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A1 to full A, what to expect

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Fullers1845
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Joined: 21 Oct 2021
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PostPosted: 14:52 - 29 Mar 2023    Post subject: A1 to full A, what to expect Reply with quote
Hi All, I passed both my Mod tests on my crappy honda cb125f in late 2021 and have got Mod 1 & 2 booked for next month with a local bike school, plus a couple of days polishing up on the big bike before the test.

I did the tests for A1 off my own back and passed both 1st time with a few minors.

Thing is, I've never ridden anything over 125! I think the school use Suzuki 650's for the A licence. What should I expect? As I'm currently stuck with a puny 10HP, I've got a bit blase with the lack of throttle response...
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Easy-X
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PostPosted: 14:59 - 29 Mar 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote
There's quite a jump from A1 to A but a satisfying one IMHO. Yes the power is there but why, if you're wary of it, would you grab a handful of throttle on the first go? With a bit of practice your mind will recalibrate to how much is needed for any given situation.
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Evil Hans
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PostPosted: 16:25 - 29 Mar 2023    Post subject: Re: A1 to full A, what to expect Reply with quote
Fullers1845 wrote:
Thing is, I've never ridden anything over 125! I think the school use Suzuki 650's for the A licence. What should I expect? As I'm currently stuck with a puny 10HP, I've got a bit blase with the lack of throttle response...


To be honest, the biggest difference is going to be in the manual handling bit, as the A bike will weigh more.

Everything else is in your head. Relax and you'll be fine.
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trevor saxe-coburg-gotha
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PostPosted: 17:38 - 29 Mar 2023    Post subject: Re: A1 to full A, what to expect Reply with quote
Evil Hans wrote:
Fullers1845 wrote:
Thing is, I've never ridden anything over 125! I think the school use Suzuki 650's for the A licence. What should I expect? As I'm currently stuck with a puny 10HP, I've got a bit blase with the lack of throttle response...


To be honest, the biggest difference is going to be in the manual handling bit, as the A bike will weigh more.

Everything else is in your head. Relax and you'll be fine.


This.

The most obvious difference will be the mass of the bigger bike, which you'll quickly notice even just getting it vertical off the side stand.

It can be intimidating, daunting even. Manhandling from one bay to another (Mod 1) will be more difficult to start with. Remember though that at the balance point in the vertical plain the bike will feel like it weighs as much as the 125. So in fact, the weight in the context of the bay section of the test shouldn't present any more difficulties than with the 125.

As for the u-turns and figures of eight, the bike may (and probably should) feel easier to manage in some ways. It won't be as twitchy or shaky. On the other hand it could be harder to 'save' if you dab a foot down, and it leans a little further than anticipated - in that case, your own heft and strength will come into play.

For Mod 2 stuff, the bigger bike will usually feel more stable than the 125. It will probably seem less fussy over gear selection. It'll have a bit more 'presence' - i.e. be easier to see by other road users, and the increased dimensions can translate to a bit more respect as well.

But it'll be the weight you notice firstly - and lastly too, probably.
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Nobby the Bastard
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Joined: 16 Aug 2013
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PostPosted: 17:49 - 29 Mar 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote
The trick is to not dab a foot down, open the throttle. The bike will stand up on its own.
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Zen Dog
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PostPosted: 23:07 - 30 Mar 2023    Post subject: Re: A1 to full A, what to expect Reply with quote
Evil Hans wrote:
To be honest, the biggest difference is going to be in the manual handling bit, as the A bike will weigh more.

Everything else is in your head. Relax and you'll be fine.


Echo this. If you've been riding all this time, you have all the essential skills. In many ways, bigger bikes are actually easier to ride. You don't really have to worry about hillstarts. You have a choice of 2 or 3 gears in most situations. They tend to feel much more stable overall, which helps with low speed riding and rough surfaces among other things, though sometimes they can feel top heavy at slow speeds. They have a lot more potential power than a 125 obviously, but you have to ask for it, they'll happily pootle around the the lower half of the rev range all day, particularly the type of bikes used by riding schools. It's not going to scare the crap out of you unless you ask it to.

