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Motorcycle News & Local Weather
Test Fees to Rise Again?
The Driving Standards Agency is considering a
further increase to the Practical Motorcycle Test Fee in the new year from
the current price of £60 to £80, raising the cost of being tested by a
third. Insiders in the industry are not surprised by this move as it has
been widely speculated that a series of test fee increases would be brought
in on the run up to the changes in the practical motorcycle test
coming in next October. The move is likely to lead to criticism that this
increase, and those before it, have been brought in to make any October 2008
increase seem less dramatic, rather than a reaction to any rising costs of
administering the current test.
Theory Test Changes
The Motorcycle (and Car) Theory Test has
changed. From 3rd September 2007 the number of multiple choice questions
has increased from 35 to 50. The pass mark increased from it's former
level, (30 out of 35) to 43 out of 50 (as a percentage this remains roughly
the same at 86%). The fee increased by £7 for tests taken on or
after 3rd September this year.
The hazard perception part of the test is
remains unchanged.
Click here
to find out more about the motorcycle theory test...
New Motorcycle Test
A new practical motorcycle test is to
be introduced in 2008.
The
new test will be in two parts. The set exercises will be tested on
off-road sites at new Multi Purpose Test Centres
(MPTC) to be built. Then the accompanied road riding element will
follow. The
new test includes some additional special manoeuvres for riders
including wheeling the machine backwards into a cone 'garage', a slalom and a figure of
eight, and two higher speed manoeuvres including an avoidance manoeuvre
and a higher speed
emergency stop.
Click
Here to read about it...
DSA 'We won't be ready'
Updated!
Having already missed its Secretary of State target for multi purpose
test centres
there's more bad news from The Driving
Standards Agency.
The latest from the DSA is that they now
admit that they will fall short of the 65 centres they were hoping to have
opened by October 2008. The actual figure is likely to be nearer 45, or
less. This is due to difficulties and delays in obtaining planning
permission with many areas encountering strong local opposition to their
plans. To make matters worse they now seem to have shelved contingency plans
to bridge the gap in the short-term through hiring temporary sites. A lack
of suitable sites, and safety concerns over the quality of tarmac surfaces
needed for the higher-speed manoeuvres, have been given as reasons.
In order to provide off-road motorcycle test
facilities for the New Motorcycle
Test the DSA was aiming to have 20 of the new
multi
purpose test centres (MPTCs) operational by the end of March 2007, only
12 were operational by this date, (60% of target). The agency is aiming for
around 65 centres to be built in total. It is thought difficulties in
acquiring suitable sites due to pressure for new houses together with
planning problems may have contributed to the delays.
So far only 12 of these
new test
centres have been built, these include Gloucester, Ipswich, Newport, Shrewsbury,
Leicester, Rotherham, Gateshead, Exeter, Darlington, Hull and
Enfield.
Further centres are at various stages of building and commissioning
in Peterborough, St Helen's, Chester and, for our area, Herne Bay.
The final location of many of the planned sites is still
unknown, although the general areas which the DSA and their agents
Lambert Smith Hampton are searching have been published. In our area
we now know that an MPTC is under construction in Herne Bay whilst
the search continues in the Gillingham and Hastings areas.
Construction of the
Herne Bay MPTC was delayed recently after having to call in archaeologists
to check some interesting artefacts they began to uncover! It is now
back under-way but the delay means it may only just open in time for the new
test.
The DSA describes as 'good progress'
the acquisition of just 22 sites so far out of a total requirement of 65.
Less than 50% of the total with around a year until they are needed would
not count as a success by many people's reckoning!
Motorcycle training organisations are concerned
that in many areas sites have still yet to be identified, and delays in
getting the centres operational could cause those areas to be without motorcycle
test centres when the new bike test comes in force in October 2008 to comply
with EU requirements.
For more information about the new
motorcycle test in 2008 click here...
To check on current DSA progress in building
the new Multi Purpose Test Centres click
here...
Updated 02/12/07
You can view the Draft Consultation Document
here.
DEXTERITY MOTORCYCLE TRAINING APPOINTED AS SUZUKI
PARTNER
Dexterity Motorcycle Training have been appointed as
an official ‘Suzuki Selected’ training partner for the Ashford area.
A new initiative established by Suzuki GB, to help non licence holders
get a full motorcycle licence in an easy and safe manner, ‘Suzuki Selected’
training bodies work in conjunction with the local Suzuki dealer, offering a
complete training solution for customers.
Suzuki GB marketing manager, Paul de Lusignan commented, "We are
delighted to welcome Dexterity Motorcycle Training to our ‘Suzuki Select’
scheme. Aside from offering customers a simple solution to obtaining a
motorcycle licence, we are also able to offer successful participants fully
comprehensive insurance on selected brand-new Suzuki models for just £99".
For more information on obtaining your motorcycle licence before the new
test comes into force in 2008, visit Dexterity
Motorcycle Training in Ashford, or your local authorised Suzuki dealer:
Alford Brothers
based in Folkestone, Kent.
Note: The £99 Insurance offer is available on
the SV650/S, GSF650/SA, DL650T/GT or GSR600/S, within 90 days of successful
completion of a DAS motorcycle test before 31st December 2007.
Insurance conditions apply.
This offer CAN be used in conjunction
with any other offer available at the time - making this a truly great deal.
Lee Street Gets that Winning Feeling!
Grasstrack racer Lee, sponsored by Dexterity Motorcycle
Training, had a great 2007 season!
Lee Street won all of
his 2007 races except one, however the one he failed to finish was in the
crucial final championship heats and so he finished an overall 9th. But you can
be sure this has fired him up and he'll be back in 2008 to compete again!
Dexterity Motorcycle Training are proud to continue their association with Lee
and will be continuing to sponsor him in his 2008 season.
If you've never
watched Grasstrack Racing be sure to try to get to at least one of the events in
2008. It's fast, furious and right in front of you! The riders and the paddock
are accessible so you can meet them afterwards, or just wander through the
paddock and see what goes on behind the scenes.
Find out more about Grasstrack racing
here.
Full results
here.
Dexterity Motorcycle Training
were pleased to sponsor Lee Street in 2007.
Quote from
www.sidecarspeedway.com
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'250cc Solos went to the man of the class this season (2006), Lee Street.
Winning all his races and the final as he liked. Surely on this form he will be
hard to stop from winning this year's British Championship.'
 
