Best way to start riding bikes (on the road)
Discussion
I see two main options. Start as soon as you can with a 50cc when you are sixteen and work your way up. Or learn to drive, spend a few years in cars and then do the direct access.
I think that with the first option you might become a better biker as learning from a younger age. However, are you more at risk of crashing as teenagers not known for having good risk assessments skills?
Starting later in life might avoid some of the more obvious accidents that come with youthful exuberance but will those who start as teenagers always feel more natural on two wheels?
I have a daughter, rather than a son, so probably won’t have to face this issue for my own offspring.
I think that with the first option you might become a better biker as learning from a younger age. However, are you more at risk of crashing as teenagers not known for having good risk assessments skills?
Starting later in life might avoid some of the more obvious accidents that come with youthful exuberance but will those who start as teenagers always feel more natural on two wheels?
I have a daughter, rather than a son, so probably won’t have to face this issue for my own offspring.
Ditto, my daughter (slightly older but not by much) has just taken her CBT and now is going for DAS. Not concerned in the slightest, really looking forward to it actually, new riding buddy on the horizon and if she can handle a motorbike the way she handles a downhill mountain bike I'm gonna be left for dead on road and track 
Does anyone start at 16 anymore with a view to progressing, rather than perhaps just commuting on a scooter for a year until the car arrives?
It seems to me that the licencing rules deter this in some ways, plus teenagers are so image conscious these days and want the best of everything straight away (with someone else paying for it obviously) so a 50cc isn't going to cut it.
It seems to me that the licencing rules deter this in some ways, plus teenagers are so image conscious these days and want the best of everything straight away (with someone else paying for it obviously) so a 50cc isn't going to cut it.
Learning to drive a car first is the easiest and safest way to learn the rules of the road, I think. Not that you can't do it the other way round, though. It seems most people riding at a young age these days are either doing good delivery or are hooligans who ride stolen bikes and off-road tat round their estates.
When I was 16 I did my CBT and took to the road on my FS1E. There was a group of us and we all crashed...regularly. We were idiots and looking back I'm shocked we made it to 17!
I rode for about 2 years then moved onto cars. Aged 25 I had a bit of spare money so did DAS and bought a 600. My attitude was much different this time around, some of that was the power of the bike but most of it was down to age and experience.
I would say though, it comes down to the individual. If you are a bit of a young 16 and a bit silly, it could be argued this is too young to be on the road but if you are a mature 16 then it's a great way to learn balance along with the rules of the road. I remember the best riders at that age were the ones who had motocross bikes and were used to much more powerful machines albeit off road. We all crashed because we rode as fast we could everywhere not taking into account road surfaces or other vehicles.
That said, I know if I put a lot of my none biker friends on a sportsbike now it would frighten them, which could end in tears if they made a bad judgement going into a corner too hot.
I rode for about 2 years then moved onto cars. Aged 25 I had a bit of spare money so did DAS and bought a 600. My attitude was much different this time around, some of that was the power of the bike but most of it was down to age and experience.
I would say though, it comes down to the individual. If you are a bit of a young 16 and a bit silly, it could be argued this is too young to be on the road but if you are a mature 16 then it's a great way to learn balance along with the rules of the road. I remember the best riders at that age were the ones who had motocross bikes and were used to much more powerful machines albeit off road. We all crashed because we rode as fast we could everywhere not taking into account road surfaces or other vehicles.
That said, I know if I put a lot of my none biker friends on a sportsbike now it would frighten them, which could end in tears if they made a bad judgement going into a corner too hot.
Are bikes now more expensive than cars?
At 16 I rode on CBT for 1 year, manual 50cc Derbi, 17th birthday I took my 33bhp restricted bike test, ZXR400 for 2 years and then at 19 I was automatically on a full licence..
All because cars were so expensive. I took my driving test also just after my 17th birthday but I never bought a car, just drove around in my mothers VW Polo
For me if was about what I could afford, bikes were cheap transport for me..
At 16 I rode on CBT for 1 year, manual 50cc Derbi, 17th birthday I took my 33bhp restricted bike test, ZXR400 for 2 years and then at 19 I was automatically on a full licence..
All because cars were so expensive. I took my driving test also just after my 17th birthday but I never bought a car, just drove around in my mothers VW Polo
For me if was about what I could afford, bikes were cheap transport for me..
I put my (now 17) 16 year old lad onto a £1300 Aprilia RS4 50 as soon as he passed his CBT. Used it every day for the school run plus usual hooning around to various sports clubs. He and a similarly equipped mate even made it the two hours plus to the Isle of Wight for a road trip.
At 17, upgraded to a KTM RC125 for daily use and I got him a perfectly smart £750 Citroen C2 to learn to drive in. As soon as he passed his driving test, decision time, which to keep.
Unfair really as depths of Winter then so he kept the C2 but he's trying hard to convince Bank of Dad that another 125 needed.
Doing the maths;
C2 cost £750 but £1500pa to insure
KTM cost £2300 but £650 to insure (both bikes sold at nil depreciation!)
I do think the time on the bike has made him much more road aware and the car test was passed with ease. He's also VERY bike conscious out there which is good for the rest of us. I'm sure he'll be out on a bike again one day but as suggested above, the current rules suggest he may as well wait for a bit.
At 17, upgraded to a KTM RC125 for daily use and I got him a perfectly smart £750 Citroen C2 to learn to drive in. As soon as he passed his driving test, decision time, which to keep.
Unfair really as depths of Winter then so he kept the C2 but he's trying hard to convince Bank of Dad that another 125 needed.
Doing the maths;
C2 cost £750 but £1500pa to insure
KTM cost £2300 but £650 to insure (both bikes sold at nil depreciation!)
I do think the time on the bike has made him much more road aware and the car test was passed with ease. He's also VERY bike conscious out there which is good for the rest of us. I'm sure he'll be out on a bike again one day but as suggested above, the current rules suggest he may as well wait for a bit.
cmaguire said:
Does anyone start at 16 anymore with a view to progressing, rather than perhaps just commuting on a scooter for a year until the car arrives?
It seems to me that the licencing rules deter this in some ways, plus teenagers are so image conscious these days and want the best of everything straight away (with someone else paying for it obviously) so a 50cc isn't going to cut it.
I did. (I rode all sorts of things before I was old enough, too, but that's more difficult these days.)It seems to me that the licencing rules deter this in some ways, plus teenagers are so image conscious these days and want the best of everything straight away (with someone else paying for it obviously) so a 50cc isn't going to cut it.
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