I wouldn't bother with practicing on your own Matt. 

You will learn better with an instructor in your ear,

It's harder to get out of bad habits than it is to pick them up. 

Have fun on that Fazer on NSL roads. My first blat was eye opening to

say the least. But I did all my training and tests CBT and all on one.

90 something bhp if its around the 2003 era. Apparently the older ones are

better than the newer ones with the exhaust under the seat. 

You will be expected to make progress on it though so don't be sissy about 

cracking the throttle open. Great fun. 

 

So you will have had three different driving tests all on Friday the 13th????

How very peculiar, statistically the likelihood of that must be astronomical odds. 

Hurry up and pass Matt, then you can come down to Bristol for a weekend and we 

can go out for a proper ride. 

I know what you mean about the practising on my own, I was thinking just slow riding up and down the drive to get use to balancing again, nothing too in depth. My Dad had a fazer for a couple of years until some dozy bint knocked him off, then he bought it back and abused it round a track for another year or so  

 

First thing first lesson is a ride to Uxbridge test centre so that will be fun!

 

You got a bike yet Garry? 

Get mine next Thursday.  

Can't fricking wait mate!!! It's a beauty. 

Bought it on Ebay but the seller is away on his holidays in the Canaries at the 

moment. He's back next Thursday so I made my Mrs book a day off so she can 

drive the car back when I go up to get it. It's in Stoke on Trent so my first ride on it 

will be the 140 odd miles home. 

Uxbridge eh Matt? The mod 2 routes over there are quite good once you get out of the industrial estate the test centre is in the middle of.

Nice mix of town, country and a short blat down the A40.

I reckon you'll enjoy that.

Was that your patch? My mod 2 is there too so that sounds good!

Garry, that'll be great, open road on your own bike what is it? Assuming it's green?

Get mine next Thursday.

Can't fricking wait mate!!! It's a beauty. 

Bought it on Ebay but the seller is away on his holidays in the Canaries at the 

moment. He's back next Thursday so I made my Mrs book a day off so she can 

drive the car back when I go up to get it. It's in Stoke on Trent so my first ride on it 

will be the 140 odd miles home. 

 

could call in mine on the way back!!

Was that your patch? My mod 2 is there too so that sounds good!

Garry, that'll be great, open road on your own bike what is it? Assuming it's green?

I did a few days there on cover, when it first opened, but my usual haunt was Enfield.

One plus point is the Mod 1 area is a full size patch as designed, and not one of the alternatives.

Cool, the training bod uses Oxford, Uxbridge and Leighton Buzzard but both mine are at Uxbridge. It's about a hour ride there so will be nice to get out and about on a nice trip. I'm more nervous about the mod 1 than the mod 2 tbh It's silly I know, stuff that I'll be doing every day so I shoudnt really. 

 

Got myself some new trousers last week, I'm a fat **** and my arse normally hangs out my trousers a la builder style so got some with some old man braces Got some gloves too, just a lid to get now! 

I never worked at Oxford but of the other 2, I preferred Leighton Buzzard. Closer to home and I got to ride the Leighton Buzzard road twice a day.

You'll be OK on the Mod1, just take your time on the elements and do just enough to get up to speed on the avoidance and E stop.

Golden rules for those is check speed well before the trap and only brake when upright, in a straight line.

You don't need to have builders bum to wear braces. They help keep troos in place so you don't get cold kidneys in winter. If the worst happens they keep yer troos in place. Mind you, if you get jacket and trousers that zip together, that is easier once you get used to doing the contortionist act to do the zip up

Is there still a speed trap for the mod 1 avoidance and emergency stop excersizes?

There was when i took the test 3 years ago; but i seem to remember reading somewhere that you no longer have to meet the 31mph speed target anymore?

Either way; youll be fine. Mod 1 takes about 1 mins and really isnt that hard. Dont worry about it mate.

Edited 29 May, 201412 yr by Otaylor38

Nice focused and methodical approach to it and it will be over in a flash. I am awaiting the next update  

Is there still a speed trap for the mod 1 avoidance and emergency stop excersizes?

There was when i took the test 3 years ago; but i seem to remember reading somewhere that you no longer have to meet the 31mph speed target anymore?

Either way; youll be fine. Mod 1 takes about 1 mins and really isnt that hard. Dont worry about it mate.

Yes there is.

The required speed used to be 50km/h, about 31 mph.

IIRC that still applies, but there is now a discretion to allow 1km/h under because so many were recording 49 and a fail.

If you have a clean sheet other than that, it's a bit thought to fail for 1km/h!

I'm sure you still get 2 cracks at both the avoidance and E stop if you are under speed.

The 1k would be recorded as a riding fault and more than that, a serious.

Ahh right. I see.

Just abit more lenient then .

I still think its a dangerous part of the test tbh. Forcing somebody to do emergency stop and hazard avoidance in the wet, on cold tyres.

Nevertheless, its well worth doin the test

^^^

It's the only fault I got, 1 minor fault for 49kph instead of the required 50.

Clean sheet apart from that on Mod 1 and a clean sheet on Mod 2.  

If i was on somebody else's bike, id of probably had to use my second attempt at it.

Id been riding my own cg125 with decent Michelin pilot tyres on for a while though, so i knew the bike wouldnt have a problem.

No minors on mod 2 here either .

I AM BIKER!!!

 

HEAR ME ROAR!!! 

 

Picked up the bike today and did a 130 mile run getting it home.

Bit of a baptism of fire for a maiden voyage. But it gave me a chance to ride it at a

variety of different speeds. On the whole very happy with it but the mirrors are 

a bit crap unless you like looking up your own armpits, fortunately Kawasaki do

OEM extensions for the arms so I'll be ordering some of those along with some

Genuine kwacka fabric fitted internal bags for the panniers.  