If you're confident riding your 125, you're going to be grinning like a cheshire cat after 5 minutes out on a 650. Thumbs Up
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CaNsA
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PostPosted: 00:40 - 31 Mar 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote
Ask Smiler.... Oh... Wait
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UncleFester
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PostPosted: 05:22 - 31 Mar 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote
-1
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Fat Angry Scotsman
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PostPosted: 09:36 - 31 Mar 2023    Post subject: Re: A1 to full A, what to expect Reply with quote
Zen Dog wrote:
If you're confident riding your 125, you're going to be grinning like a cheshire cat after 5 minutes out on a 650. Thumbs Up


Wholly agree with this Laughing I got the same experience again when I got on the new Suzuki GSX-S1000GT+ for a test ride. Going from a 650cc to a 1000cc I almost jizzed my knickers Laughing
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MCN
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PostPosted: 10:22 - 31 Mar 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote
Easy-X wrote:
There's quite a jump from A1 to A but a satisfying one IMHO. Yes the power is there but why, if you're wary of it, would you grab a handful of throttle on the first go? With a bit of practice your mind will recalibrate to how much is needed for any given situation.


I have 193 on-tap.

I regularly let that herd out the stable in one go.

That's why I bough 193 of the bastirts.
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DaddyStu
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Joined: 19 Jan 2023
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PostPosted: 12:36 - 31 Mar 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote
Wet weight on my 125 is 170Kg. I wanted to get one that felt most like a larger bike to prepare me more for the two MODs.

Are 650s much heavier than that in general?

Will be putting in for both Mods in coming month or 2 also. Have not had much riding since buying the bike in December - bad timing on my part and the weather has been awful.
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chalkhills
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Joined: 21 Jun 2020
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PostPosted: 16:58 - 31 Mar 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote
DaddyStu wrote:
Wet weight on my 125 is 170Kg. I wanted to get one that felt most like a larger bike to prepare me more for the two MODs.

Are 650s much heavier than that in general?

Will be putting in for both Mods in coming month or 2 also. Have not had much riding since buying the bike in December - bad timing on my part and the weather has been awful.


Hi Stu,

I recently got my full licence last Dec and I can remember being quite apprehensive about switching to the bigger bikes. I went from a VanVan, to a GS500, to a Bandit 600. Based on MCN stats the GS is 174kgs and Bandit 204kgs (can't confirm if that's wet or dry).

Anway, The GS was basically like riding a 125 with a bit more power IMO. The Bandit was the major step for me. It may be only 30Kgs more but it was how the weight was distributed and, of course you have the extra 30bhp over the GS.

Now, here's the thing, I only really noticed this in the slow manoeuvring. The Bandit was a completely different beast altogether due to that 30kg beer gut.

But don't stress it to much, assuming you're doing lessons you'll have plenty of time to get used to whatever you do the test on.

And good luck BTW

Chalky
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Fat Angry Scotsman
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PostPosted: 12:06 - 02 Apr 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote
chalkhills wrote:
Now, here's the thing, I only really noticed this in the slow manoeuvring. The Bandit was a completely different beast altogether due to that 30kg beer gut.


My ER6F is a full 72kg heavier than my 125cc and has 57.6 more hp. Obviously every rider is different but I think my ER6F is way easier to ride slowly and doing slow manoeuvres.
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Fullers1845
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Joined: 21 Oct 2021
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PostPosted: 08:02 - 06 Apr 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote
Cheers guys, got a couple of days over the weekend with the bike school then mod1 on tuesday, hopefully passing and then mod2 the next week.

