*** How to obtain a bike license ***

[Karl]

I had my mod-1 cancelled in September due to bad weather and had to reschedule it to 3 weeks later (yesterday). Was really worried because 3 weeks without riding a bike and then diving into a mod-1 test was not ideal! We left the school in the morning (my test was at 9:30am) and surprisingly I was a lot more confident than before. When the examiner called my name I got nervous af but after speaking to him a little (he made some jokes, etc) I got relaxed and did well in the test. My main concern was the swerve – when training I was slowing down before the speed trap because my mind was concentrating in the cones and I didn’t want to go too fast. Thankfully I did OK and had 0 faults! I was really surprised because I always had at least one minor fault while training. Mod-2 scheduled to Friday and hopefully I’ll pass so I can finally go shopping for a bike!

Good luck for today!

Mod 2 passed today, thank god. Had a new test route that the instructor had never seen, and to top it off, it was like Whacky Races.
People pulling into the middle of a main road to reverse their cars into driveways, people parallel parking like idiots, old people cycling at 0.5mph in front of buses, all the things that could get you to fail your test if you don't respond properly. Absolute nightmare. Somehow got through it though!!

 

[InvaderGIR]

Good luck for today!

Mod 2 passed today, thank god. Had a new test route that the instructor had never seen, and top top it off, it was like Whacky Races. People pulling into the middle of a main road to reverse their cars into driveways, people parallel parking like idiots, old people cycling at 0.5mph in front of buses, all the things that could get you to fail your test if you don't respond properly. Absolute nightmare. Somehow got through it though!!

Nice one! Sadly, that does sound like normal Bristol.

My mod 1 is end of the month and I can't wait, so tomorrow I'll be looking at gear in J&S as I borrowed some stuff from my mate for the CBT and now need gloves, boots and some textiles (already have a helmet).

 

[Karl]

Nice one! Sadly, that does sound like normal Bristol.

My mod 1 is end of the month and I can't wait, so tomorrow I'll be looking at gear in J&S as I borrowed some stuff from my mate for the CBT and now need gloves, boots and some textiles (already have a helmet).

Cool man. I've still got kevlar jeans, so I'm looking to pop into Fowlers to get some textile trousers with knee & hip armour. I'll have enough on my loyalty card for some free back armour for my jacket as well.

Went for my first unassisted ride last night, and thoroughly enjoyed it. First go on the KLE 500, and the riding position is really upright which took some getting used to compared to the CBF600, but it was quite a nice jaunt!

 

[xldeane]

All I did was ride my scooter around the block twice while the examiner stood on the path and watched...mind you that was in 1983

 

[Karl]

The year I was born. I’ll bet the roads of Essex were a bit less congested back then too

 

[mattcrane]

All I did was ride my scooter around the block twice while the examiner stood on the path and watched...mind you that was in 1983

That was almost my test in '88 in at the Hornchurch test centre just before I joined the RAF

2 x left circuits
2 x right circuits
2 x combined left and right circuits

Job done,

Removed my L Plates in front of the examiner while she was filling out the paperwork rode home to Brentwood, 10 minutes after getting home was out on a GPz900

 

[xldeane]

Hornchurch and Brentwood the 2 easiest places to take your test.. They both had longgggg waiting lissts back in the day



xl...out

 

[johnny182]

Failed my MOD2

I'm really mad at myself for making such a dumb mistake. We were going through some really tight roads and the car in front of me starts indicating left and basically stopping close to the curb (I thought he was parking or something), so I wait about 5 seconds until he stopped and I start accelerating to go around him - then all I hear on the earpiece is "what are you doing? he's waiting for the other car to come through!".

I didn't ******* see the other car (also standstill) at the other end - it was basically a mexican standoff between the two which I didn't notice at first. Dumb me thought the car in front was parked and failed as soon as I made my move.

Well...who knows when I'll have another go. I'm just mad as hell atm.

 

[tom_e]

It happens. I made a daft misjudgement on my first and failed as well.

The way I looked at it at least it was nothing wrong with my actual riding skill so I just had to remember to be a little more careful my second time.

 

[johnny182]

Yeah, pretty much!

My riding skills are OK but for some reason I'm too worried about not making 'progress' i.e needlessly waiting behind a parked car. That was my first thought - I wanted to get out of that situation as soon as possible and ended up not paying attention to the traffic coming the other way.

I wasn't even nervous, I was actually enjoying the ride and everything went smoothly until then.

