It is important you read this page as it explains everything you need to know before attending a course

IMPORTANT PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE.

When attending a motorcycle/moped training course please remember the following:

• If you wear glasses or contact lenses, please remember to bring them. You must be able to read a car number plate at 20.5 metres.
• If you are using your own motorcycle/moped other than the one provided by Lightning Motorcycle Training please ensure that you have a current insurance certificate, a valid MoT certificate, full sized L plates front and rear, valid road fund licence (tax disc) and the vehicle is road legal and mechanically sound. If you are taking a motorcycle test then it must have a MPH speedo (no stickers or overlays) and is suitable for the test you wish to take (A1, A2 or DAS.). In short, the responsibility for ensuring that your motorcycle is suitable and eligible for Module 1 & 2 Motorcycle Tests is yours.
• Please wear suitable clothing; gloves, long trousers (must be at least denim jeans, with no rips, tears, or distress), a strong and warm jacket and boots (with ankle support made of a sturdy material – so not sneakers). A limited supply of helmets, waterproofs, and gloves are available to borrow (but only from XS – XL). If you are not properly dressed, we can’t train you.
• All balances are due on or before seven days prior to the first day of training.
• You must produce the following for all CBT courses; a valid UK full or provisional licence. If the licence is an old paper licence, then please bring photo ID (a current passport is best). If you do not bring your licence you will be turned away and will lose all your training fees – there are no exceptions. Foreign or EU licences are not acceptable or valid for training or testing.
• For all post CBT courses and the Theory Test and Module 1 & 2 Motorcycle Tests you must bring your licence, CBT certificate (DL196), Theory test pass certificate, and photographic ID (which must be a passport or a photo card driving licence). The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) will not accept anything other than an original, complete and legible UK licence – again there are no exceptions to this.
• Documents on mobile phones are not accepted.
• Please bring your confirmation letter/email.
• For CBT courses we will have sent you important information about the course content, you must read this as you will be asked questions relating to it.
• You must be able to answer the Highway Code questions and be able to speak and understand English to a reasonable level.
• For all courses (except CBT) we must have details of your Driver Number at least one week before the start of the course. We cannot organise your Theory Test or Module 1 & 2 Motorcycle Test without it and you will be liable for the fees if we are late notifying the DVSA with your details.
• Please arrive in plenty of time to allow the course to start at the correct time. If you are late the course will start without you, and in the case of most of the courses you will have lost your fees (which no one wants). See Please don’t be late!
• If you are taking a practical test, please ensure that your Driving Licence has your current address. If you have recently moved address, please write your new address details onto the licence. This is because your licence will be retained by the DVSA when you have passed your test.
• If you are using your own motorcycle, you must bring your insurance certificate with you, and have full sized L-plates fitted both front and rear. You may also need a valid MoT certificate and ensure the motorcycle is taxed. The motorcycle must also be in a road worthy condition.
• Please bring signed Terms and Conditions; the course cannot start unless we have this document signed. 16 and 17-year olds must have a parent or guardian sign the Terms and Conditions or they will be refused training.

Lightning Motorcycle Training will endeavour to make your training as safe and enjoyable as possible. However, there is always a small element of risk in connection with the use of any motor vehicle, which cannot be eliminated. Unlike a car, your instructor can have no direct control over your vehicle and ultimately it is your responsibility to ride safely. With this in mind you must comply with the following:

• Ensure that you are, and remain, fit to train. Only you know your physical and mental condition.
• You must not be over tired, injured, or suffering from any ailment, which could affect your riding.
• You must not have taken any drugs, which may affect your ability to ride.
• You must inform your instructor if there are any problems in this respect or if any occur during the day.
• You must ensure that you have adequate breaks, drinks and food and that you are properly clothed.
• Only you will know if you are fit to continue.

Do not feel pressured into anything if you are not confident. If any problems occur whilst on the road, pull over in a safe place as soon as possible. If you have any problems or concerns of any kind during training, you must bring them to the attention of your instructor. All lessons are undertaken at the trainee’s own risk.

Should you require any further advice or help please do not hesitate to give us a call. All courses are booked based on the information that you have given us; responsibility for ensuring that these details (including your licence entitlements) are correct are yours – this includes how much previous riding experience you claim to have. Full terms and conditions are available upon request.

Full Licence check list

You MUST arrive 15 minutes before the course start time to allow for registration and our booking in process. To arrive after this time is considered late and will interrupt training. If you are late you will need to re-book and pay again for this session (and test where appropriate)

Photo card driving licence (phone pictures are not acceptable)

CBT certificate (phone pictures are not acceptable) – after it is issued

Theory Test pass certificate (phone pictures are not acceptable) – after it is passed

Module 1 Test pass certificate (phone pictures are not acceptable) – after it is passed

Jeans (no rips or distressed jeans/leggings or tacksuit bottoms will be allowed) and ankle boots.

Glasses or contact lens to read a number plate at 20.5 metres

Warm clothes

Food & drink

Please note that NOT bringing the above could result in NO training and having to rebook and pay for another course.

