Help needed from some experienced old heads :)

[Rogerborg]

[pompousporcup...]

good on you

[Ribenapigeon]

May have already been suggested but try looking on youtube loads of London motorcycle commuter vids. It looks a squash but on the upside compared to where I live drivers seem to be used to bikes so in some ways easier than somewhere with less traffic but also less bikes.

[schnitzel.von.krumm]

[BTTD]

[Stewdog]

Thought everyone might like an update... i'm sure its a common experience with newbies to riding, but i thought i would share it with all those thinking of learning to ride.

So i left you all enthusiastic, with a booked CBT, and a completed theory test moving towards a DAS in May last year.

well things didn't quite work out as planned.

I completed CBT no problems at all, found it enjoyable after thinking about it for so long to actually enjoy the opportunity to finally learn how to ride a bike.

I then was persuaded (i can only blame myself for getting caught up in the enthusiasm and excitement) to go into a quick 3 day DAS giving over around £600 in the process.

In the meantime i got my gear sorted, safety first! and on the morning of the move to the bigger 600cc Honda proceeded to have a complete and utter meltdown. As a complete novice with only the CBT for experience i really struggled to handle the larger cc'd bike and over the course of about two hours all my confidence drained completely out of me to the point where the instructor called an end to it.

Told me to speak with the office and game over i lost all my confidence and £600 quid in the process.

Took me a while to get my head around it.

in the end, as i needed to find a way to get commute from sevenoaks to london i ended up buying a 125 and "manning up" solo on the a20 up into north London.

It paid off after not killing myself for a few weeks my confidence returned and I'm now looking forward. The only issue i have now is trying to find the money to pay for the DAS all over again.. before my CBT and theory run out next April.

so my point if there is one, is take your time, don't rush (or be rushed) into something you aren't prepared for. get plenty of hours under your belt with a 125 and make sure you have the appropriate level of safety gear and a decent option on breakdown cover!!!!

if anyone has any ideas of a good cheap DAS course or instructor i'm all ears, I'm super cautious after the experience i had last time out.

[chickenstrip]

I rode my CB100 long enough to be ragging the nuts off it everywhere and constantly wanting more power. Had a couple of minor spills on it, so that was another fear largely out of the way. Probably a lot of people here will tell you that moving straight from that to a Kawasaki 750 turbo wasn't a great idea, but by then I felt ready. Gave myself a couple of scares on it, fortunately without crashing, and that was it...big bikes felt natural very quickly, and I never wanted to go back to the small stuff again.

I'm thankful that doing training and tests was all very much cheaper and easier back then though. But I guess those early miles on the L plates were an invaluable experience, especially riding in the traffic of that London. Having mates in a similar position to myself to ride with probably helped too. You felt like you had to measure up, although not in a 'too much pressure' way. Just fun. I just enjoyed the whole thing so much, I was never lacking in confidence; just wanted more, more, more!
____________________
Chickenystripgeezer's Biking Life (Latest update 19/10/18) Belgium, France, Italy, Austria tour 2016 Picos de Europa, Pyrenees and French Alps tour 2017 Scotland Trip 1, now with BONUS FEATURE edit, 5/10/19, on page 2 Scotland Trip 2 Luxembourg, Black Forest, Switzerland, Vosges Trip 2017
THERE'S MILLIONS OF CHICKENSTRIPS OUT THERE!

[lingeringstin...]

I used to be a London based courier. Things to remember are that "rush hour" is about three hours long, twice a day, in total street gridlock meltdown. Also you'd better have a private place to park because there's just too many people on bikes looking for too few bike parking spaces, and then there's the frustrated car drivers who park in motorcycle bays seemingly oblivious to getting ticketed for it.

Rush hour is impossible in a car and filtering in central London during rush hour is a SLOW process on a bike. You simply can not get ANYWHERE in any kind of hurry at those times and you're stuck in whatever weather. Your health and sanity will be permanently ruined in no time.

If parked in a public parking bay (if you can even find one) you bike WILL be stolen or vandalized regularly, especially if it's a 125.

However, if I still lived in London and had to be places at certain times then that's the only way I'd do it because I can't tolerate the hellish commuter slog on the tubes and busses.

Basically what I'm saying is it's a terrible thing to do even on a bike but it might be marginally better (less depressingly soul destroying) than the expensive, unsanitary and torturous commute by public cattle transport.

[chris-red]

[chris-red]

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

[AshWebster]

[Stewdog]

its all a bit of an adventure!

From my brief experience thus far i can do West Malling to Old Street in any time between 1hr to 1hr 30 depending on blackwall and the cut thru from the A12 to Old Street traffic wise. (have a habit of intercepting the bin lorries on my way in) tends to be slower in the evening than 9ish when I'm on my way in.

i guess i'm spending £80 - £100 a month on fuel and a tenner on Power one, then the odd chain/sprocket set once things get a bit worn.

i've kept on top of oil changes, a couple of sprocket/chain changes, I even got my hands wet on a thrust bearing and clutch replacement after one of the two breakdowns i've suffered thus far. (touch wood).

