Hi,

There is a very helpful thread on here regarding motorbike tests etc. I have been wanting to get my motorbike licence for years and, now I've moved to Switzerland, I'm going to try and get on with it. I am getting my UK driver licence transferred currently.

However, one question which I may have missed: I have not taken a motorbike theory test. Do you need this in Switzerland? If so, how do you take it if your German is really quite poor? Can you take it in England and then do all the practical stuff here?

No-one seems to have mentioned the theory in the thread but sorry if I missed it somewhere along the way!

Cheers

Please update your profile. Good luck with the test, it is worth it

If / when you transfer your UK drivers license to one from CH, you then will not have to take the theory test fopr the bike. That works only when you have a valid CH drivers license. If you do not transfer your UK to CH, then you will have to take the theory.

Good luck,

Thank you, I will update my profile. so evev though I have never even taken a cbt or anything, simply transferring my licence from uk to ch means I will not need to take any sort of written exam? it sounds like there's a catch...!

Have found a teacher in horgen who speaks English so here goes...!

Here is how I did it.
I transfered my American drivers license to CH license. When I did my motor bike test, I only has to do the driving part and nothing else. Hope this is still the practice (I did it in 1991).

Good luck,

Did they have motorbikes back then?!!

Well, no, because anyone knowing their stuff realises that by then the era of cool motorbikes was already over. I can still get all sentimental when thinking about my cool 1981 moto guzzi lm3 or my 1979 suzuki GS 750. This was also the era of the introduction of the CBX 1000 and the Z1300... sigh... Now I would settle for a brand spanking new suzuki GS 1000 I once test-drove an old one in very bad condition (didn't buy it ) I still remember the adrenalin surge just from starting this bike, the sound from the gurgle through the 4 open carbs and the 'modified' 4-in-1 Marshall exhaust. These bikes had a certain purity and raw-ness you don't find anymore. Maybe this evening I'll watch Mad Max again....

__________________
Happiness is a full tank of gas (or better yet, diesel !)

Yup they did. They had the left overs from WW2

Ha! Does purity and rawness translate from un-reliable, over-weight, very bad brakes with the handling of an angry Rhino?

The last GS1000 I rode made me very glad that the 1000cc bikes of today have race-derivative brakes, handling and weight combined with the digital reliability of Japan's latest electronics.

It's no wonder that bikes were considered so dangerous back then. Anyone who ever owned an old V-Max or Kettle will will know what I mean. Having said that, these were the bikes which inspired me as a child and encouraged the manufacturers to try harder:...

Well, back in the days I could scrape the exhaust of my GS750 when cornering, I never noticed anything wrong with the handling. Same goes for the footpegs of my moto guzzi.

We just had bigger b#lls than the current generation of motorcyclists.

Plus we knew how to fix our own bikes I still remember one day on the guzzi, I was 150 km from home. After a fill-up I parked it on the side stand. It was dripping gas from inbetween the cilinder and the cilinder head I figured, it ran ok for the last 1000km so why start worrying ? The bike made it home OK (after a wonderful session through the Arden mountains). Later when I had to replace the exhaust valves (had a hole in it) I found the cilinder head on that side was only finger tight Wonderful machine it was, this moto guzzi. Still regret selling it when I moved to CH but it would have never passed the strassenverkehrsamt tests....

__________________
Happiness is a full tank of gas (or better yet, diesel !)

A completely unemotional post from someone who started motorcycling this year : If you have a valid CH car license, you will still not need to do any written test. (Be sure to study the Swiss rules anyway, as you would otherwise have a good chance of failing the practical test...)

Brave talk from a tassle tractor owner ....

Oh... I see... wrong model?

Thanks for all the advice and the left-turn on the topic...lol!

I have one further question. Things are all progressing; got my eye test and forms stamped yesterday and am booked in with an English speaking instructor in a couple weeks.

However, I dont have a bike. Whats the deal with having a bike and riding on L plates while learning? I've heard rumour on here that you can buy a bigger bike and ride it on L plates?

I'm looking at getting one of the 'new' Royal Enfield Bullet classics (500cc - I'm a retro-head not a speed freak and always preferred the look of these bikes or the Triumph T100s). But model aside, could I ride a bike larger than 125cc while learning? Assuming that I get all the paperwork through for my provisional licence etc etc...

Cheers

Yes, if you're over 18 you can ride a bike up to 25 kW, irrespective of engine size. These are usually down-tuned 600 cc bikes. Over 25 you can directly go to the league of crotch rockets and ocean liners. As I mentioned elsewhere, see here for details: http://www.motorradausweis.ch/
Good luck!

simple answer: You will need a bike of the exact category of your Lernfahrerausweis. So if you do the 125cc test, you will need a 125cc bike. If you do the "A limited" or whatever it is called, the bike needs to have an engine larger than 125 cc and I believe certain minimum power and not more that the 24(?) kw.

I do the unlimited test, so I needed a bike with more than 35kw/48hp...

Christ on a stick, is that thing even capable of being steered? Is that some Photoshop mongerage?

This is the NSU "Kettenrad" propelled by an Opel engine. It sure does run and was used by the Wehrmacht.
The bunker museum in Reuenthal/Aargau used to have one on display.