Oops !!!!! That should gave been bigger vehicle. Trying to write on the phone. :)                                                                                                                                                                             

And where is MAG and the BMF etc?

The saviours of the biking world, because they stop things like this, because they represent the bikers .......... BOLLOCKS, they have never been able to do sweet FA, all talk and no action.

Which is only one reason why I never been a member or will be a member                                                                                                                                                                              

Well, those figures indicate that there's a 0.56% incident rate among 125 users & a 0.46% incident rate among 500 users in the test.   So it's not a huge difference & doesn't really support the argument that the speed requirements are unsuited to 125s. (I've ignored the moped figures, as 23 isn't a comparable figure of total tests taken, for percentage rates).   Expecting the same performance from a 125 as from a 500 still strikes me as plain silly though. It'd be like pitting my beloved Ka against... well... against anything really!  0-60 in... whenever it feels like it...   P.S. Keep me posted on the camp Shell                                                                                                                                                                              

Fem I did my test first on an instructors cruiser sorry don't know what it was as it was a replacement for what I should have ridden .. My tax disk fell off on the way so I had to change from the one I was on ... I did it no problem but had hit a blue cone so failed , 2nd time I was on a gladius 650 and managed to avoid any cones.

As Lou says ... It shows your just as likely to have an a accident on either bike, whats next ... Asking for different car tests cos you drve a mini not an insignia?

P's.. Lou will PM you and would like you to do a custom hair piece for me please :-)

I agree shadow - the one i'm going to join is going to be NABD.
If my leg wont work then I'm out looking for a trike - won't stop me riding no matter what anybody says or does. I'll still rmain with my beliefes - again, no matter what anybody else thinks.  My choice.                                                                                                                                                                             

I thought these organisations were trying to weren't they Shadow ?  and if they were trying to then surely they too thnk ints wrong - I doubt very much that it's just me.                                                                                                                                                                             

Yep gotta agree here what have MAG and the BMF actually ever managed to do for us the biker nowt it would seem,   This new test yet another way to be seen to be doing something to reduce the death's on the roads involving motorcyclist's,   Actually something which i believe and have for years anyone aplying for a provisional car licence should have to spend 12 months getting some knowledge on the road on a 50cc moped, then after the 12 months let them take a test to gain a full car licence or a full motorcycle licence if that's what they want, but as it stands the car test is still even with the 2 parter woefully inadequate, you only have to drive down any road in the country to realise that.   That's why (IMHO) the standard of driving is better in France, and why car drivers actually look in their mirrors before pulling into your path, because most car drivers in France have done their time on a moped as a youngster and have the intelligence to realise that on a bike your up their chuff and past in the time it takes them to twitch the steering wheel, so they wait till your've gone past, but not in this country it seems,   Most drivers on the roads in the UK, even if they bother to use their mirrors still pull into your path on dual carriageways with a flash of the winker, (if they bother at all) as they seem to think it gives them cart blanch to do exactly as they wish, and we can all stop on a sixpence....                                                                                                                                                                                 

Belated response, and... eh?   Completely lost here but it's all very interesting.  I did my test so long ago that I can't actually remember what was involved, other than I did it on a 125cc, and did some weaving between cones in a car park, and the emergency stop consisted of the examiner (who wasn't following me, he was stood about with a clip board) jumping out in front of me when I was out on the road.   I agree that having been a rider makes me a better driver, it makes me be much more aware of what's going on outside the car.  I would like everyone to have to have riding experience to pass a car test but it would be fair to legislate for it.  Then again, fairness doesn't seem to come into play for the bike licence, so why not.   I may be wrong on the facts but I think the gist of becoming a qualified biker is:-   Take a CBT test to be able to ride provisionally Take another test for a 125 at 17 (or can you ride it on the same provisional license)? Within 2 years of the CBT, take a test to get a full licence - this has to involve some manoevres at a speed greater than 50kmh You can now ride on a motorway Ride a 125 on a full licence for 2 years or to age 21 Take another test within 2 years or at 21 (not sure about this either) to ride something bigger than 125cc Take another test to ride something bigger than a 250cc   Whereas with a car Age 17, get a provisional license to drive a car e.g. Fiat 500, on the road immediately with no training or test Pass a theory test At the same time or within 2 years pass the practical test, one of the manoevres is an emergency stop but there is no speed at which you must be travelling legislated for (I accept that training is needed but there is also no stipulation re what training) Luck and money on your side, you can now drive a 6500cc Hummer on any road in the UK including the motorway, plus any size trike.   I also can't understand the 50kmh thing either.  If the test criteria is being at a speed greater than 50kmh, which is slightly over 30mph, why not just do that bit in a 40 or 50 mph zone, and also, if the EU speed limit is generally 50kmh, the you would be speeding over there too if you were doing greater than 50kmh in a 50 kmh limit for the same bit of the test.   I wouldn't even care, but my lad has a 50cc scooter, and he's 17 in July and wants a 125 then (or he did til we had that cold snap mid November, wuss).  I thought he could just do his full test, have a 250cc and ride on the motorways, but now I haven't got  clue.                                                                                                                                                                             