Things i've noticed thus far is tyre wear hasn't been too bad considering the 12k this year and the chain tensioners on my bike seem to be made of cheese.

the comments about delivery drivers and some popular taxi companies ring true although i've found some curious displays by moped and cyclists to be the most dangerous and unpredictable entities on the road.

[Rogerborg]

[rpsmith79]

Here is my 2 penneth after recently completing my DAS course

I would highly recommend taking it slowly, the longest session i ever did was 2 hours, and that was long enough for be to be able to concentrate on what i was doing while out riding, then having a 5-10 min debrief, then allowing it all to sink in for a few days, then having another lesson

It took me 6 weeks in total from start to finish, with a total of 10 lessons (varying from 1-2 hours) so a lesson every 4-5 days, gradually ramping up when getting closer to my tests

I know everyone is different, but i certainly felt the time between lesson was well spent allowing all the advice to sink in, however, i felt that when i jumped back onto my little CG125 after the first couple of lessons, it was actually doing me no favours at all, as i was forgetting how the big bike felt, and getting used to the small bike again, then the first half of the next lesson was spent getting used to the big bike again

So after the 1st couple of lessons, i left my 125 alone until i had completed the course, and then promptly sold it
____________________
Current Bike: Honda CG125 ES4 // Honda CB600FS Hornet // Triumph Street Triple R

[Tracer1234]

[M.C]

[Wheezybiker]

My DAS was 5 days and cost 600 with bike hire tests included
They are there to teach you how to ride a 600 plus bike
I took 2 attempts at mod 1 and passed mod 2 first time had an extra days training as well
We all learn at different rates but if an instructor has written you off after 2 hours then there is something wrong with him not you
Oh and I never had a 125 bike and was a complete novice on motorbikes
Go back get the lessons they owe you and you will be fine

[M.C]

The school I used weren't even going to let me attempt Mod 1 I was that bad at the slow speed stuff, but even then they tried to come up with an arrangement (they'd waive the test fees if I booked more training).

In the end I did Mod 1 as a 'practice', and passed , same with Mod 2 straight after (I was fine on the road after a year on a 125). Dunno what the OP's problem was, was it general road riding? I wouldn't expect a noob to have the clutch control for a big bike.

[Bozzy.]

[Stewdog]

So response via centre was they couldn't offer me additional training or time. as it was already booked in with the instructor etc. there seemed a fair amount of apathy towards what happened.

I would lose the test fees obviously anyway, and would need to come back in year and pay again

regarding my riding issues, it was clutch control. 100%. as you can imagine an element of careening around! even basic hill start became an issue.

Probably didn't help that the guy i trained alongside was redoing his MOD1/2 after losing licence i think so was cruising. think they wanted to get through it quick.

You guys are probably right, perhaps going back again and seeing what they say now a bit of water is under the bridge, is worth another try.

Im frustrated i got myself in this situ but also at the way it panned out with them.

[M.C]

If it makes you feel any better I don't think I really developed proper clutch control until after my test, around town at least. I definitely lost it again after having an 8 month break from riding (we'll gloss over why) only a few months after getting my license.

A 3-day DAS does seem kinda short for a greenhorn, I did one with a much more experienced friend, similar situation he basically breezed it (he had years on a big bike riding illegally) although he was worse than me at hill starts and struggled a bit with u-turns.

I think see if the school are willing to do anything, if not go elsewhere. Only school I routinely hear good things about are Camrider, but they're based in North London now. They're expensive but have had winter 2 for 1 training (Nov' - March iirc) offers on in the past if you can find a second person, and I dunno if it's a plus or negative for you but the training's spread out into 'sessions'. We sent them a bunch of complete autists from work and have had no fatalities or major accidents (yet)

[Mark_UK]

I just wanted to say, Stewdog, you will find your DAS much much easier now that you have been playing around on the 125 for a few months. I was on my 125 for 4 months before moving up. I can't even begin to imagine what I would have been like doing DAS straight after CBT, probably on my arse looking at the front wheel in the air. 125 to 600 is a massive difference.

Clutch control is everything! I passed my Mod 2 7 weeks ago, and it took me another 4 or 5 weeks to learn to stop stalling the engine on my FZ600 when setting off from lights.

It's well worth doing it though. On the 125, you want to overtake the wagon in front doing 55 in a 70 zone, and it takes forever. All that time, you are in his blind spot, and he could swerve out and bowling-pin you. On the 600, it takes 2 seconds to be in front of him and safe again

Good luck, and keep up the updates
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CBT passed 02/02/17, Theory passed 21/02/17, Mod 1 passed 10/07/17, Mod 2 passed 14/07/17
MT-125 03/17, FZ600 07/17

[lingeringstin...]

[M.C]