New bike bought - just not for me!

[Weedy]

So, the OH and I were having a leisurely wander around our local town this morning and having recently spoken a lot about me getting back into bikes in the coming months, she's decided she'd love to give it a whirl.

We meandered into our local bike dealer and started sitting on a few bikes. She fell in love with a 2012 CBF125 (in black and red, that's the important part apparently!) and after having a sit on it, inspecting every inch of it and me pootling around on the forecourt she gave me the look of 'I really like it!'

Being a doting other half (who's about to deploy for 4 months and therefore feel slightly guilty about the impending abandonment), I decided that we'd go ahead and and buy it ahead of her completing her CBT in a couple of weeks time. Worst case scenario, she hates riding - I've now got a fairly cheap commuter bike for when I come home later in the year!

She's now panicking slightly about 'failing' her CBT, no matter how much I reassure her it's not a test. It's been a good few years since I did my CBT, so do the wise and incredibly experienced occupants of BCF have any advise, hints and tips I can pass on to her ahead of the big day?

Also, any advice about the CBF125 (other than corrosion, fuel pump and oil consumption issues) would be much appreciated.

Cheers in advance!

Weedy + Mrs Weedy
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<CBT passed 16th Sept 2007><Theory Test passed 11th Oct 2007><Practical Test passed 19th Apr 2008>
OWNED: 2008 Aprilia Pegaso Strada CURRENT: Bikeless :'(

[Hetzer]

There's a whole 'nother world out there.
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"There's the horizon! Ride hard, ride fast and cut down all who stand in your way!"

[Weedy]

You know, I always think the same thing when I read half of the comments on BCF...
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<CBT passed 16th Sept 2007><Theory Test passed 11th Oct 2007><Practical Test passed 19th Apr 2008>
OWNED: 2008 Aprilia Pegaso Strada CURRENT: Bikeless :'(

[wristjob]

how big is your house that she needs a motorcycle in the kitchen?

[whitedevil]

You could always do the cbt with her if she's worried about it.
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GPZ500 sold ~ CBR600FS-2 sold ~ ZX6R sold ~ Street Triple R

[Wonko The Sane]

advice for CBT:

listen to the instructor,
ask questions if unsure,
if you got something wrong, accept it and listen to advice

[Az]

CBF's is great as long as u keep some acf50 and a bottle of castrol 10w30 motorcycle oil handy.

With regards to the CBT... just tell her to relax and not worry and if she's that nervous then just buy a guarantee pass what's like an extra 20quid or something... a lot of riding schools do CBT guarantee passes, so if she fails she can come back the following day and she'll have a go at it again.

[-Matt-]

To be blunt - id say its hard to fail a cbt with a decent school. If you did you either had serious bad luck or perhaps biking isnt for you.

That being said. Tell her not to worry about the cbt, quite the opposite. Dont treat it as a stressful test but more a valuable learning experience. Look at some of the local teenagers on scooters and you will see it doesnt take much sense or skill to get a cbt in most cases (unfortunantely ).

If she does the obvious - Listen. Watch. Think. She will pass and get a lot of good knowledge out of it in the process

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

Although you can't "fail" the CBT, she may well have to go back a second day - for the road ride. If she rides a push-bike so much the better - although a motorbike is obviously a very different thing, the task of balancing on two wheels is the same. If she doesn't ride much, she should do a bit of practice just on a push iron, imo - all the time understanding that the front brake on the motorbike will be sharper, that the bike itself will feel a million times heavier, and that its manoeuvrability won't be as great (turning circle, etc.). Finally be prepared for a mixed ability group where some bods will be very adept at riding and some others will be quivering wrecks after 10 minutes. The latter will quiver more as they watch the former stroll on with the exercises. And the latter will stroll more and more coolly as they watch the former quivering.
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"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[Teflon-Mike]

Fear of the Unknown, the Fret-Factory on Over-Time....
Dispell the unknown... cant do much to allay the worry without actually 'doing' a lot of CBT... which means clambering on the bike... but... reading the sylabus is a good start; knowing what the course objectives are going to be, knowing what the plan is, and the running order.... Here, best I can offer, get her to read this:-
Tell me more about CBT?
It starts, in big letters with:-
CBT is Compulsory Basic Training.
TRAINING, it is not, repeat, NOT a 'Test'.
JUST your FIRST LESSON!
followed by:-
There is no 'Pass' or 'Fail', its NOT a 'Test', and you don't have to KNOW anything or PRACTICE anything before you turn up, all you have to know is that you will be tough everything you need to know!
Offers a bit of advice on stuff you might want to think or worry about doing ahead of CBT like buying your own helmet, packing lunch... making sure you have plenty to drink with you, and the importance, in Britains wonderful weather... of an 'over-suit'... before running throught the CBT script, and what you do in each 'Element'... with some Snaps of Snowie when she did it.

Ought to put the lady's mind a little at rest.... though, there is the risk with women...... I could just leave that statement there couldn't I?! Err.... Yeah..... good chance that a dispelling fear of the unknown, making it known, poking the torch into the darkness of ignorance will reveal more darkness beyond to fuel the fret-factory..... but... hey, that's your problem mate!
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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?'

[Weedy]

Thanks for all of the replies. I've made her read them all and she seems a bit less apprehensive now.

Tef - your post was brilliant, just the sort of thing I was after! I get what you're saying about women... But what (as in my situation) if there's TWO of the of those pesky females?
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<CBT passed 16th Sept 2007><Theory Test passed 11th Oct 2007><Practical Test passed 19th Apr 2008>
OWNED: 2008 Aprilia Pegaso Strada CURRENT: Bikeless :'(

[Teflon-Mike]

[Skudd]

[Aff]

[Weedy]