Which was hardest to get?

I have English and German. English was the hardest to get, because I had to take a test. German would have been harder, if I had had to take the test, but you just hand over your English licence and you are given a German one.

Btw, if you stay in German for more than 6 months, you have to apply for a German licence. If you fail to do so, you will be fined, have your English licence confiscated and after a 1 year ban, you can apply for a new German licence. I assume most countries run along similar lines.

Should I move back to the UK, I can surrender my German licence and receive my British licence back.

I need to do that but the DVLA wants my passport with it and then I'd have no ID for days at a time, which I don't like.

Easy to get Aussie and Kiwi licences. Just show them a UK licence, passport, proof of address and a little money and they give you an on the spot eye test. Pass that and they give you an instant licence. It's a requirement if you are resident for 12 months or more.

This is on sale on my local supermarket. It has been placed in the 'news and science' magazine section. I despair.

Still not as bad as the Batman comics in the kids section where the cover has the Joker's face strapped to his head...

This is my 2000th post :3

Congratulations.

I have a car driving license, does that make any difference when trying to get a bike license?

Wasn't there something about not being restricted engine-wise on a bike if you had your car license and passed the bike test? Or something like that

You can take a DAS course (direct access). It is a 5 day course, 2 days on little 125cc machines to get your provisional bike licence, then the rest of the time on 'full sized' bikes, with a test at the end. If you have a full car licence, you should also be exempt from the theory test.

At least that was the test they brought in the year before I took my test, I don't know of it has changed again since. I think you must also have held a full car licence for at least 2 years and be over 21.

Any decent motorbike training school will be able to advise you.

After taking my test, I rose my bike for about 6 months / 6000 miles, then I did an advanced course. I cannot recommend that enough. It really teaches you how to ride and how to look for hazards on the road - no bad thing with the number of homicidal cage drivers on the road these days. I used to do the course every couple of years in the spring, to get me back up to speed - even though I had ridden through the winter.

If you don't want to do the complete das course, you will be restricted to 125cc bikes / restricted bikes for the first 2 years ( theoretically, you could ride a supervise restricted to less than 35hp, but you would look a bit of a fool when every scooter and Corsa driver can run circles around your sport bike...

Cool ill go ask the school next week. I need a bike to commute in London~ 30 miles a day. Any recommendation on cc?

I think if you have a 50cc moped you might be exempt if you have a full driving licence. Not entirely sure though.

Look at a Honda CB500 or similar. They are great commuter bikes, cheap to run and can cope with the miles. A lot of sports bikes are designed for limited miles per year - the average rider in Britain does under 3000 miles a year!

An old NTV or a Deauville are also good and the Deauville has a decent fairing and storage space, so is good in wet weather.

I'd recommend buying an older bike for your first bike, especially if you are going to be commuting. You will also drop your first bike! Not necessarily in an accident, but it will end up laying on the ground, so a bike with little plastic, or an older bike that you don't worry about it getting a few scratches is better than a brand new bike. I bought a brand new Bandit 600 as my first bike, an excellent bike, but I was knocked off it after a month - a doctor decided he couldn't wait for the light to turn green, so he did a U turn from the left hand lane, without looking and took me out! I was lucky, only a swollen ankle and a stiff neck, the bike had over 3 grand of damage from a 5mph accident!

Just after it was repaired, I lost my balance, but I managed to throw myself under the bike to stop it getting any scratches.

I would look at the 500 to 650 class for a commuter.

Honda CB500, NTV650, Danville (avoid the Hornet as a commuter, it is thirsty and has a small tank)
Suzuki GS500, Bandit 600, SV650 the latter is a bit sporty, but lighter and easier to handle than the Bandit.
Kawasaki ER500
Yamaha Diversion 600, if you can still get one, the Phaser is also good, but a little lively.

Basically try sitting on a range of bikes and find out which ones you feel comfortable on. There is no point getting a big, high performance bike, if you don't feel safe on it or can't touch the ground properly to hold it upright at the lights.

A friend of mine is relatively small and she bought an old NTV 650. it isn't a quick bike, but she is a good rider and she runs rings around most of the guys on big powerful sports bikes. Being a good, competent rider is much more important than the size of the bike you have.