CBT and Possibly A2

[Tabbyk]

Hi guys.

Been lurking on the forum for a few weeks and reading up some posts. This is probably the 150th million thread for this but here it goes.

I'm nearly 21 and been wanting a bike over a car for a few years. Im going to university next month so I figured once im there I could start doing my bike stuff. I did a cbt about a year ago but they got pissed off at the group and as a result i kept stalling the bike and my confidence was getting worse and worse and i didnt go out on the road. When on the yard I was fine but the idea of road riding after a few hours was scary. I suppose id be fine after a bit but still.

After leaving I left disappointed in myself and I didnt go back so that was a waste of the £120 I spent, including the £250 ish worth of gear I bought. Just sat gathering dust for the past year.

I've been looking at Fazer 600s for a first A2 bike after a few vlogs and reviews about them, but its just a fantasy for now. I was thinking as well since the theory tests are only £23-£30 I could do my motorcycle test before doing it all as it lasts 2 years and save time. I know it sounds stupid but would you guys have any recommendations in calming my nerves on the road. Really dont fancy stalling at a roundabout at rush hour with a tailgater.

[NJD]

[Teflon-Mike]

University is.... usually a big change and a big eye-opener.
What interests you now, what seems a great idea now, is likely to get turned on its head within the first term; as will your ideas of domestic and personal accounting.

I rode a 125 through most of my uni years, buying it initially as cheap, dependable, bus-fare beating wheels when I got myself a summer placement out in the sticks that would pay for chunk of it, and let me get my licence on it.... hung onto it long past L's though, because of the economics and it just doing the job.

These days, tiddlers aren't so helpful in offering a route to a full ride what you like licence; BUT they do still offer very very useful low-cost learner-commuter transport; and while they may not be particularly inspiring, they can still be incredibly 'useful'. 60-70mph top speed doesn't make for the most 'relaxed' long haul, higher speed journeys, but, they can still exceed most UK speed limits, and go as far and as fast as anything else with an engine, used 'legally'... and they can do it incredibly cheaply!

At Uni, my 125 took me the three miles in and out of town to lectures, lab sessions or piss-ups once or twice a day, and was in it's element round the houses on the city streets, or down the back of the cathedral steps.... d-o-n-t ask!

Come the weekends? ring binders ejected from the sports bag, spare pair of jeans and a cleanish T-shirt or two in thier place, bungeed on the bunny seat, and I could head to the hills.. or a bike meet, or as often a party at some-one else's SU bar possibly a few hundred miles away!

Or jam all the really dirty washing in a couple of bin-bags, to be bungeed to the bunny, and treckked up the motorway in the truck-stack so that mummy didn't feel abandoned, after she'd got the land-lady to finally ear-ole me and tell me I should go 'home' from time to time!

Cheap tax, cheap insurance, cheap maintenance, and high MPG, it was and they still are, bikes that are eminently suited to the student-loan.

No1-un-son, on the other hand, spent large part of his student days, after blowing his loan cheque on the first bit of plastic that may once have had the right badge on it, trying to run a succession of clapped out middle-weight sports, that he couldn't afford to insure, or maintain, or even put petrol in very often, between crashing them....... insisting he'd never been seen dead on another 125....

21 years old? Meddlin' in the middle twixt A2 and RWYL A?

IF after you have got through your first term at uni... I was there four years, and saw the fresh faces every September, become haggard, and a good 1/4 not return after Christmas, more lost to 'attrition' before September came round again....

So, IF you get through that first term, and have got a handle on whats what, and what would be most useful and suitable, both for transport needs and your budget...

THEN, I'd be inclined to recommend looking for a 125, on CBT and L's to run up to the summer... when the grant-cheques run out and things can get a bit 'tight' for three months or so....

When you may be able to use the free time and or holiday earnings to try for a licence; with the 125 on hand, doing the A1 '125-only' tests, as they are cheap, and if you have six months riding under your wheels, you ought to be doing all they ask of you on test every day anyway... and it gets you a full licence, which IF you want to go on to do higher licences is a stepping stone towards. If not... lets you get the most from 'cheap' 125 for the duration, carrying pillions and using motorways, even riding on forreign shores if any of that takes your fancy, or tickles your imagination; miser miling tiddler sipping go-juice at half the rate of even a fairly mundane A2 commuter can take you an awful long way in the big break when classes close.....

A2 training is not particularly 'cheap' or ecconomically efficient. If you were a more confident CBT'er, you might eek through tests on a £600 course, but, if you aren't so confident and dont have any prior experience, it is likely to sap loan cheques to not get you very far very quickly.. large chunk of what you are paying for on A2 or DAS courses merely being the rental of a bike you cant ride without supervision, and the supervision to ride it whilst you 'practice'.

