Anyone done a direct access?

Blackdream

I’ve over thirty years experience on 2 wheels. When I passed my test There were no power limits - I could ride anything I could afford to buy and insure. Sensibly (I thought) I bought a 250, which for a few weeks seemed massive, but after a couple of months I was bored and wanted something bigger.

For what it’s worth my advice is to get a sensible middleweight - something like a Suzuki SV650. Reasonably light, easy to ride and potter around, but with enough power to make progress. Also join your local IAM/ RoSPA advanced riding group and get further training 

hywelg

Blackdream said:

I’ve over thirty years experience on 2 wheels. When I passed my test There were no power limits - I could ride anything I could afford to buy and insure. Sensibly (I thought) I bought a 250, which for a few weeks seemed massive, but after a couple of months I was bored and wanted something bigger.

For what it’s worth my advice is to get a sensible middleweight - something like a Suzuki SV650. Reasonably light, easy to ride and potter around, but with enough power to make progress. Also join your local IAM/ RoSPA advanced riding group and get further training 

Good lord, how old are you then?  When I learnt it was 250cc or smaller. That law came in in the 60's.

p90fool

hywelg said:

Blackdream said:

I’ve over thirty years experience on 2 wheels. When I passed my test There were no power limits - I could ride anything I could afford to buy and insure. Sensibly (I thought) I bought a 250, which for a few weeks seemed massive, but after a couple of months I was bored and wanted something bigger.

For what it’s worth my advice is to get a sensible middleweight - something like a Suzuki SV650. Reasonably light, easy to ride and potter around, but with enough power to make progress. Also join your local IAM/ RoSPA advanced riding group and get further training 

Good lord, how old are you then?  When I learnt it was 250cc or smaller. That law came in in the 60's.

After he'd passed his test, not before. 

Blackdream

p90fool said:

hywelg said:

Blackdream said:

I’ve over thirty years experience on 2 wheels. When I passed my test There were no power limits - I could ride anything I could afford to buy and insure. Sensibly (I thought) I bought a 250, which for a few weeks seemed massive, but after a couple of months I was bored and wanted something bigger.

For what it’s worth my advice is to get a sensible middleweight - something like a Suzuki SV650. Reasonably light, easy to ride and potter around, but with enough power to make progress. Also join your local IAM/ RoSPA advanced riding group and get further training 

Good lord, how old are you then?  When I learnt it was 250cc or smaller. That law came in in the 60's.

After he'd passed his test, not before. 

That’s right. Learnt on a 125, moved onto a 250 after I’d passed my test.

pintspiller

Or get a trike. It's classed as a car so no need for a test.

crunchman

Strangefan said:

Don't worry lol I certainly couldn't afford to be one of those and only ever had one accident, as a sensible rider I love my bike but also love corners, noone buys a bike for convenience it's all About the rush of being in a bike, nothing beats it, however you need more than just the skills they teach you on a DA, You learn to properly ride after you pass the test, and by learn I mean make mistakes and come out the other side to learn from them  

In London, some do.  It's £230 for a zone 1 to 5 monthly travelcard on the train, and takes twice as long for some journeys.  A bike makes a lot of sense purely for convenience and cost.  For shorter distances, a pushbike makes often more sense, but if your commute is 12 or 15 miles then a motorbike is probably the best option for a lot of people.

Strangefan

crunchman said:

Strangefan said:

Don't worry lol I certainly couldn't afford to be one of those and only ever had one accident, as a sensible rider I love my bike but also love corners, noone buys a bike for convenience it's all About the rush of being in a bike, nothing beats it, however you need more than just the skills they teach you on a DA, You learn to properly ride after you pass the test, and by learn I mean make mistakes and come out the other side to learn from them  

In London, some do.  It's £230 for a zone 1 to 5 monthly travelcard on the train, and takes twice as long for some journeys.  A bike makes a lot of sense purely for convenience and cost.  For shorter distances, a pushbike makes often more sense, but if your commute is 12 or 15 miles then a motorbike is probably the best option for a lot of people.

Very very true, but fir city commuting nothing beats a low powered bike:) 

Dominic

I don't think there is any real logic in the small v big bike argument......if you can comfortably ride the machine .
My son has a Yamaha 125 which is a boy racer version of an R1 .......untweaked it can do 83 mph which is plenty fast enough to kill yourself .
 Some of today's 750cc bikes are smaller and lighter than the 250 cc machines of my youth ( who remembers the CB250 N ? )
They only go fast if you crank the throttle..........whether you are a relative novice or a very experienced rider .
 I have been borrowing a BMW R9T 1200cc for much of the summer and it's one of the sweetest ,easiest things I have ever ridden ......in fact much easier than my son's 125 .
It's also very true that you can get around a crowded and congested city a lot quicker on a 125 scooter.As an MCC member I'm ashamed to admit that Dominos and Deliveroo boys mounted on hairdryers often leave me well behind in busy London traffic !

boogieman

hywelg said:

Blackdream said:

I’ve over thirty years experience on 2 wheels. When I passed my test There were no power limits - I could ride anything I could afford to buy and insure. Sensibly (I thought) I bought a 250, which for a few weeks seemed massive, but after a couple of months I was bored and wanted something bigger.

For what it’s worth my advice is to get a sensible middleweight - something like a Suzuki SV650. Reasonably light, easy to ride and potter around, but with enough power to make progress. Also join your local IAM/ RoSPA advanced riding group and get further training 

Good lord, how old are you then?  When I learnt it was 250cc or smaller. That law came in in the 60's.

There were still a few loopholes after the 250 limit. I took my test in 71 and at that point you could still ride something over 250 as long as it had a sidecar attached. My mate rode a 650 BSA on L plates, it had a sort of sidecar, basically a sidecar chassis but with a flat wooden platform instead of a proper cab.