 

[Beans on toast Dave]

Mod 1 passed, only 1 minor which was the first attempt at the avoidance obstacle was going too slow, new it before he even said

just mod 2 now, shame i have to wait till November

 

[Deleted member 651465]

Mod 1 passed, only 1 minor which was the first attempt at the avoidance obstacle was going too slow, new it before he even said

just mod 2 now, shame i have to wait till November

Well done! I had a minor for that... stupidly let off the throttle before the cones and dropped under the required speed. Never did it in practice but had a brain fade moment.

Second time went through almost 10kmh quicker than needed

 

[InvaderGIR]

Well I did my mod 1 today, fluffed up my U turn and went too wide...then hit a cone on the avoidance, although it wasn't a usual cone (hit one by the speed trap) and I didn't hit any when doing it at the training centre. Ah well, not too big a deal really, only a mod 1 and it got me practice at the centre too.

So far I've had 4 days riding bikes in my life. First being my CBT in August, then Mon - Weds this week for the mod 1 this afternoon. I don't mind that I failed really given the lack of experience on a bike and the CB600 is a fairly weighty bike at 200kg...and I'm not a big guy. I had a couple mishaps on Monday which knocked confidence, then once I'd regained confidence yesterday I had another mishap and nearly broke my wrist doing the figure 8. Confidence was back today after lots of riding but my tight right / U turn confidence is still a little low which I think is in part why I went wide on the test.

Still, great experience and I'll get the mod 1 booked in again as soon as work allows because I really enjoyed riding out on the roads on the 600...I will get my license ( was a bit dejected yesterday and almost thought of packing it in).

 

[Deleted member 651465]

Damn

Riding on the roads won’t help with mod 1, apart from slow speed control in traffic as you’ll spend most of your time >30mph.

Do your riding school do mod 1 training days? The u-turn is the hardest part of the test, so you should be smashing everything else.. ask if they can focus on slow speed control until you nail it every time.

For instance, my riding school has an agreement with the test centre... we got to practice on the actual test circuit for 5hrs the weekend before the test. It helped alleviate the tension of the test in my experience.

 

[InvaderGIR]

The training place I use has a dedicated training circuit and the guys are really good...I was just a muppet.

I know that my right turns aren't as sharp as they can be or as sharp as my left turns and I know it's down to throwing myself off when doing a right turn on the figure 8 the day before. The afternoon after I did that, my confidence was low and I took a while to regain it. By the afternoon of test day and about 45mins before the test I was doing lovely U turns.

I did basically 3 mod 1 training days, the first starting on a GS500E for an hour or so then onto the CBF600 for the rest. With a few hours each day doing mod 1 off road training and an hour or two road riding. Their surface is like most of the roads around Bristol...broken tarmac and potholes but it's fine for practising mod 1 and learning on.
Another guy had his mod 1 at the same time as me, he'd been riding a 125 for a year and also failed on the U turn although he put his foot down rather than swinging wide like I did.

I wasn't all that nervous really, but I had to wait for someone else to do their test, then the other guy I'd gone there with to do his then it was my turn so I think the hanging around didn't help too much along with energy levels taking a dip too.

I'm not put off and so I've booked another one, this time in the morning and I'll get some practice time in before hand again at the training centre. They will make sure that I get the same bike as before too as it's the right seat height for me and has a short reach clutch lever which I find more comfortable than the normal ones.

 

[MarkeR]

Question on what size of bike I can drive without L plates.
I used to ride a 125 in my younger days with L plates on, a few years of experience riding.
I have on my car licence
Cat A 19.01.13 - 08-01-41 79(3)
A1, and A2 are blank, and I have the AM for scooters.
I would def do the CBT anyway even if I don't have to.

DVLA website is just so confusing.
CHeers

 

[InvaderGIR]

You can't. You'll need a CBT then you can ride a 125 with Ls and you'd need an A1/A2/A license to ride without Ls on anything.

The website can be confusing I agree but I have the same on my license (albeit the expiry for my A section is 2057) which basically requires a CBT and Ls for at max a 125.

E:
https://www.gov.uk/driving-licence-codes

"79 (3) - restricted to tricycles "

 

[Diddums]

You can ride a 50cc with no L plates if you have a driver's licence.

Once you have a CBT, it needs L plates (weird, I know). On a CBT you can ride up to 125cc on L plates apart from motorways or abroad and no pillion is allowed.

 

[Captain]

Question on what size of bike I can drive without L plates.
I used to ride a 125 in my younger days with L plates on, a few years of experience riding.
I have on my car licence
Cat A 19.01.13 - 08-01-41 79(3)
A1, and A2 are blank, and I have the AM for scooters.
I would def do the CBT anyway even if I don't have to.

DVLA website is just so confusing.
CHeers

The cat A section are the dates when you are eligible to ride and when you aren’t.

 

[InvaderGIR]

You can ride a 50cc with no L plates if you have a driver's licence.

May as well walk.