So I've finally decided to do my bike license

[Willeh85]

I always used to think I'll never take my bike license due to two things:

1. The speed and acceleration available on tap, I never thought I was mature enough to ride a bike sensibly and without risking either loosing my license entirely, or causing an accident resulting in either mine or others severe injury or death.
2. My father is a Pathologist and has told me about / shown me the photos cases he has worked on of some of the horrific injuries/death sustained in a combination of my first point and from other road users(cars) being involved in a collision.

I've had my car license 12 years this June and I'm 30 in September. Life is short and having just about recovered from a period of reactive arthritis due to illness, I feel I've reached a point in my life where I've reached a suitable maturity to enjoy and ride bikes safely while I'm still fit and able to do so.

I've got my theory test booked for the 18th of May and as soon as I've passed that I'm going to get my CBT and practice using a highly recommended training school in Notts, and then onto the next stages from there.

I know it's a long winded way to say I'm learning to ride bikes, so I suppose its a way of saying 'Hi, I'm new here' to this part of the forum.

[FartKong]

Welcome aboard! As soon as you get out on the open road on a bike you'll realise it was one of the best decisions you've ever made. On a bike you become the journey.

[thatdude]

Absolutly no obligation to ride everywhere like its the last lap of a motogp race that you have a sniff of a chance of winning.

Motorcycling is a great activity, although the initial outlay can be expensive (buying a bike AND all the gear)

Enjoy it for all that it is. I remember when I did even my CBT I had a great day. 10 years later and I still get that enjoyment.

And the performance available for even a couple of thousand quid is astonishing

[LoonR1]

You need to keep this updated with your progress. Too many introduce themselves and are never heard from again.

[Willeh85]

LoonR1 said:

You need to keep this updated with your progress. Too many introduce themselves and are never heard from again.

I promise I will keep you all updated with my progress.

[Baryonyx]

Enjoy yourself. Even the CBT is great fun. Once you get over that initial nervousness over taking up your left foot and riding off, realising that the bike isn't going to tip over, you'll have a blast. By the end of the day, you'll be properly riding a motorcycle (albeit not very well) and that in itself is immense fun and you'll feel a great sense of enjoyment and achievement.

[balls-out]

Good on you.

My experience is much the same - always wanted a bike, but was frightened about the risk. I didn't really start to ride a bike until late 30s. Ten years later, I still love it and have no shame in admitting I have never got my knee down and don't plan to. There is reason why the GS style bikes outsell Fireblades and R1s.

Instead I do about 10k miles a year and rarely use a car now.

[Rollin]

What you gonna get mister?

[Baryonyx]

balls-out said:

Good on you.
There is reason why the GS style bikes outsell Fireblades and R1s.

And why is that? I must admit I'm mystified by the amount of pristine GS's with full metal luggage I see tootling round Newcastle. Is the reason because Charlie and Ewan's adventures looked so great that you could vicariously enjoy some small aspect of it by riding a fully loaded adventure motorcycle to work?

[bgunn]

Enjoy - Don't get too hung up on a bike you want right now; you might think you 'want' it, but until you've passed your test and really get to play around and have a go you won't know.

I'd set my heart on a VFR750 as loved them when I originally rode (18 years ago, did CBT but failed my 'part 2' test and lost heart), so bought one when I passed my mod 2 in August. Whilst it was a really great bike, I didn't gel with it as much as the CB1000R I test rode a few weeks back when picking up a bike for my girlfriend, so I bought one. Absolutely love it, feel right at home on it already!

[theshrew]

Get it done. It's the best thing I've ever done apart from being a Dad.

[Dannaz]

theshrew said:

Get it done. It's the best thing I've ever done apart from being a Dad.

^^^^ This, I waited until I was 24 so could do the DAS, a year on I am now settled in with the Thundercat and loving it. You will have tons of fun from the off and even more when you get your first post DAS bike.

Good luck with it all and keep us posted.

[bogie]

Good news for you, in a couple of years time you will wonder why you didn't start sooner

Have you booked the theory test and CBT yet ? whats the plan, a 125 for a while or straight to direct access on a big bike ?

[Willeh85]

bogie said:

Good news for you, in a couple of years time you will wonder why you didn't start sooner

Have you booked the theory test and CBT yet ? whats the plan, a 125 for a while or straight to direct access on a big bike ?

Theory test booked for 18th May, going to do my CBT ASAP after passing, then DAS so I can ride any bike I like.

I'm not particularly set on anything. I was going to see what I learn on firstly, get something similar and get some experience, then test ride some other bikes and see what I really feel comfortable with.

Seeing as Bikes are relatively cheap in comparison to cars I suppose there is nothing to stop me getting perhaps a 125 and then something a bit bigger as well?

[bogie]

Nothing to stop you buying as many bikes as you like, depends really on how long you expect to take from CBT to DAS and how you are going to get your road going experience in. On a 125 you can ride as often/wherever you like

[WhisperingWasp]

Hello mate. Very similar situation to me. I turned 30 in October and after years of considering my bike licence I decided earlier this year the time was right to do it.

Having passed my theory, mod 1 and mod 2 in the past two months feel free to ask any questions.

If you have questions about the finer points of motorcycle handling, dynamics, etc then ask the others

[PHlL]

I took my test last year and have loved every minute. Only bad thing is I could only do an A2 due to my age so stuck on choices of bikes.

Would highly recommend just doing an intense course and getting CBT and DAS done in one week so you then on the road. Saves paying out for a 125 which are horrible little things you only need to spend 2 hours of your life on.

[Mikey G]

Do it, 10 years ago I passed my DAS, went out and bought a Suzuki SV650s and loved it, had it 2 years before i suffered personal issues which meant I had to sell up. All the time hankering to get back on a bike when life became more stable once more, it took a while as last week I randomly won a Triumph Sprint ST 955i on ebay, I love it, this bike may be older and higher mileage than what I would normally prefer but it rides so fantastic, I seem to have gelled so well with it and it has got me wondering why I hadn't made the effort to get back on 2 wheels sooner.

[Biker's Nemesis]

125's are great fun.

[bogie]

Biker's Nemesis said:

125's are great fun.

agreed, although im thinking about the old 20-30bhp 125 2 strokes I had as a lad, I think the 15bhp 4 stroke CG125s that people experience on their CBT are not so exciting