It’s never too late to start | Plucky pensioner passes his motorcycle test at 86-years-old

An 86-year-old man has become possibly the oldest rider in the UK to pass a full motorcycle test. 

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Tony Norton had enjoyed an adventurous life pursuing motor racing and sailing, but still, he harboured a lifelong desire to pass his bike test and get out on two wheels. 

Confronted with the death of his wife of 58 years in 2019, Norton set about achieving this goal, determined that he would ‘get busy living’ and achieve his riding dream.

“I spent 16 months figuring out how to look after myself without my wife doing everything for me,” Norton told MCN. “Then I thought, what now, do I sit with an armchair with a blanket around my knees watching daytime telly? No way. 

“Occasionally people ask what’s on my bucket list. I say there’s only one thing, and this was before I even got into bikes, I want to be done for doing 100mph on my 100th birthday. 

“The first thing I did was buy a bike, a Yamaha YS125, then I realised I needed a CBT to ride it, which I passed a year later. 

“I was told to go away and buy a pushbike, which was one of the most sensible things anyone has ever told me, because I hadn’t even ridden a bicycle in 20 years and your sense of balance just goes.

“After a while riding the YS125 I realised it was too tall for me, especially as I dropped it three times and ended up in and out of the doctors having my leg fixed.”

Undeterred by these setbacks, Norton went on to pass module one of his A1 licence in November 2022, then completed module two just a few weeks later in December. 

Free from L-plates, Norton wasn’t finished yet and still maintained that he wanted to pass a larger capacity test, setting his sights on the A2 licence so he could ride his cherished Honda Rebel cruiser. 

After the short-lived ownership of a Kawasaki Z650, Norton purchased a Kawasaki Z300, which he lowered and lightened, to make the Japanese machine as manageable as possible for the slow speed manoeuvres involved in the mod 1 exam. 

Norton then passed both elements of his A2 licence, achieving his biking goal almost four years after his biking journey began.