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A CBT is only required to endorse the AM and A1 categories to be able to ride on the road as a learner. So if your licence already has the AM category then you can ride mopeds of the appropriate power without CBT or restrictions. But I would be more worried about whether an insurer will accept you riding for commercial purposes on a foreign licence.

This is what I usually wear in the cold. Long socks inside short socks inside proper boots, Leggings under waterproof textile trousers without liner (because it does not fit any more), T-shirt under shirt under waterproof textile jacket with liner, Buff (or knock-off) as a balaclava inside helmet, and Gloves. Works for me except the extremities. Proper boots, gloves, jacket, and trousers the only specialist bike items, everything else is just cheap Aldi, Lidl, Primark etc. clothing. But the boots can be worn year round, and the gloves, jacket, and trousers can be worn autumn and spring too (you would want vented for summer). They are primarily for safety though, they do not have to be super expensive but proper bike gear is important for those. Toes still get a bit cold, reckon heated insoles are the only answer there. Heated grips are great, but you can still feel the cold on the outside of the fingers, especially if you cover the brake. I used to use battery-powered heated glove liners, not as hot as grips but make a big difference and heat the fingers from the outside. The only problem, aside from batteries dying on longer trips, is you lose some feeling by having an extra layer inside the gloves. Never enough that I could not feel the bike controls but more than I would have ideally liked. Still, better that not feeling the controls because your fingers are frozen. Muffs are probably the only perfect solution, but could not get the ones I bought to attach on my old bike. The only other place I feel cold is my face, but that is because either my Caberg helmet (with properly attached pinlock) or glasses steam up too easily that I need to leave the visor open a crack. The ventilation on the helmet is awful though, hot or cold you need to do that.

What they all said. I did my CBT in a February, but checked the forecast before booking to make sure it would be on a nice sunny day. And it was, but unfortunately I had a particular problem so they booked me in to return the following week. And on that day it rained, heavy at times. Including when we had to go out on the road. And then I had to get the tube home in soaking wet jeans — which even dumped in front of a radiator were still wet 24 hours later — but with a CBT certificate. It was the best thing to happen to me, though, because after that I never worried about riding in rain. The point is, if you do it in good weather you will be happy to ride in good weather but do it in bad weather you will be happy to ride in any weather. More or less. And the other point is, if the school does not provide waterproof trousers and you think it might rain, make sure you at least have some cheap over-trousers if yours are not waterproof.

Thanks all, now just need the weather to stay as nice as it was yesterday to be able to properly enjoy it. I understand all of those words, but the order makes no sense. My parents used to have a rhubarb plant but never did anything with it, so I used to dice the stalks and mix them in a bag with some sugar to eat raw. Which I did not know at the time was actually a common way for kids to eat it in the olden days, and apparently still is in Nordic countries.

The wee little bike gave me a lot of fun, and two broken bones, but it was time for something bigger. So I bought a red bike. http://southwest16.com/ce/tmbf/cb500f.jpg Now imagine how much better it will look after I buy a top box mount in (hopefully) the Black Friday sales. Well, maybe not look better but definitely useful. I had to stop off at an Asda today but had nowhere to carry a rhubarb pie!

If you are happy buying online then all the big bike sites usually offer Black Friday discounts, so if you can wait a week then next weekend should be a good time to go shopping.

20 lessons is about the average. Anyway, not to lose sight of the thread: congratulations Rodders and good luck for Mod2.

I would disagree with that too. Car drivers do not have to do the Mod1, though manoeuvres are part of their driving test. But they also do not have to balance a car for things like figure-8s and emergency stops to be important skills. Just having a separate manoeuvres test hardly makes it complicated. And I think the only reason the two tests are separated out is in case you fail the first part, otherwise you will then be paying for an instructor to sit around as you will not be seen as safe enough to go out on the road. The only other difference to getting a car licence is the CBT, but I am sure car drivers would love to be told after six hours of lessons they could just go off and drive a mini for two years on L-plates! I would have said a six hour session then being able to ride something on your own is less complicated than having weekly lessons for several months and still not being able to drive anything unaccompanied. Even if you go for a full bike licence without getting a 125 then it the CBT is simply the first day of a five day course. And in that way no more complicated than an intensive driving lessons course having a first day too. For most people the track is: Bike Licence = Theory + Lesson (CBT) + Lesson (or riding a 125 for a bit) + Lesson + Mod1 + Mod2 Car Licence = Theory + Lesson + Lesson + Lesson + Lesson + Lesson + Lesson + Lesson + Lesson + Lesson + Lesson + Lesson + Lesson + Lesson + Lesson + Lesson + Lesson + Lesson + Lesson + Lesson + Lesson + Test

