Cycling transition to Scooter

[Smudge]

It's the exact reason young'uns aren't getting into bikes. Annual test passes went from thousands to about 500, and it's set to change again of course, after this - https://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/2018/november/2019-category-a-motorcycle-test-rules/

And this: https://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/2017/december/dvsa-bike-training-proposals/

Getting into bikes any younger than 24 is massively costly as the bike you buy at 17, is not the same one you need to be riding to do your 2 years on when you turn 19 + tests and modules etc etc etc

It changes so often now, i cant keep up with it..... I'm not even sure how many elements there are to getting a mc licence now.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

It changes so often now, i cant keep up with it..... I'm not even sure how many elements there are to getting a mc licence now.

It begins by removing ones trousers and bending over...

 

[Drago]

In the 45yrs i've been riding motorcycles, i've seen how getting a motorcycle licence has been made harder & harder. It all started in the early 80's when they cut the cc for learners down to 125 and made it a 2 part test. Since then its become an ever more complicated expensive process.
If i had my time again, i doubt i could be bothered with it.... In fact i think its one of the reasons a lot of young people aren't interested in motorcycles these days.

Do you remember in the 80's when the EU tried to impose a raft of senseless laws and regulations upon motorcyclists? Things got a bit sill when they tried to make leg protectors mandatory, even though the TRRL(ass it was then) had tested them and discovered their unpleasant tendency to tear riders in half at the hip during a collision. I can't remember the blokes name, but the senior unelected EU officer championing all this ridiculous stuff, turned out that his wife had an affair with a biker and he was out to screw bikes over as punishment. Peter Bottom(ly) MP had aligned himself with the bloke trying to get the laws through, and he ended up with a lot of egg on face when it came out that the whole programme was nothing to do with safety.

I can sympathise to some extent with the idea of a tiered licensing system for motorbikes since few new car drivers can afford to go out and buy (and insure) a sports car but many can afford a sports bike. Unfortunately, whoever comes up with such systems seems incapable of doing a halfway decent job.

At first glance this seems sensible, but looked at in greater depth there's little logic. Very few new cars indeed won't crack the ton, and most modern 1.0 eco hatches will haul past it. That's fast enough to be deadly in the high street, and duet o the greater mass they have far higher kinetic energy to impart to third parties, so looking properly at the problem properly the perceived wisdom of the public that faster vehicles are automatically more dangerous than slower ones is untrue. The correlation does not exist.

Many years ago in a town I was living in at the time some daft muppet lost control of his Porsche at 60 in a 30 zone, and crashed through the front wall of a restaurant. The media made a big deal out of the the "powerful sports car" etc, while ignoring the fact that my Mum's 1 litre Metro could comfortably manage 60, and if it were being misused in that manner would be even more likely to crash due to inferior handling and brakes.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Do you remember in the 80's when the EU tried to impose a raft of senseless laws and regulations upon motorcyclists? .

That's all the EU has ever done since it's inception. Dreaming up a load of mindless shite to keep unelected bureaucrats busy in nice cushy jobs administering all the pointless crap they think up whilst us taxpayers have to pay for them. Run by bureaucrats for bureaucrats. Hopefully the combination of Brexit plus stroppy Italians, Hungarians and Poles refusing to take any more of their shite will soon finish off the EU entirely!

 

[Levo-Lon]

I rode a scooter once.

Me too,skelly lambretta, with raised front end "the Devils bike"

As for the OP
Ive been a motorcycle rider for 30 yrs.
I would recommend something with bigger wheels as there more stable and a average pothole wont be as bad.
Also something that will match normal traffic speed is safer too.
I.e. If you cant go over 32mph on a 40mph road your going to be in the way so to speak and you take up more room on a scoot.
Go and try a scoot as there a marmite bike, hopefully you can legally try a decent sized one with a minimum 125cc engine.
As others have said ,your cycle road sense with good clothing and training will be a good start

 

[Levo-Lon]

That's all the EU has ever done since it's inception. Dreaming up a load of mindless shite to keep unelected bureaucrats busy in nice cushy jobs administering all the pointless crap they think up whilst us taxpayers have to pay for them. Run by bureaucrats for bureaucrats. Hopefully the combination of Brexit plus stroppy Italians, Hungarians and Poles refusing to take any more of their shite will soon finish off the EU entirely!

