My journey learning to ride a motorcycle. . .

[XLBaconDoubleCheese]

That is true. Sticking a set of crash bars on the 500 would make a pretty solid starter.

CB500 would be a doddle to move on when you want to sell.

 

That's 13yr old so is might need forks and shock rebuilt.

 

CB500 is pretty low. I'm a shortarse and had no bother getting my feel on the floor with it. If you're lanky you might feel a bit cramped. You might find a trail bike more comfortable.

 

Yeah my Uncle said he reckons new rear shocks would be a good idea, as said I'm a big old boy so I've spotted some Hagon shocks that seem to be decent and adjustable. I'm going to see it Sunday so if it's comfortable I'll have. Been chatting to a mate, reckon we can get it serviced, tyres, shocks, new battery and the bike itself for less than £1000. Looking about it's easy worth that and a bit more so if I use it for a few months and get bored/want something quicker then I'll just flog it on and put the money towards something else. Gotta be worth a go! I'll take pictures Sunday and update! 

[grr666]

 Did Brimma or Pasty own it at some point?

[XLBaconDoubleCheese]

That thought crossed my mind

[XLBaconDoubleCheese]

Theory booked for the 24th! Having to go to Luton as my local one was booked up for nearly a month. 30 min drive away but no biggy. Might get my brother to take me on his bike now I have the gear, saves parking Practiced a hazard perception, failed the first one :( but passed the second and third. I guess it took me a bit of getting back into it. I was half watching loose women at the time too. the questions part, I've done 2 tests and got 3 our of 100 questions wrong so possibly wont bother buying a book to revise. 

 

Blagged saturday off work so arranged to go see the CB then, see how I fit on it. 

[XLBaconDoubleCheese]

Little update. Took a run down to my Uncles yesterday morning. Took the bike for a little spin and have agreed to buy it. Didnt feel too small, I got a little cramp when I first got on although I think thats down to not being on a bike for a while, had the same on my CBT and it soon went. Nice comfortable position, can ride fairly upright or hunch down a bit, there was even room for my brother on the back.

 

 

 

For what is a basic commuter bike it's quite nice looking, basic clocks and setup but perfect for a first bike. It does need a fair few bits doing, the following list has been compiled; 

 

Rear brake works but sticks down when used so has to be lifted back up with foot

Pair of tyres

My uncle thinks the forks are a bit naff, no leaks of anything but he said when he compressed them to put on trailer they took ages to raise back up

Service and battery

MOT & Tax

Chain needs lubing/adjusting or possibley replacing

Rear shocks are fine but they seem to be replaced often by CB owners for Hagon adjustable ones. I'll maybe see how they go first. 

 

So, a fair few bits to sort but nothing major, engine starts, idles and runs lovely, only used first 3 gears but changes spot on. Body work and wheels look nice, bit of a dink on the tank but no broken paint. Going to get a van maybe later this week and go pick it up. My Uncle has got a haynes manual for it, my mate has done a few bits on his bike (CBR600) so we are going to clear some space in the garage and give it a bash, see how we get on. The only bits that might be a pain are the forks if they need work and sorting the rear brake. Saying that, if a bit of lube and adjustment doesnt help the issue a whole caliper is less than £30 on ebay. It's easy to get carried away and start looking at other bits, maybe once it's on the road a exhaust might be added & some slightly higher bars. I've worked out a rough price if everyting is worse case senario of £500 ish to get it on the road, so with the bike it'll have cost me less than a grand. I'll update as and when things happen along the way. Off to look at van hire now........

 

Cheers

Edited 10 June, 2014 by matt1chelski

[CFB]

That's not too bad a list.

Rear brake... Lever pivot gets cruddy and corrosion as it's right by the rear wheel. Whip the lever off, rub the carp off with wet n dry or similar, regrease.

It could be sticking master cylinder or caliper but start with the easy fix first.

Chain... It's hard to tell from the pics but it looks like there is a fair amount of adjustment left. Chain could still be knackered though.

Easy test, slacken the adjusters right off and push the wheel as far forward as you can so chain is slack.

Take the centre of the bottom run and push it side to side. A new chain will only bend sideways a tiny amount. A shagged chain will probably move about 1/2" or more either way.

Check both sprockets for hooked teeth and always change chain and both sprockets at the same time.

Worn sprockets will screw a new chain very quickly.

Front forks... If they have been strapped down for a while they will take a while to come up as the oil is cold and thick.

