These days, Honda may be accused of blandness, of a lack of corporate panache. “Big Red Ain’t What It Used To Be,” proclaims the misty-eyed former owner of a CBX1300. But Honda has always done one thing better than just about any other OEM: They’ve made life easy for new riders. That continues into 2024 with changes to the Honda School Of Motorcycling’s New Rider Programme, an all-in-one solution for the beginner—as long as that beginner lives in the UK.

Under the New Rider Programme (please forgive the Brits their spelling), we see riders offered what they need (training, gear and a new bike) for a modest up-front fee, followed by a variable monthly fee, with another chunk of cash required at the end of three years’ time if you want to keep the bike.

The New Rider Programme website lays out the details here. Note that some of these numbers will vary, based on which bike you choose. The site displays a CB750 Hornet at a cost of £7,299 (about $9,200 USD). To participate, the rider must pay £1,643.55 up-front, or about $2,100 USD. From there, they have 36 monthly payments of £89 (about $110 USD). Then, when three years are up, they can pay £3,837.86, or about $4,900 USD, to keep the bike.

Maybe not a screaming deal, but they are sums that most riders can at least imagine themselves managing; of course, the price would drop if you were on a smaller bike.

The New Rider Programme also offers the option of baking training and riding gear into the cost, for £1,400 (roughly $1,800 USD). That requires no additional up-front payment; instead, that cost can be also spread over 36 months at £44.83 a month, or almost $60 USD.

A rider could get outfitted with gear, a reasonably fast bike and training for about $170 a month, then, with payments of of $2,100 to start and $4,900 if they wish to keep their machine at the end. Maybe this would make financial sense for some, and it wouldn’t for others (there is a mileage limit!). However, I will say that whether or not the numbers make sense, I can certainly imagine that many new riders will look at the costs and find them reasonably attractive. Could a new, similar program work, with training and gear included, to boost moto sales in the US? Or do existing payment and training programs (some OEMs already do offer attractive deals to new riders) already cover this?