Hello all, new member here. Great looking forum btw. Before i can even think of getting a blade i need to pass my test, i need some advice from people in the Warrington area if poss as to who are the best bike schools to take your test with ? Ive come across theser 2 so far but know nothing about either school Warrington Motorcycle Training - CBT and Direct Access Training Lamb`s CBT motorcycle training - CBT, DAS, A2 I plan on doing the direct access course which i read online is the way to go for someone like myself, i'm 44 with no real motorbike background apart from having a KMX125 when i was younger for a few years. I'm a fan of the TT and NW200 etc and as you can probably tell from my username i'm a John McPint fan, i should have took my bike test years ago as i quietly appreciated bikes but my main interest was rallying so i ended up going down the route of having road going versions of rally cars etc. Any feedback you can give us would be great, my main aim is to pass my test if i can and buy a blade, i know this isn't an ideal first bike lol ... I'm fairly sensible, well within reason
A few members have been shocked with insurance quotes on blades with no biking background, someone recently posted that the have had a bike licence for something like 30 years but had a 20 year break so no ncd, quotes were coming back at 1-2k min! Just a warning before you have heart attack! Welcome by the way
Hi Mcpint Have a ride down to Millenium Motorcycles in St Helen's next Thatto Heath Railway station they have n instructor there and its a great place to hang about .
Hi n welcome dude good luck with your quest obviously not from your neck of woods but being 44 quotes shouldn't be too bad.
Welcome McPint. As Martin has said, you're going to need deep pockets to insure a Fireblade with no riding experience/NCB! They're worth it though
you need to buy a bike asap , anything you can legally ride. In 12 months when you have 'some' experience you can then look to insure a Blade - hate to say it but the quotes are going to vast, think £2,000 - £4,000 with a huge excess because nobody will want to insure you (sorry to sound harsh but just being realistic) Pic up a something like a CBR600F Sport for the first year, then upgrade to a blade when you have some experience. But.... its worth it in the end , trust me!
Welcome to the forum, I think your the first to have no licence and no bike, get the lessons booked I came back to bikes at 42 you will love it
Hi McPint, Welcome to the forum. You're in a similar situation to the one that I was in 2 years ago. Like you I had smaller bikes when I was younger but never bothered to pass my test. I got married and had a family so although I followed bike racing on the TV there was always a financial or family commitments reason not to pass my bike test and return to biking. 2 years ago at the age of 46 and shortly after returning from my first visit to the IOM TT I did my CBT, started having DAS lessons, passed my theory and mod 1 and 2 tests and got my first big bike, a CBR600F. Not only was this bike a perfect starter bike for a novice the insurance was a very reasonable £420 fully comp too. Out of curiosity and at the same time I checked out the insurance for a Fireblade and although most companies wouldn't insure me those that did wanted about £2k. After 12 months I moved up to a Fireblade and although a lot of companies wanted about £1k I shopped around and got insured for just under £600. As we are similar ages with the same lack of experience and living in a relatively low risk insurance area I would expect your quotes to be comparable with those that I was quoted. In terms of recommended riding schools - I went with BC Training in Northwich and I cannot speak too highly of Bernie and his team. They are fantastic and not too far away from Warrington either. As the other guys have already said I found the CBR600F a perfect starter bike - quick enough, forgiving and it has that big bike feel and look too. After 12 months move up to the Blade and then the fun really begins. An awesome piece of kit it really is. You will not regret it. Good luck.
You could always go on the compare sites and fill it in as if you just passed your test and see what comes up. Should give you a better idea.
Thanks for all the replies, i really appreciate all the advice thats been given and ive taken note. The CBR600 route sounds a sensible one, it would get me used to a big bike and i could build up a years no claims on a bike that has a more sensible price for insurance for a newbie like me. I'm going to get the ball rolling pretty soon, get my theory test passed then do the direct access course, i can then come back with hopefully my test passed to discuss buying a CBR600. One of my main aims is to go to the TT on a bike and ride the course, its something ive always wanted to do, this time i'm going to do something about it. I'll have a blade one day, thats a cert
That's exactly how I felt after riding to Cadwell many years ago on my 600RR and seeing a whole load of 08+ 'blades wearing race fairings. Fell in love right there and then and decided that it was my dream bike. Dreams come true man! Good luck.
Mine too. Did it last week. Thoroughly enjoyed the experience although the traffic was horrendous. Good luck with your test.
Thanks for the welcome and good luck messages for the bike test, i'll post up a message when i'm into it.
hi mate welcome along if you do go straight to a blade please be very carefull, i have allways ridden bikes and was rideing a vfr 750 before i got the blade yet still the power shocked me they are seriously quick my friend but if you do get one you will love it
welcome mate, go straight for the blade you wont regret it, im new to riding and passed my mod 2 on friday, cbr1000rr7 = £511 insurance with MCE third party fire and theft, loving it!!!!!
Welcome to the forum, McPint. Just echoing what others on here have said, really. I don't want to sound like I'm trying to pee on anyone's bonfire but like others have mentioned I'd be tempted to give the blade a miss until you've got some miles under your belt. I ultimately wanted a litre bike but deep down I knew it'd be a bad idea I started off with a Ducati Monster 750 and then got an R6. I'm glad I did it that way because I really do think it would've all ended badly. I kidded myself that I'd take it easy after passing my test and slowly pick the speed up but in practice that all went out of the window. I was giving it full throttle within 2 miles of leaving my house. It's not that the Blade is a massively scary bike to ride it's just that it's got so much power that whatever you do you'll arrive at corners / junctions going a lot faster than you would imagine. Couple that to the fact that you won't have the instinctive muscle memory to know what to do if things go a little awry and you've got problems. Also that excess speed gives you no time to think through the problem. Good luck with your CBT, theory and tests. Keep us posted.
Get your test passed as soon as possible. Then get some seat time on a 600, then you will be good to go. I only say this because although it may be possible to learn on a Blade, it is safer to learn on something less expensive and less powerful. That way when you get your Blade you will be ready to rip from day one, with lower insurance costs... As said before, it is worth the wait!!!
