Clarification - bike tests

[Mad Dave]

Ive just been into my local bike dealer and got a rundown of costs for tests etc.

To ride my 600cc Bandit i need to:

1)Do my Theory - approx. £30

2)Do my DAS - £595. This includes bike hire etc and encompasses a 5 day course -

Day 1 = CBT
Day 2 = Training on a 125cc
Day 3 = Training on a 500cc or 600cc
Day 4 = Training on a 500/600cc
Day 5 = Mornings training on 500/600cc plus test at midday

Then i can ride my Bandit

HTH

[Dick Dastardly]

That's the exact cost and timescale mine was. Once you've passed then you're off

[Mad Dave]

I cannae wait

The moment the MR2 sells ill be on the phone to the test people (thats where im getting the money from!)

[Dick Dastardly]

Dave, that IS NOT how you do it!

What you do see is keep your beloved car and take out a 5 grand loan like I did. You buy yourself a bike, full gear and take your test with the handsome chunk of money.

You then ride around for a few months before you sell the bike as you realise you can't afford it and keep all your leathers, helmet and other gear in a cupboard in your spare room. You then continue to pay £70 a month off the loan for the next 5 years even though the original £5k has now all been pi$$ed away or is sitting around gathering dust

oh what a fool I am!

[Mad Dave]

LOL!

Well ive already bought this beauty;



so all i need is kit, license and insurance.

[Davel]

Dave

Why not do what I did and take the Direct Access on your own bike?

You get to know your bike from the start and whilst you are doing so, the instructor is close enough to advise you how to improve your riding.

Or is the Bandit not a suitable bike for this?

[Mad Dave]

They suggested this is the bike dealers, but how on earth do i insure a Bandit 600 without a license?! Im not sure it would work - if it did, it would save me £90!

[fergus]

insure a lower powered bike and have the isurance company insure you to ride other bikes. This theory falls down on two counts though...

1) the other bike must not be registered to you
2) the other bike must have it's own insurance

I'll go back to sleep now I think.

[Tim2100]

Just do the course on their bikes, If you F#@k up on things like turn in the road, it is their bike. Not your pride and joy you have jsut dropped!!. You will have plenty of time to learn your Bandit, plus the school bikes will be fairly similar to ride to yours.

Tim.

[Mad Dave]

Yeah - they use GS500's anyway and ive ridden my friends one of those and theyre pretty similar. The GS is really easy to ride.

[d3ano]

eh... i thought you wasn't allowed to buy a bike over a 125cc if you didn't have a licence. Or does this apply to new showroom bikes only?

[t-c]

d3ano said:

eh... i thought you wasn't allowed to buy a bike over a 125cc if you didn't have a licence. Or does this apply to new showroom bikes only?

You can buy whatever bike you like, you simply can't ride it until you have the appropriate licence unless you are on a DAS course under qualified supervision.

Some insurers will cover a bike to be ridden whilst training, and will give 30 days before validation is required to allow time for the test to be passed.

One of the advantages of doing DAS on your own bike is that it gives you the opportunity to develop familiarity with the bike you intend to ride, the downside is if you drop it you end up with a repair bill!