250cc Solo
2006 Best Pairs Grass Track Championship
Lee Street (left)
Chris Still
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TICKET TO
RIDE FOR KENT
SINGER-SONGWRITER’S
AMERICA CHALLENGE
Kent
Businesses ‘Dexterity Motorcycle Training’ and
‘Robinsons Foundry’
Get Behind Julia’s 4000-mile America tour
Julia Jones had never climbed onto a motorcycle until she
was persuaded by some of her music fans in San Francisco during her 2006
tour. Jones says ‘I climbed onto the back of this amazing looking Harley
Davidson after our show and suddenly we were zipping through the streets of
San Francisco at 1.00am. From that moment I was hooked’.
Julia has been touring America with her band since 2005
with the support of UK brands including Virgin, Bass, and EMI promoting
British music using her pimped-out double-decker bus. The event is called
The BritBus Tour and was developed by Julia after she completed her MBA
degree at UKC in 2001. After hearing of her new-found passion for
motorbikes, Triumph motorcycles in the USA offered Julia a Triumph
Bonneville with a Union Jack gas tank to ride across America with the
double-decker bus during her 10-week 2007 tour.
Julia says,
‘It was fantastic news to hear the
offer from Triumph but without a licence and riding experience I felt that I
couldn’t accept’.
Fortunately local Kent businesses heard of the news and
offered a helping hand. Dexterity Motorcycle Training based in Ashford
stepped forward to sponsor Julia’s motorcycle training. In addition local
dealership
Robinsons
Foundry in Canterbury and their riders clubs contacted
Julia and offered to provide an identical Triumph Bonneville for Julia to
get used to riding on the roads of Kent before hitting the road in the USA.
 
The fantastic support from Dexterity and Robinson’s
Foundry will enable Julia to not only ride across America but also enable
her to use the motorcycle to attract more media attention during her 2007
tour. The motorcycle will be given away to a prize-winner in the USA when
she reaches her final destination in New York.
Kent bands can win the chance of joining Julia at her final show in New
York by visiting the
www.thebritbustour.com website. This years tour kicks off from Los
Angeles in April.
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Photos
by Ben Jones.
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Read all about it! Dexterity Motorcycle Training in the newspapers. |
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The Mayor of Ashford officially opens our training school. |
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The Mayor tries out one of our bikes! |
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The Mayor & Mayoress and representatives from The Towers School at our official launch event. |
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© 2007
Dexterity Motorcycle Training LLP
  
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(01233)
621 536
