Miguel the Penguin

The multiple choice is slightly different as it's tailored to motorbikes, but the hazard perception is the same, yep.

No, you'll be limited to 125cc (with L plates) after the CBT.

Well, no more CBT conundrum for me, it's all done and dusted courtesy of CamRider London I had booked in for the end of the month but got a phonecall on Thursday asking if I wanted to take a spot that had opened up due to a cancellation so I jumped at it. Absolutely brilliant day - if totally knackering - and I'm definitely going back to do my DAS. I'm debating about whether to get a 125 and ride that over the winter and then do DAS in the spring, or go straight to full license now. A bit more experience under my belt for the full course would be a massive help but I ultimately want to ride primarily for weekend leisure rides (sorry! ) rather than commuting into Soho every day and for that a 125 just isn't going to cut it. Trying to get the little Suzuki VanVan to more than 40mph was enough of a challenge; I don't think I'd want it anywhere near a dual carriageway... And what a difference a good training centre and proper instructors make. Everything was so much more professional and reassuring and that makes a huge difference when you're doing something like this. So, to the idiot instructor at the other place who said "almost everyone who does CBT on a geared bike fails" Clearly they faily because they're being "taught" (I use the phrase loosely) by total numpties. Right, time to get celebrating the first milestone. And very likely falling fast asleep by 10!

MissBex, I can only hope to take to it as well as you did! Congrats on getting your full license I can't seem to stop looking at the Monster 696 so I guess that will be a big factor in whether or not I go straight onto DAS..!

Well, the Camrider set-up certainly seems much better from what I saw yesterday! I'm booked in for the CBT with them later this month, and I went with the guaranteed pass option since I expect to have more than one day there. Just a short chat with the instructor yesterday inspired me with a lot more confidence and seeing the two people there doing their pad work on the big bikes made me desperate to join them. I'm umming and ahhing about whether to spend a few months on a 125 before going for the full license but I'll leave that decision until after the CBT when I've got more of a feel for the whole thing. Thanks for the advice everyone

Thanks for that, Deso. It looks like the off-road practise of left and right turns is mandatory, as is the minimum requirement for 2 hours' on-road training, neither of which were followed. I shal enjoy penning my disgruntled letter. Meanwhile, I have high hopes for tomorrow and look forward to seeing the difference at Camrider!

Yes, it does indeed sound pants! I did do some Googling before booking with them and didn't find any negative articles or too many bad reviews, but never mind, we live and learn. I'm going to pop up to Camrider's London centre tomorrow and have a word with an instructor there, so hopefully it won't be too long until I'm wobbling around on something with gears. I'm glad my preferred option goes with the consensus - thanks for the input guys.

Hi everyone, I went to go and do my CBT yesterday and wasn't able to go on the road as the instructor wants me to re-do the drills. I'm in two minds whether to return to the same place though and would really welcome advice from those who know more about it than I do. I'll try to keep this as succint as possible! - I am doing CBT with a view to riding a bike - I have no interest in scooters whatsoever. - The training centre would only allow us to use scooters as they said "almost everyone fails if they haven't ridden a geared bike before" - The practise area seemed very small. At a guess I would say the usable area was around 20 metres long and 8-10 metres wide. (Halved in width when we did U-turns). Maybe that's normal but it felt too small for me. - The one geared bike we did look at when talking about pre-ride checks was in bad condition. The oil was thick and dark, the chain was loose and the headlight didn't work. On pointing these out the instructor said "Our boss is a c*ck and doesn't maintain the bikes". - The instructor himself seemed far more interested in looking cool than actually wanting us to pass. The entire day was outside and he chain smoked the whole time. Now, I'm not completely against smoking, but he was literally never without one hanging out of his mouth and after fag #20 it just looked totally unprofessional. - The instructor also made quite a few nasty comments about people on the course. He was rolling his eyes and making sarcastic remarks about one guy who had been asked to come back to re-do the drills and road section, and I'm certain I saw him laughing at me with one of the boys on the course when I came out of (another) wobbly U-turn. Needless to say this didn't exactly help with my confidence. - There was no practice of junctions on the bikes before going onto the road - is that normal? - The on-road session that the others got to do was only 45 minutes. I'm pretty sure they're supposed to be 2 hours? So, as you can tell, I was less than impressed with the whole set-up. I actually don't think I was *too* bad on the scooter. Sure, I was wobbly and uncertain at points, but I never dropped it and I think with some proper tuition - and probably a bigger practise area - I could have gone onto the road. Since I have to pay £60 for attempt #2 my cynical side says they see the money opportunity in telling people they need to come back and choose to do that instead of doing what they can to get them through it first time. So I need to decide whether to just bite the bullet, pay another £60, and go back and hopefully pass the CBT on the Twist n Go and then go somewhere else to learn a geared bike with some one-to-one lessons without the pressure of the CBT. Or walk away now, chalk yesterday up to experience, and start again at a more professional place on a geared bike. I've seen a two-day 'Start Biking' course on the Camrider website which uses a geared bike and does CBT on Day 2 which looks good to me. I really am torn so if anyone has constructive advice or recommendations I'd really love to hear them. Thanks very much. Oh, on a more positive note, I nailed my theory test this morning!

Thanks all. Being the slightly impulsive person that I am the CBT is booked for Friday. I'm a bit nervous but mostly very excited. I can't stop browsing the net for bike-related stuff while I'm supposed to be working... I'm really hoping it all goes well as I've dreamt of riding for so long and ogle pretty every bike I walk past regardless of make or model - I know very little about the techie stuff yet so they are all beautiful machines to me Will keep you posted!

Okay, in the last few hours I've had a bit of a word with myself and decided just to book the damn CBT and not faff around with taster sessions. It's got to be easier to work out if riding is for me after 8 hours' practise rather than 1!

Hello everyone. I've harboured a desire to ride for years but never been brave enough to do anything about it as the risk factor always put me off. However, I've recently had my first pillion experiences and absolutely LOVED them, and it's really given me the bug. I've done the easy bit and booked myself in for my theory test on Saturday (very spur of the moment - a cancellation spot came up last night at a nearby centre), so the next step is my CBT. I'm the kind of person who likes to be thoroughly prepared and because I've never been on two motorised wheels before - and don't even own a push bike - I would really like to have a 1-2-1 no-pressure 'taster' session first to check I'm not completely unsuited to it, and to get familiar with the controls etc. I'm based in north-west London and have found a company that offer this but I'd be really keen to know if anyone has any personal recommendations. I'm happy to travel out of London for somewhere that comes highly recommended as I'm sure finding the right training centre/instructor will have a huge bearing on confidence and enjoyment of the learning process. Thanks in advance and I look forward to sharing progress with you all