I would start with an oil change. Easy to do but, no offence meant, due to your size you might want to put a little more oil in than specified to firm the forks up a bit. It's the only way to tweak them as they are non adjustable, apart from a spring change which I wouldn't bother with.

[Ben90]

That's a tidy bit of bike for less than a grand, and the work that needs doing will be your chance to get to know the bike while you aren't riding it. I've spent more time tinkering with mine than riding it and that's half down to the crappy weather, half the fact they're so easy to just walk into the garage one evening and work on undercover. It's nice to have some time to get it just how you want it so when the nice weather comes you can have a blast, I'm certainly looking forward to that.

 

Enjoy!

[Aspman]

Looks tidy and well worth doing up.

[grr666]

Phase one of my journey complete. 

Motorcycle theory test and hazard perception passed today. 

Scored 47/50 for the theory test. (Minimum mark to pass is 43 (86%), so not a hugely generous margin)

Incorrectly answered 3 questions.

It didn't specify the questions but just the areas they were in so lost a point

for answering wrongly in 'Safety margins', 'Vehicle/motorcycle handling' and 'Road and traffic signs'.

 

I know the road sign one that caught me out I couldn't for the life of me remember which of these

was no stopping and which was no waiting and had to identify which was which....

I had a 50 50 chance on that one and was unlucky. Sod it! 

 

There was one about physically handling a bike that I wasn't certain of regarding whether 

or not holding the front brake when mounting and dismounting was something necessary.

I answered no but in all fairness haven't swung my leg over a motorcycle for 20 odd years.

I think in hindsight I should have answered yes it was beneficial to hold the front brake on.

 

I'm not sure what the safety margins one was about, but it matters not because 94%

is a comfortable pass. Not bad for a first attempt. There was no theory test back in 92

when I got my car licence, just a few highway code questions at the end.

The theory element was much much greater when I did my PCV test, but I also had to 

be able to answer verbatim about what type of buses were what and other bus type

specific info. And RAPID FIRE highway code scenario questions and road sign identification.

Believe me,  I did study very hard for my PCV test and a fair bit must have sunk in over the

years as this test wasn't nearly as difficult as I was expecting 

 

As for the Hazard perception section. This was quite an eye opener. I honestly thought 

the picture quality wasn't nearly as good as my actual vision so that hindered me a bit. 

Even with my reading glasses on, and it didn't simulate peripheral vision well so that could 

be improved upon to make it more realistic too.

And I've never done one of these style tests before, they hadn't been dreamt up by the time 

I'd started collecting my licences.

On this section I scored 65/75 (or 86.666%)

 

On the double hazard clip I scored 8/10

On 7 clips I scored the maximum 5 points.

On 4 clips I scored 4/5 and on 2 clips I scored 3/5 

This test took about 20 mins in all to do as I read all the screens 

to be sure of what I was doing with the clicker.

 

To be fair to myself, I hadn't revised at all and completed the theory test in under 10 minutes so I won't beat myself

up about it. My only aim was to pass. By however slim a margin was irrelevant to me.  

The minimum standard has been comfortably achieved. Ringing tomorrow to get CBT booked up.

It's already paid for. I have a voucher. 

I've got lid, gloves, jackets, boots all ready to go. 

Hope it stays dry

Any updates your end Matt?

[seboni121]

Aldi now have loads of motorcycle stuff in

[seboni121]

Remember boys n girls all you who are about to get on two wheels all the cars on the road are trying to kill you ! , when I started riding may moons ago that's what my friend told me , just before he was killed by a friggin tractor pulling out of a field , so please be very careful and live long and prosper, I wouldn't be allowed on a bike again by the swmbo and to be honest I wouldn't like to get back on either, there are to many idiots in cars ! These are my tips for a happy ride

1 stay away from painted lines

2 stay away from road furniture ( metal stuff in roads ) grids n stuff

3 pull towards the centre of the road at a junction or farmyard entrance

4 you have aright to be on the road so don't hug the kerb stay in the middle of the road ( your side ) as that's where you can come a cropper

[CFB]

Well done!

The no waiting sign is the single line big one, the no stopping is the cross.

Using the front brake when handling a bike IS beneficial.

Pushing downhill and when taking the bike off the main stand to stop the stand crashing on its stop.

