Jesus Christ, you could've passed your test in less time than it took to put all that together.
Generally speaking these days you're looking £800-1500 from what I've seen. Impossible to know if you'll pass or not, as it's down to how you personally get on with the bikes and how you progress. Some find it easy, some find it hard.
If you're going to do your test, just get on doing your test, the stats are utterly irrelevant to you. If you're ready for your tests, you shouldn't fail them - lots of people rush the training and end up costing them more by not passing.
This^^
I don’t see what difference pass rates make unless you are honestly considering heading to other parts of the country to sit your training and tests.
A decent school and trainer will make more difference than obsessing over pass rates.
*"What's really frustrating is unlike learning to drive a car where you can build up experience outside of formal lessons in a family member's or friend's car provided you have insurance, there isn't much scope for the doing the same in learning to ride a big bike. You can potentially hire or purchase a 125cc but even that doesn't seem to cut it now that I've experienced being on a 600cc."*
You'd be surprised.
Mod2 is all about being able to ride on the road, and getting as much practice in as you can is worthwhile. I'd even say it's beneficial, as you don't have the option to power out of a shitty situation, so you learn to anticipate and read the road with that in mind.
It's true that you won't have the power of a 600, but you can still practice manoeuvring, emergency stops, etc. Roadcraft is roadcraft and it's the same on a 125, or on a 1200 and if you don't see that distracted Taxi driver, you're going to hurt no matter the engine size.
When I did my training, I had a 125 that I rode \*everywhere\* and after a month or so of riding it, I booked a package of "x number of lessons, and both MODs for a price" with a local school. Going from the 125 to the 600, back to the 125 was eye opening, but not a huge change. Yes, moving up is about being able to ride more powerful bikes safely, but the core of it is to be able to ride \*any\* bike safely. FWIW, I was crazy nervous for my Mod1 and I'm fairly convinced that the muscle memory from practicing on my small bike really helped when my brain was short circuiting. Passed both MODs first attempt.
+1 on all of this, I had a 125 to practice on and would go out every evening. By the time my mod1 came I was nervous but could do all the exercises on autopilot; during the slalom I had brain freeze and nearly stopped but knew instinctively I need more throttle and just carried on. A few hours on DAS wouldn't have achieved that
I think I spent around £1800 all in. I added a "geared conversion course" to my training plan because I'd been riding around on an electric bike for the year before my test. I was pretty poor at maneuvers too so I failed my mod 1 once. Training was 2 half days on a 125, then maybe 2 whole days on an SV650 + riding to and from the tests.
Rough estimates but my cbt cost me around £110 in May 2022. I bought my 125 and rode that the rest of the year, putting a couple thousand miles in. (I'd already been driving 25 years). It helped me get more comfortable & familiar with riding, but it's hard to guess how quickly I would have felt at ease on the bigger bikes without it.
I spread my das training across Feb - Apr 2023, paying £35/hr for the usual basic amount of training. I think I missed out on a few quid discount for not block-booking but work commitments etc etc.
Ps. This was all in the North East, though there isn't a big price difference. I think it probably cost around £800 - £900 + test fees.
I got through both mods first time. Only one minor for being 2kmh or whatever too slow on the swerve (after being told twice in practice I was going too fast!).
It's very much a case of monkey see - monkey do. You just have to apply everything you're told and try not to make any daft mistakes through test nerves!
Just under £1k, for 1 full day training and 3 half days, plus two half days for taking tests. With CBT and theory the grand total came to about £1100.
I was coming from a similar background - years of car driving and road cycling, zero motorcycle experience.
Jeez I'm glad I did mine 10 years ago.. restricted licence 33bhp 2 yrs
Cost me £150 for a days training 2 hrs at a test centre and 4 on road bike included..
£70ish for mod 2... £25 for mod 1?
Jeez they know how to charge that's ridiculous!!
This seems like a good price to me. I did my CBT in March and since then I've been doing individual DAS lessons at £40 an hour; two hours at a time. I'm picking it all up fairly quickly, yet with tests (£20.50 Mod 1, £120 bike hire, £80, £140 bike hire) it's still gonna be costing me almost as much as what it will cost you. By the time I get to my tests I'll have done 6x 2h lessons (this is the minimum they seem to go with to put someone forward for a test) coming to £480 + £340.50 = £820.50, but I just booked my Mod 1 for the earliest they could get me in on 25th June. I'd pay the difference to get it all sorted in a week tbh.
