Advice / general question

[Ken]

Hi guys and girls,

I joined welshbikers a while back and have been 'lurking' on this forum.

As this is my first post I am going to introduce myself. My name is Ken and I am from Caerphilly and currently I only have my CBT. Hopefully this will change soon.

Here is my questions / dilemma.

Currently I am riding a 125cc as permitted by the CBT but I am extremely tempted by the offer Suzuki has got on at the moment.

For those of you unaware its 0% APR on a new bike with only £1 deposit required.

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As part of the deal they offer a service which they offer a free restriction of the bike of choice.

The bike I was looking at getting was the. VS650S - a decision purely based on price and looks.

Here comes the questions;

General:


- First of all has anyone had any experience on one of these bikes and are they a good first bike to have by a 'newbie'?

- When it comes to insurance is it a hassle because the bike is restricted?

- When doing the DAS tests will it be an issue the fact I want to use my own bike?

- Are the bikes easy to get unrestricted? And if so at what costs (explain later on)

Technical:

- How are the bikes restricted? Would I feel much of a difference going from a 125cc going to a 650cc bike restricted to 125cc?

Legal:

As I understand it (could be wrong) you are able to do your DAS using a 125cc but then you're restricted to using a 125cc for 2 years. I would like to perform my DSA tests on a bike with 500cc+ engine and therefore giving me an unrestricted licence and fully able to drive the bike I am thinking of purchasing. 

- How does having a restricted bike affect the insurance because would need to be unrestricted for the DSA tests.

- What are the consequences of riding a bike to / from a DSA test unrestricted?

The reason I am thinking of going down this route is because it will give me time to become comfortable on a higher cc bike (weight, turning etc) and allow me to practice on the bike as much as I want before the DSA tests and thus hopefully passing quicker.

I understand I have asked a lot of questions; and I appreciate all the replies / advice / comments. 

Thanks

Ken

P.s.

I apologise if I posted in wrong section of the forum.

[snoopy]

The bikes probably a good offer

You won't be able to use your own bike as you won't be able to insure it if you don't have a full license..

And I think (I may be wrong), that you have to use the training school bikes as they are insured to train on for learners,
You can't ride it restricted or otherwise on L plates, you can only ride a larger bike under the supervision of an instructor ..

What ever you decide .. Good luck 

[pricey]

sent PM to you

[yoyo]

Welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of biking!!

Nothing wrong with the SV650 as a first big bike, Mrs Redbull has a restricted one and they seem to take to restricting well.

When the bike is restricted it's restricted to 33hp, either done mechanically by placing bits in the engine of electronically via the ECU. your 125 is around 14hp so the SV will be quite a lot more powerful.

As Snoopy says you won't get it insured until you have a full licence, if you are buying from a dealer they will keep it for you until you ready.

If you want to ride the bike as a full power none resricted bike you need to do a DAS course if you are happy to have a resricted bike then do your test on your bike. The cost of the test is the same but there is extra costs of hiring a bike for the DAS.

Lots to think about!!

[Foody]

Hi Ken,  The cbt only allows you to ride up to a 125cc.  To ride anything bigger (restricted or not) you need to take your tests.  If you take your test on your own bike you will get a restricted licence, which allows you to ride any bike, so long as it is restricted to 33bhp.

So the cbt is dependent on the cc of the bike and the restricted licence is dependent on the power out put, regardless of the cc.  For a 500 or a 600 to be restricted you probably wont notice a great deal of difference.  It just takes the oomph out of the acceleration.

The cheapest way to get your licence is to do the tests on your own bike.  If you want to ride anything bigger than a 125 then it is a legal requirement that you have a DSA approved instructor, in radio contact, whilst training on the road.

To do it on your own 125 bike, you don't need to go to a training school (although it might be a good idea to have a day getting some guidance on the manoeuvres needed for the Mod 1 test). You can book the tests yourself and go when you are ready.

Also, you can go to the test centre and watch a Mod 1 taking place, and this is useful so you know what to expect.  Get as much practice as you can on the slow clutch control, figure 8 etc as the majority of the Mod 1 test hinges on this.

If you go for the restricted licence option, the garage that fits the restrictor to the bike will give you a certificate of restriction which you will need to provide to your insurance company, and you will also need to produce it to the police if you are stopped.

The methods of restricting a bike vary from bike to bike but I understand may be around the £100 mark.

Get as much practice as you can on your 125 as this will count massively in your favour when you decide on a test, or for the step up to the big bike.

I hope this makes some sense. 

(This is my fourth attempt at posting this reply - the first three just disappeared)

[Ken]

Hi all,

First of all thank you for taking the time to read / replies.

That helped a lot it looks like what I was planning on doing is not possible. I thought when they restricted a bike it was to the equivalent your licence could hold not to a set BHP.

When i was typing the question i thought i was asking for the moon on a stick.

I will just have to go through a motorbike training company then to spend a few days on a 'big bike' to get use to the weight etc.

My goal is to have successfully passed the DAS before October.

Once again thanks for replies

Ken