Was lucky with the weather, overcast and not all that warm but stayed 

dry for the trip home and it's all safe and sound in my shed now tucked up for

beddy byes. :p  I will clean it and take pics when I get the chance. 

Have to go to a wedding in Cambridge tomorrow so I won't be doing anything bikey

until Sunday :( but have already arranged a little ride out with my friend Sally 

on her Kwacka GT550 while my Mrs goes to Grillstock with a few of her mates.

Fingers crossed for warm and sunny.  

Great news Garry! I was contemplating doing the transitional bike test due to my age but decided I'd rather wait save up do the test with no limits at 24 and buy a bike with saved money!

^^^

You may as well. All in including CBT, test fees, bike hire and tuition it cost me about

£550 in total to get my licence. But to be fair, I managed it without tons of training.

Apart from the full day doing CBT I only had about 9 hours of tuition on top of that

total to pass both parts, so it was fairly cheap for me. I was very easy to teach according

to my instructor... (sign of a weak mind LOL)   

My friend needed a full week before she was ready mind you.

She had to do her part 1 twice and scraped through a pass on that

and had 3 minors on her part 2 but to be totally fair to her she had never ever

ridden a manual bike until she started her training unlike me who had done a few

years on two wheels back when I was a kid.  I reckon 7-800 quid is about the norm

at the moment.  

^^^

You may as well. All in including CBT, test fees, bike hire and tuition it cost me about

£550 in total to get my licence. But to be fair, I managed it without tons of training.

Apart from the full day doing CBT I only had about 9 hours of tuition on top of that

total to pass both parts, so it was fairly cheap for me. I was very easy to teach according

to my instructor... (sign of a weak mind LOL)

My friend needed a full week before she was ready mind you.

She had to do her part 1 twice and scraped through a pass on that

and had 3 minors on her part 2 but to be totally fair to her she had never ever

ridden a manual bike until she started her training unlike me who had done a few

years on two wheels back when I was a kid. I reckon 7-800 quid is about the norm

at the moment.

When I come back to it I'll be tempted to take a family moto cross up to a mates farm to get a feeling back again before going over the practical road element!

I have to say the road bit was easier for me than the round the cones bit. 

But I guess everyone is different. 

Ahh right. I see.

Just abit more lenient then .

I still think its a dangerous part of the test tbh. Forcing somebody to do emergency stop and hazard avoidance in the wet, on cold tyres.

Nevertheless, its well worth doin the test

So you're not going to avoid something ahead when riding in the wet, or try to stop quickly?

The whole point is to show that you could if required.

Besides, that was taken into account when the surface of the pads was chosen.

When I did my training to conduct that test, we had to complete the actual test several times, acting as a candidate, on a moped, 125 and a 600, in the wet and dry and, surprisingly, the grip level is not that much different.

We even did it on a Honda Pan European and BMW RT 1200 Now that was fun!

It's always a dead give away when candidates have not been taught correctly. They steer and brake at the same time, which is what causes the problem

As this seems to be more of the new to biking thread I'll post here.

 

Went out for a ride today to blow away the cobwebs and check the bike was fine after doing some work on it.  Did quite a few miles on A roads and a common issue was the amount of mud on the road from roadwork traffic and farm vehicles, mainly the farm stuff.   Not sure if it is the time of year or not but found that many road sections had a significant amount of mud on them.  This wasn't with any obvious tractor ahead and in various instances it started just round bends. 

 

Condensed message is basically be aware of this as it can easily cause bikes an issue.

 

Well done to all those who have passed their test and best of luck to those undergoing it.

Bike is booked in to a local garage, going to be collected tuesday. Service, fork seals, chain, rear brakes, pair of tyres and MOT, should be done for the monday after. 

 

I got myself a lid too

 

 

 

 

 

As this seems to be more of the new to biking thread I'll post here.

 

Went out for a ride today to blow away the cobwebs and check the bike was fine after doing some work on it.  Did quite a few miles on A roads and a common issue was the amount of mud on the road from roadwork traffic and farm vehicles, mainly the farm stuff.   Not sure if it is the time of year or not but found that many road sections had a significant amount of mud on them.  This wasn't with any obvious tractor ahead and in various instances it started just round bends. 

 

Condensed message is basically be aware of this as it can easily cause bikes an issue.

 

Well done to all those who have passed their test and best of luck to those undergoing it.

 

My dad rides from Aylesbury into MK every day and does his nut at this, every few days he comes round the corner and the whole road is covered in mud! 

Blimey Matt, you could have least got a bright and noticeable lid....

Is it Pinlock visor ready or is there one included? If not included then get one asap. 

They are flipping brilliant

I rode home from Stoke on Trent yesterday visor down the whole way and even

when sitting in traffic following the Mrs (She had the sat nav) I couldn't make it steam

up even trying to deliberately. There was no such thing when I first started riding

as far as I know (About 1989 to 92) or maybe just not on the budget lids I could

afford at the time. 

I was going to go for something a little less ott but I got them to bring one out to try on and loved it. Pretty funny tbh, my mate was ****ing himself, some of the fish are sparkly hahahaha. I wanted a Guy Martin limited edition lid but that was £999. This one the fit is perfect and yes, it has the pinlock. Although I did just stick the visor down and it misted up, I'm assuming thats due to the sticker sill over it?   Might peel it off tomorrow and try again. Only down side is the lack of tinted visor, because it's new they havent got them in yet but I'm sure I'll get one by the time I've passed.