Hoggs

Love the bikes! Especially the magical floating Norton

problem is its all done subconsciously.... I was thinking about it the other day whilst going along and just started spooning it up epically

He's experienced as he can ride a bike and know how gears etc works. He's not claiming in any way to be the best road rider and has come here asking sensible questions and showing a willingness to listen to advice. Anyways Jim keep us updated with your progress and I'd love to see some pics of your race bikes

ooooooooooooooooooooooooops that was an epic typo and should have said mod1 I have amended but but you can start the training without it... you just can't do the actual test

CBT is less than a day - normally from say 9 till 3 or 4 depending on how quickly the group manages to get to grips with the slow control stuff. The A2 is dependant on how many training days you need. The actual Mod1 part is literally 10 minutes Mod 2 I believe is around 45 minutes (mine felt like 5!) The cost of these are built into the training package so you may have a three day course that will be day 1 mainly mod 1 stuff, then day 2 may be test in the morning then mod 2 stuff int he afternoon and day 3 you may have a lunch time test so training in the morning. The tests can get booked up a while in advance although most centres will have block booked tests but there may be several days or even a week or more between mods. There is the option to take Mod1 in the AM and then Mod2 in the PM but of course if you don't pass the first one you are unable to go for mod2 and will have to pay again for that bit. Also if you fail you have to leave a certain amount of time before you try again (I believe 3 days). OH! and before you can do the Mod 1 you will need to get your Theory test (yup it's a seperate one for bikes!) done. You will need to book this yourself through the gov website. This is valid for two years so the sooner you can get it done and dusted the better! edit - sorry no idea of places in oxford - run some searches for places near you see what the reveiws say and give them a call to see what prices are etc

Yup CBT will need renewing every two years until you pass your full motorbike test

Yo Jim The cost of the CBT (about 100 of your finest british pounds) includes the bike use as well so you can zoom around on that. You can do it on a twist and go but as you can ride you'll probably be bored on that so request a geared bike when you book. Mention to the training school you want to do your A2 - this may get you a better price if you do it all at the same place and you'll be able to see what bikes they use for the A2. They may even offer a free assessment ride on the larger bike to see how much training they recommend - sounds like you can ride so just need to get "test ready" - do you have a car license? knowing how the roads work is most of the battle The A2 has weird power to weight ratio limit madness I don't understand. Hopefully someone useful will show up soon

Hello! Wow racing Nortons sounds fun! After the CBT you can only ride bikes up to 125cc. This makes it difficult to then do your A2 on a 200cc as you won't legally be able to ride it to and from places without an instructor present. IIRC there are no "musts" clothing wise for bikes except for the helmet. I'm not going to recommend stuff, I am sure as a racer you have fallen off at speeds much greater than you will do at the CBT but you probably also know the value of good protection! Gloves and lid will be provided if you don't bring your own, some places have other gear too. I still get confused about the whole A2 to full shenanigans so I can tell you for the A2 you will need to do a mod1 (slow speed maneuvers) and then a mod2 (road test) then there are limitations to what you can ride power wise and at some point you can get a full licence by previously mentioned shenanigans (I'm old so just went straight for the DAS).

yes kawasaki did you own one of them dammit where's that like button Stu!!

BUT don't forget to keep your head up - regardless of how mega awesome your speed control is - if you look down your foot is going down!

All of what Arwen said but especially the above! if you have never used gears before then learning how the vehicle sounds and reacts when you are in the wrong gear will take you a while (and even when you have been driving.riding for a while you will still get it wrong! Anyone who says they have never tried to pull off in second is a liar) It will click probably quicker than you think, you just need to push the frustration to the back of your mind and talk to your instructor and practise practise.

How do you not get slapped more?

Yeah mod1 is the nerve shredder! 2 is a nice jolly. Life saver the heck out of it and remember to check for speed limit changes in every turning

All of the above! I did my CBT on a geared bike the people I booked with went "you know it's going to be a bit harder" and I said yes but I have a geared bike to ride after it so they fully agreed it was the best thing to do. There was a guy there who then wanted to use the geared but because he hadn't booked it in advance he wasn't allowed to as there was limited space. There was only me and one other guy doing it on gears and yeah it was frustrating watching the twist and gos zooming around whilst we practised stop start stop start stop start but when it clicked it was SO much easier to jump on the Intruder. I don't think I could have known where to start otherwise! Also remember you can't fail a CBT as it isn't a test - if they don't think you have got the hang of it you'll be asked to go back and given more training. Their aim is to make you as safe as possible on the roads

HAHAH yes this! I AM A SPEED DEMON! *looks* Well 26mph is fast enough. Manc a little 125 will get you some good road experience on a bike and if you buy a semi decent Japanese one you shouldn't loose too much when you sell for an upgrade

Laverty had a stonker though! Him, Baz and barbera have all my praise for this race

Nope.massive twat as usual

Well. That was an interesting one! Let's see if crutchlow is his usual humble self

Haha! Sure no probs

Yeah pawi falling was probably the most shocking thing! Great podium though fab to see new riders getting up there. Di giannantonio one to watch! Bring on moto 2!

Haha! Epic moto3 race! Hope they're all this good!

Dammit I knew I should have put money on pawi for moto3 as soon as rain was mentioned yesterday

Only saw the second. Was pretty brutal sounds like thankfully he's OK though

I'd need to fatten beefy up a bit before he's ready for cooking

Horse is delicious like gamey beefy goodness