Total Newbie

cyrusdvirus

Thinking of getting a bike for commuting to and from work, round trip of about 25 miles.

I've been driving a car for the last 13 years, full licence, passed test first time.

The only thing i have with 2 wheels is a mountain bike.

35 yrs old, any recommendations as to what to look at?

cantdecide

Start by doing a search back. Your question is a common one.

You have to worry about CBT (compulsory basic training). There will be much maligning of CBT but the way I'd look at handling it is this: get your Learner's Permit. Do the CBT on a school bike and take it from there. In other words, treat it as a challenge.

I did an equivalent of CBT before it was compulsory and it gave me very good grounding for passing the test. I did my "CBT", 1 pre-test lesson and I had my pink license when I was 7 months in so there's a lot to be said for it.

CBT from an official trainer will cost €500+

cyrusdvirus

cantdecide wrote: »

Start by doing a search back. Your question is a common one.

You have to worry about CBT (compulsory basic training). There will be much maligning of CBT but the way I'd look at handling it is this: get your Learner's Permit. Do the CBT on a school bike and take it from there.

I did an equivalent of CBT before it was compulsory and it gave me very good grounding for passing the test. I did my "CBT", 1 pre-test lesson and I had my pink license when I was 7 months in so there's a lot to be said for it.

I take it most schools would provide the safety gear for the initial training so?

Oh, and thanks for the answer!

cantdecide

gatecrash wrote: »

I take it most schools would provide the safety gear for the initial training so?

Oh, and thanks for the answer!

Any decent school will only require you to show up with a valid Learner's Permit. You will be given intruction verbally at first. You will soon get on the bike and you will be given instruction via an earpiece. It's a good system.

RosieJoe

From past experience and from previous threads, the only think you need to bring with you for training is a pair of boots. They can be work boots, hiking boots or bike boots.

Alkers

You can get CBT for around €300 if you get someone to do the lessons with you as the instructor can take two pupils at once.
After the CBT and theory test you'd be more familiar with what kinda bike you want to get. Insurance shouldn't be too bad at 35 as long as you don't get a sports bike.
Maybe something like a CB400 to start off on?

cantdecide

I started on a Bandit 600 and I was on the GSX1400 after about 5 months. The next bike was the Blackbird after 2 years on bikes. All were restricted. No winking smilies or nudge-nudging. In fact the GSX is still restricted 7 months after my restriction was up :rolleyes: Just haven't got around to de-restricting it.