CBT

The CBT course is split into five elements:

Element A: Your instructor will introduce the CBT course and its purpose, followed by a discussion about protective clothing and safety equipment

Element B: You will be taken to our off-road training area, and introduce you to the controls of the bike you will be riding, talk about daily and periodic checks to ensure that your bike is roadworthy and will remain so; how to take the bike off and onto it stands; and walk the bike around to get a feel for the balance of the bike.

Element C: You will be taught how to sit on the bike safely; how to start and stop the bike; for geared bikes how to select first gear; the art of moving off and stopping; how to ride the bike around the training ground; use of mirror and shoulder check observations; slow speed control; figures of eight; u-turns; emergency stops; gear changing (if applicable); and finally the OSMPSL routine for dealing with junctions.

Element D:You will be taken back to the office where your instructor will talk to you about a number of things that are important to consider whilst you are riding a bike out on the roads such as visibility, road position, weather and traffic conditions that affect us, drugs and alcohol, the importance of the highway code etc.

Element E: The CBT course concludes with a minimum of a two-hour road ride to assess your newly learned skills.

Our instructors will progress the CBT at your pace and the whole course usually takes one full day, although it can occasionally take a little longer.

Contrary to popular belief, the CBT course is not a motorcycle test! It is a training course intended to ensure that you can handle riding out on very demanding roads. Having said that, it is important that you understand that whilst our instructors try their best to ensure that you fully understand the information being given and that you can demonstrate you have mastered the skills required to ride a motorcycle safely, you have to focus on applying the skills we are teaching you. As we all have different speeds at which we can absorb and apply things we are being taught, there may come a point during the day where your instructor will stop your CBT and inform you that you require more time and further training before you reach the required standard necessary for a CBT certificate can be issued (Don’t be disheartened or frustrated! our instructors take their job very seriously and will only issue CBT certificates to those that they feel you will be safe riding on your own out on the roads. Your safety is paramount and even though you may feel that you should have been issued a certificate, there will be very good reasons why your instructor disagrees).

If you have reached the required standard, you will be issued with a DL196 CBT certificate. This is a legal document that permits you to ride a 49cc moped if you are 16 years old, or a 125cc scooter or motorcycle if you are 17 or over on the road. You must display ‘L’ Plates on your bike at all times, not carry passengers, not use the motorway network. If you have not taken and passed all parts of your DVSA test to obtain a motorcycle licence within the two years your CBT certificate is valid for, you will have to complete a CBT again.

If you obtained your car driving licence before the 1st of February 2001, you do not need to complete the CBT to ride a 49cc moped. If you have obtained your car license after February 2001, you are required to successfully complete a CBT. This certificate enables you to ride a 49cc moped during the life of your car license. If you ride a motorcycle over 49cc, but up to 125cc that CBT certificate lasts two years from the date of issue, but you still retain the ability to ride a 49cc machine.