To disagree some of the others, it is not. To go down a gear you come off the throttle, pull in the clutch, press down the pedal, blip the throttle, ease out the clutch, increase the throttle. Which sounds complicated and fiddly when you explain it, but when riding takes a fraction of a second and is done without thinking. The tests are pretty much like that, when you explain them it sounds like a lot to take in, but it is all very straightforward and you do not have to remember any of it. You just do what you are told. On Mod1 you do several exercises but each one is fully explained before you have to do it. And you will have practiced them all with your school anyway, so there will be no surprises on the actual test. For Mod2 you answer a few basic questions then just follow the road (or the road signs) and turn or stop when told. "Go around the cones then do some figure-8s" you go around the cones them do some figure-8s. Then wait for more instructions. "Turn right at the roundabout" you turn right at the roundabout. Then follow the road until you get more instructions. So long as you can ride a bike, you just turn up and do as you are told.

I suppose if you went the wrong way on entering a double mini roundabout and realized in time you would be doing one. There is a small-ish roundabout near me where the left exit is so close that a sign directs traffic to go all the way around, so not quite a full figure-8 but a large part of one. It just avoids the wide u-turn to get into position for another. (Mind the roundabout is light controlled and traffic is usually backed up that you could safely just do the left turn on a bike anyway, there is no sign actively prohibiting it.) Also, figure-8s are fun. Phew, you stopped in just before you hit the deer, but now it has gone and that lorry behind you cannot stop fast enough, quick move, quickly, why is your bike not moving you are in danger, get out of the way… Obviously though you are not doing what the manoeuvre requires if the manoeuvre also requires you not to stall. You are confusing it with what you think it should be. All the "when will this matter on the road" misses the point that mod 1 is, as you describe it, a manoeuvres test. It is not about testing what you need to do on the road, but about showing you have various skills and control of the bike so that you can apply these on the road. Putting your foot down when the bike is moving is always unsafe, even if it is something we all do and almost always never have a problem by it. But if you have to do that it shows you do not have control of the bike. Taking a foot off the peg you lose stability, and then putting it on the ground there are any number of reasons your foot could slip or get caught on the bike. You are creating an unnecessary hazard, so absolutely that should be a fail. The point of all the tests from CBT to mod 2 is only to demonstrate a skillset so that instructors or examiners can assume you are able to take care of yourself and not risk others. It does not matter if you have to do them, only that you can, because every situation in the road is different so you cannot learn specific responses. Although there is no traffic coming, so you can safely u-turn, the sound of you bike has scared a squirrel which has darted across the road, and then you go to put your foot down… Well you better pick the bike up quickly because now that stupid lorry driver is back. (Admittedly you may have hit the squirrel anyway, but why increase the risk?) And not stalling and whist doing an emergency stop so you can quickly move away from a danger from behind was something I was taught on the CBT, let alone it being required for mod 1. We were taught it as: stop, mirror, mirror, move to safety.

If I cannot trust them saying it is okay after they have looked at it, there how can they do anything to convince me? But last weekend I went from London to Bexhill on Saturday and to Stratford-on-Avon on Sunday and it everything was okay. And those are not finger marks, it is just generally dirty down there and does not clean off, at least not with normal cleaning or grease removers. It is not a pride and joy bike, though, just one for riding and dropping and was already Cat D when I bought it. So the colour does not bother me either, only that it is safe to ride. Which right now I have no reason to doubt.

In the end I just called the shop first thing, and someone came over that morning to check everything out. He said it all looks okay and the bearings are fine, but I wanted to use my trusty Lidl torque wrench on it before riding just to be sure, as it had not let me down. The chain and looser axel explanation seems the only to make sense, although admittedly the first time I took the wheel off I did just tighten as much as I could with a spanner without any resulting problem. Not had a chance to give it a test ride yet though. As some of the meter lights had blown I took the opportunity of finally changing those when tightening the axel, though it hardly needed any to get to 80 Nm. Then decided I should clean the front brake pads too, so did all that yesterday. I was going to go out this morning but it was wet out, which was too much of a risk for me in case there is something wrong with the rear wheel and/or brake, the rear tyre is sticky as still only 60 miles old, and there is always the possibility I could have buggered up the front brake too. Call me fair weathered, but one wheel and no brakes is only for dry conditions.

