CBT courses for short ladies in North-West London

[125]

I would like to do a CBT course, but I'm 5ft 1 and have a leg measurement of 27. I know there are various forum posts and articles with bike options for short riders, however I would like to do a CBT course first before buying anything, so I need to find a training centre that has a loan bike that I can learn to ride on.

I visited a training centre today to have a quick look, and the smallest bike they had was a Yamaha YBR125 which was too big for me. They were nice people but basically suggested that I try riding a scooter instead, which was was quite frustrating to say the least. I would really like to learn to ride an actual bike with gears and everything.

Can anyone recommend anywhere in the North-West London area, or at least somewhere that I can get to easily?

[recman]

Your best bet is to ring as many schools as you can and explain your situation and preferences.
You never know, there may be one or two schools with a Marauder or a Van Van.

[esullivan]

I did my CBT at Passmasters near the Polish War Memorial in Northolt. They were OK. It depends on the luck of the draw on the instructor -- there's a couple of obvious burn-out cases -- but most seemed decent. They were nice to my (5'3") wife, but she did hers on a scooter.

I don't know what bikes they have now (it was years ago), but there was a women in my group who looked shorter than my wife and was on a Honda CG. As long as you can get one foot down flat, with the other on the peg, you can manage it. It will be a bit unnerving at first, but you get used to it.

My inside leg is only 29" and I now have a quite high and wide seat. With both legs down, such as when peddling the bike backward into a parking space, I'm on my toes, but in day-to-day riding, it's not an issue.

You can also get boots that add an inch or so to your height. They're called Daytona Ladystars. They're great boots (I have the Roadstar), but very pricey.
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Current: '14 VFR800X Test passed 31/10/12.
Previous: '12 NC700S, '11 CBF 125, '04 SH 125.

[Rogerborg]

That is a sod. You're going to have the same problem with training and test bikes when you're ready to get licensed up, and there's no magic solution.

If you can't find anything suitable (Van Van should indeed do it) then you might have to just suck it up and do it on a scooter or even a moped.

Not ideal, but it gets you validated and you can get your own bike and pick up gears yourself in a few hours. Worse case, if you can get your bike to them, you can pay for further training. In the long run, it'll be small potatoes. There are bikes out there suitable for you, even some 'big' ones - I have 28" hobbit pins and can flat foot my lowered GS both sides. You just need to get yourself to a point where you can ride bikes like that, any way necessary.
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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

[grr666]

Shame you're not in Bristol, the school I trained with uses van vans for cbt.
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Currently enjoying products from Ford, Mazda and Yamaha
Ste wrote: Avatars are fine, it's signatures that need turning off.

[andyscooter]

I also have a 27" inside leg and can manage a ybr fine

bear in mind you only really ever have one foot on the ground at a time when riding

also look at ybr custom
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gilera runner vxr200 (chavped)
if its spelt wrong its my fat fingers and daft auto correct on my tablet

[notbike]

Try CamRider hendon, thats who I went with for cbt and tests. They have vanvans which are low to the floor. Helpful bunch!

[125]

I went over to speak to someone at the Camrider site about an hour ago as it happens. I sat on the Van Van bike and even they said I would find it difficult and should consider trying a scooter

[andyscooter]

You won'tonce you get used to it

Scooters have same height seats as bikes
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gilera runner vxr200 (chavped)
if its spelt wrong its my fat fingers and daft auto correct on my tablet

[Rogerborg]

I'm surprised by that. https://cycle-ergo.com/ suggests...

https://i.imgur.com/6nyqCG4.png

Which looks do-able.

If you can't get on with a VanVan then you may have to start looking at - oh, god, sorry - cruisers.

https://i.imgur.com/nRVXtnk.png
____________________
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

[125]

Finally found somewhere with a little Honda CG which felt much better. It's Alpha Training, near the Ace Cafe.

[Nobby the Bastard]

I didn't realise that cock and ball torture worked for ladies (short or otherwise).
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trevor saxe-coburg-gotha:"Remember this simple rule - scooters are for men who like to feel the breeze on their huge, flapping cunt lips."
Triumph Sprint ST 1050

[Rogerborg]

Huzzah!

For narrow seat CGs with soft suspension, not... the other thing.

Enjoy the CBT, just remember that you're a customer paying for training, not a military recruit. Some instructors can get a bit Drill Sergeant.
____________________
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