XmisterIS

Nearly 80 mph ... on my 125, with my chest flat against the tank, the needle on the redline and the speedo just *inching* towards the top of the dial (80 mph), with me saying "come on! come on! come on!"

Nope, not aggressive at all! I only tend to get aggro from chavs in kitted and lowered peugeot 106's with bucket-sized exhaust pipes ... just for existing! - i.e. they shout abuse at me just because I've filtered up through the traffic and have fetched up beside their car at the lights. (they don't seem to realise that I can't hear a word through bike engine + helmet!). They also try to race me off at the lights, which is funny

thanks for the advice! My jacket was well cheap and so I can't get the armour out ... ! (its the cheapest textile one that Ixon do) Perhaps I should just handwash it in the bath ...

I have a 100% polyester jacket with detachable liner. Neither the jacker or the liner seem to have a washing instruction tag ... would it be safe to put the outer jacket in the washing machine on a gentle wash?

I've started weaving a bit when a car is about to emerge at night. I also pip my horn if someone looks like they're about to pop out of a junction - that has stopped at least two people from pulling out on me - they were turning right across traffic and were so intent on looking left into the far lane that they started to pull out without looking right into the near lane ...

Lol! Fairy snuff ... on that note when I took my bike in for a service, I tried on one of their top-notch helmets (£300) and it was soooo comfortable compared to my 80 quid thing! No idea what make it was, but it was nice.

I gotcha! Mind you, I looked in the "about sharp" section of the website and it seems that they test the helmets from all sorts of angles, speeds, head shapes, etc.

Flawed?? Warum wirt es rissig gemacht??!! Why is it flawed??!!

I did my test originally on an auto (scooter) and I found the U-turn really really hard ... now I am on a geared bike which is much bigger and heavier than the scooter (150Kg dry weight - which is well heavy for a 125!) - and for some reason I now find the U-turn a doddle! I think it's all down to the bike you ride.

Hi all, I am sure this has probably already been posted somewhere, but here it is again: http://sharp.direct.gov.uk/ I have a KBC VR1-X, which, it turns out, is a three-star ... not bad for an eighty quid helmet!

I absolutely shat myself on my CBT, didn't have any confidence to go out on the road, even on a scooter! There was just a mental block there for me, and I couldn't do it. I went back the next weekend, jumped straight on the scooter and straight out onto the road after about 10 minutes. Now I am happily whizzing around on a proper motorbike, with gears, and I love it - no problems now You will be OK when you get the hang of it! You just need practice I absolutely *love* riding my bike now! Can't wait to move to something bigger

Hi all, I just thought I'd post this because I think it's important. Until last Tuesday I used to be quite sloppy about wearing my hi-viz tabbard at night; particularly if I was only going a couple of miles down the road on well-lit streets. Well, on the aforementioned Tuesday evening, I was in my car, waiting to emerge from a junction and turn left. I looked right ... I looked right really hard ... then I made sure that I really had looked right and that I really had seen all that there was to see ... I started to pull out ... and at the very last minute I saw a kid on a black moped, dressed entirely in black, with a black helmet, not a shred of hi-viz on him, riding almost in the gutter. His bike had been positioned so that his headlight coincided exactly with the left-hand headlight of a large car about 30 meters behind him - so that it looked the same size and brightness. Without hi-viz, and because he was riding almost in the gutter, he just looked like part of the car. Anyway, I stopped as soon as I saw him and I'd only moved about 6 inches, so disaster was averted! The moral of the story is that I always wear my hi-viz tabbard at night now! Always, always, always! If the kid on the 'ped had been wearing hi-viz I would have seen him a mile off. I'm sure I'm teaching most of you to suck eggs, but I thought I would post this because I was actually quite frightened by the experience of almost hitting and perhaps killing a kid on a 'ped because he wasn't wearing hi-viz and because his road position was bad.

Ok thanks, I'll have a look at my bike ...

Thanks for that, I had forgotten about the fuse! Lol! TBH, I'd rather not start taking my loom to bits though ... so I think I'll go ahead and order a pair of 40/45s and plug them in ... if they are too much for the poor little thing, I assume the fuse will blow. Fingers crossed!

