From about 1960 in the UK new learner laws were introduced restricting learner(new)riders to 250cc with a minimum age of 16. Once you’d past your motorcycle driving test you could ride any cc machine irrespective of your age. In 1971 the age was raised to 17 but 16 year olds could ride 49cc mopeds. 1977 and mopeds were restricted to 30mph. In the early 80’s a two part test was introduced. By the mid 60’s many of the Jap 250 bikes,especially the 2strokes were more that a match for many a 500cc British bike.
It was December 1971 when the sixteener law came in and I believe you could strap a chair to your 650 bonnie and ride that at 17 as long as you had L plates on it. But I may have made that up as the greyness is taking over.
Got a better picture than this somewhere but Norton with sidecar and box fettled from dead aunt's wardrobe (cut out the mirror section and join the two sides - stainless telescopic aerial at the rear to complete the image). Door used to flap about like billy oh . Beautiful bike - wish I had it now. About 1978/79 in Suffolk (Cockfield).
By the late 70's pretty much all the Jap 250's were more than a match for even bigger British bikes, I remember pulling into a pub frequented by guys on British bikes on my GT250 Suzuki. They made it quite clear that 'Jap Crap' wasn't welcome there, being a gobshite nipper I gave them some smart arse remark what then ensued was them running me out of town , fortunately for me they couldn't catch me!
My first 'bike' was a scooter of some sort, either a Vespa or a Lambretta, I bought it to strip down and thrash around the hills, took me and my mates a couple of hours to burn the clutch out. My first real bike was an XL125s bought new in '81, it was a great little bike to ride around the local forestry tacks and to pass my test on.
My first bike, legally, on the road, was a Honda MB-5 like the one below. What a beast! It seized on me one night in the pouring rain and spat me off so I ended up rebuilding it with a 70cc big bore kit and it’d do nearly 70 after that
That's right MarkyMcMarkFace, you could ride upto 250cc solo or 650cc with sidecar which is what I exploited. The horses were a lot less then. Bits fell off and every bike left a skid patch of oil for the following vehicle. Bloody great it was.
I really think England has the right idea where young bikers are concerned. Here a 16 year old with a drivers license can take a two day course, pass the test and ride whatever he likes. Some can handle it, some can't.
As well as the 250cc learner limit, I bet many of a certain age recall riders without a full car licence but with a full bike licence would buy a Reliant 3 wheeler for the winter months. We had a Reliant dealer close by where we lived in the early 80's. Anyone remember Michaels of Selby? I bought a very tidy RD400 off him that he'd had traded in for a Plastic pig. I only paid about £250 for it. He offered me a Z900 a few months later, again a P/x against a Reliant and it was cheap as chips, but I couldn't afford it as I'd just got married and bought our first house. Anyone remember those cantilever sidecars which they used to make to get around the 250 law. I think they were called sidewinders?
The Honda 90 sports was my fist work transport at the tender age of 15 it was reliable ....then i got the Enfield and was often late... i remember one day at the weekend i was parked in the pub car park by the station in Rye east Sussex (lived three miles outside) and the dam thing spat back through the carb and caught the whole thing alight so shot around the corner to the fire station but by the time i got back it had gone out luckily and just had a burnt out wiring harness to deal with. There are more stories mainly because of Joe Lucas prince of darkness.
If you only had a motorcycle licens the Reliant couldn’t have a reverse gear(blanked off). . That went for any 3 wheeler, sidecar,Reliant,Bubble Car etc. If the reverse gear was available you needed a car license.
cant help it loved this bike think i paid £499 from fowlers of bristol at the time 3 of my mates had cb250s they never stood a chance
A good few bikes later in my early 20s and my fishing bike...had to watch out on bends or my rod bag got mullered my mate also couldn't take decent pics.
and then some wag came up with a tilting lightweight sidecar to get around the later 81 law change. The sidewinder. See https://www.pressreader.com/uk/practical-sportsbikes-uk/20160316/282239484736301 for info if anyone is interested.....
