How to get a motorcycle license…

G

Graham Smith

Guest
Probably not much interest to most on our forum, but the following will give you an idea of how difficult it is to get a motorcycle license in the United Kingdom these days…
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vibrac

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
Well on top of that they made the requirement for the off road test areas so they hard to find and so are far apart and they managed to split our lobby groups into two factions (Mag & BMF) neat work by excessive anti motorcycle .gov
The whole system is set to prevent new motorcyclist to join. meanwhile the standards for driving a car is abysmal
All part of the nudge nudge .gov way of imposing its demands.
 

Albervin

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
As a motorcycle trainer/tester for the last ten years I have been very interested in the different tests applied to motorcyclists around the world. In some countries it is as easy as ABC while in others it is most definitely not. The cost of obtaining a full, unrestricted licence also varies from a few hundred dollars (or less) to several thousands. Some of the stand-outs are: In Singapore you have to ride a motorcycle on a plank of wood that is 20m long. There is a minimum time limit BUT you are allowed to stop as long as you keep your feet on the footpegs. In France you have to complete a slalom course, do a U-turn and then return along the slalom course, there is a maximum time limit and you have a pillion passenger! In Norway you have to do a three hour road ride with the instructor seated behind you. I have been told the French and Norwegian tests can cost up to $4,000!.
We have a graduated system in NSW but every state has a different system. In Queenland the basic NSW Pre-learner course is deemed an advanced rider course. In Victoria they have a bizarre system where unlicenced riders are taken out onto the roads with an instructor.
Meanwhile the car driving test can be sat by people with four brain cells.
 

ClassicBiker

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
Michigan isn't much different. 40 years ago it was totally abysmal though. At 16 years old right after I had completed my driver's ed through my high school and the mandatory 30 day learner permit I went for my license exam for my car license. I took the written test and road exam and passed and told the examiner I wanted my motorcycle license. My father and I had trailered a Yamaha 125 to the exam so in the parking lot I did a couple of circles clockwise and counter clockwise, an "emergency stop", and showed the examiner I knew where the brakes, turn signals, and horn where. That was it, the examiner didn't even know how to ride a motorcycle. Now driver's ed is only done privately, not through the schools. Rider's training is done through the community college in the spring semester only, if they offer it at all. That or again you have to find it privately. So at least there is some training. But there needs to be an acceptable medium between total apathy and total obstruction.
 

bmetcalf

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
In 1971, I took the skills test in Chicago on a parking lot course. I was almost 23 on my first bike, a BSA 650 Lightning. I was wearing my Dad's old Army field jacket and maybe the examiner thought I was a veteran and looked mature. Anyway, he didn't even watch me go through the course. I've survived these 50 years of riding, so it seemed to have worked.
 

Roslyn

Well Known and Active Forum User
Non-VOC Member
As a motorcycle trainer/tester for the last ten years I have been very interested in the different tests applied to motorcyclists around the world. In some countries it is as easy as ABC while in others it is most definitely not. The cost of obtaining a full, unrestricted licence also varies from a few hundred dollars (or less) to several thousands. Some of the stand-outs are: In Singapore you have to ride a motorcycle on a plank of wood that is 20m long. There is a minimum time limit BUT you are allowed to stop as long as you keep your feet on the footpegs. In France you have to complete a slalom course, do a U-turn and then return along the slalom course, there is a maximum time limit and you have a pillion passenger! In Norway you have to do a three hour road ride with the instructor seated behind you. I have been told the French and Norwegian tests can cost up to $4,000!.
We have a graduated system in NSW but every state has a different system. In Queenland the basic NSW Pre-learner course is deemed an advanced rider course. In Victoria they have a bizarre system where unlicenced riders are taken out onto the roads with an instructor.
Meanwhile the car driving test can be sat by people with four brain cells.
four brain cells they would be in mensa you mean one?
 

Robert Watson

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
I got my license at 16 and it covered cars and motorcycles with no extra testing. I started on an 80 cc Yamaha but switched to 4 wheels pretty quickly. By the time I was 20 I thought of myself as a pretty good driver. Then I took up racing a car on a short paved oval track. I did that for a couple of years and then knew I was a better driver!
In the late 80's I bought a motorcycle, 550 cc of UJM, and rode it for couple of years. I now needed to do a simple parking lot road test as they had introduced a separate procedure at some point of my non motorcycle owing days. I passed it easily and thought a was a pretty good rider. Then I took up Vintage racing at the local road circuit (Westwood), 1.9 miles of a bit tricky up and down and twisty pavement. It was run by the local sports car club and the Motorcycle club rented it every Wednesday afternoon/evening in the summer, so that's where I would be with the BSA 750 triple. After a few years of that and racing there, and at a track in Seattle and another in Portland, I new I was a pretty good rider.

From those two experiences I have told anyone who would listen (not many!) to go and do some track days, it won't be cheap but it will be cheaper that what value you put on your life!

I knew a guy once whose card listed his qualifications. I questioned the first one he listed

CS&E

Common Sense and Experience
 
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