May i ask which way you voted @SkipdiverJohn your not wrong tho

 

[Smudge]

Do you remember in the 80's when the EU tried to impose a raft of senseless laws and regulations upon motorcyclists? Things got a bit sill when they tried to make leg protectors mandatory, even though the TRRL(ass it was then) had tested them and discovered their unpleasant tendency to tear riders in half at the hip during a collision. I can't remember the blokes name, but the senior unelected EU officer championing all this ridiculous stuff, turned out that his wife had an affair with a biker and he was out to screw bikes over as punishment. Peter Bottom(ly) MP had aligned himself with the bloke trying to get the laws through, and he ended up with a lot of egg on face when it came out that the whole programme was nothing to do with safety.



At first glance this seems sensible, but looked at in greater depth there's little logic. Very few new cars indeed won't crack the ton, and most modern 1.0 eco hatches will haul past it. That's fast enough to be deadly in the high street, and duet o the greater mass they have far higher kinetic energy to impart to third parties, so looking properly at the problem properly the perceived wisdom of the public that faster vehicles are automatically more dangerous than slower ones is untrue. The correlation does not exist.

Many years ago in a town I was living in at the time some daft muppet lost control of his Porsche at 60 in a 30 zone, and crashed through the front wall of a restaurant. The media made a big deal out of the the "powerful sports car" etc, while ignoring the fact that my Mum's 1 litre Metro could comfortably manage 60, and if it were being misused in that manner would be even more likely to crash due to inferior handling and brakes.

Yes, i remember the leg protectors debacle. I also remember talk of introducing max 100 bhp limits and compulsory hi-viz clothing. Then there was talk of bringing in type approval, where you couldn't change any part of your bike apart from consumables.
MAG highlighted and campaigned against all these stupid proposals.

 

[Drago]

Indeed, MAG did a stellar job at the time, while all the BMF did was whittle and wring their hands.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Indeed, MAG did a stellar job at the time, while all the BMF did was whittle and wring their hands.

Now defunct IIRC (MAG)

 

[mjr]

That's all the EU has ever done since it's inception. Dreaming up a load of mindless shite to keep unelected bureaucrats busy in nice cushy jobs administering all the pointless crap they think up whilst us taxpayers have to pay for them. Run by bureaucrats for bureaucrats. Hopefully the combination of Brexit plus stroppy Italians, Hungarians and Poles refusing to take any more of their shite will soon finish off the EU entirely!

Freedom to live and work elsewhere, mindless shite. End of banks gouging you every time you cross borders, mindless shite. End of telcos screwing you every holiday, mindless shite...

And just wait until you see the amount of bureaucracy importers are going to have to pay for if we leave the EU - which you will have to pay them for.

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5hWQ0T10v6Y

 

[mjr]

Yes, i remember the leg protectors debacle. I also remember talk of introducing max 100 bhp limits and compulsory hi-viz clothing. Then there was talk of bringing in type approval, where you couldn't change any part of your bike apart from consumables.
MAG highlighted and campaigned against all these stupid proposals.

100bhp was a French proposal, not EU, according to http://motorcycleminds.org/2016/12/12/thank-you-european-union/

Most things the EU is accused of are BS not EU.

 

[Brads]

This is a scooter.

 

[kingrollo]

This is a scooter.

View attachment 441403

That is totally awesome

 

[irw]

Going back to the OP, I found that when I did my CBT, then three months later, full test, and a year after that advanced riders certificate, I tend to now apply a lot of what they taught on those various course to my cycling, so for me it was a two-way process.

My reason for getting a motorcycle was that I got a new job in a small market town (Oakham), but wanted to live in a reasonably sized city (Leicester), and at that point neither of us had driving licenses or indeed a car. The distance was 20 miles, and a colleague in the job I was leaving suggested one of these:

(Stock image from google! I wish I lived somewhere with palm trees!)

I passed my CBT, and bought a 125cc version, then as soon as I passed my full bike test upgraded to a 250, which is plenty for me, and having three wheels on the ground was an added bonus for riding along country lanes in all weathers. The fact that the clever suspension in the front end makes it handle just like any other bike means I can quite easily jump on a two-wheeler if I want to.

After we moved up to Liverpool and I got a job in the city centre, it was also great for nipping down Edge Lane through all the traffic! I've recently gone freelance again, and hence now will end up working around the country, so rather disappointingly it, along with all the other bikes, won't be getting much use for the time being

 

[NightCruiser]

I wish I lived somewhere with palm trees!

You can have that - in Florida the Sunshine State! For example, in Sarasota, Gainesville, Naples, St. Petersburg, or Punta Gorda.
There are plenty of opportunities to do business here.