All well and good saying you can go from Lands End to John o' Groats in a day but some of these riders will be making a round trip of over 200 miles for a 10 minute test, and that may have to be done on a 125 if they are under 21.
I don't care who you are or how much riding you have done you wouldn't want to ride to John o'Groats on a 125 in the pissing down rian for 10 minutes and then ride straight back home again.
It's hardly encouraging riders to take up motorcycling is it when before the DSA cocked eveything up they had a perfectly good test centre on their doorstep.
I'm one of the fortunate training schools as I only have to make a 20 mile round trip to my nearest test centre, or if I can't get in there then its a 100 mile trip for me with my learners. Yes good experience maybe but it raises all sorts of problems.
Previously if a bike had a puncture and you were in your 'home ground' as it were it would be easy to sort it and maybe get a replacement bike for the test.
You travel 100 miles from home and have a breakdown.....it suddenly makes a rainy John o'Groats very attractive.
The DSA have mucked up and it is costing a lot of people a lot of money, which ultimately will be passed on to the punter. Again not very encouraging for new riders.
I have had 'novice' riders turn up for their own CBT on their own 600, not wishing to get involved with the new testing system they say they are just going to do the CBT and 'take a chance on not getting stopped' .
So the new test which is supposed to make biking safer is just pushing people out on to the road with little (or no) training, riding & taking a chance on not getting pulled.
John o'Groats for a cuppa anyone?
