Motorbike/ moped in the 1990s

[Becky writer]

Hi,

I need some help - I am writing a book and the main character is 16/17 in the mid 1990s.
I need to know:
- what kind of bike he would have been able to ride
- whether it changed from age 16 to 17
- what kind of license he would have needed to ride it
- what kind of test/ instruction he would have needed
- what process he would need to go through to get his licence.

Can anyone help? I posted some similar questions about the 1970s a couple of months ago, but I have moved the setting and need to update the advice. Last time everyone was brilliant at sharing their experiences and knowledge, so am hoping you will be able to help me again!

Thanks in advance.

Becky

[J4CKO]

Probably a Honda Camino or Vision for a Moped, or some kind of 125 motorbike, might be better asking this in the "Biker Banter" section.

[Becky writer]

Thank you, I will post it there too.

[crofty1984]

What's the character like and what's his budget? sensible/sporty/cheap/cruiser? And is he 16 or 17 because that defines whether he's on a 50 or 125cc. I was riding at that age in 2000/2001 so this is very much my jam!

[crofty1984]

I need some help - I am writing a book and the main character is 16/17 in the mid 1990s.
I need to know:

- what kind of bike he would have been able to ride
at 16 - a moped. 50cc, twist n go, restricted to 28mph (I think)
at 17 - a proper 125cc motorbike. Gears, 15bhp max
Both were on L plates, and you couldn't take a passenger (but see below)
I'll get you a list of actual models.

Of course, it was possible to derestrict and tune up the above, you'd get about 40mph out of your moped, and legends told of things like TZR125 and NSR125 2-strokes being good for 40bhp and 100mph plus but we obviously didn't do that officer, because that's illegal.

- whether it changed from age 16 to 17
it did indeed, see above. maybe a plot point?

- what kind of license he would have needed to ride it
Given the age of 16/17 he'd need to do a CBT - Compulsory Basic Training which was a day's course. Half a day on theory and half a day out on the road with an instructor. It's almost impossible to fail, but if you ride into the back of the instructors bike and knock it over like my friend Leanne did, you're invited to come back and try another day.

As an older 17 year old, he may have done his full bike test. CBT first. Then like a car. Theory, couple of hours out with an instructor. pass/fail. That would mean he could ride his 125 with no L plates and take a passenger or a normal bike restricted for 2 years to 33bhp. Again, the restrictor washers in the exhaust NEVER fell out.

- what kind of test/ instruction he would have needed As above

- what process he would need to go through to get his licence. As above. Most likely at that age, CBT only. But he may have done CBT - ridden round on 125 for 6 months, then bought something like a 400-600cc restricted to 33bhp. After the 2 years he can ride anything he wants.

[trickywoo]

I was at 6th form college in end 1991 to summer 1993. The other kids would have been 17 turning 18. The cool guys had race rep 400s and they used to race around the college block. Others had race rep 125s. Another kid had a zzr600.

I gave one of my mates a good ribbing because he had a Honda mini melody.

Edited by trickywoo on Wednesday 19th November 15:04

[Alex9]

For me what the character rides will also depend on the kind of person they are, and what their parents are like too, are you able/willing to tell us more about that?

For example when I was around that age, I needed a vehicle to get about more easily as we lived a few miles from the centre of the village, and school was in a city 12 miles away. My parents didn't want me on something with small wheels so bought me a 50cc motorbike. Lots of kids in the city were riding mopeds though, in various states of tune.

I really enjoyed going for rides without a purpose and even going on trails as my bike was a bit off-roady. Other kids just saw their wheels as pure transport from A to B.

I won't speak about what was legal for me to ride as this was in France, so the rules were different.

[GameOverMan!]

I was 16 in 1989 and following the completion of the CBT, my learner license allowed me to ride a 50cc 'moped' which had a max speed of 30mph on 'L' plates. My steed of choice was a new Kawasaki AR50 which had a 49cc engine and was restricted to 30 mph by the manufacturer.