Sorry, I meant going on a dual carriageway a a little while after the CBT as you said that would be suicidal. My CBT too was only on 30mph roads, but taking it in central London did not offer any alternatives. And I guess people taking it there now are probably having to do it on mostly 20mph roads! Major dual carriageways are the same speed as motorways though, so what difference does a motorway make to being on a 125? The odd hill apart, a 125 should be able to manage 60 and which is the legal limit for some vehicle types anyway, so is not considered too slow for those types of road. It took a while to build up my courage to first go on a bigger dual carriageway, but I felt really stupid having been nervous about it because it seemed far safer than singe lane roads. On the dual carriageways you have wide lanes and the whole road being so wide gives greater visibility around what are also shallower bends. Faster traffic just changes lane to overtake, so you can just do your own thing with not having to worry too much. But on a single lane road most drivers only pull out just enough, start merging before they have fully passed, will race to beat traffic islands, and all other crazy stuff. When someone is behind you then you have to spend as much time looking in the mirrors as where you are going just in case. And plenty of times I have been stuck behind a car going slower than I could, but was not able to overtake as it was approaching the junction where the road changes into a motorway. Which they then continue onto at 40 or 50 whilst I had to turn off. A car was seriously doing 40mph on the three-lane A23 and stayed on as it became M23, whilst I went through Crawley at 50mph anyway. I agree though about not having anything to spare in case of emergency though,but that is usually no different on NSL single lane roads.

It is not loose to the point of moving freely, so I was thinking it was probably something like a bump in the road that caused it to shift. But I guess it could have just been the chain, everything was fine until I got onto the 50 section which would have added more force. Going by the wheel adjustment marks the left side is further forward (halfway after the second mark), although I am pretty sure the right side is where it was originally (just before the third mark). But I guess a change of angle on the right side could still be enough to lock the brake. Tilting the wheel would see the brake lever shift a little backwards along the rod, but the tension bar will still be the same length so that would also rotate the brake assembly forwards within the drum, with the lever position held on the rod it would cause an effect like pulling on a wish bone and effectively tighten the brake. The only thing to check for tightness is the axel, the screw on the tension bar is fine, the chain adjustors would not stop the wheel moving forward anyway, and the only other bolt is the adjuster nut on the brake rod. But the wheel being out of alignment is enough to say it must be at least a little under torque, else there must be a much greater problem. But if I am not going to be fixing it myself then I want to see what the shop says before I even touch anything. As much as anything else just to prevent giving any reason for them to say I did something so they do not have to fix it. But if they say it should be safe enough to ride to them then I will obviously realign the wheel first. Is there an easy way of finding the torque of something with just a basic torque wrench? I suppose I could set it to a lower amount and see if it clicks, then just keep increasing it until it does not, but surely that would also tighten it a little each time.

Did you not go on any major dual carriageways? The A2 is a four-lane road between Greenhithe and the M2 but I have been up and down that section countless time on just a CBT. Plenty of motorway-like A-roads. Apart from one random remaining roundabout the A3 is uninterrupted from Kingston until about seven miles north of Portsmouth, where it becomes the A3(M) and, I guess, far more dangerous. Heading east out of Portsmouth the A27 goes to four lanes, and you need to get into the third one to stay on the road rather than end up on the A3(M) slip road. (Although there is a slip road coming off that slip road for a roundabout, so you could stay left and come off and rejoin if you are unable to change lanes.) It makes me wonder if the fetishization of motorway partially intimidates new drivers, rather than just seeing them just as major A-roads with different colour signs.

