Bad CBT Experience - looking for some advice

[mjd]

Things to do before choosing a school/instructor.
-Do a bit of research, ask around and read reviews online
-Don't get put off by unprofessional instructor, a guy who dropped a bike on my leg passed his CBT. (can happen to anyone, right?)
-Sometimes going with a small family ran business is better, than going with a big brand. I hated my driving lessons with Bill Plant, switched to a self-employed learning instructor and it went downhill from there. Same with CBT, I went with a family ran business. When you're the boss, you want customers so you act in a professional manner.

If you've your certificate, just go out in hours when there's barely any traffic and ride around. If you don't have a car license, study the highway code a bit. Practise is all you need, theory is just theory...

One last thing, gear up! 125 can hit 60-70mph and if you look at my last crash you'll see why everyone says to gear up properly. Get a D30 Level 2 back protector, they're like 30 quid and can save you from being paralysed for the rest of your life.


So much anger lately Clov!s, go and talk to someone dude...

Thank you for the guidance. I am really wishing I had asked some of these questions before.

The bloke who seemed to be the main contact for the school seemed a nice enough chap on the phone and through emails back and forth. Sadly he didnt mention it wasnt him leading the training.
I have mapped out a route within half of mile or less from my house that will tackle my weak spots and finish at a car park.
Sadly, gearing up back fired on me yesterday. Made a point of making sure I had all necessary gear before doing the training, but forgot to account for how warm it was yesterday and my jacket didnt have a removable lining.....you'd swear I'd been out in a downpour when I took my jacket off

 

[acemastr]

Could be worse, a woman dropped her bike, flat shifted every time and couldn't do the figure 8 and passed her TEST here... to ride any bike she wants... that was scary.

 

[PiKe]

Who governs places like this? Surely you shouldn't have been allowed to pass your CBT having dropped the bike twice?! Seems insane to effectively let someone go and ride solo.

 

[.one.]

There seems to be a lot of this going around, my GF is currently learning to ride and honestly some of the training centres around here I wouldn't trust them to teach someone how to ride a push bike, and one of them honestly the way they treat and abuse people because they don't learn at the speed they want them to learn at made me want to go down there myself... I know internet hard man and all that.... : p

Gone seems to be the days where these places were run by honest riders who genuinely wanted to help people get on the road, all they seem to care about now is getting your money as fast as possible and not caring if they pass or fail.

Mjd I wouldn't go and do the CBT again but do you have any friends/family you could go out and ride with or anyone here on the forums local, you will learn far more going out with experienced riders.

I know some instructors and argue with then on and off for a giggle lol one said to me the other day "When riding I do not acknowledge riders on L plates" I said your a ****

To the op don't worry in another 20 years you will look back and laugh chin up move on.

 

[Kreeeee]

Don't try and play it off like you were just joking.. You were an arse, don't hide from it now.

Ladies, both of you put your handbags away.

I'm not surprised you passed OP, it's very hard to fail those courses and loads of people end up being liabilities on the road because of it. At least you're restricted to a 125 unlike here where you see learners on BMW S1000RR's out and about on their own!

 

[ttaskmaster]

Can I do the CBT again with a different instructor who has some concept of teaching?

You can. Nothing stopping you apart from the time and money.
It's their job to push you toward improvement and the confidence to go out there. It's your job to find a decent teacher whose style works for you.

In my opinion the cbt isn't worth the paper it's written on anyway, in this world of health and safety I can't believe it's still allowed.

It's not a licence pass or test of any kind, though, much as people like to see it that way.
It's certification that you have completed BASIC training, to a satisfactory standard and have shown you are BASICALLY safe on the roads. nothing more.

However, I'd rather retain the CBT than have even more regulation, tests, stages and restrictions on biking, especially as they're making the car test even easier!

one said to me the other day "When riding I do not acknowledge riders on L plates" I said your a ****

Most decent instructors will tell you this.
The reasoning is that an L-Plater is still learning and the last thing they need is to be watching for people nodding and waving, expecting a response - They should be concentrating on the road.
I think they might actually teach it at Cardington.

 

[tom_e]

It's not a licence pass or test of any kind, though, much as people like to see it that way.
It's certification that you have completed BASIC training, to a satisfactory standard and have shown you are BASICALLY safe on the roads. nothing more.

However, I'd rather retain the CBT than have even more regulation, tests, stages and restrictions on biking, especially as they're making the car test even easier!

From a rider point of view I think it should stay as well or else there's no way I'd have ended up with my licence, it's great being able to spend an afternoon zipping around and then being able to have your own transport.
From a general view though if someone wants to zip around on a 125 or less then there's the A1 licence which is going to make a much better rider than some of the dross you see flying about with L plates stuck on because there's nothing stopping you being a perpetual L plater and continuing you be a danger to yourself and others.

Considering the hoops younger riders have to jump through to get an A licence it just seems incredibly backwards.

 

[mjd]

Who governs places like this? Surely you shouldn't have been allowed to pass your CBT having dropped the bike twice?! Seems insane to effectively let someone go and ride solo.

Not sure if that was for me or not, but I only dropped it once, along with myself
However, I agree, I was that cheesed off when I finished,mentally exhausted with my confidence ripped to bits,that I was ready to call it a day before I'd even started.
Having now had time to think it all through and to think about my mistakes from a distance, I have started to make sense of it all and where I was coming unstuck. In my case it really was a case of a poor instructor (read:teacher) and a lack guidance on the road. Had he have not wasted his breath with unrelated insults and generally showing his frustration, those noises in my ear could have been constructive instead of having me on pins.

