motorbike, 18, CBT

[Robert]

basically i'm thinking about getting a bike for commuting to uni, currently travelling around 40miles to get to there. that's 80miles a day.

So if i retake my CBT (i did it at 16 to ride a moped, expires after 2years right?) what can i ride on?

I'm not overly fussed about looks and if it can hit 80mph I'd be fairly happy, any recommendations?

 

[Alienfish360]

at 18 you can ride a 125cc bike up to 14bhp I think then when you have a full license you can ride anything with a max power of 33bhp after 2 years of riding that on a full license you can ride anything.

If you turn 21 before your 2 years of 33bhp you can do direct access.

Aprilia RS125 restrict it to 14bhp till you've got a full license then get it back to 33bhp, one of the quickest 125's you'll find

 

[Courior]

as alien fish said, but them rs125's are very unreliable esp on a 80 mile roundtrip!! best bet is to get a full licence which will be restricted to 33bhp and then get yourself a 500cc commuter and restrict it. This is what i did. then after 2 years take the restricter out and you got 50bhp. (and still 70mpg). then after a couple of years for no claims get a bigger bike.. i started this journey when i was 17 and i now have a 1200cc bike and my insurance is less than half my micra!!!

 

[Alienfish360]

The only problem if you get a bigger bike 600cc etc and restrict it down to 33bhp. The bike can become quite horrible to ride, as the power tends to be higher up in the revs, and you just can't get it to there.

I'd say get a 125 or be careful and read a lot about what bikes are ok to ride after restricting them.

I'm sure Courior could provide more info there

 

[hughes_16v]

not to sure but if youve passed your full car license in those two years your cbt wont expire

 

[masterbiker]

Over here in france you can ride a 125 with just a drivers licence, I bought a Honda CBR 125R to goto work with, I have done just over 1000Km with it now and it runs very nicely, has realy good handeling and quite supprising with the realy skinny tires has loads of grip. Just a few days ago I got so low when taking a right hander that I scraped the right foot peg on the ground, so you can't get any faster round the corner (I know I must slow down or I will come off).

Its first service only cost 21€ Not sure what the next one will cost, but hey it aint going to be silly money. I don't know how much they cost to buy new in the UK, but I got mine over here in france for 2400€ So should not be that much more.

 

[Robert]

not to sure but if youve passed your full car license in those two years your cbt wont expire

so, i did my cbt at 16. got my full car license at 17. so my CBT won't have expired?

can anyone confirm this?

 

[Britto_1.3Si]

depends when you have taken your test as after a certain year they stopped allowing this if you look on the back of your license it should have a bike symbol i think if you can and your restricted to 15bhp not 14 (i know 1 bhp but when u got hardly any every1 counts)

the cg does around 100mpg but top end of 65

rs yeh for speed but if you want to commute on this bad idea for one its a sports bike you wont like it in traffic and will knack your back after so long and for two its a 2 stroke love the lil things but expensive to run highly desired by thiefs so could not leave it anywhere and will need rebuilding every x amount of miles

the honda varadero is a gd en 80mph 4stroke looks like a bigger bike and comfortable to commute on but i agree with these lads pass your test and get something bigger as with it being restricted you would also use less fuel and be less desirable by thiefs

im not against sports bikes as i am currently a proud owner of a suzuki gsxr 750 k2 and was fine restricted did not react horrible at all still beautiful i had no problem and still loved it just having to let people over take after a ton was a pain but i could still hammer most cars with it being restricted i just could not get it passed 112mph wher as now at the min i have had 159mph with a gear to go but lost my nerve after the girlfriend s punches became rather hard and lower if you know what i mean

dont worry about insurance for my bike and me being 20 . . . £300 on my own policy!! i was paying more for my DT125R

look at 400's seems your best bet there cheap enough and enough power for commuting gsf bandit 400 or cb1 (cbr400 stripped with high bars) something like that

 

[gam1984]

so, i did my cbt at 16. got my full car license at 17. so my CBT won't have expired?

can anyone confirm this?

I've been through this situation myself. Its very complicated.....I've tried to simplify it a bit at the end though.....

I believe your situation is this:

If your took your CBT on a 125cc motorcycle or scooter, then you are allowed to ride any motorcycle upto 125cc and with power restrictions in place for the length of your CBT (2 years).

However, if you already have a full car licence when you took your CBT, or pass your car test while your CBT is still valid (As I did), you are entitled to ride a 50cc motorcycle/scooter without L-plates and with a passenger for the length of your full car licence.

This is because the full car licence automatically comes with full moped (50cc) entitlement (see the "P" category on your car licence), but this can only actually used if you have undertaken a CBT course.

However, if you wish to ride anything above 50cc, your CBT will only be valid for its 2 year length regardless of whether you have a car licence or not.

What confuses a lot of people is that the rules regarding all this all changed in Februrary 2001. You don't need to know this as you will have taken your car test long after this date, but until 2001 you could ride a 50cc without L-plates and with passengers without even taking a CBT course, so long as you had a full car licence.

Although the rules changed and you now must legally take a CBT course to unlock the full moped entitlement on your car licence, this only needs to be taken once for a 50cc scooter.

SO.....

To put it as simply as I can, if you have passed your car test while your CBT certificate was valid, you don't need to take CBT again, you can ride without L-plates and with a passenger provided that you ride nothing bigger than 50cc (a moped/small scooter basically). If you want to ride anything bigger, you must retake CBT every 2 years until you pass a bike test.