At 17yrs of age you were legally allowed to ride a 125cc motorbike on the same learner license, again with 'L' plates but for a maximum period of 2 years. After this time you had to re-apply for the learner license (and possibly re-do your CBT) or pass your full bike test before the 2 year deadline. Once you passed your bike test you could ride any capacity of bike without power restrictions. I passed my full test in 1991.

As soon as I turned 17 I jumped to a 125cc motorbike as the AR50 was so slow, even with a bit of tweaking. I had a few including NS125, TZR125 and KDX125 - all with various performance parts and a bit of DIY tuning. They were really good fun at the time and I learnt a lot from working on them.

Edited by GameOverMan! on Wednesday 19th November 15:09

[srob]

I was 16 in 1996. I did my CBT (compulsory basic training) on a Honda MT50 which was a 'geared' (ie had a clutch and selectable gears, not automatic) 50cc offroad looking bike. I hired it from the riding school. We did the first bit of basic training on a gokart track in Norfolk, then had a follow the leader ride for an hour or so. It was snowing so it was cut short! The auto training would've been on a Honda Vision.

If he was 17 he could've done the CBT and ridden a 125cc bike having done the same CBT, but restricted to 12bhp from memory. If he was 16 and did the CBT he'd be allowed to ride a 125cc as soon as he turned 17. Typically riding schools used Honda CG125s for their training bikes I believe.

50cc bike wise, people were still using "Fizzies" which was the Yamaha FS1-E. I had one, so did one of my mates, both heavily modified and derestricted so they'd do more than 30mph. Others had Honda MT50s, Suzuki TS50s and Yamaha DT50s. One lad had a Derbi Senda which was very new and la-de-dah in 1996. Nobody really wanted a scooter and nobody could afford an Aprilia RS50 or Cagiva Mito/Prima 50 which were the dream.

Dream 125cc bikes were the Aprilia RS125, Cagiva Mito, Suzuki RG125 and Yamaha TZR125. Honda's NSR125 was getting a bit out of date looking by then.

[crofty1984]

srob said:

Dream 125cc bikes were the Aprilia RS125, Cagiva Mito, Suzuki RG125 and Yamaha TZR125. Honda's NSR125 was getting a bit out of date looking by then.

Oh man, I forgot the Cagiva Mito!

[srob]

crofty1984 said:

srob said:

Dream 125cc bikes were the Aprilia RS125, Cagiva Mito, Suzuki RG125 and Yamaha TZR125. Honda's NSR125 was getting a bit out of date looking by then.

Oh man, I forgot the Cagiva Mito!

They were mythical

[A500leroy]

1997 dream scooter was the Peugeot speedfight.

[crofty1984]

A500leroy said:

1997 dream scooter was the Peugeot speedfight.

It had a security chain built-in!

[trickywoo]

crofty1984 said:

Oh man, I forgot the Cagiva Mito!

The Mito in Tamburini form didn’t come to the uk until 1995.

[Miserablegit]

Cagiva Mito was my dream bike at that age but way out of my price range.

[shirt]

Alex9 said:

For me what the character rides will also depend on the kind of person they are, and what their parents are like too, are you able/willing to tell us more about that?

this really. rural or urban setting makes a big difference

srob said:

I was 16 in 1996. I did my CBT (compulsory basic training) on a Honda MT50 which was a 'geared' (ie had a clutch and selectable gears, not automatic) 50cc offroad looking bike. I hired it from the riding school. We did the first bit of basic training on a gokart track in Norfolk, then had a follow the leader ride for an hour or so. It was snowing so it was cut short! The auto training would've been on a Honda Vision.

If he was 17 he could've done the CBT and ridden a 125cc bike having done the same CBT, but restricted to 12bhp from memory. If he was 16 and did the CBT he'd be allowed to ride a 125cc as soon as he turned 17. Typically riding schools used Honda CG125s for their training bikes I believe.

