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Kreeeee · 5 Jun 2014 at 21:48

I had a little kid staring at the bike at some traffic lights, so I gave him a little nod. He gave a sheepish nod back and then ran to his mother with a massive smile on his face.

I think he'll be a future rider too

Kreeeee · 9 Jun 2014 at 10:07

One said:
I've just booked my theory test. Are there any good resources anyone can recommend? I've found the hazard perception to be trickiest because they don't really explain when you should be clicking. The questions are common sense for a lot of them so I don't struggle with that at all.

I was quite close to failing the hazard perception on my car theory 5 or 6 years ago.

Get the theory out the way and then I'm booked on to a CBT course which the instructor said would enable him to create a lesson plan which will work on any weak points I may have in preparation for the DAS.

I used this and scored 96% in my theory and hazard perception test: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1843265710

Kreeeee · 12 Jun 2014 at 21:40

No worries! I found that software really good for all parts of the theory and hazard test. Good luck!

Kreeeee · 18 Jun 2014 at 16:55

Woop woop!

Passed first time!

Feeling good

Kreeeee · 18 Jun 2014 at 18:26

Three minors:

1 - Took longer than I should to cancel my indicators, first time ever making that mistake!

2 - On the very first corner I pulled out too eagerly in front of another car, but corrected the mistake and got up to speed before they caught up so it was only a minor. I was so nervous at this stage of the test.

3 - Indicated right on a straight ahead for a roundabout and ended up going all the way around to be safe. I heard him say straight ahead clearly but I went to the right lane and thought it's better to safely do what he hadn't told me to do.

Kreeeee · 18 Jun 2014 at 18:41

Participant said:
Well done! Minor #3 - so is it a fault to 'misunderstand / fail to hear', because it sounds like he could have interpreted your actions as that. I know you heard him and made a mistake (though I reckon you did the right thing in carrying on round once in the right hand lane), but how did he know that?

I think it went down as a lane discipline minor.

One said:
3 minors is pretty good, I bet your're quite chuffed right about now!

1 seems a bit picky, do you remember doing this?

2 sounds like you were quite lucky not to get the major!

3 is a pretty smart thing to do and good on you for keeping cool under pressure.

For minor #1 he pretty much did me a favour because I noticed and cancelled eventually, and it was again near the start of the ride. He said he kept an eye out for it again and would have failed me on it if I repeated the issue.

For #2, it was a slow moving line of traffic (~15-17mph) and it was the only gap as far as I could see (something like 35 ish cars) and I just panicked to be honest.

Kreeeee · 18 Jun 2014 at 18:53

Participant said:
Lane discipline? But you said you were in the right lane for the turn you made?

I think he made the assumption that I couldn't get into the correct lane in time to go straight ahead, rather than just ignored what he said and "suddenly remembered" it mid-way round the roundabout.

I had passed so didn't raise that point!

One said:
I get that if you leave it on it's probably a major, I've seen plenty of bikers leave it on and always worry someone might pull out on them but there's not a lot can be done if it's been left on and forgotten. However from Kreeeee's description I thought maybe he just left it on for 10 or 20 seconds too long then turned it off, IDK though.

Yes I noticed and turned it off before it was a major fault, but it was borderline.

Kreeeee · 18 Jun 2014 at 19:04

Kreeeee said:
I was completely bricking it.

We were late to the test as the other learner got separated from our group on the way to the test centre which didn't help my nerves!

Edit: Also today was my first time riding in the rain... that's certainly an eye opener!

Edit 2: the pinlock was a life saver, the chap I was with had so much hassle with his visor misting up while I had no issues, even with my glasses.

I forgot I had these issues with the Mod 1.

I had similar luck with my Mod 2 as a stone blocked the cooling fan and the motor burnt out, so I had to do the test on a spare bike which had pretty worn brakes, bent clutch and what I can only describe as a loose/slack throttle.

That spare bike is being done up this weekend, not that it affects me now