In that, ground work put in on your own 125 is still a good way to go. You can still do lessons, but, you can go away and practice till you are dizzy on the tiddler, for little more than the price of the tiny amounts of petrol they sip whilst about it.

And, at 21... even if you got an A2 for your time, money & effort... bit of a bugger to be so short changed in the 'restricted' licence you win for it... to have to re-do tests over to get the RWYL licence, and likely little or no earlier than simply waiting until you are 24 and entitled to do the RWYL tests by age alone.

Meanwhile... its August... still enjoying a reasonably sunny summer this year; and keep folks biking optimisms fired..... come the end of October, though... that will pretty much be over, and most will be padding their bikes down for the winter.. 'cos it gets a LOT less 'nice' to ride in as the weather closes and the days get shorter

CBT course bookings will probably not be the most easily available this time of year, or the prices cheapest; and as your own notions, the september school start does prompt a spike new starters with students getting the grant cheque and not having Mummy moaning "Not whilst under MY roof your not", or Dad's sorting out kids starting aprenticeships or whatever.

February, March? end of the lull time; weather usually picking up, we often get a little 'alpine Spring' of good weather in there some-where, and it can actually be nice riding.. cold, but the roads pretty well washed and clean, the hedgerows still died back and thin, so visibility good; light quite nice, and the days starting to stretch a little.. it can be one of the nicest times of the year to ride, I think.... and certainly a good time of year to do a CBT course, before every-one is thinking about it.

You are ALSO likely to get a better 'group', and a different attitude from the instructors, which will help your confidence.

Which is probably the number one bit of advice on that topic; PICK your school with care, and pick your course.

CBT is not a very lucrative bit of the business; Student/Instructor rations mandated by the DSA limit how much they can 'stack-em high & sell'em cheap' or otherwise cut corners and costs, to offer a a course that costs just £125 for a day of bike and instruction, where they might be able to charge £200 - £250, for the same offered to an A2 or DAS student on a bigger bike.... AND where they don't have to pay the DSA such a large chunk of the course fee for approving thier off-road training ground or providing the book of DL196 CBT certs....

In the summer, they get a lot of students who want bike licences, 'cos they see sun shining... and a lot of them are idiots.. who dont engender much patience, and if you aren't even making NMW for teaching them, easy to not offer it......

In the winter? you tend not to get so many want to ride a bike.... in the cold and the wet and the dark... and schools can struggle to fill a course with students, and those they get, are often that much more 'keen' and serious about it... and the 'atmosphere' can be a lot more condusive to building confidence, instructors not so frazzles in the heat, or fraught dealing with plonkers not listening to them.

Its a good time to 'plan' doing your course...

Its after you have got through the culture hump of freshers and teh first term; Its usually in the better winter weather; and in the 'lull' when a school Is more likely to be able to give you the time and attention to help you make progress.

Otherwise.....

You CANNOt take in ALL you need to know to go from being a pedestrian to a competant motorcyclist in ONE DAY.

CBT is compulsary BASIC training, it is just the very very basics and FAR from all you need to know, let alone practice to meet even the pretty low standards of competence demanded for test!!

But even so, there is still a hell of a lot to take in and learn and a heck of a lot to 'do' you have probably never done before, and it ISN'T easy!

The expectation that you 'should' get your DL196 at the end of it, really IS probably over ambitiouse in a lot of cases. Probably 1/3 of CBT students DO NOT complete in the day, and either give up or have to return for further training. This is NOT in anyway unusual, nor does it mean you are useless or a failure!

So, you will be going back 'cold'l you have done it once, but probably forgotten a lot of what you were taught; BUT you have done it before, you do have a reasonable idea of what to expect.

You do stand better than average chance of completing in the day, next time round... if you turn up with an open mind, responsive to learn, and confident enough to ask questions.

Play-grouund excersises you reckoned you managed to get sussed, it was just stalling under pressure, and the 'fear' of heading onto the road....

RULE NUMBER FUCKING ONE.....

DONT RUSH Rushin'be fast way to hurt when it comes to bikes.

Applies to a lot surounding them, like buying the buggers as well as riding them; doing maintenence and repairs and stuff too, but still.. observe.. DONT RUSH

There's no hurry; biggest bit of riding a bike is in the throttle..... stalling is usually caused by too much clutch applied too soon with too little throttle.... DONT RUSH, take your time, remember the early lessons on the biting point; open it up a bit, let the clutch start to take and load it up, and balence that load with more throttle until the bike starts moving.... DONT RUSH... take it easy, take your time, be positive with teh controls, dont rush them or snatch them, be progressive and 'easy' on them...