50cc bike wise, people were still using "Fizzies" which was the Yamaha FS1-E. I had one, so did one of my mates, both heavily modified and derestricted so they'd do more than 30mph. Others had Honda MT50s, Suzuki TS50s and Yamaha DT50s. One lad had a Derbi Senda which was very new and la-de-dah in 1996. Nobody really wanted a scooter and nobody could afford an Aprilia RS50 or Cagiva Mito/Prima 50 which were the dream.

Dream 125cc bikes were the Aprilia RS125, Cagiva Mito, Suzuki RG125 and Yamaha TZR125. Honda's NSR125 was getting a bit out of date looking by then.

i grew up in the yorkshire countryside and i am the same age [born 1980]. agree with this, but also unless you were a farmer's kid [i.e. rich and spoiled] then no dirt bike for you and bikes in general were very frowned upon by all our parents. some kids would have a 50cc scooter which we termed a plaggy 50 [plastic 50] and was just about acceptable, but an actual fairing-less moped or something like a c50/70/90 would bring ridicule.

generally it was very rare for anyone to have a bike licence or even a provisional. whereas pretty much everyone i knew at school had their car licence at 17 and first car at 18. the cost of buying and running an mk2/3 1.1 pop plus wasn't much more than 2 wheels, there was no real driver to warrant a bike for such a short period, push bike was fine for getting about the back lanes and farm tracks.

i'd imagine it would be different in a city, parking and insurance etc.meaning a car wouldn't be as easy and a much larger market to buy from.

[Becky writer]

Wow you guys are the best! Thank you this is amazing.

A little bit about the character. He lives in a village and wants transport to get him to school and into the nearest town so he can get a part time job, socialise etc. I'd say he's a middle class background, not wealthy or spoiled at all though. You've all been really helpful but for the ones who asked about the character, is there anything you want to add?

Becky

[Becky writer]

srob said:

I was 16 in 1996. I did my CBT (compulsory basic training) on a Honda MT50 which was a 'geared' (ie had a clutch and selectable gears, not automatic) 50cc offroad looking bike. I hired it from the riding school. We did the first bit of basic training on a gokart track in Norfolk, then had a follow the leader ride for an hour or so. It was snowing so it was cut short! The auto training would've been on a Honda Vision.

If he was 17 he could've done the CBT and ridden a 125cc bike having done the same CBT, but restricted to 12bhp from memory. If he was 16 and did the CBT he'd be allowed to ride a 125cc as soon as he turned 17. Typically riding schools used Honda CG125s for their training bikes I believe.

50cc bike wise, people were still using "Fizzies" which was the Yamaha FS1-E. I had one, so did one of my mates, both heavily modified and derestricted so they'd do more than 30mph. Others had Honda MT50s, Suzuki TS50s and Yamaha DT50s. One lad had a Derbi Senda which was very new and la-de-dah in 1996. Nobody really wanted a scooter and nobody could afford an Aprilia RS50 or Cagiva Mito/Prima 50 which were the dream.

Dream 125cc bikes were the Aprilia RS125, Cagiva Mito, Suzuki RG125 and Yamaha TZR125. Honda's NSR125 was getting a bit out of date looking by then.

You are the same age as my character, this is so useful, thank you.

[Alex9]

Becky writer said:

Wow you guys are the best! Thank you this is amazing.

A little bit about the character. He lives in a village and wants transport to get him to school and into the nearest town so he can get a part time job, socialise etc. I'd say he's a middle class background, not wealthy or spoiled at all though. You've all been really helpful but for the ones who asked about the character, is there anything you want to add?

Becky

How much does image matter to him? Back when I was that age there were some bikes which would have been perfect for the job, but that I wouldn't be seen dead on Does he do his own thing, or want to fit in with the crowd?

[NITO]

Legends would have ridden a derestricted Aprilia AF1 50 Replica, good for 77mph at 16, and have graduated to an Aprilia RS125 Extrema at 17, good for 130mph indicated!!