TASTER SESSION
For those of you out there who are a little nervous, want to see how much fun biking really is or are not sure if you want to spend out all your money on a bike yet, we now have "taster session".This is totally free and you can book yourself an hour of our time. We will get you riding in the safety of our off road training area.
We're so certain you'll like it and decide to book with us, that we will provisionally keep either a Direct Access or a Restricted Access training course open for you to complete !
The 3rd European Driving Licence Directive
The likely scenario for the UK will be :
- Age 16 CBT Provisional Moped, Theory and hazard perception test, Off road manouvres test, on road test. Full P licence.
- Age 17 CBT Provisional A1 motorcycle, Theory & hazard test. Off road test, on road test using 125cc bike. Full A1 licence. Restricted to 125cc 14 BHP for 2 years.
- Age 19 CBT Provisional A2 motorcycle, Theory & hazard test. Off road test, on road test using 33 BHP bike greater than 500cc. Full A2 licence. Restricted to 47 BHP for 2 years.
- Age 21 CBT Provisional A motorcycle, Theory & hazard test. Off road test, on road test using 47 BHP bike greater than 600cc. Full A licence.
- Unrestricted Direct Access will remain but at age 24 years.
It sounds complicated.... It is complicated.... Put more simply, suppose you are 17 years old and you want a bike licence.
- There's 3 steps, at 17, 19, 21 years old.
- Each step involves theory, off-road, and on-road tests.
- Each step must be taken on a bigger bike than you are currently allowed to ride, and practiced for under Instructor supervision.
A wicked but subtle change (buried in the small print) is the proposed minimum test vehicles. 500cc bikes don't exist (they're 496 or 498). We suspect simple ignorance is the reason why every "learner bike" in existence will be useless from 2011 at huge expense to the public / training industry.
A rather discriminatory effect is that the existing A2 route for learners is abolished. There will be no way for a smaller or disadvantaged person to get a full licence anymore. (2 years experience on a 33bhp to then upgrade utomatically). The disadvantaged will have to cope with 650cc (?) on test, like it or lump it. For even a new A2 it will be a 550cc (?) bike which will be rather big and heavy for small people in the new off road test.
It'll all get very expensive and difficult. It's forecast that the ultimate reduction in the number of new riders going through the new system will be as much as 60%. Yes, less than half as many as at present. Add the cost to Training Centres of dealing with the 2nd directive in 2008, only to have to re-equip for 2011 and less than half as many customers it's doubtfull that there will be many bike shops or training schools surviving anyway.
DVLA finally ends licence debacle
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) will now be returning original driving licences (with an invalidating hole punched through the photo) to motorcyclists who request a replacement licence. But not automatically. You have to request that your old licence is returned.
The new procedure has been introduced because a number of motorcyclists had been issued with replacement licences (after moving house or applying for a photo licence) that had ‘lost’ their motorcycle entitlement resulting in them having to retake their bike test simply because they were unable to prove they’d previously held entitlements.
In one case highlighted on the BBC’s Watchdog programme, a long-serving police motorcycle mechanic found that he’d had his entitlement for a category A motorcycle licence removed. Despite having held a licence for 28 years and written support from his police superiors, he still had to take a new driving test. The decision to return the defaced original licence follows months of lobbying by the BMF and others over the issuing of replacement driving licences to motorcyclists applying for a replacement licence due to change of address, loss, renewal etc, who have then found that their replacement licence has not included the all-important ‘Category A’ motorcycle entitlement.
Previously photocopies or other written evidence of entitlements were unacceptable to the DVLA, but the BMF’s solution, similar to passport renewal, provides proof of entitlement.
BMF Government Relations Executive, Chris Hodder said: “This is a practical and low-cost solution to a persistent problem and we are pleased that the DVLA has responded to our lobbying in such a positive way.”