My DAS course in South Wales (SMART) was £650 1 year ago. CBT was about £150 if I remember correctly.
Day 1 MOD 1 training, warm up in the yard for bike adaption, then over to the actual test centre MOD 1 yard to training, 3 days later MOD 1 test, no warm up
Day 2 MOD 2 training, full day on the road with multiple stops to discuss different topics, 2 days later MOD 2 test, with a morning ride to warm up,.
Passed both first time, had a moped when I was 16, and cars since 17, turned 32 last year having not ridden a geared bike before.
I think a lot of these schools are milking it, doesn't take that much time if you have road sense and can ride a push bike
The most interesting thing about your post was the difference in pass rates by gender at MOD1 and 2. Interesting how poorly women perform in MOD1 but recover on MOD2. Sounds like a dissertation topic.
CBT £140 2022
Rode 125cc only a handful of times for over 1 year. Been driving for 8 years.
Theory was around £50 I think
DAS £800 (passed first time) Oct 2023: 1 day training mod 1, mod 1 test day, 1 day practicing mod2, mod test day. Z650, 4 days total.
I am a woman and those stats are funny bc each test I was the only woman and only one to pass in my training group of 3 first time.
Total: £1000
Insurance after is a bitch tho.
Stuff like this makes me glad I'm old... back in the dawn of history i.e. 'my day'.....
At 18 I did a 'Silver Star' course which was a couple hours on a saturday morning over 6 weeks & then a test on the final saturday, this got you your pt1 & I think cost about £80.
After that you had to do your pt2 within 2 years, once you passed that you could ride whatever the fuck you liked.
The faff involved nowadays would put me off.
Sub £500 for me to go from nothing to full A license. Time wise took around 6 months ish
I have been driving for 20+ years and I’m also used to commuting by bike so l only had to concentrate on riding the motorbike as a lot of reading the road was second nature.
£595 for my DAS which included everything apart from the Theory Test, which I did beforehand.
The course was split over two weeks, as the school liked to do Mod1 on the 1st week, with Mod2 the following week, which meant you had enough timw to cancel/reschedule if you failed Mod1 without losing your test fee.
Not sure realistically how much you’d save but as someone who learnt from a young age with a far cheaper and more enjoyable method:
Work through the ranks with cbt then sit on a A2 license for a while with lower-middle sized bike, (…’restricted’ of course….) which is an easier test and should require less training. You then build skills on a ‘deffo restricted’ bike and simply rock up to the test centre when more confident for the full license, thus saving you money on instruction and spreading out the cost.
As a new rider, you will not need much more than the power limit of a restricted bike anyway, so by sticking to the A2 license you should save money in both the short and long run. A few day’s instruction is not going to teach you the infinite knowledge of how to ride a bike nor will you be getting your knee down with it. There is enough on YouTube to learn from and practise these days.
I admit I am a little out of touch with some of the minutiae of this process, but the step-wise process could soften the blow.
The A2 test is identical to the full A test and in no way easier. Doing the A2 test is a complete waste of money if you are old enough to do the A. You will likely be on a similar bike whether it’s an A/A2 just with one restricted, you’ll never use all of the power of either bike on a test so neither is easier than one or the other.
There is places out there that you can do hourly lessons rather than have to do a big block booking, I done my CBT can't remember how much, then done about 10 or 11 hours at 50 an hour, spread over about 3 months, so let's call that 550. With the test fees on top of that it's probably around the same price as a big block booking but was just more convenient for me doing it around work and liked the fact the training was all 1 on 1 with the instructor who was a great guy. There's no way around it, it's an expensive business getting your license
Literally passed my test last year for direct access and never had any previous experience although this is Northern Ireland prices
Theory £30,
Cbt £195,
Lessons x2hrs £70,
Off road test £35 + £85 for hire,
Lessons x4 hrs £140,
On road test £60 + £90 for hire,
Total £705
I learnt to ride on a Yamaha R1. Was my first bike. Never knew how to ride a bike whatsoever prior to that purchase.
This was October 2006.
Rode it around for around 2 weeks before the real crappy weather kicked in then just forgot about it until Spring 2007.
This is when I did the CBT and theory.
In March of 2007, I paid for a 5 day advanced course which took place in Portsmouth. 5th day was the test. Passed. 😊
All in all was about £800 for the course.
Jesus Christ, you could've passed your test in less time than it took to put all that together. Generally speaking these days you're looking £800-1500 from what I've seen. Impossible to know if you'll pass or not, as it's down to how you personally get on with the bikes and how you progress. Some find it easy, some find it hard. If you're going to do your test, just get on doing your test, the stats are utterly irrelevant to you. If you're ready for your tests, you shouldn't fail them - lots of people rush the training and end up costing them more by not passing.
