CBT number two! Need help!

[Redeemer]

Hey all, totally new member, was looking forward to joining in as a learner rider but me and a pal have just failed our first CBT! We've both got an understanding of the controls but I seem to be all over the place! Plus hoping this is the right place to post this, and any help would be appreciated big time guys!

I have tons of trouble keeping the throttle consistent, I seem to add more throttle as I turn round corners, think I'm holding it too tight.

I can't get the thing to move off smoothly, finding that biting point seems to take forever, and then I seem to dump the clutch and either stall or get off to a jerky start.

U turns are just a huge no! I just seem to have trouble getting that turn nice and tight, I just end up going wide all the time.

Figure of eights? I was so damn tense by that point in the day I was just making a god awful mess of those.

And slow riding I just couldn't keep that clutch under control, I'm ok at first but as I'm turning my hand seems to lose control over it.

Sorry of this all seems like a rant but we've got another CBT on saturday and I'm starting to panic, all I know is I won't be beaten and I will be a rider someday haha! Even if I am useless

[Efes123]

It sounds like you just need to be able to control the clutch and throttle, everything else will then fall into place. With regards to the throttle, yes, it sounds as though you've too tight a grip on it, try to relax. The same with the figure of 8s and the U-turn, if you're relaxed, these will come much more easily.

Good luck for Saturday, just listen to the instructor, and try to relax more. What's the worst that can happen on the slow manouvers? Even if you drop the bike, it's no big deal, they're used to it.
____________________
Honda Goldwing GL 1000 Current love
Honda VT500 ED - SOLD
Projects Suzuki GS125 Done, then stolen - Kawasaki GPX750R SOLD - Honda VF750S SOLD

[Rogerborg]

You didn't fail, you just haven't completed the course yet. It's training and continuous assessment, not a test.

It is a viable option to do it on a twist-and-go. That validates your provisional just fine. You can then get a geared 125 of your own and go and practice somewhere by yourself. With the pressure off, and not being watched all the time, you'll probably get it much faster.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[Skudd]

RELAX
____________________
Famous last words of Humpty Dumpty. " Stop pushing me "
Petty Anarchists look at "1984".............. The Visionary looks at "Animal Farm".

[dungbug]

[waffles]

When turning for your u-turns and figure of eight you need to keep your head up and look where you want to go. Don't look down at the road infront of you as this will make the bike straighten up and wobble.
____________________
Theory test - 19/8/09, CBT - 11/10/09, MOD 1 - 16/8/10, MOD 2 - 27/10/10
Past rides Yamaha XT125X, Triumph TT600, Honda XR250
Current rides Suzuki GSXR 600, Honda MSX125

[thepuma]

Consider it a failure on the instructors part. If he can't coach you the basics in 7 hours then he's failed, not you.

He also failed because on seeing you struggling with gears,clutch etc through the day, he should have given you the option of completing it on a scooter.

Sounds like you had a poor instructor. Mine was rubbish too, looking back now I should have made a complaint, but at the time I was just glad to get that little certificate at the end of the day.

Good luck for Saturday.
____________________
YBR125 (SOLD) - CBR250R(SOLD) - CBR650F(SOLD) Current - Street Triple
765 RS

[hedgehugger]

My CBT took 2 goes.
I was exhausted, un co-ordinated and blubbed like a baby on my first try.
2nd time, all that I had soaked up on the first go had sunk in and been absorbed and it all came together a lot easier. There was about 7 or 8 weeks between attempts.


I went on and passed my test with no lessons.

[Teflon-Mike]

Relax!...OH FFS! I now have Frankie Goes to Hollywood running through my head!... mind... kids watched that Johnny Depp Vampire thing last night... I've had the Carpeters 'Top-Of-The-World' there for two days!

Relax...

You know what you are doing on the clutch, so stop doing it!

Nice & gently.....

U-Turn, Figure of 8 & slow riding...

1/ NEAT-FEAT.....
feet belong on the floor or they belong on the pegs, they don't belong in mid air hovering over the floor anticipating falling over, or 'paddling' walking with the bike beneath you!

If you wanted to walk, why get a motorbike? Save paddling for the beach! If you think you are gong to fall over, STOP put your foot down & be done! putting foot down while you move? Probably wont stop you falling anyway, you'll just run over your own leg! ALL a 'loose' foot is going to do is make you wobble as something like 20% of your body weight is in that limb and its flapping around all over!

SO, neat feet; From 'safety possition' (left foot flat on floor, right foot on peg covering rear brake)..... clutch, move, FOOT UP and straight to the peg, nice and smartly, get that foot out the way and kill a load of potential wobbles before they begin.

