This is designed for riders under the age of 21 and those who just don’t feel comfortable on our 500cc training school bikes.
If you take your motorcycle test on a 125 cc bike, you'll be restricted to a bike with no more than 33 BHP for the first 2 years. This rule was introduce to stop inexperienced young riders from going out after their test and buying the fastest two wheeled rocket they can find and killing themselves. The aim was to keep the highest risk riders off of the highest risk bikes. It's questionable how effective this is, as
most 17 year olds would have difficulty getting insurance for an R1 or Hayabusa even if they were legally allowed to ride it.
So if you can't get the Kawasaki 10R or Yamaha R1, what can you get?
Any bike can be restricted to 33 BHP for around £90 to £200, so being restricted in power doesn't have to affect your choice and don't forget when the 2 years are up, you can have the restriction kit removed. However, not all bikes are suited to restriction.
The manufacturer may have designed the bike with a lot more power in mind, so when restricted, you could find the bike is useless and possibly dangerous. A review of a Suzuki Hayabusa restricted to 33 BHP, described it as a virtually unusable.
Insurance companies don't pay much attention to a restriction, they see it as a license requirement and rarely adjust the rating by much. Therefore a 600 cc sports bike will cost a lot more than a 250 cc sports bike even though it has the same power and could even be slower.
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One point worth noting, is that the restriction only
refers to max. BHP, there is no limit on torque. Typically the higher a
motor revs, the more BHP it produces, while the max. torque is achieved very
early on in the bikes rev range. Therefore if you choose an engine with
a lot of torque (like a V-twin) and restrict it, you'll find much of it's
torque intact. |
For this reason, V-twins (like the Yamaha Virago or Suzuki SV650) are some of the most popular restricted options.
So while the top end power may be
limited, the bike will still feel strong and smooth at low revs.
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If you don't want to go for a restricted bike, there are plenty of bikes in the 125 cc - 400 cc range that produce less than 33 BHP. As a guide, most de-restricted race replica bikes can produce around 30BHP, a 250 cc commuter bike will produce 20 - 25 BHP and even some 400 cc scooters can comply with the 33 BHP limit |