And with a deep breath and "DONT RUSH" ringing in your head, it will come with practice....

and with practice, and not rushing, getting it 'right; more than you get it 'wrong'... confidence will grow.

You JUST cant force it or rush it. There's no magic; no top quick tricks or tips; you JUST have to take your time; dont rush and LET it happen rather than trying to force it to.

Again.. advice that applies to so much in biking and beyond....

So just fix it in your head, and remember DONT RUSH.....

It'll get you wherever you want to go, whether than's geographically on two wheels, or anywhere more metaphorically elsewhere in life!

Meanwhile... good luck with Freshers! and if you have sobered up by February... well? You probably weren't trying hard enough!!!
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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?'

[Rogerborg]

Aaaaaand he's graduated.

Find a better training school. There are still too many Shouty McRants out there thinking that they're drill instructors. The good news is that you'll find it a lot easier 2nd time round.

If you can't find anyone with the ability to teach you to the required standard, consider doing your CBT on a twist-and-go scooter. It'll take a lot of the pressure off, and you'll still be good (legally) to ride a geared bike. Just a bit of practise on your own in a quiet industrial estate should see you good.

Whether you go on to A2 or not really comes down to whether you can find a decent instructor, and how well you get on with the CBT.

If you do go A2, then a restricted / "restricted" FZS600 is about as good as it gets, but don't overlook the Bandit 600. Whatever you get, make sure it's 595cc+ and 40kw - 70kW as it'll be good to use to sit your A tests with 2 years after you pass A2 - no need to go through a training school again, just "derestrict" the bike in the test centre car park.
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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]

Jesus Tef! You do realise he's supposed to write the dissertation don't you?
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Currently enjoying products from Ford, Mazda and Yamaha
Ste wrote: Avatars are fine, it's signatures that need turning off.

[Snowdonia Rider]

[Saraya]

I was very nervous and paid for a couple of 1 to 1 lessons before going out on the road for my CBT. I found it did help a bit – but I think the main thing was that I needed to find 2 minutes of courage. That 2 minutes from saying “yes, I’ll do the road ride’ to actually riding out the gate.

I found it bloody terrifying for about 10 seconds, but then I got so preoccupied with being in traffic for the first time and watching cars/lights/potholes etc, that after a while I realised I wasn’t so scared anymore. And I think I learned more on the road ride about riding, than I did in the yard – if that makes sense?

Stalling on a roundabout? I did. I stalled going on to a mini roundabout (trying to pull away in 2nd) then immediately stalled again with the lurch from the second stall putting me right on the blooming white circle. It was embarrassing, but cars could see my hi vis ‘under instruction’ vest, nobody beeped – and I didn’t die. Plus the fact I was parked on the roundabout probably gave them a clue to stay back and give me room.

I would say, if you can do a few laps of your training yard without stalling, wobbling lots or falling off – and don't destroy cones when weaving - give the CBT another go. But find a different school as nobody needs a shouty one. And if you are really, REALLY nervous, pay for an hours 1 to 1 lesson. Can’t comment on bigger bikes though, as I’m still a newbie bimbling around on a YBR. But I’m having a hell of a lot of fun doing it.

[NJD]

[col-el rider]

[Big Jock]

When I did my CBT and the instructor said he was happy to take me out on the road I sh*t myself. Nearly told him I didn't think I was ready and head home but ended up just going with it and managed no problems. It was the same again when I had to pick up my 125. I was close to phoning my dad to ride it home for me. This was very recently so I understand the nerves but honestly it won't take long to calm down and start enjoying it.

[Cronik]

I was looking on Fazer.
Ended up getting CBF125 for many-a-reason.
Fazer probably next year.

It's fucking cool either way. I'm a temperate.

I have only recently started to get 'road-confident'...

Do you sit within my nest?
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*A Vacuous Vacancy*

[Tabbyk]

[grr666]

Did my all but 5 mins of my CBT on a Fazer. It was easier to ride than the YBR 125 I had for the first 5 mins on the pad.
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Currently enjoying products from Ford, Mazda and Yamaha
Ste wrote: Avatars are fine, it's signatures that need turning off.

[Rogerborg]

[col-el rider]

I own a Fazer 600 for my first big bike, and its really easy to ride. It's very smooth and handles really well, also it has a lot of power there if you need it. I would highly recommend it as a first bigger bike.
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Had: HN125-8
Current Steed: Yamaha Fazer 600

[zMastaa]

[Teflon-Mike]

[Rogerborg]

[NJD]