Another step in the master plan

[Easy-X]

So I passed the bike theory test on my first attempt...

Engage smug mode

Multiple choice was piss easy - TBH if you fail that you shouldn't really be on the road - and just scraped by on the hazard perception "video game." Certain glad of watching all those Dashcam Australia videos now!
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Royal Enfield Continental GT 535, Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[Andy_Pagin]

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They're coming to take me away, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-haaa, hey-hey,
the men in white coats are coming to take me away.
Yamaha Vity -> YBR125 -> FZS600 Fazer -> FZ1-S Fazer

[leolion]

tip for mod 1, keep your feet pointed in if you have large feet like me else you will clip the cones on the swerve!

[Nobby the Bastard]

What's a theory test?
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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

[Easy-X]

[Sister Sledge]

Like Nobby, I passed when it was all black and white - colour didn't exist in those days. It was fun though because we didn't have this cr*p that younger folks have these days.

My test was easy. No theory. The examiner was on foot and I barely saw him the whole time. He sent me off to a point in a town about 1/2 a mile from where he was stood having a fag. I only saw him (and him me) when I turned the last corner on my return. I then had to do the emergency stop. That was it for riding. He then showed me 2 plastic cards with road sign images on them and I had to say what they meant.
Upon passing, I actually ripped the L plates from my bike (Yamaha YB100 if anyone's still reading) and set fire to them on the pavement as the examiner walked away.

Well done - go do the next bits cos you're on a roll. Hope you got your leg over too??
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CCM 404 DS

[Nobby the Bastard]

I actually got followed by the examiner on an actual bike (not in a car).

I took my test in the sweet spot between cbt replacing pt 1 (and you only had to do it once for lifetime cover) and the theory test being introduced. So i only took one test...
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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

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

[Easy-X]

The day before I took the practice tests on the DVSA website and I was like "I'm meant to know how many chest compressions a minute you need to resuscitate someone?!" so then I read the section on first aid in the Highway code (about 3 paragraphs) and a few questions came up!

120 btw, which I worked out anyway from humming "Staying Alive" bless you Vinnie Jones
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Royal Enfield Continental GT 535, Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[Easy-X]

Mod 1 booked for end of June! Going to do a bit more training on the MT07 this week, see if I can get the hang of the thing Plenty of time to squeeze in more training if needed.

This is happening people! Scary stuff
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Royal Enfield Continental GT 535, Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[ThunderGuts]

Congrats. I did my car licence back in 2003 and they'd just introduced the hazard perception then . . . if you did any of the practice "real" videos, the ones that look ancient . . yep, those were the ones I did back then! This time around for the bike test last year, I would have been properly thrown by the CGI videos if I hadn't seen them beforehand. They're really bizarre . .

I had the same experience in the test centre; I did my test quickly and left with people in the room that were there when I started. Despite the (ancient!) computer I was using crashing halfway through the test and required a restart by the supervisor (thankfully the answers so far weren't lost).
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TG.

[leolion]

[Easy-X]

Just watched a few Mod 1 videos on YouTube. Jeez... like a football pitch worth of space. Somehow imagined something much smaller.

"And now the tricky bit..." as the guy did the swerve test. Huh... I seem to be subjected to that "test" almost daily by some moron or other

They seem to be missing trick though: with a CBT I get to ride a 125 and that's it. If getting an A1 licence meant I could then ride A2 bikes with L-plates and in turn an A2 licence entitled you to ride big bikes with L-plates maybe with a 2 year limit on the L-plates...

More money for motorbike schools, more money for test examiners. I don't know if I'd be tempted personally by such a system but 125 to ~700cc is a bit of a leap!
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Royal Enfield Continental GT 535, Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[Easy-X]

So just done my first "proper" training. With the test a few weeks away I figured there ain't no problem that can't be fixed with more money so I did an hour or so extra...

Wow...

I have a lot more respect for a big bike now! I started off with the slalom and top marks to my instructor, he could see I wasn't getting it. So moved onto figure of 8 and he managed to convince me that the bike could turn tighter. On to the U-turn and I managed it on the second attempt. I started to get the hang of counterbalancing the bike.

The real clincher was the emergency stop: once you hurtle down the test track at 40mph and know you can stop in like 5 yards or less... safely! then you feel a lot happier about the vehicle

The ride home on the 125 was great! I feel a hella lot happier on my bike now and that's with the joy dial already turned up to 11

Can't wait for the end of June!!!
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Royal Enfield Continental GT 535, Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[Sister Sledge]

Fireblade. You know you want to..
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CCM 404 DS

[Ste]

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

[Easy-X]

So much easier now: MT07 is at most 50 kilos heavier than my faux-cruiser. Not sure I feel up to pushing it just yet but it definitely feels nimble not having an all metal fuel tank.

For me it has also been quite amusing to bowl up on my 125. And as the same as you: nobody else there training had a bike. I even let the instructor have a go on it which was hilarious with him being like >20 stone!

"I don't think that bike's for you, sir. May I suggest a Goldwing?"
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Royal Enfield Continental GT 535, Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[Skudd]

When I took my test the examiner ran up and down a back alley to glimpse me going past. I did do an off road thing around cones, but that was riding next to a guy walking at different speeds and a figure of eight in some cones.
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Famous last words of Humpty Dumpty. " Stop pushing me "
Petty Anarchists look at "1984".............. The Visionary looks at "Animal Farm".

[Easy-X]

Got a confirmation text message today: training on the 27th, Mod 1 test the next day...

I've been spending my time not filtering and sitting in traffic crawling with clutch+throttle+back brake. Front brake is now for stopping only and 90% of the time I use the back brake. Obviously not the best thing for real world riding but just trying to get "there is no front brake" into my head for the Mod 1

Also been heading directly at pot holes and those square road humps so I can swerve round them by just shifting body weight (fuck knows what ppl behind me are thinking!) and generally trying to maximise counterbalancing for corners.

I really feel I'm about to reach an epiphany when it comes to slow manoeuvring. Gods! Will this enjoyment never end
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Royal Enfield Continental GT 535, Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[Easy-X]

1st training day done. Nailed the U-turn on the first attempt, the day just got better from there Riding out on the streets for a bit was refreshing.

Things I need to work on: getting up to speed for the swerve, remembering the lifesavers after the emergency stop. Everything else was gravy. Hard to resist going full lock on the figure of eight - no bonus points for style in the Mod 1!

Funny thing though:

I dropped the bike

Just needed to park up while one of the other students went round the course and I just jumped off like I was still on the Superlight rather than putting the kickstand down, stepping off the bike, hold the bike, kickstand up.

Even funnier thing:

Not a scratch on the bike... or me! (Kneepads took the brunt.) Instructor: "Fuck me! That's the first time the levers haven't bent!" So apparently I'm good at "controlled stops"

Tomorrow half day training and then a ride to Uxbridge!
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Royal Enfield Continental GT 535, Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[Easy-X]

Mod 1 passed with 3 minor faults: not progressive enough on the emergency braking, a couple of kph slow on the swerve and poor observation on the U-turn which should have been a major fail but the instructor gave me the benefit of the doubt! He'd just previously given someone a perfect pass so must have been in a good mood

Mod 2 booked for the end of July

Oh, and the other student from my training school did his Mod 1 15mins before me... failed clipping one of the cones on the final swerve test
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Royal Enfield Continental GT 535, Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[Kentol750]

He'd previously failed your colleague or given someone a perfect pass? Which?
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Some bikes.

[Easy-X]

[Kentol750]

There's also time between tests. Where do they do them so frequently? Is it near Luton?
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Some bikes.