DONT know if this is a problem, but my little hobby horse, so now you know, and you have NO excuses if it is!

2/ WHERE YOU LOOK IS WHERE YOU GO!
Head UP. So many students look at FLOOR either by the front wheel or under their feet, and THAT is where they go! Onto the floor!
Keep your head up, TRUST the bike to go where you point it, and trust YOURSELF to point it where you want to go!
Because if you ent LOOKING where you want to go..... you ent going to point it there, are you?!

3/ TILT to TURN
Bikes steer by LEANING, as much as they do through turning the bars.
Trouble with this is that at slow speed, lean the little bludger over and it feels like its going to fall over, becous normally you 'balence' leaning with cornering force, and going slow you dont have much holding you up.
SO you turn the bars more... and often you'll tangle knees in them, or run out of steering lock, or gripping the bars in a death grip, you'll roll on or off the throttle.
BUT in actual fact you can lean a bike over an AWFUL long way even at very low speeds, and tight turns can generate a LOT of centrifugal force to hold you up.... and using the throttle delicately to accelerate out of a tight turn can generate even more.

Three tips on tipping...

1 - don't be afraid to lean the bugger
2 - YOU can stay more upright than the bike, leaning from the hips 'out', what we call 'counter-leaning' to get more tilt between tyres and road at low speed, and the more of this you use, the tighter the bike will turn, and the more comfortably it will do it.
3 - Throttle, THROTTLE, THROTTLE, USE IT! As said, use the throttle to apply gentle acceleration through and out of a tight turn, and it will increase the centrifugal forces to hold you up, and help you 'steer' the bike.

Slow speed control; 'the book' says that you start slow and work up, BUT also says that Instructor may mix and match exercises within an element to suit the student, and VERY OFTEN, its 'easier', go go do some 'loops' and get a feel for the bike holding itself up, with a bit more speed, before coming back to do the slow stuff....

And particularly the 'slow ride in a straight line'; and I have often 'given up' on that one with some students, got them launching smoothly then told them to 'just' ride round in a large circle....

Then I have 'tricked them'.... running along side and 'talking to them' and slowing down my run to a trot to a fast walk and then a walk, just casually asking them to slow a bit as I'm getting out of breath.... then "Oh LOOK... you have just done the slow ride!"

Now; folk are quick to critasise instructors on here, BUT, to be bit fair, we really don't know. There are some who get very frustrated by CBT and slower learners, couscous to them its all 'so simple' and what they like teaching is road training.... but, probably more often.... STUDENTS don't open their mouth and TELL THEM they are struggling! Nervous, apprehensive and generally over awed by the whole 'thing', its understandable.

AND, 7hrs of CBT. The course is designed to get an 'average' rider up to scratch in 'about' 7 hours, BUT they cram a HELL of a lot of 'stuff' into that menu, and its NOT easy to cover everything in that time, especially when there is supposed to be at least two hours on the road, and you have big chunks of class-room time and machine familiarisation and machine handling. You really only have a couple of hours to ACTUALLY get a HELL of a lot of basic machine control, learned AND practiced on the play-ground in the morning.

And if you have not ridden before, or you are not familiar with bikes, or you are a little lacking in confidence, IT CAN be asking a lot of you.

Many schools will try and stretch play-ground practice out as much as possible, but using the lunch-break, and stretching the day.... its very common for students to be asked to 'come back' for MORE PRACTICE..... as said, you ent failed... you just need more practice....

So have a ponder, remember, its not a test; and the play-ground excersises are there SPECIFICALLY so you can master the basic machine control in a 'safe' place with no cars or traffic or pedestrians about, until you ARE confident, comfortable and able to manage the bike without much thought, so when you are on the road, you can worry about the important bits..... like road-positioning, indicators, looking over your shoulder, grading legs on teenage pedestrians in skimpy shorts..... oh.. hang on... thats not in the highway code is it? Oh well, maybe it should be! Riding's supposed to be fun, after all!

If you need more practice, you need more practice. Better on the play-ground than a by-pass; so RELAX.... remember NEAT-FEET, and Where you Look, and Turn by Tilt...... and TALK to your instructor and help them help you, where you struggle, and ENJOY.

Riding is about the journey, not the destination, doesn't matter how long it takes, its what you get from it as you go that counts, so take your time, and enjoy the journey of discovery LEARNING how to RIDE.... you'll get there in the end.

Rushing? Fast way to get hurt on a motorbike, so...... RELAX..... dont do it, when.... OH FFS, Frankie's back! I think I need a dose of Metalika!
____________________
My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'

[yaigi]

Don't worry, as others have aid, it's not a test, you just need extra training. I had to go back for a couple of hours the week after my first go at my CBT cos whilst I hadn;t messed up the off road stuff, I was so damn nervous he could see I needed the break before hitting the road.