The 2009 Motorcycle Test
The new motorcycle test
Following a recent meeting between the Minister Jim Fitzpatrick, DSA officials and motorcycle interest groups, DSA has announced that the introduction of the new motorcycle test will be deferred by six months to Monday 30 March 2009. This deferment will allow DSA to deliver a wider range of locations to offer the new test.
The new motorcycle test aims to improve the standard of road safety for motorcycle and moped riders.
The new test event will contain two elements. The higher speed exercises and other exercises will be tested on safe off-road sites and take about 10 minutes to complete. The accompanied on road element of the test will follow, consisting of a road ride covering a variety of road and traffic conditions and will also include normal stops, hill and angle starts. Candidates who have demonstrated riding skills of a dangerously incompetent level during the off-road part of the test will not be permitted to proceed to the on-road element.
These new exercises include:
- At least two exercises carried out at slow speed, including a slalom
- At least two exercises carried out at higher speed, of which one exercise should be in second or third gear, at a speed of at least 30 km/h (approx. 19 mph) and one exercise avoiding an obstacle at a minimum speed of 50 km/h (approx. 31 mph)
- At least two braking exercises, including an emergency brake at a minimum speed of 50 km/h (approx. 31 mph)
On the day of the test, candidates will be asked by the examiner to demonstrate their riding ability on either the left-hand or right-hand circuit. Please note that the standard off-road layout may change due to local conditions on the casual sites.
Click link below to see the standard layout of the left and right-hand circuits
MMA Dimensions
The practical moped riding test
The practical moped riding test (which does not include the high-speed requirements) will also be carried out from the new test centres, where both the obstacle avoidance and emergency braking exercises will be carried out at 30 km/h (approx. 19 mph). A test for the drivers of motorcycle and side car combination is also under development.
New Speed Limit Legislation
The govt are trying to introduce average speed cameras to impliment a new national speed limit
To campaign against this click on this link http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/No-to-Cameras/
Photo card driving licences expire
Thousands of road users risk being fined up to £1,000 because they are unwittingly riding or driving without a valid licence because they have failed to spot that their photocard licence automatically expires after ten years and has to be renewed. But most importantly for dealers, our advice is to make an additional check for any customers taking demonstration rides to ensure your customer’s licence is valid.
Drivers have to pay £17.50 to renew their card, which will earn the Treasury an estimated £437million over 25 years. The first batch of ten-year photo licences was issued in July 1998, and the confusion has come to light as they start to expire. DVLA figures reveal that while 16,136 expired this summer, so far only 11,566 road users have renewed, leaving 4,570 outstanding. With another 300,000 photocard licences due to expire over the coming year, the number of invalid licences could soar. A total of 25million have been issued. At the heart of the confusion is the small print on the credit card-size photo licence. Just below the holder’s name is a numbered series of dates and details. Number '4b' features a date in tiny writing but the significance is explained only if the holder turns over the card and reads the key on the back which states that '4b' means 'licence valid to'.
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New safety ratings for motorcycle helmets
New safety ratings for motorcycle helmets were published today by Road Safety Minister Jim Fitzpatrick.An extra 28 motorcycle helmets have been rated by SHARP - the Department for Transport’s Safety Helmet Assessment and Rating Programme – taking the total number of ratings published to 125.
“By providing the best safety information, reminding drivers of the importance of looking out for bikes and promoting further training and safe riding through the THINK! Motorcycle Academy I hope we can make the roads safer for motorcyclists and reduce the number of terrible tragedies we see each year.”
All helmets must meet minimum legal safety standards but the SHARP scheme uses a wider range of tests to provide riders with more information on how much protection a helmet can provide in a crash. The objective advice, which includes important guidance on how to select a good fitting helmet, will help riders to choose the safest helmet suitable for them. The SHARP tests - which award ratings of between one and five stars - showed that the safety performance of helmets can vary by as much as 70%. With helmets across a wide price range scoring highly all riders should be able to find a high performing helmet in a size and style that fits them and at a price they want to pay.
