wannars125

23? You're not old! I came back to riding after 10 years. Done the CBT and got me a 125 to practice on for a few months. Once you've got the basics back the DAS really shouldn't be a problem.

As has already been said, get yourself on a CBT course forst and get the instructors advice from there. They'll be able to advise you best.

Try the rideout reports section Paul!!!

http://www.themotorbikeforum.co.uk/view ... 23&t=30913 if you need some help

So where did you and Beth disappear to???

T'was a good day. All except for my scrambled eggs on toast, too regular for my liking!

Haha!!! Have you not kept it up? I'll be bringing some all bran with me next time I see you Andy!

TC, to be honest it wasn't too bad, just a little misunderstanding on the dates and meeting people and weather!!!!

Hopefully the follow up rideout next month will be a little easier!

I voted for the old colour scheme.

As for the Bandits, they may have sucked for Techno but I have one and I think it's great. Ok, it may not be the fastest bike around or the best looking but I've now done 20k miles in 13months including a 3 month gap over winter and I've only had one problem with it misfiring but then with a change of plugs and a clean of the air filter it was fine. Personally, I think the lack of power for a newbie is a good thing. I have to do something very extreme for it to lift the front wheel or for it to get me into scary moments.

Choose a bike that fulfils your needs and feels comfortable.

I want it!

So the planned rideout yesterday for the future of haiti charity started to all go wrong when I lost my phone on Saturday. After some ringing around though managed to get hold of everyone I needed to and things were looking good with the weather forecast saying cloudy brightening up later.

Sunday morning arrived, went outside and it was spitting and getting harder. Back in to get the waterproofs and headed off to the Ace Cafe to meet MonkeyKnuckle and a few others.

In traditional style, I rode straight past the Ace Cafe and had to turn back!

Had some brekkie, realised the weather was still looking rubbish so hung around a while the bad weather passed and left at about 10:30am. Only an hour and a half behind schedule!

Got to Loomies at 12pm, got the orders in for some drinks and food (still regular Andy?!?). Realised we were supposed to be in Billinghurst to meet Ducati Paul at this time so called him to arrange to meet up a bit later.

Headed off down the A272 which was lots of fun besides the couple of horse boxes that we got stuck behind and the cyclist that managed to overtake us whilst we were stuck!

Carried on riding through and at some point realised that the signs were no longer saying Billinghurst and stopped to find out that we'd passed it quite a while before! Oops. Another call to Paul to find he'd already got the beach!!!

Another half hour and we'd arrived in Brighton. Walked to the hotel for the exhibition to be met with blank looks by the airhead receptionist. Walked out and bumped into my friend that was organising to find that it wasn't starting til next month!!! Oooopsie! She told us where some of her work was displayed so took a trip to the shop and in the process found the charity piggy bank!!!

After donating some cash we walked to the pier, Beth found a sudden addiction to the 2p machines and everyone had a walk around. After this we lost Paul and Beth which was a shame but there'll always be next time!

On the way out, we bought some donuts and were attacked by the seagulls!!!! We think it was the dodgy veggie spring roll that Andy fed to them that pi**ed them off!

Trying to wave the seagulls away!

Seagull strikes and wins!

The aftermath!

A good day was had by all that came and another ride will be planned for when the exhibition is actually on next month so if there's anyone that would like to attend, keep an eye out in the London and South East rideout section.

Thanks to all that also donated towards this charity.

Nice piccies mate. Looks like the weather was a bit better for you than for us.

pub in Billinghurst sounds good. I've lost my phone. Hopefully Andy has got in touch with you. Send him details for the pub and we'll let you know when we leave the Ace and when we get to Loomies.

Nice one buddy!!! Now go get that big bike and enjoy the open road!!! Oh and ride safe!!!

Nah, wouldn't buy the same again, these were the second pair. The first failed on the zip too! I've got another pair of goretex ones anyway but found they got quite hot after wearing them for a while. The older ones were nice and cool!

