Intro (and CBT woes)

[Kipper]

Hi, im Jordan and im new to biking.
Im a young un at 17 although i feel like ive been 17 for bloody ages now all my mates are turning 18

Had a first crack at my CBT today and i just couldn't get it at all. It was the slow speed stuff. I was really struggling getting a good balance between the throttle and the brake. It seemed like nothing nothing nothing.. woah too much so id over compensate and it became really jerky. It was a struggle thinking about it alot too, if I thought too much about looking ahead and turning right; I forgot about the throttle and visa versa. Struggled for a while before the instructor decided we had to move on cause of the other chap there.

Got to figure of 8s and with my shakey slow speed riding it just wasn't happening
He's full for another 3 weeks, and then I've got exams so it'll be difficult to get another go.

I know ultimately I just need practice, but the only way is through the 'CBT environment' kinda thing but at 100 quid a pop it's not cheap

Any ideas/advice?

Cheers

[Itchy]

Unfortunately its just a case of practice, a simple way to get the hang of clutch control is to have somebody else's bike with the front brake on hard , in 1st or 2nd , and you just gradually release it until you feel the bite. Eventually it'll become intuitive it feels huge at first but then its paper thing , with experience you don't even think about it.

Also with the brakes be very light on them , and at slow speed keep off the front (I don't count namely as my back brakes are dodgy) as this is where all the braking power is.


Although you will need to keep your fingers on the brakes, just use the foot brake, which should slow you erm slower than the front unbalance the bike less and give you time to do other things.


But whatever you do do not give up, as with all things just take it as a lesson learnt and try again.
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[Kipper]

Yeah I know it's just practice practice practice.
I was suprised how hard it was though, in comparison to riding a bike. I mean I knew it wouldn't be easy but still a lot more difficult than i expected.

Gonna get myself on in 3 weeks and give it another go.

[Rovman]

I really struggled at first. I like you wasn't expecting it to be quite as difficult as it was. I generally pick things up very quickly but i just couldn't do it. It's a lot to take in, in such a short space of time. Hang in there, it will come eventually.

With that being said, i presume you didn't get your certificate? I heard that if they don't give you your certificate in your 1st go, you should be asked to come back for another days training without extra charge, or if they do charge again, it should be only for the bike hire and should not be the full price.

I know when i did my DAS there were 2 ladies doing their CBT's and they ended up going back twice (3 days in total) without paying anything other than the initial £95. (they do advertise guarenteed pass though)
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[Jaloopa]

I had similar problems to you on my first try. I was OK until the figure 8s, but spent something silly like 45 minutes trying to get the hang of them before we moved n so the other guy could get to the rest of the training.

I had about a week before my second go, didn't touch a bike through that time and when it got to figure 8s I was fine. One thing that helped me was concentrating on staying upright and just turning the handlebars. If you're a taller person it might help to stick your knees right out so they don't get in the way of the bars. Looks silly, but not as silly as my (well over 6 foot) instructor demonstrating the technique on a CG.

Different places have different approaches when it comes to charging for resits. Where I did it it was £80 to get the certificate no matter how long it took
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mattsprattuk wrote: but at least the lifan could do like 104mph in 3rd gear

[Paul86]

Did my CBT on my first try so i'll give you some tips and advice.

Before setting off to do the slow maneuvers in the car park (when youre being shown bike controls) just ask if you can have 5 minutes holding in the clutch and releasing it to find the bite point (this will help loads later).

Once youve done that the main thing is to relax and try to enjoy yourself, don't think about what others are thinking of you, just chat with the other guys there, have a laugh and relax.

On the slow maneuvers, drag your rear brake. For example on U-Turns, don't try to control the bike with the throttle, use the rear brake instead to alter your speed, you'll find it a lot easier.

Get into the habit of looking directly where you want to go, never look down and once youre near completion of a turn look into the horizon, even if it is just for a few seconds, it helps you level and balance the bike.

Its amazing how slow you can go before having to stick your foot down to rest the bike as well, however if your bike has a habit of going to the right, just shift your knee out to the left as you slow, brings the centre of balance to the left side.

Main things:

-Get there early to play with the bike controls for a bit
-Relax (it's training, not a test)
-Enjoy yourself (Get to know the others and have a laugh, it helps!)
-Listen and always ask for advice if stuck (ask the instructor or another person there who seems adept)

The car park section is a lot harder than the road riding, just follow the tips and relax, my instructor said I could do my DAS test straight after because of the confidence I rode at (I've only ever ridden a bike ONCE before).

Oh and another thing, when out on the road, it doesnt hurt to give extra checks of your mirros and shoulder when riding around (when safe to do so), biggest thing I found about riding was looking around, the bike control and movement came quite easily to me.

Good luck on your next go, I'm sure you'll do it...and just relax!
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YZF-R125

[Smooth]

It's not easy. I did mine the other day , although the instructor was an idiot.

I wasn't a complete novice, but the car park session was trickier than expected and took a few minutes to get smooth in the figure-of-8s. I'd have liked to re-visit the car park at the end to have another go to see if I'd improved.

Having driven and cycled for years, the road sessions were fairly straight-forward, although some of the 'best practice' methods of riding seemed contrary to intuition and car driving.
-& manually cancelling indicators is a new one to me!

Interestingly, after the figure-of-8s, the U-turn and emergency stop were much easier than I'd expected.

Good luck next time.

[AJI]

Good luck for next time. I had exactly the same problems as you when I did my CBT a month and a bit ago and didn't get the certificate first time, so I have to re-book too.
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[Kipper]

Cheers for the advice guys

[AAAthreat]

Seems like Paul86 has wrote a good post that is worth reading and understanding before you go again. I done my CBT about 3 months ago now and I was terrible I didn't even think the instructor would give me the certificate once the session had finished.

I had some practice on 125's before hand and there fore knew how to start the thing, change gears, turn it and slow down so i thought the CBT would be easy, well I was fine in the car park but when I got onto the road I just couldn't calm down/relax and kept making mistakes when coming up to junctions or roundabouts. After about 2 hours of road time and the instructor getting tired of me we headed back to the test center and he gave me the certificate and advised more training. I can hardly blame him mind you i was pretty crap when it came to riding on the road.

Three months on and im allot happier to be on the road and don't get to stressed out and enjoy the riding at the same time as trying to be safe and aware. Once you get passed actually thinking about what to do in regards to actually riding the bike and concentrating on the road and other road users it becomes more enjoyable.

So good luck next time and i hope you get your L plates.

[konsoli]

Hey on my CBT, I hit a pot-hole and almost fell off.
Failed to stop for a stop sign, completely (I slowed to almost a stop but the instructor told me off) and I pulled out in front of a car at a roundabout by accident, not seeing it.

I passed, I shouldn't have, but I did. I hope you pass next time round. Wish you the best of luck

[Smooth]

Do I assume that the people who have difficulty with the road sessions are not car drivers? Self-preservation should be quite high up the list of priorities!

If you can manage the difficult slow manoeuvring, most of the road work is a case of observation and anticipation, a combination of car driving and cycling.

What I took from my road session:
Exaggerate the observations, stop at Give Way lines, don't cover the front brake lever (or brake slightly to indicate to following drivers before a bend), slip the clutch to modulate speed and don't "run wide" (ie. HUG the kerb) turning corners.

-I'll be doing all of the above to pass the test

[Pie-Roe]