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Ok I have just spent an hour on the DVLA maze they call a website and I am even more confused!!. Basically I am going through a midlife crisis and I want a motorbike. I passed my test before 1997 and seem to remember seeing motorbikes on the back of my licence. Now its all changed I just have a selection of cars and vans plus trailers but no bikes. At the bottom I have Category "fklnp" with codes 01... What does this mean can I still ride a motor powered cycle or not? If I need a separate licence that's no problem I only want something upto 400cc. Anyone?? As a reflection here's some pac-a-tures.......     |
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ikon31
Part of things
Posts: 293
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you need to do a full licence if you want a 400cc. your current licence only covers you up to 125cc with a cbt on l plates,
how old are you? over 21 you can do a direct access, and then you can ride whatever you want, or restricted access, and you can ride 33bhp for 2 years, then whatever
edit: you have cracking taste in machines
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Last Edit: Feb 4, 2012 4:01:36 GMT by ikon31
van life is the high life
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OK sounds like you have the same licence i did (passed car test in 1994).. fkln&p is a selection of tractors, ride-on mowers and electric vehicles and the like, doesn't have anything to do with motorbikes, as far as i remember though, having your car licence should count as a provisional bike licence, given the age of your B class entitlement it may even cover you to ride a 50cc moped on L plates (mine did but I'm not sure how to check) I decided to get my bike licence done a couple of years ago, to pass I had to do the following in order: 1) Motorbike specific theory test & hazard perception video test. Booked through the dvla website, taken at a local dvla testing centre (snow hill birmingham in my case), think this step cost ~£80 2) CBT Day, one day of training on a 125cc bike at a local riding centre. Done on its own this costs ~£120 and entitles you to ride up to a 125cc bike or scooter on L plates for two years (no motorways) 3) DAS (Direct Access training & test) training at the riding centre i did an intensive DAS over three days, that was 2.5 training days on a 500cc bike then a driving test. passing gives you Class A on your licence and you get to ride whatever you want. when I did it the DAS Intensive course cost £500 for four days including the CBT day, bike hire of the 125 and the 500 and the riding centre booked my test with the dvla test for me. Since i took my test (march 2009) the test has changed into two parts (mod1 and mod2) but you can still do a DAS intensive at a training school and they'll sort you out, dread to think what the price will be now though  For the first step, ring the DVLA up and find out if your licence does cover you for Class A provisional, it should do but you'll be turned away from the Theory test centre if you don't have it. Oh and when you start at the riding school they'll need to see the certificates for the hazard perception and theory tests as they can't book the actual test without them.. and they'll check them again at the test centre. Speaking from my own experience, do it!, bikes are awesome |
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Be warned that although you only want something up to 400cc they are addictive and you will soon want something bigger A mate decided to get a full bike licence a couple of years ago - he's over 50. A year old Suzuki 500 twin was bought and he learnt / took his test on that. You can normally hire bikes from the training companies if you don't want to buy your own yet. Luckilly I passed my test in 1974 - on a 1964 Honda S90 and have always had bikes since (still got 4 - Honda C50LAC, Vespa ET4, Honda CB92 Benly and Honda CB400A). Go for it ! Paul h |
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craig
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,029
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Be warned that although you only want something up to 400cc they are addictive and you will soon want something bigger Wise words! I never wanted a bike but did my test just incase i ever did. They put me on a 500 to do my test and i was adicted. No matter how fast you can go you'll always want to go faster. |
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Wise words! I never wanted a bike but did my test just incase I ever did. They put me on a 500 to do my test and I was adicted. No matter how fast you can go you'll always want to go faster.[/quote]
me its the other way first big was a fj1200 great bike 150mph great bike but i have had more fun on a 50cc moped and now a cg125 werid or what.. ;D ;D
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 1995 mk3 cavalier 1.8i 1972 1200 beetle 2010 1.2 fiat 500 "sometime's" 2000 suzuki gsxr 600 srad |
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Yep, I'm still hooked, even though I've only ever owned a DT50 and that was 16 years ago! SWMBO won't let me have one though.  Btw, IIRC, full licence allows you to ride a 'ped without L plates - I remember ripping them off the DT with glee when I passed my car test back in '96! |
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@pistonbroker on Twitter
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Small capacity bikes can be a lot of fun. With a big, powerful bike you are going to be doing double the max speed limit at full throttle whereas with a smaller bike you will be doing half that. The skill then is to be able to use that to the max The late Jame Hunt was using an Austin A35 van as his main car when he died despite having a V8 Merc in the garage. His argument was he could push the van to it's limits every day and have fun but with the Merc he's have to go on a race track to get the same thrills. Personally I like small bikes. The biggest I've owned is a BMW R80 LT and also several Honda CX500's but my all time favourite is the good old Honda C90. Even my CB400A is only similar to a 250 with it being an auto and I'm perfectly happy with that. Paul H |
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crazymonkey
Posted a lot
ummm....what was I doing again???