CBT check list

You MUST arrive 15 minutes before the course start time to allow for registration and our booking in process. To arrive after this time is considered late and will interrupt training. If you are late you will need to re-book and pay again for this session (and test where appropriate)

Photo card driving licence (phone pictures are not acceptable)

You must read and know the Highway Code (you won’t complete the CBT without this knowledge)

Jeans (no rips or distressed jeans/leggings or tracksuit bottoms will be allowed) and ankle boots

You must be able to understand and speak English to a reasonable level

Glasses or contact lens to read a number plate at 20.5 metres

Warm clothes

Food & drink

CBT Courses – extra information

In addition, for all CBT courses please read the following statement to confirm that you have understood the contents:

You have paid to undertake Compulsory Basic Training. Most people complete the training course in a single day, but some students may need more time, in which case we offer further training at a reduced cost. The time scale below is a rough guide for how long you may be with us based on a single days training. Please do not make arrangements to leave before the end of the training day (normally 4:30pm for Reading, Stourbridge, Oxford & Abingdon and 5:00pm for Wembley), as although you may complete the course before then we cannot guarantee this. If you leave before the end of the training, you will not be awarded your certificate and will need to re-book for a further training session. The CBT has a series of elements that are prescribed by the DVSA, who give us the authority to conduct CBT’s. The elements and our approximate timings depend on a range of factors including the aptitude of the students, the composition of the group of learners, and even the weather.

Element A – talk about helmets & clothing, the aims of the CBT, licence & eyesight check (about 45 mins.) Element B – talk & practice with machine controls, on/off stands, wheeling the machine & use of brakes, and basic daily/weekly machine checks (about 45 mins.) Element C – pulling away, stopping & starting, gear changing (where applicable), slow control, emergency stops and left & right turns (about 2 hours) Element D – talk about road safety, use of speed, highway code, attitude & behaviour, weather and road conditions. (about 45 mins.) Element E – on road riding with instruction (a legal minimum of 2 hours)

Currently CBT’s are run at a ratio of three students to one instructor for Novice courses and four to one for Experienced/Renewal courses. To complete the CBT course, you will need to have road-based training for at least 2 hours (Element E). If at any stage, it becomes clear that you not going to be safe on the road then you will be asked to come back another day and the training will cease. What is most important is your safety. It is not possible for the instructor to carry on training both students, which means if one is not going on the road, they will miss the last 2 hours of the day. This reflected in the charge for coming back for a second day of training, which is reduced to £135.00. The amount of training that people need varies enormously in much the same way that some people need 10 car lessons to pass their test and others need 30 or more. This is then obviously reflected in the amount that they pay. You will be asked to confirm that you understand that in the event you do not complete the CBT in one day then you may well finish training early and that you understand how the CBT process works. This does not mean you will get less than you paid for!

Suitable Clothing

DVSA is reminding learner motorcyclists to wear suitable clothing when they take their Module 1 and 2 motorcycle tests. While most motorcycle trainers encourage their pupils to wear the best protective motorcycle gear that they can afford, some candidates aren’t following this advice. DVSA doesn’t want to restrict candidates to wearing the most expensive protective motorcycle clothing. However, DVSA’s examiners won’t ignore or condone riding a motorcycle or scooter while wearing unsuitable clothing. Tests won’t go ahead if you are inappropriately dressed. From 1 July 2011, examiners might tell you that your test won’t go ahead if you arrive inappropriately dressed. However, where possible, examiners will give you the chance to find suitable clothing within the time available. DVSA won’t pay out-of-pocket expenses if your test is cancelled because of inappropriate clothing.

Guide to suitable clothing

As a general guide the following is an indication of the minimum level of clothing acceptable:

• Motorcycle boots
• Sturdy footwear or boots that provide support and ankle protection
• Textile or leather motorcycle trousers
• Heavy denim trousers
• Heavy denim jacket with several layers underneath
• Textile or leather motorcycle jacket
• Motorcycle gloves

The following are examples of clothing that are not acceptable:

• Lightweight training shoes
• Canvas basketball trainers
• Any form of clothing with areas of exposed skin
• Shell suit or lightweight track suit
• Distressed ripped jeans
• Lightweight fleece or hoody
• No gloves or skiing gloves

In all cases it’s a legal requirement that riders wear an approved and correctly fastened motorcycle helmet,* with suitable eye protection (*an exception is made for members of the Sikh religion wearing a turban).

More advice and guidance

Clothing is one of the subjects covered in Element A of Compulsory Basic Training (CBT). Further advice and guidance for candidates on the right clothing to wear can be found:

In the official “DVSA guide to learning to ride”

In the official “DVSA guide to riding – the essential skills”

On the www.direct.gov.uk website

Sickness, Lateness or Bereavement

Further to the DVSA’s change of policy in June 2011 being ill, late, bereaved or delayed by traffic will no longer qualify a student for a free retest. We acknowledge that the DVSA policy is extremely onerous, but we are not in a position to influence it. Where we take candidates to test we will give adequate time to reach the test centre based on our experience of normally attending the test centre. We will do everything possible to get you to the test on time but if there is an unforeseeable accident/delay then unfortunately the cost of a re-test will fall on the student.

Guaranteed Tuition Policy

It is the policy of Lightning Motorcycle Training to ensure that we fulfil our duty of care.

As such we require that students do at least one session of training prior to one test session. For example, a student must do a Mod 1 Training Session before they can take a Mod 1 Test Session & Module 1 Test.

Should a student not pass a Module 1 or Module 2 Test then they can re-book another test session. However, this is limited to a period inside three months of the student’s last day of training. So, if the last day of training was the 1^st June, they would not be able to re-book another test session with taking a training session after the 31^st August.

This policy also applies to CBT training where the student can benefit from further training at a reduced day rate if they do not complete the CBT in one day. After three months the student will be required to re-take the entire CBT at the normal price.