three day "crash" course to tidy up bad habits and then did the test.

Did you buy a bike as a learner or did you get once you had passed?
Depends on your economic situation and whether you're looking to go for a restricted licence for two years or go straight through to full power. Again, I'm too wrinkly to have been subjected to the DAS/33bhp thing so whilst I was technically allowed full power straight away, economics prevented much excitement

This largely depends on the route you want to take, my personal hunch would be to buy something that's good for the test and could be decent either restricted or unrestricted - hmmm, an SV650 might fit that bill

Hi Kat

Bike theory's very similar to the car one but a lot of bike maintenance questions so make sure you know about chokes, tyres etc etc. I took my theory last week, thankfully passed it first time (didn't fancy forking out the ?30 again lol!) If you can get hold of the any DVDs they'll help a LOT, especially with the Hazard Perception bit but then if you've alreay done the car test then you shouldn't have a problem

Best of luck with CBT etc

Oh and welcome to the forum btw!

P.S. I very much like the helmet in your avatar lol, purple oooooh

""How long have you been driving?""

started lessons last august n passed in dec... so not that long but iv had my car since march and drive nearly every day.

""P.S. I very much like the helmet in your avatar lol, purple oooooh ""

iv always been pillion to my dad wen he gets the urge to hire a bike and i needed a proper lid. shame it didnt come in bright pink .

One (obvious) tip is to budget a decent amount of money for decent kit; textiles or leathers, as long as it will protect you more than normal jeans and bomber jacket like scooter chavs wear.

Dont forget that motorcycles dont have self-cancelling indicators (with the exception of some big tourers, i think BMW does a system on some of its bike) - you will have to cancel them yourself. You might (from driving cars) forget about this, so get in the habit of doing it yourself in your car now. It would be a shame for you to fail your CBT / test because you kept leaving indies on

Matt

Hello and Welcome to the madness, you will love it!

I passed my cbt on sat, 2nd time round. It was confidece that let me down the 1st time. Now I am really excited about getting out there and getting some riding practice in before I do the full test.
Think I am doing the A1? course so I can ride my sv650 restricted. You can ride on your cbt on a 125 for up to 2 years before having to do your full test so i am going to get lots and lots of practice in and then hopefully when I go for the test it wont take too many attempts to pass.

I need to swat up on the theory and learn all about the mechanics of the bike!

Best of luck to you and enjoy!

Kate x

[Stu]

Originally Posted by mrs24_7

You can ride on your cbt on a 125 for up to 2 years before having to do your full test so i am going to get lots and lots of practice in and then hopefully when I go for the test it wont take too many attempts to pass.

Are you sure? Just keep a wary eye on all the new regs from October.

Welcome Kat good luck with the test

Originally Posted by Stu

Are you sure? Just keep a wary eye on all the new regs from October.

Welcome Kat good luck with the test

Oh is that all going to change then aswel...eeek! does that mean I should try and do my test before Oct?!