I have my old boots which the zip broke on. They're not covered under warranty anymore but were comfy as hell and cool during the summer. Would anyone have concerns about a shoe repairer fixing the zip so I could wear them again or do you think they'd be likely to fail in an accident?

Hey DP! We're going to be heading off from the Ace Cafe at around 8:30am and stopping at Loomies on the A32 for a bit so I reckon we'll probably arrive at Bilinghurst at around 12ish. Do you fancy maybe coming up to Loomies to meet us there?

There's only been 2 votes and I'm not sure who made the other one! With no responses, myself and a couple of friends not on the forum have decided to head out this coming Sunday.

If you're free you're more than welcome to join. I won't bother having a suggested donation, just whatever you feel like you can afford!

I'm hoping to do this ride this coming Sunday. Please let me know if you'd like to join!

.wemoto.com?

Don't know if anyone would be interested in this. It's a rideout that I'm trying to organise from the Ace Cafe to Brighton for the above charity including a look in at a mates art exhibition.

If you're interested, no date has been set yet, I've put up a poll. Would be nice to see you all for this!

Anand

http://www.themotorbikeforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=30552

Well done matey!!! Enjoy riding and stay safe! I'm often up that way (parents in Harrow) so if you fancy coming out on a ride, keep an eye out on the London and South East rideout section. I'm propbably going to be putting more stuff in there now with the summer coming!

I forgot copletely that there might be some of us on 125's who haven't passed our tests. If there is anyone in this category that does want to join, you are more than welcome and I'll tweak the route a little!

Yeah this did look like a bit of an epic trip and I'd be up for it at some point. At the moment though, I've just posted up a new thread in the main rideout section for a mates art exhibition in Brighton. The route is a little simpler but still gets the A32 and A272 in but stops at Brighton if you'd be up for that instead?

I don't mind going with a 125 by the way! Holding 60-70mph is all good by me!

I've not organised a charity rideout before so if there's anything you think I've missed or should be added, feel free to make amendments!

One of my good friends is an artist in Brighton and is holding a joint exhibition as part of Unite Brighton to raise money for for the Future of Haiti charity (http://www.thefutureofhaiti.org). There is no entrance fee other than donation for the charity and if you really like the artwork, 50% of profit will go to the charity too.

Taken from the website

While working midst the earthquake disaster, to bring help and hope in Haiti, volunteers found a local person who was running three orphanages. All of them had collapsed, leaving the surviving children without shelter, food or water...and more importantly, a family. We decided to help these vulnerable children and found available land to do so. We worked with the local community to clear it from junk and debris and established a camp out of tents.

I can't comment on the others artwork but without being biased, I think my friends work is very good and if the others are to the same calibre I'll be impressed.

I think if start with £5 to join the ride and anything you want to add as extra I think we should be able to contribute something towards their cause.

Anyway, to the fun part! I was thinking of a rideout starting at the Ace Cafe, heading out to the A40, M25, M3, A331, A31, A32, A272, A23 to Brighton. Ok so the motorways are boring but once you're out to the A31, the scenery gets better and the road is a popular one with bikers with a cafe on the A32 to stop to refuel the belly and petrol tank! Once in Brighton, we can pay a trip to the exhibition then spend the rest of the day just chilling out at the beach.

Route: clicky

I know a lot of you guys are up north so if you can't make it I won't be offended but if you could it would be great to see some old and hopefully new faces too!

**Edit** Poll now added!

Not sure if this is in the right place. I'm off to Brands Hatch next Saturday (non biking stuff) and was wondering where's best to park if you've been before?

I'm planning on a rideout at somepoint and was thinking about the following route. Not sure when yet but any thoughts on routes would be good and if you'd like to join let me know!

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?f=d&so ... 634216&z=9

**EDIT**

Google seems to be a bit pants and doesn't give the mileage. I think it was around 235 miles before it broke!

Well done on passing! Bring on Mod 1 & 2 now eh?

Nice one matey! Enjoy your freedom now and stay safe!

Driving for about 10 years, took the CBT, rode around on the 125 for about 6 months then took DAS for 2.5 days.