Fraid it may well depend on when he does his test 6yp ... If Europe gets it's way it will change again this year (I think)                                                                                                                                                                              

I think some of you are a little unfair to MAG & BMF ...i am a member of neither but worked in politics for a lot of years before i moved out here. Both groups have very effective lobbyists at westminster and with the EU. The peception that they do nowt is wrong, without them there would undoubtably be a lot more anti bike legislation. The problem for both groups is that they dont highlight their own sucesses. Maybe you should look back over the last 15 yrs or so and see some of the daft anti bike legisaltion they have prevented from becoming law by constantly working in the background. Maybe some of the MAG/BMF members would like to back me up on this???

Daft anti bike legislation that the government didn't seriously pursue. They "allow" MAG and BMF to fight it, hey surprise!!! the bike organisations won!!!

Result? an organisation that is tame and can be quoted as "consulting bike organisations" when they want to push legislation that they will put through. You have plonkers in the executive of MAG/BMF that think they can play with the big boy politicians, the politicians play them like fish on the line !!

BTW, its not just anti bike organisations, there's lots of other similar interest groups they do the same to                                                                                                                                                                             

Politicians play everyone SF, but they are just a mouthpiece...its civil servants that do the work ....working in the cesspit for 8 yrs is a real eyeopener. there are plenty of the "daft ideas" that the government do pursue and would have become law if it hadnt been for the likes of MAG/BMF and a lot of other groups who employ lobbyists. If you think the electorate wield any power whatsoever youre wrong...no one in westminster gives a fck what you or i think but they do listen to groups...lobbyists understand how the system works and how to work it and which civil servants wield the power...most legislation is formed behind closed doors in private meetings between civil servants and interested groups. the politicians are mostly just the front.                                                                                                                                                                              

Ok, read government rather than politician ........... I've worked in local government myself and that's just a training ground compared to the big boys in London.

I know full well the electorate don't wield any power, democracy, yeah right, until the elected MP's carry out the wishes of their electorate it isn't democracy, especially when they are told how they have to vote despite the wishes of that electorate.

I voted Tory at the last election, for what he offered on local issues, not national for the above reasons, at least the local issues may have a chance of getting addressed.

I still believe that interest groups are manipulated for the benefit of whatever government happens to be in at the time                                                                                                                                                                             

lucky you - i didnt get the opportunity to vote for anyone that might have any real power in westminster....just a shower of shite from both sides of the sectarian divide...as if i care about their historical grievances!   as my dad used to say ....never vote for anyone who thinks they are worthy of election!                                                                                                                                                                             

Glad I took my test on a 500cc Triumph Speed Twin without wearing a lid. It's just that now the working class has a few Bob and can afford to enjoy ourselves we actually chose bikes and thats freaked 'em out, because in the powers that be's eyes, they were only initially designed to be hobsons choice for the working classes.                                                                                                                                                                             

Stop telling porkies ...... if you are 52 and took your test without a helmet,  you would be 15, in 73 when the law came into force ............... you needed to be 17

Plus you would have had to take it on a 250

Pillock!!                                                                                                                                                                              

perhaps he lied about his age!