Want to learn to ride but not sure what to do

lomb

I have a UK car license and am entitled to apply for either an Irish bike or UK bike licence, I dont want to lose my UK licence particularly so could apply for a seperate Irish bike license legally.
I live in Dublin currently.
If I got a UK bike license how long would it take me to learn enough to pass a UK test? I could take an intensive set of lessons in the North with their bikes and pop up for the day to do a test.
Ive never ridden a bike except a scooter before but can ride a pedal cycle obviously.
One of the reasons is the IBT is cheaper and also I wish to have a derestricted power license by doing an additional course whereas I would be waiting 2 years here.Thanks.

lomb

Been reading, its much simpler in the UK. Apparantly im entitled to ride provisionally there just on my car license. Passing the CBT and a theory test entitles me to apply for the bike test (obviously after a few weeks of intensive lessons up there and if I pass that on a high powered motorcycle the license is unrestricted. Newry here i come, anyone know a good school there with bikes for hire preferably open weekends but not essential:D

Del2005

lomb wrote: »

Been reading, its much simpler in the UK. Apparantly im entitled to ride provisionally there just on my car license. Passing the CBT and a theory test entitles me to apply for the bike test (obviously after a few weeks of intensive lessons up there and if I pass that on a high powered motorcycle the license is unrestricted. Newry here i come, anyone know a good school there with bikes for hire preferably open weekends but not essential:D

There's no Direct Access in Norn Iorn. You need to go to England, Scotland or Wales for DA.

The UK bike test changed over a year ago and it's now done it 2 parts. 1st part is off road and can only be done in ~70 centres, 2nd part is road based.

No idea on schools but check to see if any are based near airports.

lomb

Del2005 wrote: »

There's no Direct Access in Norn Iorn. You need to go to England, Scotland or Wales for DA.

The UK bike test changed over a year ago and it's now done it 2 parts. 1st part is off road and can only be done in ~70 centres, 2nd part is road based.

No idea on schools but check to see if any are based near airports.

Doh! so should i do the basics in NI , get my basic restricted license then do a direct access course this summer say in the UK? I have a GB license not NI.
What would i be restricted to if I didnt pass would it be the same KW /weight restriction as in Ireland

Edit: after looking at it the best path seems to be the CBT, theory test, some lessons on a 125 in the North followed by a direct access scheme over in Wales near the ferry terminal and pass the 2 tests in Holyhead possibly?

Del2005

lomb wrote: »

Edit: after looking at it the best path seems to be the CBT, theory test, some lessons on a 125 in the North followed by a direct access scheme over in Wales near the ferry terminal and pass the 2 tests in Holyhead possibly?

Try and do it all in Wales, not too sure how they'd handle a NI licence when the money isn't accepted:D

lomb

Del2005 wrote: »

Try and do it all in Wales, not too sure how they'd handle a NI licence when the money isn't accepted:D

The north is easier to get to for me. Would a ni Cbt not be valid in Wales ? I once did a theory test in ni for a car and was valid for practical car test in Wales .

O

Del2005

No idea TBH. But they are different licencing authorities and I don't know when the North stopped DA.

MrPudding

lomb wrote: »

The north is easier to get to for me. Would a ni Cbt not be valid in Wales ? I once did a theory test in ni for a car and was valid for practical car test in Wales .

O

The North might be easier but it is kind of a waste of time. The CBT might be valid, I don't actually know, but there are easier and faster ways of doing the whole thing.

Del2005 wrote: »

No idea TBH. But they are different licencing authorities and I don't know when the North stopped DA.

I am not sure they ever did recognise DA. I did my DA in England and when I spoke to DVLNI about getting bike put on my licence they told me I would have to sit the test in NI and go through the restriction period... no good I am sure you will agree. In the end I sent my NI licence off with my pass certificate and got a new UK licence.

To the OP. I would recommend you do the whole thing in the same place. I think it is still possible to go from start to finish in one week, with you CBT on the first day and your test on the last. I think you will need a UK address though... DO you have one you can use? When you pass you will have to send you NI licence off to Swansea with your pass cert. They will want a UK address to send it back to.

I could not recommend the guys I trained with enough. They also trained my other half and a couple of mates form work. They are based in Milton Keynes, which is fairly close to Luton airport.

http://www.horizonridertraining.co.uk/site/index.php

When I bought my other half her DA course as a Christmas present it was £600 with a guaranteed pass. Normally it would be CBT, maybe 4 hours on a 125 and then 16 hours on a 500 and then the test. If you failed additional training was free, but you had to pay for the test fee. They got me, my other half and the guys form work through first time.

MrP

lomb

I have a Welsh license and yes an address also. I dont have a week to waste tbh. Im going to go for the ni option for cbt and theory test as well as some lessons and then pop over to Wales for the rest . Thanks for the help all.