Just arranged to start my DAS

[Deleted member 651465]

For what it’s worth I had zero experience and did the CBT. Perhaps you feel you need the practice, but I’d rather take a punt and potentially waste the ~£90 on a CBT than knowingly ***** £400 on a pre-CBT course

 

[HoneyBadger]

Bear in mind that the £400 is for 2 of us, mrs HB and I, and that £400 covers the 2 of us to do the pre-CBT and CBT.

 

[Deleted member 651465]

That’s still ~£220 extra you don’t need to pay. You mentioned earlier that Mrs HB was half competent, which makes it even less cost effective for you.

That’s the difference between a basic set of gear and something more decent or even a chunk toward the DAS.

It’s ultimately your money, but I’m sure you’d be fine if you just did the CBT. It’s designed to get n00bs up to scratch and it’s not a test as such.

 

[InvaderGIR]

For what it’s worth I had zero experience and did the CBT.

Same, I hadn't even ridden a bicycle in about 10 years!


Personally I'd just do a CBT and see how it goes, probably at a different training centre as they don't sound all that keen to get you on a bike, they'd rather take as much money as they can. At worst, I'd get your other half to do the CBT and have an extra day for you doing 1-on-1 training with an instructor to guide and build your confidence.

Just seems crazy to be spending so much for a certificate that says "this person can stop, go and turn on a bike" as that's all the cert is, it's not a test and doesn't add anything to your license etc.

 

[Beans on toast Dave]

where i did my cbt even if you did not pass it that day, you could come back another day for free
i only really got the hang of riding after a fair few miles riding my 125

 

[tom_e]

Any school that needs to rinse you for 4 hours of training before a compulsory basic training session is simply just out to grab your cash. Especially as your other half definitely doesn't need it.

Contrary to popular belief the cbt is not set out to be a one day course, it is simply training and a decent school should be happy to allow you to come back for at least another day with no added cost.

 

[TallPaul_S]

The clue is in the name - Compulsory Basic Training.

Any school trying to sell you 'pre CBT training' is ripping you off. What are they going to teach you? The very basics of riding a motorbike is what's covered in the CBT, there is no 'lower level' training.

If they can't pass you on a normal CBT course then that's an issue with the training, not you.

 

[Philz0r]

what the hell is a pre CBT, I had never rode a motorbike before in my life, did my CBT for £110 for a full day course and had a certificate at the end.

 

[HoneyBadger]

Well today Mrs HB and I did our pre-cbt.

4 hours of riding in the rain! This was basically a private, non road going CBT for us. Having been a complete disaster on the free assessment, I was determined to do well or give up.

This time, I aced it. The instructor was quite surprised (both of them) and so was mrs HB and myself. I made a few small errors but nothing major. Mrs HB struggled to do a figure of 8 but was ok.

Despite the weather, I actually really enjoyed it this time and got into second and third!

Our CBT is on the 17th and he reckons I’ll need another 4 days to finish my DAS.

He was so shocked at how much better I was, he shook my hand!!

I think last time I was just really nervous and this time I had an idea what to expect. I also was far more relaxed.

 

[Indigo]

Glad you felt a lot better today. Should fly through the CBT now and it's clearly done wonders not being as nervous either.

 

[Philz0r]

That's great news man.

 

[HoneyBadger]

Mrs HB and I did our CBT today. Both did good!

We had 4 hours on site training. I had to go onto a different bike, a road legal scrambler (2017 Kawasaki 125) which threw me a little but I adjusted ok after half an hour. That all went ok but there was 4 of us and the instructor could only take out two people at a time so asked us to go home (we live 10mins away) for 2 hours. I hasten to add this morning was VERY frosty and freezing fog!

By the time we got back and on the road, it was almost 15:45 and was starting to get dark and again, was raining hard. But we went out for 2 hours and apparently we did really well.

As we first ventured out Mrs HB was up front, instructor in the middle and me behind. All wearing high vis with “under instruction” and some little black fiesta decided 20mph wasn’t fast enough and rather give us chance to speed up, decided to over take us on the wrong side of the road with horn blazing. Other than that I stalled it once at a set of traffic lights and then panicked but the instructor was talking to me over radio and sorted me out.

Everyone else we encountered, including a police car were great and gave us plenty of room and Lee way.

Really pleased with ourselves, every time we’ve been out the weather has been really bad so if we can contend with that, a better day in terms of weather should be great. At one point we went through Medway tunnel and we were doing 50mph, that was fun!! I got in to top gear and even blipped the throttle. Hehe.

We’re both going to do our DAS now in Jan/feb and we’re going to pickup a cheap 125 to get some experience on in the interim.

We’ve just had a bath and are now enjoying some alcohol!

 

[Lopéz]

A few weeks ago you nearly threw the bike into a hedge on multiple occasions, this time you were given a completely different bike and adjusted in minutes. You'll be surprised what you can cope with if you just let it happen and don't over think everything.

Good luck

 

[Yaayuh!]

Edit- wrong thread.

 

[HoneyBadger]

Mrs HB loves the look of the Keeway superlight 125CC LTD. I've spent the last few days researching, checking out reviews. Seems like a decent 'starter bike' so I was looking online. Gumtree add comes up with a 65 reg one near me for a very good price, cheaper than my GFX card!

Did an online check on it and it all checks out so contacted the seller - he's delivering it to me on Wednesday! Job done! It's something almost disposable that we can use to keep the skills alive as we start out DAS.

Secretly excited!!

 

[HoneyBadger]

So, here she is! Covered in muck as its been snowing but now tucked up in the garage (Which needs a clear out!!!)

Mixture of my me on iPhone and original sale photos.

12k miles, 65 plate, after market remote alarm, immobiliser and remote start, plus upgrades bulbs and horns. It's first MOT is in a year.

Not bad for £800 - plus it arrived with a full tank of fuel!

I will be carrying out a full service and freshening up the rear of the wing mirrors.

Before buying it I carried out a digital check online, all clear.

Very happy with it, sounds quite throaty for a 125. Mrs HB is over the moon with it too.

 

[tom_e]

Looks pretty nice to be fair, I'd be wary of the alarm/immobilizer/remote start though.
It's the number one thing a lot of people rip off their bikes as they quite often cause more problems than they solve, so if you ever have any funny electrical gremlins then check the loom around where it's chopped in.

 

[HoneyBadger]

Thanks for the advice

 

[HoneyBadger]

We went out this morning. Sunny but frosty! 3C according to the car.

Mrs HB wanted to head out first, we decided to visit where she works which is a private estate with about 3000 acres! She went out and I followed in the car. Then we took it in turns. We covered almost 13 miles in total between us, it was very cold despite wearing the proper gear. Both loved it though and the bike behaved fine, we just wanted somewhere quiet to get use to the bike.

We so should have done this years ago!