For more information about the SHARP programme, visit the SHARP website at http://www.direct.gov.uk/sharp.
- All final results of SHARP testing can be found at: http://www.direct.gov.uk/sharp.
- The SHARP tests and assessments are valid for all types of helmet and further results will be released on a rolling basis. Full face helmets represent the largest part of the market (approx. 80%), but ‘flip front’ style helmets are gaining in popularity and therefore, SHARP announced ratings for some of these helmets in November 2008 and 3 more are included with this latest release. Open face helmets will be considered later.
- Motorcyclists are one of our most vulnerable road user groups. In 2007, 24,381 motorcyclists were injured in accidents, with 588 being killed.
- Head injuries occur in 80% of all motorcyclist fatalities and in 70% of these the head injury is the most serious.
- Currently no comparative rating system is available on motorcycle helmets anywhere in the world.
- Helmets sold in the UK must meet the minimum standards of UN ECE Regulation 22.05 or comply with British Standard 6658:1985. SHARP assesses the extent to which helmets offer protection above these minimum requirements.
Public Enquiries: 020 7944 8300
Department for Transport Website: http://www.dft.gov.uk
MOTORCYCLES UNDER EU SCRUTINY -
NEW TYPE APPROVAL THREATENS POWER RESTRICTIONS
A new and potentially draconian EU type approval regulation framework, up until now only applying to cars and commercial vehicles, is being considered for motorcycles warn the British Motorcyclists Federation.
In its response to the curbing of power outputs to 74 KW (100bhp), the BMF points out that as France is the only member state who has implemented such a power limit and has not received a road safety benefit from it, its wider adoption is not justified. Supporting the BMF’s view, the UK Transport Research Laboratory’s own assessment is that there is no safety benefit in imposing power limits, a fact also borne out by the EU funded Motorcycle Accidents In Depth Study (MAIDS) of 2004.
On emission levels, the BMF says that while it sees no reason why emission limit values for motorcycles should not be equivalent to Euro 5 for cars, the plan to use different methods of measurement to those applying to cars will only cause confusion and make sensible comparisons unnecessarily difficult. In considering the mandatory fitting of Advanced Braking Systems (ABS) to all machines, the BMF says that while a strong supporter of improved rider safety, because there is no general agreement as to what constitutes an ABS system, the benefits of ABS, especially on lower cost motorcycles where the cost to users could be prohibitive, have not been proven. The industry is already rolling out suitable ABS on motorcycles say the BMF so making a particular system mandatory at this stage would be a retrograde step.
Proposed controls on modifications to motorcycles (anti-tampering measures) are an anathema to many motorcyclists say the BMF and while currently the existing legislation applies to smaller machines, proposals for restrictions on power outputs, engine control units, fuel systems etc., is a cause for legitimate concern that could well be rolled out to larger machines say the BMF.
Disqualified drivers face international ban
From today, UK drivers disqualified for serious motoring offences in Ireland will no longer escape punishment when they return home, under a new law. The ban also extends to Irish drivers disqualified while in the UK, who will find the ban enforced when they return to Ireland.
International action on disqualified drivers
The new law means that if you are banned from driving in the UK, you will be banned in Ireland, and vice versa.
The measures are the result of a deal agreed between British, Irish and Northern Ireland ministers.
The new law is the first practical step to recognise driving disqualifications in Europe under the terms of the 1998 European Convention on driving disqualifications.
Road Safety Minister Paul Clark said: "We’ve cut the number of deaths and serious injuries on our roads by 40 per cent since the mid-1990s – that’s more than 19,000 fewer deaths or serious injuries in a year. This means we now have some of the safest roads in the world.
"But we need to continue to work to make our roads even safer and if a UK driver commits a serious offence while in Ireland it is right that their ban should still apply when they return home.
"From today this new law will ensure that disqualified drivers are not able to escape their punishment and so keep dangerous drivers off the roads."
Find out more about driving disqualifications
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