For more info check the DVLA website as Pete says.....

Hope this helps!

 

[Pete]

honestly, the confusion that surrounds this topic!!!

Honestly I could tell you from a police point of view, but it'd get lost in the blurb and the half truths.

For the facts, go to the DVLA website.

Oh and btw, my restricted 600 rides perfectly well. But really looking forward to having it derestricted this weekend.

 

[hughes_16v]

Could the cbt still be used to ride a 50cc motorbike not scooter, i.e a small aprilla 50cc with gears kinda thing

 

[Britto_1.3Si]

if what gam1984 said is true then yeh i imagine so any 50 probably

im sure it was after 2001 the right to use a scooter without a cbt was not allowed. . . just go to your local cbt place and ask them they ll know

 

[Pete]

if what gam1984 said is true then yeh i imagine so any 50 probably

im sure it was after 2001 the right to use a scooter without a cbt was not allowed. . . just go to your local cbt place and ask them they ll know

OR READ THE DVLA WEBSITE!

If you obtained your full car licence before 1 February 2001 you are automatically entitled to ride a moped without L-plates (D-plates in Wales).

If you obtained a full car licence after 1 February 2001 you must first complete a CBT course and obtain a DL 196 certificate to validate your entitlement.

*goes and bangs head against wall*

And...

A moped is a motorcycle that has the following features:


maximum design speed not exceeding 50 kilometres per hour (km/h) (about 31 miles per hour (mph)
an engine capacity no greater than 50 cc
it can be moved by pedals, if the moped was first used before 1 September 1977

So if a geared machine fits that then yes, it's a moped. That includes the restricted Aprillia RS50 and Derbi 50's about. BUT if you do your CBT on an auto it will say CBT done on 50cc Scooter, if you do it on a geared machine it will say CBT carried out on a 50cc Motorcycle. Not many officers will pull you up on this but you never know...

 

[Britto_1.3Si]

Quote:
if you do your CBT on an auto it will say CBT done on 50cc Scooter, if you do it on a geared machine it will say CBT carried out on a 50cc Motorcycle. Not many officers will pull you up on this but you never know...
__________________

i did my cbt on scooter and my test was on a geared bike he never said anything i had an accident on a geared (not my fault lady did not see me and ran into me) and the police officer never questioned it then either so doubt that matters

 

[Pete]

As I said "not many officers will pull you up on it"... But if you've got a CBT that states what type of machine you did your cbt on and your found riding a differently geared method you could be hauled up for 'riding other than in accordance with licence'.

 

[Herr_spl1ff]

Also worth remembering that you'll only have 6 points available on your license. At a minimum of 3 for the offence Pete's said...

Go for the restricted 500cc ish. If you've only ridden 50cc before all you'll be able to notice is how much quicker it is! Then you're used to the bike when you are allowed more power. Also less strain on the engine for commutes, more stable etc etc. You could do a lot worse than a GS500, there's a reason 99% of bike training schools use them

Steer clear of 125/250 2 stroke racers like the RS. Unless you buy brand new you will get a dog, especially the 125 as they're hammered. Think trying to buy a 15yr old Golf GTI... Also a race bike needs racing otherwise it gums up & bits stop working, plus regular servicing otherwise they go bang!

My input but whatever you decide it's the way forward & welcome to the club

PS Pete, you still riding or is it too cold for you? Got frostbite on my 1st winter trip to work this morning :/

 

[Pete]

Me? I'm in the car at the minute mate, got her booked in for derestriction this weekend though.

I used to commute in the cold, had frost build up on my cheeks a few times, got carb freeze etc... But at the minute I've been given free parking, got a nice warm comfortable mile muncher so I use that. But I have to use the car when I'm on business for insurance reasons.

GS500 is a good move if you've got a whole 2years to do on restriction but I only had a few months left on mine so I got something a bit more powerful and had it's wings clipped for a while.

 

[Robert]

it's sorted now.

got myself a cg125. redone my cbt and im back on a bike

waiting for summertimeish and i'll look into doing the real bike test which i believe's restricted to 33bhp for 2 years/until i take a further test..

 

[Pete]

Roger that Robert. Good on you.

 

[NeX]

mate the real bike test is a #####, its three days iirc and you have to do EVERYTHING right, like looking over your shoulder every time you pull away etc...

you also have to do loads of crap like luggage and balancing the bike, passengers etc. none of which you need if you just want a bike to get around on...

the full test works out quite expensive and its fairly hard to pass first time so i recommend you parctice like hell before the actual test and then stick to a 400cc bike (which is more than enough) until you can get a busa!!

 

[Robert]

i know the guy that did my cbt, turns out we're related somehow :S and he said i look fine on the bike and shouldnt have a problem with the test. it is however £275..

if i fail though, they give me the extra training for free and i just pay for the test again

 

[Pete]

Even I failed first time (skidded slightly on emergency stop).

But yeah you need to do all your lifesavers, there called life savers because, they save your life!!! The test is actually similar to the new car one, they'll ask you a few questions relating to how you'd look after and how you'd use your machine. Most training centre's offer 3 or 5 day packages, either to A restricted or A catagory.

 

[Britto_1.3Si]

cg125 legendary bike mate good choice 100mpg gf has one everyone comments on how good they are

 

[Robert]

so far it's proving economical yeah, but it's so slow! it's just frustrating, topping out at around 55-60.