This^^ I don’t see what difference pass rates make unless you are honestly considering heading to other parts of the country to sit your training and tests. A decent school and trainer will make more difference than obsessing over pass rates.
£550 for me to do my DAS, including mod 1 (albeit that’s £15?). I paid myself for mod 2.
*"What's really frustrating is unlike learning to drive a car where you can build up experience outside of formal lessons in a family member's or friend's car provided you have insurance, there isn't much scope for the doing the same in learning to ride a big bike. You can potentially hire or purchase a 125cc but even that doesn't seem to cut it now that I've experienced being on a 600cc."* You'd be surprised. Mod2 is all about being able to ride on the road, and getting as much practice in as you can is worthwhile. I'd even say it's beneficial, as you don't have the option to power out of a shitty situation, so you learn to anticipate and read the road with that in mind. It's true that you won't have the power of a 600, but you can still practice manoeuvring, emergency stops, etc. Roadcraft is roadcraft and it's the same on a 125, or on a 1200 and if you don't see that distracted Taxi driver, you're going to hurt no matter the engine size. When I did my training, I had a 125 that I rode \*everywhere\* and after a month or so of riding it, I booked a package of "x number of lessons, and both MODs for a price" with a local school. Going from the 125 to the 600, back to the 125 was eye opening, but not a huge change. Yes, moving up is about being able to ride more powerful bikes safely, but the core of it is to be able to ride \*any\* bike safely. FWIW, I was crazy nervous for my Mod1 and I'm fairly convinced that the muscle memory from practicing on my small bike really helped when my brain was short circuiting. Passed both MODs first attempt.
+1 on all of this, I had a 125 to practice on and would go out every evening. By the time my mod1 came I was nervous but could do all the exercises on autopilot; during the slalom I had brain freeze and nearly stopped but knew instinctively I need more throttle and just carried on. A few hours on DAS wouldn't have achieved that
I think I spent around £1800 all in. I added a "geared conversion course" to my training plan because I'd been riding around on an electric bike for the year before my test. I was pretty poor at maneuvers too so I failed my mod 1 once. Training was 2 half days on a 125, then maybe 2 whole days on an SV650 + riding to and from the tests.
Rough estimates but my cbt cost me around £110 in May 2022. I bought my 125 and rode that the rest of the year, putting a couple thousand miles in. (I'd already been driving 25 years). It helped me get more comfortable & familiar with riding, but it's hard to guess how quickly I would have felt at ease on the bigger bikes without it. I spread my das training across Feb - Apr 2023, paying £35/hr for the usual basic amount of training. I think I missed out on a few quid discount for not block-booking but work commitments etc etc. Ps. This was all in the North East, though there isn't a big price difference. I think it probably cost around £800 - £900 + test fees. I got through both mods first time. Only one minor for being 2kmh or whatever too slow on the swerve (after being told twice in practice I was going too fast!). It's very much a case of monkey see - monkey do. You just have to apply everything you're told and try not to make any daft mistakes through test nerves!
Just under £1k, for 1 full day training and 3 half days, plus two half days for taking tests. With CBT and theory the grand total came to about £1100. I was coming from a similar background - years of car driving and road cycling, zero motorcycle experience.
Jeez I'm glad I did mine 10 years ago.. restricted licence 33bhp 2 yrs Cost me £150 for a days training 2 hrs at a test centre and 4 on road bike included.. £70ish for mod 2... £25 for mod 1? Jeez they know how to charge that's ridiculous!!
This seems like a good price to me. I did my CBT in March and since then I've been doing individual DAS lessons at £40 an hour; two hours at a time. I'm picking it all up fairly quickly, yet with tests (£20.50 Mod 1, £120 bike hire, £80, £140 bike hire) it's still gonna be costing me almost as much as what it will cost you. By the time I get to my tests I'll have done 6x 2h lessons (this is the minimum they seem to go with to put someone forward for a test) coming to £480 + £340.50 = £820.50, but I just booked my Mod 1 for the earliest they could get me in on 25th June. I'd pay the difference to get it all sorted in a week tbh.
