A Great Big Hello From England!

[Spamulaspam]

Hello everyone. Great forum guys :2tup:
Been riding a GZ now for a couple of years and love her to bits!
Although I dont have a 250 im hoping you still welcome me with open arms.... I have a 125!
She is a little underpowered and she is always the last up a hill but its one of the quirky little charms that makes me love her that bit more. Power is overated anyhow (thats what I keep telling myself anyway :tongue: )
Hoping to stop by now and again to pick all your technical brains,thats if you'll have me!

[blaine]

Welcome to our family.A G.Z is a G.Z regardless if it is a 125 or a 250.There are alot of members here that have moved up to larger bikes and don't own G.Z's anymore,but still stick around here,myself included.This is more like a big family than a forum,that's why so many of us stick around.What ever your questions are,ask away.
:) :cool:

[mole2]

Welcome to the forum from South Carolina USA. Ride safe.


:)

[Spamulaspam]

Aw, thanks a lot...
Yeah, I think they are one of those bikes that you dont ever forget... Mine has been 100% reliable and dependable and has given me so much fun.
Thanks for the warm welcome :)

[alantf]

Hi there,

I'm a Yorkshireman myself. Whereabouts are you from?

The Americans don't seem to have the 125 over there, but here on the island there are quite a few. Will the English laws allow you to upgrade, or are you stuck with the 125? :)

[Spamulaspam]

Hi Alantf,
Im a Lancashire lassie currenty residing just over the border in Yorkshire.. I live in Saddleworth :)
Hoping to upgrade later on in the year when I get round to attempting to convert the 125 to a 250... Hoping its as easy as its said.
Looking forward to it but I may have to pick all your brains for a while and ask all those niggling technical questions. There doesnt seem to be an awful lot of data on the internet for such a job though.
Certainly should be a challenge........ :whistle:

[Water Warrior 2]

Hi there lassie. Welcome from the GWN. Glad to have you join us here.

[alantf]

Actually, what I meant about upgrading was the licensing laws. Will you have to take another test? I'm not up to date on exactly what different tests allow. When I took mine, the only thing was that while learning you could only ride up to 250cc, but after passing the test you could ride anything. Nowadays it's more complicated, what with engine size, power to weight ratios etc. I thought that if you took your test on a 125, that's all you could ride. :)

BTW, I'm from further across Yorkshire. Born in Sheffield, then spent most of my life in the Rotherham/Doncaster area, 'til I moved out here. My missus has been at her sister's in Lincoln, for a couple of weeks. She tells me it's freezing, but she's got a streaming cold due to the central heating, then going out. Gotta go to the airport tomorrow, & pick her up. Nice to have another member from my old county. :2tup:

[Water Warrior 2]

Alantf, I am sure you can upgrade to a larger bike but it is a bit of a hassle. Something to do with age and experience involved. Still a lot better system than the more common North American idea that a 16 year old newbie can ride off on a 200 HP bike and survive to tell about it. My first bike had 8.7 HP on a good day and it always did the job required.

[Dave Dark]

Welcome Spamulaspam from Ottawa Ontario!

[Spamulaspam]

At the moment the licensing laws are... If you are over 17 years of age you can legally ride up to a 125 on learner plates after passing your CBT (compulsary bike training) which you have to renew every 2 years. If however, you decide to obtain a full bike licence you have 3 options:-
1, You can pass the "small" bike test whereby you can only ever ride up to a 125.
2, Pass the "restricted" bike test. You can only ride a bike up to 33BHP for 2 years and then can ride anything.
3, Obtain your "big" bike licence which covers you for any CC straight away (you have to be over 21)
It has got a bit complicated now over here. To obtain any of the above you have to go through 4 stages...
Before being able to ride at all you have to complete your basic training. Its a day course that teaches you the very basics of riding safely on the road. Then its on to your theory test,which is all about the theoretics of riding and includes a hazard perception test which is all completed at a test center on a computor. Then if you pass this, its on to the modular 1 test which is completed at a special test center and involves U turns, slow riding, emergency stops and swerve test and....... then, phew! if you have managed to complete all this without failing its on to the modular 2 test. Thats a on-road assessment and entails mirrors, manouvering and speed etc.
Its a bloody nightmare getting a licence over here these days and majorly expensive!

[Water Warrior 2]

Yup, that is quite complex but it is a system that works. Smaller and less powerful bikes are the best way to learn and gain skills without being overwhelmed by the sheer size and weight of a more powerful machine. Lynda chose to start on her GZ and later on upgraded to an 800 V-twin after 3 seasons. She has said that it was the best way to do things. Her Suzuki weighs in at nearly 600 pounds and could be a real handfull to a newbie with no experience.

[alantf]

Yes, things have certainly changed since I got my bike licence in 1965. Trust the british government to make it as complicated as possible. I remember when I got my PSV (bus) licence in 1981. It was just a test for single deckers or double deckers. When they put the licence on the new plastic licences, instead of the separate paper ones, they changed the vehicle types to what size trailer it could pull. Thing is, I've never seen a bus puling a trailer in England. Our American members may be surprised to know that, in keeping with English beaurocracy, as well as the plastic licence, there's also a paper licence that goes with it. :cry:

[greatmaul]

Hi and welcome from sunny California! Actually, it's kinda freezing and foggy, but we're not allowed to tell people that.

[Rookie Rider]

Welcome to the forum, ride safe !!

[Water Warrior 2]

Yes, things have certainly changed since I got my bike licence in 1965. Trust the british government to make it as complicated as possible. I remember when I got my PSV (bus) licence in 1981. It was just a test for single deckers or double deckers. When they put the licence on the new plastic licences, instead of the separate paper ones, they changed the vehicle types to what size trailer it could pull. Thing is, I've never seen a bus puling a trailer in England. Our American members may be surprised to know that, in keeping with English beaurocracy, as well as the plastic licence, there's also a paper licence that goes with it. :cry:
Must be our British Heritage but we had some of the same foolishness here. Drivers license at 16 and it qualified me to ride a bike automatically too. The only moto testing I had was in 2007 during a training course with Lynda. Better 47 years late than never. LOL. Need your bus license ? Take the road test in a Mini like I did. The only requirement was a manual transmission and a medical.
Believe it or not, at one time you could drive your own 40 foot motorhome with a car license. Gives a whole new meaning to Soccer Mom. I think this still applies.

[Spamulaspam]

Thank you everyone for such a lovely warm welcome :)

[Water Warrior 2]

Thank you everyone for such a lovely warm welcome :)
You are welcome. We do tend to get off topic most times but it only goes to show how diversified our interests and experiences are in daily living.

[T-Selwyn-Davis]

Hello fellow 125er!

A warm welcome from London!

[Spamulaspam]

Thank you everyone for such a lovely warm welcome :)
You are welcome. We do tend to get off topic most times but it only goes to show how diversified our interests and experiences are in daily living.

Thats fine with me. I love a good chin wag :)

[Way]

Welcome aboard!

Paper license, plastic license?? Yikes. Don't give our gov't any ideas, ok? :tongue:

Swapping to a 250 sounds pretty cool! Definitely going to be interesting. :2tup:

[Water Warrior 2]

Welcome aboard!

Paper license, plastic license?? Yikes. Don't give our gov't any ideas, ok? :tongue:

Swapping to a 250 sounds pretty cool! Definitely going to be interesting. :2tup:
Plastic is sometimes good. We now have a form of plastic money here that should outlast the paper money by a great margin. Funny thing is it was suppose to be extremely hard if not impossible to counterfeit and within a week the law already found a group of folks with a large amount of counterfeit $100's ready for circulation.