Not often you get something for nothing in life, but there is some useful information given on this page. Whether it be information on buying a bike, or an incident that one of our instructors has seen or been involved with, it is here to see and all for free.
For anything related to bike training, we are always available to help. The DSA website has most of the information you would need to know. We have the motorcycle and moped Training page section of this site dedicated to giving as much information as possible about the lesson structures and what lies ahead should you choose to follow the 8 thousand riders who have passed their tests with us over the years.
- Is it worth buying your own bike prior to training?
- For most people the answer is no. Why burden yourself with a bike you will need to tax and insure (perhaps MOT as well), solely to get you through the test and then have to sell later. For those buying a bike with the intention of getting riding experience on their own and meaning to keep the bike for use after test, then yes, the option is viable. The only person who can say for sure is yourself.
- What should you look for when buying a bike?
- Let's get a few obvious things out of the way first. All bikes are potentially open to abuse. Not least the likelihood that a bike could have been dropped either whilst being ridden, or just falling off the stand. Depending on the type of bike and the incident it can drastically affect the costs to repair a bike. Plastic fairings are notoriously expensive to replace. There are plastic weld facilities that are able to do a structural repair to plastics, but cosmetically the finish can be less than perfect. Add in the sometimes astronomical costs of fairing decals (often running into hundreds of pounds), and the cost of bringing a bike back to perfect can be high indeed. Worn bearings in headstock, swingarm and wheels are not necessarily expensive in component costs, but paying someone to fit them (including time to strip the bike down and put it back together) can again massively increase the outlay.
- More obvious things to look for are the condition of chain, sprockets and tyres. These are always classed as consumables. But should you buy a bike with all of these worn to the point of needing replacement, the costs can weigh in heavy. More so on a larger bike where chain and sprockets could break the 150 pounds mark, tyres up to and beyond 100-150 per tyre, and pads at a cost of around 15-40 pounds per caliper (most bikes having 3 calipers). Suddenly the bargain you just picked up isn't such a bargain.
- The safest way to buy a bike is to take someone with you who knows about bikes. Don't buy a bike without riding it, and always remember that an MOT certificate does not mean the bike is perfect. It only proves the bike was roadworthy at the time the bike was submitted for test. It is not unheard of for people to swap parts between bikes for the MOT and swap them back afterwards.
- This next statement is an unashamed plug for our maintenance course. You could consider taking the course before you buy a bike (normally you would use your own bike to work on). It will tell you more in a practical manner than the result of any chat with your mates will ever convey. It could also save you a lot of money in the long term.
- For scooter/moped riders, the costs involved in buying can be even more difficult than a motorcycle. This is especially true for the younger riders. Second hand values of scooters can be devastating dependent on a number of outside influences. Bear in mind that the moment somebody buys a brand new bike/scooter, they immediately lose almost a 5th of the value due to the tax cost involved in purchasing the machine.
- In recent years many of the scooter manufacturers have given insurance incentives to the new buyer regardless of age. These have ranged from insurance at a cost of £99 pounds for the year, to totally free insurance, although always find out what the Excess is on these deals! For new riders, it is also worth considering the high premium they may well be paying after the subsidised 12 months are up.
- Consider the cost of a brand new scooter at around £1400, with free insurance thrown in. To a young rider who may be looking at a £500/600 insurance policy, then a brand new scooter can make sense. But the impact on the resale value is devastating. Would you pay big money to buy a second hand bike when you can buy a brand new one for less than many owners will want for their machine.