Licence at 19 years old question
Discussion
Dear all. My son is just coming up to his 19th Birthday and has a question regarding his licence restriction. He passed his test 18mths ago and has been riding a 600cc Suzuki with a 32hp restrictor fitted. Can he remove this at?
1) His 19th Birthday
2) 2 years from the date he passed his test
3) Other
I understand that if he had taken a further test, he could have had this power restriction lifted earlier, however he has not done this.
Thanks in advance for your replies!
1) His 19th Birthday
2) 2 years from the date he passed his test
3) Other
I understand that if he had taken a further test, he could have had this power restriction lifted earlier, however he has not done this.
Thanks in advance for your replies!
JS99 said:
What 600 is it? if it's a GSXR it'll be going from 33bhp to 100bhp.. quite a big step in power for a young rider.
Assuming it is this huge step.. surely this is the whole point of the 2 year restriction in the first place to give the new rider experience before they have full power?
Somehow I managed to pass my test (old style) on a 125cc and go out and buy a brand new ZX6R and stay alive by using my own self control, but again I was 24 at the time and not a teenager.
I passed my test before the restriction laws and had a GSXR600 at twenty but before that i'd gained experience on an RGV250 and Mito 125.. so the steps in performance where more balanced.. Sure many have gone from a 125 to a fireblade and been fine, but i'm sure they've had some scray moments along the way! pherhaps why i'm cautious of this is becuase the lad who bought the GSXR600 off me had just passed his test with direct access and was killed a week later.
I think they should increase the 33bhp limit to about 50bhp and the 2 years probation should apply to everyone.
I think they should increase the 33bhp limit to about 50bhp and the 2 years probation should apply to everyone.
Edited by JS99 on Wednesday 28th March 11:32
Edited by JS99 on Wednesday 28th March 11:33
His bike is a 600 GSXF (fully faired Suzuki). He went from riding his 50cc Suzuki to this and has managed to keep in one piece for 18mths. His main problem is that this is a big heavy bike and once he looses balance (at stop) it falls over (happened twice). My view was, that restricted its a 32BHP bike with good brakes and suspension/tyres etc. However I am inclined to agree that once unrestricted it will be a much more powerfull machine. I just wanted to know what the rules are... Sounds like its 2 years from passing his test then? Thanks for your replies.
bluechim said:
His bike is a 600 GSXF (fully faired Suzuki). He went from riding his 50cc Suzuki to this and has managed to keep in one piece for 18mths. His main problem is that this is a big heavy bike and once he looses balance (at stop) it falls over (happened twice).
Can he reach the floor? If not there are various things he can do I imagine to change the seat height and so on. If he can reach the floor then he should not be loosing his balance. Unless your foot slips at no point should you feel the weight of your bike regardless of how heavy it is. If he can't balance it on one foot while keeping the other foot on the brake then he should get some more lessons as his low speed control would surely be abysmal.
JS99 said:
I passed my test before the restriction laws and had a GSXR600 at twenty but before that i'd gained experience on an RGV250 and Mito 125.. so the steps in performance where more balanced.. Sure many have gone from a 125 to a fireblade and been fine, but i'm sure they've had some scray moments along the way! pherhaps why i'm cautious of this is becuase the lad who bought the GSXR600 off me had just passed his test with direct access and was killed a week later.
I think they should increase the 33bhp limit to about 50bhp and the 2 years probation should apply to everyone.
I think they should increase the 33bhp limit to about 50bhp and the 2 years probation should apply to everyone.
I know this is an ever on-going topic but I am interested to know why you feel that ‘steeping up’ through various capacity/performance of bikes gives less ‘scary moments’ (both in severity of ‘scariness’’ and in number of events) than moving straight from a 125 to a ‘Blade? I also want to know why a 50bhp/120mph bike is ‘safer’ than one with 100bhp or 150bhp?
Simple really, you learn too understand how a bike handles at 'speed' gradually.. A lower powered bike doesn't bite as much as a high performance one. Jump on an R1 from the off and yeah you could treat it with respect but if you're unsure about braking distances & throttle application, it's not the ideal bike to learn on!!
I see no reason why getting straight onto an R1 is any less/more dangerous than getting onto a 600 or a 400. I did the ‘step up’ route and had many very scary moments on all levels of bike but that was a combination of limited road experience and the bravado of being young. In all cases that I can remember, the capacity/performance of the bike was not an issue as I was not riding the bike to it’s limits but was riding beyond my own limits. My ex-wife passed her test on a borrowed bike and moved straight onto a Yam FJ1200. She had far fewer scary moments than me but was much more willing than me to accept her own limits!
The question is not about how many years a rider has held a license or how much power a bike has but is the rider able to control themselves. If the answer is that a rider feels that they can’t control themselves and the lack of performance of the bike is expected to ‘restrict’ the rider then I would suggest that the rider should not be out on the road on anything!
As soon as the rider accepts that they will have to manage how much of the bikes performance is/is not used then it doesn’t matter if the unused portion goes up to 50bhp or up to 150bhp – either way it’s still unused.
The question is not about how many years a rider has held a license or how much power a bike has but is the rider able to control themselves. If the answer is that a rider feels that they can’t control themselves and the lack of performance of the bike is expected to ‘restrict’ the rider then I would suggest that the rider should not be out on the road on anything!
As soon as the rider accepts that they will have to manage how much of the bikes performance is/is not used then it doesn’t matter if the unused portion goes up to 50bhp or up to 150bhp – either way it’s still unused.
black-k1 said:
I see no reason why getting straight onto an R1 is any less/more dangerous than getting onto a 600 or a 400. I did the ‘step up’ route and had many very scary moments on all levels of bike but that was a combination of limited road experience and the bravado of being young. In all cases that I can remember, the capacity/performance of the bike was not an issue as I was not riding the bike to it’s limits but was riding beyond my own limits. My ex-wife passed her test on a borrowed bike and moved straight onto a Yam FJ1200. She had far fewer scary moments than me but was much more willing than me to accept her own limits!
The question is not about how many years a rider has held a license or how much power a bike has but is the rider able to control themselves. If the answer is that a rider feels that they can’t control themselves and the lack of performance of the bike is expected to ‘restrict’ the rider then I would suggest that the rider should not be out on the road on anything!
As soon as the rider accepts that they will have to manage how much of the bikes performance is/is not used then it doesn’t matter if the unused portion goes up to 50bhp or up to 150bhp – either way it’s still unused.
The question is not about how many years a rider has held a license or how much power a bike has but is the rider able to control themselves. If the answer is that a rider feels that they can’t control themselves and the lack of performance of the bike is expected to ‘restrict’ the rider then I would suggest that the rider should not be out on the road on anything!
As soon as the rider accepts that they will have to manage how much of the bikes performance is/is not used then it doesn’t matter if the unused portion goes up to 50bhp or up to 150bhp – either way it’s still unused.
Have to agree. Having moved up to a bigger bike, I still ride at pretty much the same pace - the hazards are still there afterall. There are occasional moments where I can open things up a bit, but I don't feel compelled to pin it everywhere - I want to ride again tomorrow. The risk a big bike presents is down to the rider and their attitude, if you try hard enough you can do just as much damage to yourself on a small bike.
Steve.
That is very true, I was training on a 500cc and the ended up thrashing it everywhere. But when I got the GSXR 600 I ended up driving at about the same pace as the 500cc since I knew that if I rode the bike to the extreme I would just come off. Mind you I did open it up a little on the byepass but thats to be expected when some wide ass merc comes up your ass thinking he is faster than you in the right hand lane... What a little dot he became very quickly 

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