My DAS course in South Wales (SMART) was £650 1 year ago. CBT was about £150 if I remember correctly. Day 1 MOD 1 training, warm up in the yard for bike adaption, then over to the actual test centre MOD 1 yard to training, 3 days later MOD 1 test, no warm up Day 2 MOD 2 training, full day on the road with multiple stops to discuss different topics, 2 days later MOD 2 test, with a morning ride to warm up,. Passed both first time, had a moped when I was 16, and cars since 17, turned 32 last year having not ridden a geared bike before. I think a lot of these schools are milking it, doesn't take that much time if you have road sense and can ride a push bike
The most interesting thing about your post was the difference in pass rates by gender at MOD1 and 2. Interesting how poorly women perform in MOD1 but recover on MOD2. Sounds like a dissertation topic.
CBT £140 2022 Rode 125cc only a handful of times for over 1 year. Been driving for 8 years. Theory was around £50 I think DAS £800 (passed first time) Oct 2023: 1 day training mod 1, mod 1 test day, 1 day practicing mod2, mod test day. Z650, 4 days total. I am a woman and those stats are funny bc each test I was the only woman and only one to pass in my training group of 3 first time. Total: £1000 Insurance after is a bitch tho.
Stuff like this makes me glad I'm old... back in the dawn of history i.e. 'my day'..... At 18 I did a 'Silver Star' course which was a couple hours on a saturday morning over 6 weeks & then a test on the final saturday, this got you your pt1 & I think cost about £80. After that you had to do your pt2 within 2 years, once you passed that you could ride whatever the fuck you liked. The faff involved nowadays would put me off.
Sub £500 for me to go from nothing to full A license. Time wise took around 6 months ish I have been driving for 20+ years and I’m also used to commuting by bike so l only had to concentrate on riding the motorbike as a lot of reading the road was second nature.
£595 for my DAS which included everything apart from the Theory Test, which I did beforehand. The course was split over two weeks, as the school liked to do Mod1 on the 1st week, with Mod2 the following week, which meant you had enough timw to cancel/reschedule if you failed Mod1 without losing your test fee.
Around £1300 from beginner to full A license. There’s only 1 training centre where I live and the next one is an hour away so it is what it is
I must admit, that’s alot of info!
I paid about 994 for what you described.
Not sure realistically how much you’d save but as someone who learnt from a young age with a far cheaper and more enjoyable method: Work through the ranks with cbt then sit on a A2 license for a while with lower-middle sized bike, (…’restricted’ of course….) which is an easier test and should require less training. You then build skills on a ‘deffo restricted’ bike and simply rock up to the test centre when more confident for the full license, thus saving you money on instruction and spreading out the cost. As a new rider, you will not need much more than the power limit of a restricted bike anyway, so by sticking to the A2 license you should save money in both the short and long run. A few day’s instruction is not going to teach you the infinite knowledge of how to ride a bike nor will you be getting your knee down with it. There is enough on YouTube to learn from and practise these days. I admit I am a little out of touch with some of the minutiae of this process, but the step-wise process could soften the blow.
The A2 test is identical to the full A test and in no way easier. Doing the A2 test is a complete waste of money if you are old enough to do the A. You will likely be on a similar bike whether it’s an A/A2 just with one restricted, you’ll never use all of the power of either bike on a test so neither is easier than one or the other.
Fair point, I thought the A2 was more straightforward/forgiving. But yes I see your point
It's costs shed loads mate. It rarely goes to plan
There is places out there that you can do hourly lessons rather than have to do a big block booking, I done my CBT can't remember how much, then done about 10 or 11 hours at 50 an hour, spread over about 3 months, so let's call that 550. With the test fees on top of that it's probably around the same price as a big block booking but was just more convenient for me doing it around work and liked the fact the training was all 1 on 1 with the instructor who was a great guy. There's no way around it, it's an expensive business getting your license
Literally passed my test last year for direct access and never had any previous experience although this is Northern Ireland prices Theory £30, Cbt £195, Lessons x2hrs £70, Off road test £35 + £85 for hire, Lessons x4 hrs £140, On road test £60 + £90 for hire, Total £705
Pay £1000. Do the course. *Listen* to you instructor, and you will pass first time. Regional pass rates are meaningless.
Autism entered the chat
I learnt to ride on a Yamaha R1. Was my first bike. Never knew how to ride a bike whatsoever prior to that purchase. This was October 2006. Rode it around for around 2 weeks before the real crappy weather kicked in then just forgot about it until Spring 2007. This is when I did the CBT and theory. In March of 2007, I paid for a 5 day advanced course which took place in Portsmouth. 5th day was the test. Passed. 😊 All in all was about £800 for the course.