The week after I went back and I was like a different person. IT will soak in, and you'll not even know it until you get back on that bike and wonder what all the fuss was about.

Don't be scared of the throttle - as long as you have control of the clutch you can rev like fuck and it won't go any faster, don't be scared of the noise it makes when you do this, you'll get the hang of it, and you'll get it not revving like buggery in the end.

I'm sure they told you this already but the bike will go where you look so when doing the U-turns etc, keep your head up looking WHERE YOU WANT TO GO, not at the floor that you think you're going to end up on

It's hard to just simply relax, i know, but if you keep telling yourself too, over and over again, making your muscles (esp. arms and shoulders) a bit looser, you'll eventually see how much of a difference that makes.

If you're scared of making a mistake, stop that right now, they've seen it all before and you're only winding yourself up more. Mistakes are how you learn and nobody is laughing at you.

Good luck!
____________________
What would you do in life, if you knew you could not fail?
Currently own - Fazer 600, 2000, Red. (But no riding as baby on board atm)

[RyanTCB]

As said already it sounds like a poor instructor to me. You can take a CBT on a scooter and that still allows you to ride u to 125cc geared. Most when going through CBT have zero experience and its the instructors job to teach in the 7 or so hours of the course it is after all what you paid for. DO NOT USE THAT SCHOOL AGAIN go somewhere else and get some proper instruction.

Good luck

[Teflon-Mike]

[lozzypop1]

[Flamzypants]

My CBT lasted about 2 and a half hours, with 30 mins of that being on the road. Had an awful pressuring instructor as the others were picking it up a bit faster due to having ridden before. I did report them after a week or so upon finding out that's relatively short for a course. I almost wish I had "failed" so I could have had more training. Don't see having to do it another day, or even a third time as a bad result, some people need more practise to get the nod, but more practise is always a good thing.
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CBT - 30/06/11. RIP Sinnis Stealth 18/07/11. Theory passed! CBR125R 16/08/12. Mod 1 Booked.

[Redeemer]

Wow, awesome tips guys! I'm going to bone up as much as possible today and pray I get through this tomorrow, thanks so much guys I'll be sure to let you know how I get on. The buzz word for tomorrow is going to be "RELAX!!"

I can always try again if we don't get it tomorrow I'm just hoping I can take yet more experience away with me

[Redeemer]

[Rogerborg]

Mike, as he often does, makes a good point. A bad school would just push you through it, hand you your DL196 and wish you good luck.

Hey, maybe you'll go back tomorrow and it'll have sunk in, you'll be an old hand at it, and you'll breeze through it. I went back for a 2nd bite, and it was so much easier - I was laughing like a loon by the end of the road ride.

However, do bear in mind that it's a training course that you are paying for. If you're not learning, tell them and find another way. There's no shame in completing it on a twist-and-go, as long as you've learned the theory behind gears. You can figure out the practice yourself later.

Do believe that at some point it'll click and you'll really start to enjoy it. That might be on your CBT, it might be afterwards, but if you stick with it, it will happen.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[Ayrton]

I took my cbt 4 times That was just because i couldnt relax on the bike. After i got use to riding i became much more confident and could do everything easier.

[Skudd]

Think of the clutch as a woman, she needs to caressed, take your time for the full build up, tickle her, play with her, get her almost there then back off again, tease her, do you want to go? lets start, no lets just come off the boil for a bit, play with her. Then when you are ready, let her goooooooooooooooo, but be ready to just tease her again.

As for the throttle, that is you, sliding in and out getting that pace going, not to much, not too little, just getting that stroke just right, keeping it there as you tickle the clutch, as you increase the tickle then just pick your pace up, then when she is almost there, increase your pace just that little bit more, then you need to be ready to cool down again, but remember to tickle her and keep on the ball.

50 shades of biking.
____________________
Famous last words of Humpty Dumpty. " Stop pushing me "
Petty Anarchists look at "1984".............. The Visionary looks at "Animal Farm".

[Rogerborg]

No! Just slam it in hard no matter how much it shrieks and complains, then grip it and twist it as violently as you can on and off and on again until you've reached your conclusion.

Once your ride is all hot and lubed up, lock it in the shed and go down the pub.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[Teflon-Mike]

[Redeemer]

[Redeemer]

[MCW]

[MCW]

Oh. And regarding earlier comments, look on your bike as a bike and a woman as a woman. It saves a lot of confusion in the long run...