Looking for warm, quiet place to learn bike riding...
 

Hi everyone, newbie here.. I've been having a go with a CG125 with 'patchy' progress and I've been thinking it would be great to combine a holiday with learning to ride a motorbike. Preferably somewhere warm with fairly quiet roads. I've found loads of holidays for off-roading (not ready for that yet!) and I'm just wondering if anyone knows of anything like this? I've got my CBT so can only ride 125 (at least in this country). Any tips would be helpful. Thanks!

I think the problem would be that you can not ride a motorcycle on foreign roads without a full UK licence. I suppose you could go through the process relevant to "learners" in the foreign country and get a licence issued by that country (EU only) and then pay £50 to the DVLA to change it to a UK one. The problem I see there is any written content to the process would have to be done in the language of that country.
If you did attain a full UK licence and wanted to hone your skills then a company called Alpine TT does advanced riding courses in Europe sold as part of a package holiday.

Morocco comes to mind.
Or, many of the countries of the far east.
Or, Goa, India.
Or Nepal.
For many of these cases the roads will be busy but the weather at this time of year will be prima! (apart from the occasional typhoon).
In all of these I am referring to renting a bike to get out and about and acquire riding experience; thenreturn home and take the rest of the UK bike test.

And yet, it may be that in many countries the rental companies want to see some kind of motorcycle licence and are not too fussy about the intricate rules of the UK.

Thank you for the useful input. I'm beginning to realise why I can't find this sort of holiday. I guess I was hoping that someone may have a little villa somewhere, who will let me put-put about on a 125 and give me helpful tips. I'll dream on....

Yes, an unfortunate nightmare anywhere in Europe. Tourider is correct, a provisional licence is only valid in the country of issue, so not possible to ride anywhere ''legally'' in Europe. Another issue is that taking lessons and a test outside the U.k., you have to be in residence for a minimum of 6 months before you can apply for a local provisional licence. Using a U.k. provisional is no good anywhere but the U.K., because no one except the DVLA can update it.

It would be nice to go to a warmer and drier climate, and perhaps hire a bike. Only problem here is that hire companies usually want to see an International Driving Licence supported by your full licence. IDL's are not available for provisional licence holders, so unfortunately I think you will have to persevere unless you can find someone with a large private estate you can ride around!

Now, having said all that, there is possibly a way round this if all you want to do is practice, and you already have a full car licence and passed your test before Feb 2001. In Europe you can hire and ride a moped ( up to 50cc) on a full car licence. There is nothing wrong with a moped, and they are great fun even for us more experienced people, because they are easy to handle, lightweight and dirt cheap to run. I use a vintage French Peugeot 50cc almost every day to go shopping. It rattles, bits fall off, but so what, it's two wheels
and the riding principles are the same:scooter:

Come ride one of my bikes in Peru! Here all you have to have is a car license to ride a motorcycle! Lots of country roads with no traffic!

Cheers! Toby

I would advise fine tuning your riding skills at home before going to a foreign place, quite or not.

Umm I think the poster was after something local rather than OS?

For OS
Warm ... at this time of year .. northern hemisphere is in winter .. so some parts are not so warm .. wouldn't think Nepal would be good. Goa yes, but not Delhi. Getting an Indian license does not look complicated, but finding some where 'quite' would be a challenge!

Your alternative is the southern hemisphere .. then getting a license, if you want to retain the english language then its either South Africa, Australia or New Zealand.. Think it would be ok to get a learners in most of them , though the NSW Aust one does require a several day riders course in city areas before you can get a learners permit. Oh forgotten ummm another old pink bit Gambia ... and possibly others... google humm on second thoughts I'll stick with my 3 - don't like the thought of the red tape that may exist in the others?

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Local ... in England at this time of year .. warm? What are you thinking? :rain:

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Riding on dirt usually sees a drastic reduction in traffic. The challenge becomes managing the 'road' surface.

That's a great offer! bier

I ignored the southern hemisphere for the obvious factor of the summer.
Nepal weather can be very clement at this time of year, apart from in the Himalaya. The forecast for KTM tomorrow is 25 cent and Pokhara:-
Pokhara Weather Forecast

Of course, here in Europe earlier today Valencia had wall-to-wall sunshine for the final round of the MotoGP.

Hi LTSally
I can understand why you may wish to practice riding in warmer climes but I would suggest you simply don your best waterproof clothing & some thermals & ride! Riding in winter is probably the best experience you can get - just avoid ice and snow.
From where you live, you can easily get into the quiet roads of Wales & Herefordshire (where I learned to ride). There are several training courses in Wales - the BMW centre do both on road and off road courses:
BMW Motorrad UK.

My advice would be to pass your test in the next 12 months as the rules keep changing and once you get the full licence, it's yours for life - you don't have to upgrade to a bigger bike :)

You could always come over to Bermuda and rent a moped - but nothing is cheap over here!

Tourists can rent mopeds using a car licence. The official speed limit is 35kph, although the unofficial limit is 50kph, so you won't be travelling at high speed. The island is only 22 square miles in size, so you'll be able to find your way around.

And Bermuda is warm in the winter when compared to the UK. Currently we're having high temps of 74F/23C and lows of 67F/19C. We never get frost, let alone snow! :thumbup1:

Hi,

In many europeans countries, if you have a car driving licence, you can drive up to 125cc without a motorcycle licence. Could be only 50cc.

True in France (unless they change recently the rules!) and Greece. One of my friends was recently in Greece on holiday and had no problem renting a 125 scooter, and she certainly has no motorcycle licence or CBT. Just car.

So do not assume you cannot rent a small bike. That is, if you have a car driving licence. Check with local rental companies in Greece etc....

Cheers,

Maria, sadly the third European licence directive put paid to this. Most European countries now require a full bike licence France is an exception they have introduced something like a CBT, but unlike the UK you only have to do it once. Mind you they kindly said if you can show, via an official document from your insurer that you were riding in the five years previous to the year the CBT thingy was introduced you can ride without the CBT.

Now the question is can you train for the French thingy on a UK licence? In theory as EU licences are all equivalent and there's no need to exchange them you should be able to train whilst holding a UK driver's license.

One day I'll try and find out if there are any EU countries which still allow you to ride on a car licence.

I will totally agree with the above comment. With the correct kit for the weather in hand you should be just fine. If you are using a cg125 you won't be blasting down dual carriage ways at 70MPH which is when the cold will get you. Bimbling along at 30-40MPH on country roads and lanes won't be too cold even with inexpensive kit. It can be lovely on a clear, sunny, dry, day even in Dec/Jan /Feb. Just look well ahead for mud / leaves etc.

The more you ride the more you will learn, not just about the bike riding, you'll also learn if you picked the right gloves or not :eek3:

Oops! Thanks for clarification.
When i came to the UK I was originally able to do my CBT with my French driving licence. however I had to change it for a British one when I did my full MC licence! I would bet on the other way round though... Knowing the French ;)

Pretty sure one of my friend rented a moped in some Greek, or Crete place, without an MC licence. I will try to find out.