Don't worry, you'll get plenty of practise on the CBT

[Aspman]

Remember boys n girls all you who are about to get on two wheels all the cars on the road are trying to kill you ! , when I started riding may moons ago that's what my friend told me , just before he was killed by a friggin tractor pulling out of a field , so please be very careful and live long and prosper, I wouldn't be allowed on a bike again by the swmbo and to be honest I wouldn't like to get back on either, there are to many idiots in cars ! These are my tips for a happy ride

1 stay away from painted lines

2 stay away from road furniture ( metal stuff in roads ) grids n stuff

3 pull towards the centre of the road at a junction or farmyard entrance

4 you have aright to be on the road so don't hug the kerb stay in the middle of the road ( your side ) as that's where you can come a cropper

 

1&2 As my first bike instructor said to to me, "if it's shiny, it's slidey so stay the f^k away from it".

 

He was missing a heel on one foot from not doing a lifesaver when turning right off a main road. Guy passing the line of parked cars didn't see him and SMIDSY.

[XLBaconDoubleCheese]

Totally forgot to update this, passed theory last month. I'm waiting for some money to arrive, once it's here (hopefully next week) then I'll be booking the lessons and tests asap. Thanks for the head up on bike gear, need a lid and gloves still, plus might get some new trousers. 

[grr666]

Well that was fun. Was going to start a thread of my own on this but I'm sure Matt 

won't mind if I catalogue my bike licence journey here in his thread. 

I did my CBT today, was a little bit anxious about doing it after 21 years on four or more 

wheels but it's true what they say. It's like riding a bike :p

 

I did my training with a local franchise of a bigger company called Phoenix.

Mrs G bought me a CBTvoucher for a Christmas gift.

When I met Paul my instructor, I was surprised to see

that I was his only student for the day, this of course meant I got lots of practical

training, one on one tuition and no hanging about for overly wobbly novices.

Really got my moneys worth so to speak.   

 

First we did the classroom bit, but didn't linger there for long, just covered the basics

as I have already obtained the theory certificate. Seemed daft to waste time telling 

me about a test I had already passed. 

Then we had a quick chat about kit, I've already bought the whole lot bar a couple

of bits so didn't have to wear the communal stuff. Paul could see from the gear I

already have bought that I know the difference between decent gear and not.

And obviously the importance of wearing proper kit isn't lost on me either.

He was quite impressed with my lid, so here's a couple of gratuitous helmet shots.

 

 

 

 

Did the first basic elements of bike control (More or less the part 1 test actually)

on a little Yamaha 125, which came back to me very quickly if I'm honest. 

 

The instructor was more than pleased and quickly concluded I could handle a 125

without any trouble and after no more than 30-40 mins on the 125 four stroke

twin quickly switched me over onto something a bit more hairy chested. 

 

One of these to be specific

Here she is... 

 

So went from 11bhp to just under 100bhp in three quarters of an hour flat. 

 

Paul my instructor told me that he thought I'd be fine so away I went and within

10 mins on the Fazer I was doing the slalom with more ease than on the 125.

I was surprised at how quickly I adapted to a bike twice as big and heavy

and a LOT more powerful.  

 

Did the all the basic manoeuvres, emergency stops, first to second gear changes, 

mock junctions, figure of 8 etc again but this time all on the bigger bike. 

Then he let me have a whizz around the yard while he put the 125 away

then we had a short break for lunch.

 

After lunch he fitted me with an earpice and radio set, had a 5 minute chat

about roundabout approaching and exiting and then out on the road. 

The road part felt loads more natural, I wasn't trying to figure out what cone

he meant or which crudely painted line in the yard he meant. 

 

We rode on 30 40 50 60 and 70 roads although the latter was more like 80. 

I wasn't shy about winding on the power once on the NSL road and as soon as 

I could get down over the tank a bit I was off like a shot. 

Paul wasn't expecting quite such confidence and I left him behind a bit 

catching him unawares with my sudden burst of full throttle and he even

(by his own admission) had to try a little to catch up.

The way that thing accelerated was a different league to a car, and my motor is 

far from slow but OMG that bike was bloody awesome. I never got near the 12.5k

redline, I think I changed up at about 10k but what a rush. We did some country 

lane work, 60mph and threading together left and right bends. He said I was very 

fluid and even went a little bit knee down at one point although I wasn't consciously

trying to do that, so it must have been instinctive. We also went over trail braking with the rear 

brake and had lots of practice at that, countersteering in a bend, and shifting bodyweight

to make the bike more agile. If I'm honest, I think I got training way beyond an average CBT

and 100% one on one training with an emphasis on the practical. All in I've probably had

about 5 hours riding a bike today and 4 and a half of them on a 600. 

