chris128

Weather forecast at the mo is saying that sunday will be the only sunny day out of the bank holiday weekend...

but then again it also said that today and yesterday it was going to piss it down and it didnt rain once here..

This is so stupid, for ages the DSA website has said "you will be able to book the new practical test from 30 March (at the latest) onwards" and now it says:

"We are presently unable to accept bookings via the internet for either module 1 or module 2 of the new motorcycle test which goes live on 27 April. We expect to be in a position to accept bookings for these tests on the internet in the near future"

What a load of sh*te..

Oh and it doesnt cost anymore than the current test - its £10 for module 1 which is the off road part and £80 ish for module 2

Well i dont need a tape measure to know that 7.5 metres is wider than 2 car parking spaces and I can do it easily in 2 and a half spaces and like I said I did 6 out of 7 without a problem on real roads so I dont think I can be doing that bad lol and like I said, its going to be ages until my test so I've got a lot of time left to practice.

On the measurement thing, have you got a tape measure handy?

I guess I could take one but I would feel a bit daft getting off my bike and measuring car park spaces

yeah I find that helps too so I already do that just to get my balance and everything. However sometimes thats the hardest bit! next thing on my list to practice is very slow riding, hopefully that will also make me a little more adept at controlling the start and end of the U turn too

Well I tried it tonight using 3 parking spaces as a guide and did it with a fair amount of space to spare every time apart from once when I had a little 'moment' mid turn and turned way too sharply

I also thought sod it I dont care if the whole street can hear my stupid back brake squeeking away while I'm practicing and used the back brake as much as I needed to, which did help things when I wasnt quite turning tight enough to begin with.

I then went and tried it on some proper roads (not really tight ones but not huge ones) and did 6 out of 7 without a problem. So considering I've got a while left to practice still (cant even book a test yet as the DSA have none available at all) I'm fairly happy with the progress Just need to work on the rest of my riding now!

Where the hell is wilingham woods, have never been but always looking for new places to head to.

http://maps.live.com/#JndoZXJlMT1tYXJrZ ... Y3OTY4NzU=

Tut tut Vicki, get it sorted!

take yer rear break pads out clean out all the muck off caliper and pads.Put some copper grease on the back of the pads.

Good bye squeel.

edit.Must read other posts b4 posting

lol yeah I've cleaned the brakes but that didnt help so someone on here (cleedubber) is going to help me get some grease onto the back of the pads soon hopefully

Come onnnnn, gotta be more people than that around the Lincolnshire / Yorkshire area that can come

Im not sure why everyone seems to think im not using the back brake at all lol I do drag it a lot when trying U turns but all i was saying is that cos it makes such a loud squeeking noise I probably would use it a bit more if it didnt do that.

Oh and yeah i am doing the new test so its all done on flat ground on tarmac with a set width of 7.5 metres Going to practice some more tonight using 3 car park spaces as my new guide (hopefully will seem easy compared to what ive been trying to do it in) and then move onto trying it on some small roads.

When you choose a place to practice, get off your bike and push it round first. If you can do that, you can ride it round

Yeah but there's no point trying to learn to do them way tighter than I need to, then im just making it harder for myself. If MtotheJ is right and I am doing it far too tight then I dont think I need to work on my technique that much as I could do it within 3 car park spaces quite easily each time I tried it (obviously the more practice the better though)

You'll find it is probably down to your back technique being wrong. If you remember to allways drag on the back brake, have a constant throttle and control the bike on the clutch, allways keep your head up and look where you want to be and not down you should have more luck

I do everything that you have mentioned but I must confess that I try to avoid using the back brake too much as it makes a very loud squeeking sound (see my previous thread from yesterday) that makes everyone within the area stare at me haha and thats not really what you want when your failing to do U turns in a car park

oo well i hope you are right cos I tried a few using 3 car park spaces as a test and did it pretty easily each time so i thought that must be too big

I'm not that great with guessing distances but 7.5 metres sounds like just over 3 car park spaces to me (or there abouts) ?

Is that 7.5 metres the one in the current test or in the new tests cos my instructor told me that they have increased the distance for the new test..

Hi Guys,

I've been out practicing U turns again today and I still suck at them... but I was wondering if I am maybe being too hard on myself as I'm using two car park spaces as my guide to what I need to make it in (e.g I start on the line at the start of one space and have to do it without going over the line at the start of the one two spaces along if that makes sense). Is that maybe a bit too tight? I can make it sometimes but more often than not I dont...

I know you might say "just try it on a road instead" and I have done but the trouble is on some roads I find it really easy and on others I find it really hard and almost crash into the curb (well, i actually hit it twice the first few times i tried them the other day!) so I figured it was safer to try in a car park for a while until im better at them.

Thanks

Chris

yeah but thats just them charging you for more training, the test itself doesnt cost £150 or whatever. I think its about £85 for the test.

Learner - no it doesnt quite work like that because you have to pass the first part (15 min off road part) before you can book the second part.

I think it costs £10 more or something but dont quote me on that

nobody has done it because it only comes in on the 27th April.

I'm going to have to do the new one too, but I dont actually see what the problem is (apart from having to ride further to get to the nearest test centre). The test itself sounds easier if anything - you have a nice flat surface to do your U turn on which is apparently a bit wider than you would of got before too. I dont know about you but I find it much easier to do a U turn in a car park than on a proper road with gutters and camber etc.

Also, what some people might not know (I didnt until 2 days ago) is that you only have to go to one of these special test centres for the first part of your test, which lasts roughly 15 minutes if that. Then when you have passed that you get a certificate which then allows you to book the main road riding part of the test, similar to how it works when you pass your theory and then book your test now. So you can then do the main road riding part of the test at your local test centre as normal

looks sweet!

So, mIdLcRiSiS and cleedubber do you both think you might be up for going there sunday next weekend? (hopefully a few more people will be going there too but its a start! )

If bank holiday monday suits anyone better then thats not a problem for me either

 

Yes I'd be up for that...and will be getting used to riding a bike for the first time in cough cough years...so wont be going mad anyway

Sounds good I just heard that apparently its going to rain next weekend but hopefully not...

So, mIdLcRiSiS and cleedubber do you both think you might be up for going there sunday next weekend? (hopefully a few more people will be going there too but its a start! )

If bank holiday monday suits anyone better then thats not a problem for me either

I dont know, I post a perfectly legit topic and within seconds of Vicki posting in it the tone has gone through the floor! Tut

You have to start somewhere, and when I moved up from a 125 I went to a 250, then to a 350, then back to a 250 for a couple of years before feeling the need for a 600....

Im glad you posted that cos for my next bike I am getting a brand new Kawasaki Ninja 250 (already put down a deposit) and to be honest I felt like maybe I should of just gone straight for a 600 as that seems to be what everyone else does after they have a 125 for a while, but at least now I know im not the only person to go from a 125 to a 250 I do plan to get a 600 eventually but I figure the 250 should last me for a while (at least until I'm old enough to do my DAS next year anyway!)

But it was good to know they cared enough to check

thats cool, i cant believe how much more friendly bikers are when you compare that to car drivers. I kind of expected not to get many/any nods and waves from other bikers on 'proper' bikes what with me being on a 125 with L plates but loads of people gave me a nod today, which was a nice surprise

You get on those twisty little roads and all out power makes way for light and nimble

haha yeah but trust me, you could take a corner 10 X slower than me and still overtake me on the way out of it in the blink of an eye! Still... I guess my little CBR is better than nothing