Motorbike - Direct Access Course

Kido

I was wondering what people's opinion of the direct access course for motorbikes is. I wasn't thinking of doing it until I read that to get a bike restricted it would cost £240 for the kit and £80 for fitting. At these prices the Direct Access course suddenly looked more appealing. Any advice is appreciated.

Tight_Git_3

My mate took a week long crash course (no pun) to get his direct access course. After stumbling accross a dirt cheap 2 year old Suzuki GS500 - restricted by the previous owner and supplied with the magic piece of paper.

Having sucessfully passed, he found that after just a couple of weeks the lack of power (about 33bhp) was a problem. Not around town but on dual carriageways etc where the bike topped out at about 80mph, making overtaking hazardous.

We took the bike apart and removed the restrictor bringing it back up to about 50bhp. Not exactly powerful, but it does make a significant difference.

With hindsight he thinks that he made the right decision, and couldn't have seen himself putting up with a restricted bike for 2 years. He honestly saw the lack of power as an extra hazard especially on the faster roads.

If you don't do direct access, shop around for the restiction kits, as some use a type of washer in the exhaust, some in the air box and some change a part in the carbs.

Finally a lot of second hand 600cc bikes and under have restrictor kits fitted already, particulary the ER-5, Bandit, GS500, CB500 etc. Just check they come with the fitting certificate to keep your insurers (and police) happy.

Honeydog

Hi,

If you haven't seen it already check out https://www.visordown.com

Lots of advice there. General section is OK but you want to check out Survival Skills for less mickey taking and more good advice.

HTH