 

Paul was very happy with me, he kept saying 'I wish all my CBTs were like this.' which I took as

a massive compliment considering how long it's been since I've ridden. And after a quick

visit to the centre where I'll be doing my Part 1 and 2 test later in the month we rode back to the 

Phoenix  training centre, stopped to do a couple more emergency stops and he informed me that

I had reached a satisfactory level of competence to get my certificate. 

 

 

Now I have the bug big time so immediately asked how much more practice I needed

and Paul said that a few hours before each of the tests would be plenty as I am already

90% good enough to pass. So booked my Part one test  up for the 14th of this month with

3 hours tuition/practice the Sunday prior. Then a 3pm part 2 test on the 22nd of this month

with the morning just spent pootling about under test conditions.

Literally cannot wait. Hope the weather is kind, it stayed dry today until right at the end

when I did my emergency stops (Typical) but I managed ok. 

 

Sorry for the long post but I'm a bit hyper today if I'm honest, 

Haven't had that much fun with my clothes on in years. 

Roll on the 14th

[Harvey1978]

Sounds like you had a great day, nothing quite like getting on the bigger bike after riding the 125.

Phoenix is who taught me to ride, they must be spread throughout the South.

Nice helmet too.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

[R1DAVIE]

Fantastic news Gary, keep us updated how parts 1&2 go.

[grr666]

Found a couple of pics from my session today on their facebook page.

 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Phoenix-Motorcycle-Training-Centre-Bristol-Wells-AM-PM-To-Suit/284613831635661?ref=hl

 

 

 

 

[CFB]

Well done Gary, glad you had a good day matey.

Sounds like both you and the instructor made the best of it.

I know from when I was an instructor, that there's nothing better than a pupil who is a duck to water.

You can relax a bit and enjoy the ride, giving corrective input where necessary, rather than having to keep repeating scenarios with loads of input, knowing the pupil hasn't really got a hope in hell of a pass at the end of 2 hours of torture for the instructor.

A word of warning though... On both tests, especially Pt2, remember, over confidence can bite you in the @rse.

The examiner will be pleased with a confident, fluid......

Oh, what am I waffling on about? Enjoy yourself.

And just ask if you want tips from an X examiner matey.

Nice lid BTW

[Titanium_Man]

Inspirational stuff, Garry. Will need to take their details next time I'm round  

[grr666]

Been shopping today.... Bloody Ebay

Thought the price was excellent tbh, paid £160 all in for both sets

delivered to my door, both sold by the same guy. Only selling as he's

got rid of his Kwacka and switched to Yamaha.

So a RST two piece set and a Frank Thomas all in one all in one bid. 

That was a buy it now price too! I couldn't believe my luck.

A big thank you to ebay for their feed, that things found me a few 

motorbike kit bargains. 

I had my eye on another RST set the same as the two piece in the pics. 

Same set, same colour and size etc and last time I checked they

were at £120 reserve not met. 

These look both in great condition, I'll just get them dry cleaned when

they arrive.

A few pics...

 

 

 

And the one piece

 

 

[grr666]

And yes.... I know..... Ha ha ha etc

 

[fabiamk2SE]

I have to say the Speed R and Race R helmets by Shark represent great

value for money. The optical grade 4mm thick visor, bluetooth ready and inner sun visor

clinched it for me. In a fibreglass lid for under 300quid, the review Ilinked earlier was very helpful

in deciding what to buy... (although the way he starts all his reviews really makes me LOL! Soooo american...)

(also available in carbon......)(for slightly over 300 quid)

Although I went for the Speed R Sauer myself, may get a carbon one too though.

I just wanted one in bright and easily visible colours to go with my bright

jackets. I thought that would force me to wear Hi viz gear all the time

so again it's green white and black...

Not to mention the green in it is a perfect match for this

Although it doesn't look it in this pic admittedly.

Looks good to me. I might look into those.

Iv had my shoei a few years now n ready for a new one really. Ill see how the sharks fit me. Thanks .

Ps. The match doesnt look close, but i know in reality, the er6 arent as dazzling as the one on that pic! Haha

Edited 7 April, 2014 by Otaylor38

[Volvomeg]

Really need to stop reading these bike threads,

 

Thinking about doing my CBT again, took my bike theory around 5 years ago and walked it then bought house with g/f and never got any further,

 

Think i will probably do CBT and then do theory and DA at a later date as its a few years since ive been on a bike

[fabiamk2SE]

Get it done mate. Bikes are brilliant fun.

Just make sure you read up on the new test regulations. Although if your over 24 it shouldnt effect you too much.