Funnily enough when I did them on my 125 I found the mod2 more stressful as the mod1 it's just you and the bike with clipboard guy.
Mod2 you have all the divs on the road to worry about buggering it up for you.
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chalkhills
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PostPosted: 12:31 - 06 Apr 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote
Good luck for next week. I'm sure you'll knock this out no problem Thumbs Up
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Zen Dog
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PostPosted: 18:48 - 06 Apr 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote
chalkhills wrote:
The Bandit was the major step for me. It may be only 30Kgs more but it was how the weight was distributed and, of course you have the extra 30bhp over the GS.

Now, here's the thing, I only really noticed this in the slow manoeuvring. The Bandit was a completely different beast altogether due to that 30kg beer gut.


When I mentioned before about some big bikes feeling top heavy at low speed, I was specifically thinking of my brother's 650 bandit (never tried the 600), it was really noticeable. Mind you, while the 600 bandit had a rep for being cheap but good fun, the 650 really wasn't great generally, long and a bit lardy with a bland engine.

As you say, the way the weight of a bike is carried is much more important than the stat figure. Old pan europeans (goldwings too) carry their weight really low, so as soon as you start moving, despite being 240+kg, they're pussycats. But it's really hard to tell which bikes will be good and bad in that respect, because there are a lot of factors that feed into it. Like you'd expect cruisers (carrying their weight low) to be really good at low speed, but some are and some aren't. You just have to ride them and find out really.
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My bike trip around S.E. Asia 2010/2011
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Fullers1845
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Joined: 21 Oct 2021
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PostPosted: 15:24 - 10 Apr 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote
Well mod1 tomorrow so done some off road and on road riding with the instructor, all on a Bandit. Really noticed the weight but the slow speed stuff was in some ways easier than my 125, apart from the u turn which has always been my bugbear (actually did a slow motion lowering of the bike onto the crash bars today…)
The hazard avoidance practice was way, way easier than when I did it on my 125, the bandit just smoothly steers round.
And as for on road riding, I think once I manage to pass the poor old 125 will be very quickly sold on!
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Nobby the Bastard
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PostPosted: 15:31 - 10 Apr 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote
Fullers1845 wrote:
(actually did a slow motion lowering of the bike onto the crash bars today…)


It's counter-intuitive but open the throttle a little, the bike will stand up all by itself. You'll be able to track your line okay, it won't suddenly run wide.
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chalkhills
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Joined: 21 Jun 2020
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PostPosted: 05:42 - 11 Apr 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote
Fullers1845 wrote:
Well mod1 tomorrow so done some off road and on road riding with the instructor, all on a Bandit. Really noticed the weight but the slow speed stuff was in some ways easier than my 125, apart from the u turn which has always been my bugbear (actually did a slow motion lowering of the bike onto the crash bars today…)
The hazard avoidance practice was way, way easier than when I did it on my 125, the bandit just smoothly steers round.
And as for on road riding, I think once I manage to pass the poor old 125 will be very quickly sold on!


Good luck for today. Don't forget those life savers!
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Fat Angry Scotsman
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PostPosted: 08:53 - 11 Apr 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote
Fullers1845 wrote:
Well mod1 tomorrow so done some off road and on road riding with the instructor, all on a Bandit. Really noticed the weight but the slow speed stuff was in some ways easier than my 125, apart from the u turn which has always been my bugbear (actually did a slow motion lowering of the bike onto the crash bars today…)
The hazard avoidance practice was way, way easier than when I did it on my 125, the bandit just smoothly steers round.
And as for on road riding, I think once I manage to pass the poor old 125 will be very quickly sold on!


Good luck and let us know how you did!
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BRUN
Trackday Trickster



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PostPosted: 09:32 - 11 Apr 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote
GOOD LUCK
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Fullers1845
Nova Slayer



Joined: 21 Oct 2021
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PostPosted: 12:13 - 11 Apr 2023    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks all, lots of worrying for nothing in the end, passed with no faults and on to mod2 next Thursday.
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