Indeed, to add to the above: in Italy (and probably Spain) you can ride a 50cc bike at 14 yrs old with no/minimal licence/test requirements, combine that with needing to be 18 to drive a car, plus the better weather and most 14-17 yr. old kids will have ridden a bike for that 4 years where they could have personal transport/independence. Contrast that to the 16 for a bike/17 for a car and we would only 'need' a bike for a year and of that year, for at least 5 months the weather is crap so, not much of a priority for most.
Dukedesmo I can confirm for Italy. A minimal license with a 30-question test for 14yo. True or False, pretty basic road rules.
Tommy bridewell is likely to become bsb champion this year. And he wants 3 wildcards in wsb next year. We’re so far behind it’s untrue lol (as others have said). Probably even behind countries like turkey. The vision track team is a decent starter for 10 though.
I lived there in the late '70s and, back then there were no licensing requirements, no compulsory insurance, no helmet law, only a 1,500 lire P.A. road tax (around £1 at the time), that most considered 'optional'. Pretty much everyone of my friends rode a bike during their teenage years and many went on after 18 so, given how many people are 'bike aware' it's no wonder there are more top racers. The actual proper bike test was pretty much as you describe though, IIRC less than 30 questions but with no actual riding involved, they did have an age 'graduation' for engine capacity though (16yrs -125cc, 18yrs - 350cc & 21yrs - 350cc+). Happy days eh...
If you live in the ‘correct’ postcodes in the UK you can ride pretty much anything as a yoof. No need for tests paper or otherwise where I live, all you require is a bike, fuel and that must have balaclava in place of a crash helmet…….
The under 30's are a minority in the Uk motorbiking population which is a tiny minority in itself. Cost and climate are the major factors for lack of interest. No Motorbikes on the BBC - probably cos Claire Balding knows F**k All about it so they don't want to know. Then again, from her inane ramblings on tennis and anything else they give her to do, she knows Sweet FA about anything but Horses.
And the under thirties are mainly obsessed with cycling. In the main there is little interest in motorbikes.Look at the people who live around you and generally there will be cyclists galore but very few bikers.The result of this is that the UK does well in competitive cycling but very few potential Barry Sheens in evidence.
There are 5 or 6 bikers in a hundred years stretch down my street, and one around the corner. However, that is anomalous and motorcyclists are very much a minority and (as per my previous post) low down on the food chain as road users.
True. 125cc for 16yo and 250cc for 18yo. At the time these machine were flying like rockets (aprilia rs era). Add the fact nobody keep them OEM... also scooters were rocket fast with Polini or Malossi Kits, pushing these little toy up to +130km/h (by law they should be limited to 45km/h). Beautiful and dangerous time at the same time.
Which wasn’t always so back in Sheen era, you could count on one hand the amount of British competitors who had ridden in LeTour.
What’s stopping someone from starting a Brit riders academy like the Italians and Turkish riders have? Where they all train and ride (and learn from each other) together?
IMO, you don’t have a figurehead in the UK with the media clout of a Vale, Toprak, JackAss or Colin Edwards and the hard fact is there’s no sponsorship money if it’s not football related. Your other problem is the NIMBYs. Andy
It’s a shame you used to see the likes of the lowes brothers and Haslam etc training together on dirt bikes, don’t see why someone like Hodgson doesn’t get them all together – even if it was simply a pre season training camp in Spain to begin with …sure he has the clout to pull it off. I would imagine someone like Ogden would benefit hugely from training alongside the likes of Rea, Redding, Dixon the road racing crew like Hickman etc... Whether there'd be too many egos in one room is anyones guess though.
