Bother about doing my bike test?
I rode competitive club trials in the 70’s & 80’s when you could ride a 250 on a provisional licence but wasn’t fussed with road bikes so never did my test, which consisted of a triangular lap from Durham test centre with the examiner on foot & it cost £10. I’ve ridden a few road bikes up to 750 but not a lot & a long time ago. I certainly no Born again biker’ that’s fore sure & this idea is probably just an itch to scratch. I did my CBT about 20 odd years ago but it lapsed. ( what a dope I am).
Anyway, any bike I got, if I did go with it would need a little bit of off-road capability, not plastic missiles for me.

No…. do a bit of trail riding with your local TRF group.

Trail riding still needs a license.

Why not do your direct access to get a full license

Trail riding still needs a license.

Why not do your direct access to get a full license

Yes Teej, that was the intention. Direct access seems expensive though, haven’t looked into alternative costs yet though, could be more?
This is just a thought that’s come on. My stepsons partner has just passed her test & has a Honda CBR 600 & I thought, ‘bet I could ride this ok’ after I’d cocked my leg over it. Even though it’s no off roader. Yes I know trail/enduro bikes are taller, especially seeing as I rode a mates XR 400 years ago. I needed a stepladder to get on!

Direct access is expensive because yo are getting a lot of tuition

What you need is a Van van Nice ;low seat, offroad capable

Direct Access cost me about £400, which I didn’t think was too expensive when it includes the fees for the CBT, Mod 1 and Mod 2 tests.

Direct access is the way to go,gets it over and done with.The hardest thing will be choosing a bike, there is such a mind numbing choice of fantastic models around now .You are also adding in to the mix that a bit of off road might be required ,so you are doing the equivalent of ‘Do I need a gravel bike?’ 😉 Not being as strong and agile as you used to be,keep it light,not something that needs two people to haul out the mud 🙂

Go for it, I got my licence a few years ago and wish I’d done it sooner.

IIRC you’re based at Boroughbridge so give Mark @ 3D Motorcycle training a call (based at Tockwith). Great guy, I did my training with him.

Direct Access cost me about £400, which I didn’t think was too expensive when it includes the fees for the CBT, Mod 1 and Mod 2 tests.

Seems way too cheap to me! I did my DAS 20yrs ago when the rules were different, cost me about £550-600 back then… Know a couple of people who’ve done it more recently, and I’ve heard figures around £800-1000…

Still… It gets it done! I hear sooooooo many stories of lapsed CBT’s (you’ve got 2yrs FFS!) and forgotten training that has effectively been wasted money. I’d just find a DAS course locally, pony up, get it done, then think about what bike I wanted to buy when I’d qualified myself…

As for being too old? No, never… Maybe if you were getting into it cos you wanted to ride a 200+bhp superbike, I’d warn about your advanced years and lack of experience counting against you for coping with one, but plenty of fun to be had on much more modest machinery for sure.

You’re a long time dead… Why wait? Do it now! 🤷🏻‍♂️

I’ve been thinking similar lately. Keep having to borrow the in-laws car each week to visit different work sites. They’re all within an eleven mile radius so I’ve been toying with the idea of an electric motorbike. Does anybody know if there are courses for just this. Wouldn’t get a petrol powered one so learning clutch, gears etc would seem a waste of time.

Sorry to hijack Essel. In your case and with the previous experience I’d say go for it. Can you think of any valid reasons not to?

Seems way too cheap to me! I did my DAS 20yrs ago when the rules were different, cost me about £550-600 back then… Know a couple of people who’ve done it more recently, and I’ve heard figures around £800-1000…

I was going to say the same thing, £400 seems way too cheap, budget about a grand. CBT, hazard perception, theory test, MOD 1 training + test, MOD 2 training + test = grand-ish but maybe less.

But do it 🙂

Seems way too cheap to me!

You’re right, I’ve just had a look back at the prices on the website. I failed to include the cost of the CBT and theory test. So closer to £600.

I got my full licence by riding around the block without falling off… 1980

First time I took my test, with my nerves I forgot to turn the fuel tap to ON, on my Yamaha RXS100, so got a few hundred yards up the road and stalled.
Chaos all around me with cars skirting round while I desperately tried to kick it over again.

Fail 😊

Passed the next time though.
Go for it OP. 👍

I got my full licence by riding around the block without falling off… 1980

1982 for me, on an RD250E with expansions so loud that the examiner didn’t bother even stepping out from the doorway he was sheltering in from the heavy rain as (he told me after), he could hear every gear change etc and knew exactly where I was.

Go for it, I got my licence a few years ago and wish I’d done it sooner.

IIRC you’re based at Boroughbridge so give Mark @ 3D Motorcycle training a call (based at Tockwith). Great guy, I did my training with him.

Yes Glenn, that’s who came up near me, just up the road. I Googled Direct Access in general & the 1st one was £700. I went to bed & couldnt sleep after that!

Go for it.

Best thing I ever did.

Not quite as mature as you (54), but you won’t regret it.

When I did my tests the instructor had me paying for each lesson but said it wouldn’t be anymore than a DAS. As in if I was still requiring lessons I wouldn’t exceed the DAS cost. If you’ve ridden bikes before and have been driving then you might actually only need a few lessons.

Go for it! I learned with Ride4life at Strensall a couple of years back and I’d recommend them – they wouldn’t let me take each of the tests until they thought I was ready, and they were right. Even with your background I guess you’d still need lessons to learn what’s expected in the tests, but the actual doing it would be relatively easy.

Hi Essel even I passed the direct access test, they train you to such a high level and know exactly what the examiner expects, it’s a breeze. I did a weekend revision for the theory and didn’t drop a point, humble brag.

It actually makes you a better road user as you understand other bikers and car drivers. Some people are just accidents waiting to happen.

Think I paid c500 including bike, tuition every day, test fees but this was 10 years ago. I even think the school guaranteed to train you till you passed. We all did, some really good feedback from examiner too, he went through the test after and what to concentrate on.

Doing the CBT isn’t expensive and will give you a good idea of whether you want to invest in DAS and a full size bike. If you’re wavering, maybe start with that? Then you can either look to DAS or buying a 125 for a while like the Van Van above.

As n aside, I did my CBT and full license after 10 years of car driving. I think it really helped my safe car driving, whether trhough a mix of skill-fade, getting lessons when just being on a road wasn’t a new experience, or maybe (no driver will admit this is them, but it’s 100% true) familiarity breeding contempt of some safety checks.

Do the CBT, no regrets!