Posts: 1,981
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if you passed your test before 2001 (which you have) you can ride a "moped" (restricted 50cc) without L plates and can have pillions. but to ride anything bigger than that you need to do your CBT to ride up to a 125cc with L plates and the actual full license test for anything bigger than that, the CBT only lasts 2 years though and you cant carry passengers on anything bigger than a 50, need todo CBT before doing full license anyway so I would advise doing this:
getting a 125 to muck around on (trust me they can be fun ;D) then see if you want to progress onto a bigger bike.
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whoever said dogs were man's best friend....obviously never heard of cable ties
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That seems to be sorted, so have this cracking picture,  |
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Well, that's won me over. * abandons logic* |
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Cheers Fella's!! Think I'll give the DVLA a ring on Monday. Been looking for a four stroke 125cc on Ebay just6 to get an idea of what's out there these days the last bike I had was an unregistered KX250 when I was a kid and that's a good 20 odd year ago.. Missus is not happy but hey it'll do her good she can't be happy all the time can....... Again some fantastic advice here thanks very much !    |
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Yamaha YBR 125 is a top 125cc 4 stroke learner bike.
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Yeah I like Yamaha's looks decent too,
If I have a good rake around I should get one for £6-700??
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I think the original question has been put to bed now - so I'm happy to drift off topic sllghtly  Be warned that although you only want something up to 400cc they are addictive and you will soon want something bigger Wise words! I never wanted a bike but did my test just incase I ever did. They put me on a 500 to do my test and I was adicted. No matter how fast you can go you'll always want to go faster. Lots of wise word above I've been riding for many years (anything from twist-n-go mopds to big old litre+ monsters, all are grat fun (last on the road on a 49cc Taiwan step-thru' ), best investment in recent years was a training/ track day at a local race circuit - first time I've had the big bike flat out, also went from knee-down novice to knee-down every lap surprisingly easily. It's never too late to get more training ps - great choice of pic & bikes  pps - start getting paranoid (in a good way), on a bike I always ride as if everyone else on the road is trying to crash into me (seem to work - I've not been knockd off yet - despite some good efforts by other road users  ) |
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crazymonkey
Posted a lot
ummm....what was I doing again???
Posts: 1,981
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same here, not been knocked off but had a few close calls thanks to bike hating car drivers.
cant go wrong with a cg125, might be the most boring bike out there but by far one of, if not the, most reliable 125 there is.
old suzuki gs125/en125 is a good bet as well and can pick them up cheap.
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whoever said dogs were man's best friend....obviously never heard of cable ties
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I've started looking at Triumph Street Triples again... Damn you! Though my girlfriend approves at least!  |
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instead of a CG125 go for a RXS100
i have one as a winter hack
it will do 60 -65 depending on how much you weigh and sips fuel,the best one go for about 600 quid but most of them are around 400
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chevazon
Posted a lot
1939 Chevrolet 2 door coupe, `67 `Zon estate, `87 Ragtop Cavalier, 4 x 800 Drifters,(!) 1500 Drifter
Posts: 2,259
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Never rode a bike until I was 48 yrs and now I have 4 Kawasaki Drifters in various stages of development ! one of my favourite pics of one of the 800`s -  |
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crazymonkey
Posted a lot
ummm....what was I doing again???
Posts: 1,981
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yeah the 2 stroke 100s are fun bikes, haven't ridden my 1990 kh100 yet as its still a work in progress but cant wait. ;D
just cg125 is a great first bike if you've never ridden before. was the first geared bike I ever rode and was so forgiving lol
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whoever said dogs were man's best friend....obviously never heard of cable ties
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I'd give calling the DVLA a miss until you've spoken to a decent bike school. I can't remember if there's a way to check up on their pass rates and whatnot but I remember finding out AFTER I'd done mine that the school I was with were very highly rated. I'm a huge fan of smaller engined bikes. It's too easy to end up with 600cc middleweight semi-sports thing that does 130mph but is as dull as a Mondeo. If I was a new rider at the moment I'd have a Suzuki VanVan, awesome fun and brilliantly retro.  Without much modding you can end up with something looking a bit like a 60s Brit bike. |
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