As you have to remove the adjusting nut to take the wheel off, it is impossible not to re-adjust it. I am not sure how much attention they gave when putting it back, but the free play in the peddle felt normal enough that I did not feel any need to change it. That is what made the situation with the brake light so strange, it was not that the peddle being unable to move far enough to pull on the switch. When setting off the bike did not sluggish as though anything was working against it. And I do not race off the lights so it is usually pretty easy to tell if there is even a little brake applied when setting off. It was only when on a 50 road when it started to feel sluggish and unable to accelerate. But I checked the wheel adjustment marks before setting off, mainly out of curiosity, and both sides were in the same place, but were not when I stopped and saw the wheel had a wobble when on the stand. So I am pretty sure the axel was not properly tighthened causing the wheel to slip a little, which would pull on the brake rod and lock the brake. I have wondered specifically about that too, there is surely no way they could have survived unscathed. It is why I am worried that the heat could have weakened the wheel. It sounds as though I have no choice but to call the shop back and see what they say.

On Tuesday I had the tyre replaced on my rear wheel, but did not use the bike since riding it home until today. Before going out I did my normal checks, one of which is to make sure the brake light works with both brakes. Oddly the rear peddle only lit it up with an extra effort after the brake was fully engaged. I cannot think why that would have changed, but I adjusted it and also had a quick visual check of the drum brake and it all looked okay. On my way out of London though the bike started to feel very sluggish. It had been fine to that point and I wondered if I had got the gears messed up, though the revs suggested otherwise. A roundabout gave me a chance to go to first and reset, but the problem persisted so I decided to turn off into the B&Q car park to take a proper look, but when I slowed down to turn off the road I could then smell a burning smell. When I pulled into the car park and the brake peddle would not move, and when I got off there was smoke coming from the brake drum. I adjusted the brake to unlock it, then left it a while to cool down. After which I put the bike on the centre stand in gear to check it moved okay and the brake worked, and noticed it had a slight wobble as it rotated. Looking at the wheel adjustment marks, the one on the left was slightly further forward of the opposite one. I know both were the same before I set off though as it was one of the things I checked when adjusting the brake light. So I turned around and came home a quiet way, but then when I got back and took another look the drum had changed to a brass colour, it was still grey in the B&Q car park. http://southwest16.com/ce/tmbf/wheel.jpg So now I have no idea what to do or whether the bike is even safe to ride, so any help with what to do would be greatly appreciated. Does the colour change mean the wheel is no longer safe to use? If the heat had that affect I am wondering if it was enough to have weakened it too? But if it is not necessarily damaged because of that, then what else should I be looking for to see if it damaged or safe? And is this my responsibility or should it just be left to the company which changed the tyre to fix? I have not touched anything since then other than the adjuster for the light, which is simply a screw to raise of lower a spring attached to the peddle, and would have had no effect on causing the brake to lock. I am assuming the wheel was not tightened properly and slipped a little causing the brake locking. I am terrible at complaining though (or just dealing with people at all) which means it not an easy thing for me to do, so I kind-of hope it is still safe to ride, because I can at least trust myself to align the wheel and tighten it to the correct torque. But I would also would like a year without breaking a bone, so do not want to take any risks by riding it if there is a problem. Thanks.

I would hope so, they are supposed to. It is a safety system, not a braking method. You are not meant to "use" ABS, it is there to prevent you locking the wheels if you mess up. And whether or not heated grips are the answer, compared to the likes of wind deflectors, muffs or heated gloves, that is just a nonsense. Even if you personally do not feel a problem in colder weather, people vary significantly at the extremities due to a multitude of factors. Women's hands on average tend to be around 1½°C colder than men's. For many people, ordinary gloves that are warm enough would be too thick to operate a bike.

Absolutely. I am also quick to jump on anyone who says to do the DAS straight away when people ask whether to ride a 125 for a bit first, just because it was right for them too. It may be better for many, but it all depends on a person's confidence and learning style. Something only they know, and the only worthwhile advice is from the CBT who saw them on a bike. On the speed thing, perception of it really does seem to be affected by so many things that the speed seems almost irrelevant. There are times that 30mph, on a tight local road and constantly passing hazards and other objects, can feel faster than 60mph, going through empty field on straight-ish county roads with little moving scenery. Coming home also always feels slower than going out, presumably as you are fully in that riding mindset so more comfortable and your perceptions are quicker. As well as having been on faster roads in between.