Anyhoo, all taxed and insured ready for an early ride Saturday morning. I am actually starting to look forward to it which is progress in itself

 

[TallPaul_S]

You only really start learning how to ride once you get miles under your belt, so you're doing the right thing getting out there and riding.

 

[IC3]

Don't try and play it off like you were just joking.. You were an arse, don't hide from it now.

Someones butthurt because I mentioned a sensitive topic, its okay Clov!s we're here for you. Take a deep breath in and out... in and... out. Feeling better now fella?

Thank you for the guidance. I am really wishing I had asked some of these questions before.

The bloke who seemed to be the main contact for the school seemed a nice enough chap on the phone and through emails back and forth. Sadly he didnt mention it wasnt him leading the training.
I have mapped out a route within half of mile or less from my house that will tackle my weak spots and finish at a car park.
Sadly, gearing up back fired on me yesterday. Made a point of making sure I had all necessary gear before doing the training, but forgot to account for how warm it was yesterday and my jacket didnt have a removable lining.....you'd swear I'd been out in a downpour when I took my jacket off

Np

Better to sweat than bleed!

 

[Captain]

Someones butthurt because I mentioned a sensitive topic, its okay Clov!s we're here for you. Take a deep breath in and out... in and... out. Feeling better now fella?



Np

Better to sweat than bleed!

What sensitive topic? I'm not sensitive to anything

 

[One]

Tbh i think CBT is too easy. I was a right danger on the road after just my CBT, no idea what I was doing and I had a full car license. so at least had some road knowledge. I actually think the test is ok, it's the limited access path which is imho completely broken meaning people wait till 24 to do it to get the full thing.

As for making the car test easier... no turn in the road and no reverse around a corner - and that's basically it? Did people seriously fail on manouvers for anything but not looking enough?

Reversing round corners is mostly unsafe and there's little reason to do it in real life. 3/5 point turns must slow up traffic, I've certainly done them in real life though.

I waited till I was 24 to do my test, although I was 23 when I decided I wanted to do it so it wasn't a huge wait. There's nothing wrong with that direct route imo. The mod 1 and 2 are very rigourous in my opinion and you'll be failed for showing any sign of being unsafe.

The CBT is not bad, it's just a lot of the schools are too lax. This means people that clearly don't have a decent skill level end up on the road because the school was too lazy to bring the student back for another day of training.

I was very fortunate that I went to a great school (1on1 rider training in bedfordshire). I even had to talk the guy that ran it into giving me another lesson before tests (he thought I was ready and should save my money lol).

If you feel confident enough to get your 125 to a car park and back then go and practise. If you go and get another session all you're going to be doing is the same thing, except you'll be paying to have someone watch you do it.

Also, watch lots of youtube videos regarding clutch control, it'll help.

 

[.one.]

Most decent instructors will tell you this.
The reasoning is that an L-Plater is still learning and the last thing they need is to be watching for people nodding and waving, expecting a response - They should be concentrating on the road.
I think they might actually teach it at Cardington.

No he just does not like them.

 

[Kaeo]

Do remember that the CBT is just a training course. As long as you aren't going to be dangerous to yourself or others, you generally pass. You still have much to learn, you haven't 'passed' anything yet. My instructor for my CBT and eventual A pass was like this too. Sometimes you just have to man up and get on with it.

 

[Macky]

Sounds very similar to my CBT experience. Guy was a complete arse and was just shouting abuse at me down the comms. I also managed to pass but had little to no confidence on the road at the time. I found quite often in the biking world instructors and testers to be arses.

 

[russell664]

I remember my CBT, my guy was a decent lad - though he didn't particularly like me I don't think, things take a while to sink in when learning.
What he said to me is that 'I will only pass people's CBT, knowing that I can sleep easy knowing that you will have the skill set to get home safely on your own', Which I thought was nice as whole because that applied to everyone.

 

[tom_e]

Sounds very similar to my CBT experience. Guy was a complete arse and was just shouting abuse at me down the comms. I also managed to pass but had little to no confidence on the road at the time. I found quite often in the biking world instructors and testers to be arses.

I find some of them are a special bunch in the fact that they're quite old school and head towards tough love and abuse but it's more just a case of laughing along and calling them a **** back.

Saying that my DAS instructor was brilliant, even me having a serious case of target fixation and nearly going head first into a people carrier didn't get him flapping in my ear.

 

[janp]

I had a pretty bad CBT experience as well. I actually ended up reporting the school to the DVSA. They weren't particular nasty to me, but they skipped over bits of the CBT that I considered pretty essential. My main point of disappointment, was the fact they deemed it unnecessary to teach how to correctly perform emergency stops. I spoke with some other schools, who thought it was pretty terrible, and encouraged me to report them. I did feel bad about squealing, but at the same time I was concerned of the standard of other fellow riders that I could potentially be sharing local roads with.

I ended up going to another school, who had a CBT cancellation, so I took the place at a reduced rate (£50). I did all the slow manoveurs again, and stayed for an hour of the on-road bit. It gave me a lot more confidence, especially knowing I could do an emergency stop without sliding out. At the end, they told me I was pretty much ready to book a DAS, which I wasn't expecting.
Anyway, I would advice you to talk to local schools (do some research first), and see if they can offer a similar deal to what I had. It might be worth mentioning that your looking to go for your full license, it will give the school incentive to help you out (although they shouldn't really need that).

 

[Freeman]

Same for me. I never got abused or anything like that but boy, if I made a small mistake like move my hand towards the front brake at low speed, I'd know about it! He'd yell down the comms. They have very little patience Vs my car license.
I ended up taking my full test with them and don't really regret it, but there are plenty of better schools out there. I'll never recommend them to anyone though. They were based in Coventry.