So I started to figure out what I needed to do and how to go about it to get my unrestricted motorbike licence.
In the UK, for a few years now, there is a bit of a performance you need to go through to get your motorbike licence, and even then, there is a choice. If you are under 21, then that’s it, all you can do is train and learn on a 125cc max, then once you have passed all of the tests, you are limited to either a 125cc with a maximum power output of 33 bhp for two years or a bigger bike, but ‘chipped’ to a maximum power output of 33 bhp. After the two years, the licence is upgraded to unlimited and you can then ride around whatever you like. This is called the A2 ‘restricted’ licence. But, if you are over 21, then you can do the ‘Direct Access’ test, which means that you must train and take the test riding a bike of at least 47 bhp, you then get an unrestricted licence from outset and can ride around on whatever you like once you have passed all the tests.
The advantage of going the A2 ‘restricted’ route is that once you have your provisional licence and have passed the CBT, you can buy your own 125cc bike, slap ‘L’ plates on it and ride around to your hearts content. The ‘catch’ with the A1 ‘direct access’ route is that you can still buy and ride around on a 125cc with ‘L’ plates, but you can only ride the bigger bikes needed for the ‘direct access’ test when you are accompanied by a registered trainer who is no more than 50 m from you and is in radio contact with you.
So for me the choice was obvious, I would go the ‘direct access’ route to a full and immediate unrestricted licence.
As for the tests themselves, well, that has changed hugely since I took my car test way back when. For a motorbike you have to take a:
- Compulsory Basic Training (CBT) day with a registered school,
- Theory test,
- Practical part one (off road) test
- Practical part two (on road) test
Once you pass all of these, then you are through and riding. There is a catch, which is that they must all be passed within two years, if any one of these is over two years old, you have to take it again. This wouldn’t be a problem for me.
The CBT was a whole day going through first the theory, laws and kit required. Then learning the basics of a 125cc bike and handling it. Then riding around cones in slalom and figures of eight, stopping correctly etc. Then only if the trainer was satisfied, it was two hours on the road playing ‘follow the leader’ with two bikes to every trainer. At the end of this, an official certificate to allow you to move to the next stage.
The theory test was now all computerised and consisted of two parts. The first part was 50 multi-choice questions on the highway code and motorbike specific stuff followed by the dreaded second part, the ‘hazard perception’ video clips, where you watch a series of video clips taken from a drivers point of view, then click when you spot a hazard. You have to pass both sections of the theory to get a theory test pass and you have to have both a theory test pass and a CBT certificate before you take the first practical tests.
The practical off road test is done at one of the big UK official test centres dotted around the country. Fortunately there is one in Gloucester, not far away. This is a large enclosed tarmac area marked up with lines and cones. An official examiner then asks you to do a series of handling tests, while pretending to be ‘on the road’ at all times – the catch here is that they insist that you do the full ‘look all around you’ checks before you move off and always do a lifesaver check before turning (as you would on the road), this isn’t easy as you know full well that it is just you and the examiner on this huge expanse of tarmac, but forget it once and you have failed. First moving the bike by hand, then slow speed slalom between cones, then a couple of figures of eight around cones. Then the slow ride as you ride as slowly as you can and stop in a specific spot while the examiner walks alongside you. Then the ‘high speed’ stuff. Ride around a bend and pick up speed to at least 50 kph (it is measured at a certain point electronically) then stop at a specific point, then do it again, but with an emergency stop when indicated by the examiner, then do it again but with an obstacle avoidance as you swerve around cones then come back onto line and stop at a certain point.
The ‘on road’ practical is probably what you would expect. Ride around on the public roads being told where to go by the examiner over a radio link and he is following behind you marking you as you go. So a hill start, pulling out from behind a parked car, turning etc. Given I was already an experienced car driver, I wasn’t so worried about ‘road sense’ and what to do in what circumstances, other than having picked up a lot of bad habits and of course riding like a car driver.
So that’s it. Not much to it eh? Well, this looked like some project to me now, but hey – it was something to get my teeth into, so away we go.