Just to say, do not let this put anyone off who does struggle. Because that was me and I remember when 30mph felt stupidly fast, and my positioning still can be much better, but several thousands of miles later I am still riding my stupid wee bike all other the place. Never had driving lessons to compare to a car, but quite often 30mph can now feel incredibly slow. If a CBT instructor does not think you show enough confidence to be safe they will not take you on the road. And if they do not think you show enough confidence there then they will not pass you*. Confidence comes with experience, do not be stupid and keep within your abilities and it will come. Maybe some people are just born with it, but others can learn, you do not have to be a natural from your first time on a bike. * Yes, yes, it is not a test there is no pass. But I am not writing a romance novel so I am not going to say "they will not complete you" just to appease pedants.

I think the problem is that LEDs do not spread the light wide enough, so you need a bulb with enough LEDs around it to send the light in every direction. With my bulb it just has one LED on each side, so it only hits part of the reflector. That said, I still reckon it will be better in the dark because a 35W BA20d is so awful and underpowered that you get a blackhole anyway. When dipped you can see just in front of you, but in full beam it dimly lights the countryside but as it is the same wattage not enough light is left to be focussed down in front to have any noticeable effect. The best solution if you are planning on riding a 125 in the dark, and for long enough to be worth the effort, is to leave the headlamp alone and add some LED spot lights. These are relatively inexpensive and do not need much extra power from the bike, but will do a far better job than any replacement LED headlamp bulb on full beam anyway.

Technically yes, legally probably not as I do not think any are sold that are approved for use. Do you have a particular bulb in mind? My bike uses the same type, and it is very dim. The problem is most LED bulbs though only have a single setting. I found one in Hong Kong on eBay that simulates the 35/35W bulbs, so in dipped beam mode it lights on one side, and for full beam on both sides. I never got to try it at night, but it was definitely much brighter, in low light road signs were bright, which they never were with a normal bulb. But looking at the headlamp is just created a bluish mess in the middle of it rather than a big disc of light, especially with the reflector being a dull yellow colour from the 5W 'sidelight'. I also started to notice a flicker to it which got annoying so I switched back to a halogen bulb. Maybe when it gets dark and I need to go on an unlit road I will switch back, but the way it failed to fill the reflector makes me wonder how well focussed the beam would be. I will probably look to find an LED for the sidelight too though first, just to fill the headlamp and give me greater visibility in daytime that I lost with using an LED.

Get the disc lock too. The more security the better, the compromise is on how much time and effort you need to spend in putting it on taking it off that you end up not bothering. But a disc lock takes five seconds to attach or remove, so has no downside to you. Well, unless you forget it is there and try to ride off. Do not do that. But is one extra thing for a thief to deal with. If they are determined and have the time nothing you do will stop them anyway, but it may make them look at that other bike with just the one chain instead, or take those few extra seconds they get noticed.

Well that is doubly frustrating. I guess a loose screw with wire washer holding the heat shield on the exhaust seems a reasonable cause. I did wonder if it was something loose, but with it happening at a specific rev range I worried it might be something more serious. Frustrating firstly because I already knew it was loose. The heat shield moving makes a scraping sound so I had already discovered that problem, and kept meaning to fix it "once I get home and have access to a screwdriver." Except every time I got back, went to upstairs to my flat, changed clothes, I had completely forgotten about it. Frustrating secondly because it seems I cannot do anything about it. I say loose, it has undone enough that was some give in the shield, but since I discovered the problem there is now a bit more free movement for the washer ,which presumably explains the new sound. But it is too tight to easily turn and I do not have any Japanese screwdriver heads, but both the Philips and flat ones I have seem more intent on stripping it instead. Even the screwdriver in the bikes own toolkit has a Philips head! Thanks. Maybe a dumb question, but would dual JIS/ISO heads be okay? As these are the only buts I can find: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vessel-B33-4-Screwdriver-Bit-Set-Phillips-1-4-JIS-ISO-4-Piece-/371976030416 A regular screwdriver is no good because the screw is angled towards the wheel, so my normal length screwdriver could not even fit, plus a right angled ratchet will be easier to tighten.

My bike has suddenly started making a sound that I would describe as being like the buzz of high voltage electricity at around 6.5k revs. It starts just before that point, gets louder, but then disappears after. It does not seem to affect the bike though and is the same regardless of gear. Does that make sense and suggest any likely cause? Will seek professional help next week, but just want to know if it is safe to ride tomorrow.