I read that and thought "No! Clutchless gear change? If I tried that on my car I would get nothing but an awful grinding noise!". Anyway, I went out and tried it on the bike and I found that if the revs are just right (between 4000 and 5000 on my bike), the clutch pops up effortlessly and the gear slips right in, with no throttle blip required! Cool! If the revs are too high, the clutch foot-lever refuses to move and I have to change gear using my hand as usual. The only trouble I've found is that because I ride a 125, 5000 revs in each gear is not actually very fast ... so I can use the clutchless gearchange, but I only accelerate as fast as a normal car if I do - so the clutchless change is no good when I am ragging the f*** out of it to get gone at traffic lights!

Hi all, I am currently riding a Honda XL125 Varadero. I really enjoy riding it, but the only down side is that the headlights are as dim as buggery. The bike comes with two Ba20d 30/35 bulbs - so even on full beam, the combined wattage is slightly more than one car headlight on dipped beam! (I think my car headlights are about 55w on dipped beam). Anyway, there is an upgrade available, which is a Ba20d 40/45 or the halogen which is a Ba20d 35/35. Both of these are made by Bosch and they are not Honda standard parts for my bike. I phoned my local honda dealer yesterday to see if they had any of the 40/45s in, they said they didn't stock them and they also said that because I would be using a higher-rated bulb, I *might* burn out the wiring loom ... with the emphasis on the word *might*, but they didn't like to say for sure whether it would or wouldn't. They said that the halogen will touch the headlight cover on that particular bike and eventually burn a hole in it (not good!). So I would like to get the 40/45s ... has anyone got a "baby vara" like mine and upgraded? was it a success? does anyone have any general advice/opinions on whether or not I should upgrade? I can't see the extra 10 watts per bulb making all that much difference to the wiring loom! I mean, presumably there's a bit of over-engineering for safety's sake in there - i.e. I assume they make the wires thicker than they actually need to be. Also, the literature on the 'net says that the 40/45s are intended as upgrades to 125's with 30/35s ... so presumably they have been designed to not burn out people's wiring looms! Perhaps Honda were just saying what they said in order to cover themselves. Thanks in advance!

Hi all; I found this website: http://www.datacraftsystems.co.uk/techn ... index.html and it contains some really good info! I was not taught much of this stuff at all leading up to my test! It is scary to think that I now have a full motorbike licence but I, and presumably many others, were taught about a half of what's on that website (e.g. the cheerily-named "decapitation zone"!!! Nice ...)

Hi all, I have heard that the new bike test has a swerve manouevre, which I never learned to do because I took the old (current) bike test a month or so ago. I have not yet had to swerve, dodge or otherwise shit my pants due to the behaviour of an unobservant car driver, but given the number of miles that I ride I fully anticipate having do swerve someone at some point in the future! So ... how does one sweve effectively? and are there any situations in which it would be better to collide, upright with the car (or whatever) rather than try to swerve it and potentially go sliding under the wheels? I know this is a particularly morbid subject, but I'll need to know one day, preferably sooner rather than later! I must say that I have so far avoided the need to swerve round idiots by watching them from a distance and thinking, "Yep, that person is not paying attention and they are just about to pull out!" ... and guess what ... the f**kwits usually do ... ! by which time I have braked and am already giving them a mouthful!

thanks for the advice! It's great that I have an HG "supermarket" about 5 mins down the road from me

Hi all, Seeing as I am now graduating from a scooter to a proper bike, I am going to need some proper boots! So far I have been using walking boots, which are fine for the scooter, but will be too big and clunky for changing gear and don't offer great ankle protection. I popped into my local Hein Gericke shop; the boots in there ranged from about £60 up to several hundred £. I tried on a pair of the cheaper ones, they seemed comfortable enough, but, being a complete noob, I wouldn't know a good boot it if kicked me up the arse ... so, what is the general concensus? Is Hein Gericke good value, quality stuff, or crappy overpriced tat? As I say, I wouldn't know! TIA for all advice

I find that silk liners are great! I got a pair for £12.99 from Hein Gericke, they make a world of difference.