madcow87

Cancelled on route perhaps ? That's possible. I'd assumed, given where it passed me on the motorway that it was taking a patient to the hospital from the crash on the M6. But give that it went passed about 3 top notch hospitals in favour of something that was another hour away I guess that can't be it. I dunno. As for the hearse thing I've always been very aware when there's a funeral going on. I'll stop on the side of the road if I'm walking down the street when one goes passed me and I make my lad stop as well to pay our respects in our own way. Also now I know Bike hearses are a thing, that's happening.

So heading back from Blackpool on Saturday night there was an accident on the M6 and I headed through Garstang on the A6 to get back onto the M6 further north. After joining the motorway an ambulance came up behind me and overtook me with the lights going (I was trundling along at 70 in the left hand lane with my kids in the car). As I left my exit and joined a dual carriageway, I spotted that same ambulance not much further up the road than I was (it overtook me on the motorway about 10/15 minutes earlier and I hadn't been speeding). There's a great big steep long hill on this dual carriageway and often cars and especially vans/trucks etc end up slowing right up whilst travelling up it. Much like this ambulance did still with it's lights on. After catching up to it on this hill I realised I was slowing down to 60, so I put foot down, mirror, signal, manoeuvre and went around this ambulance at 65mph. I never saw it again after that, despite the carriageway falling downhill after that initial climb. It's bugged me since, I would love to know why on earth this ambulance with its blue lights on never came back past me, or even why I caught up to it at all without breaking speed limits. Also need to check the highway code, I'm aware I need to move out of the way for emergency vehicles with lights on, but where do we stand on overtaking slow moving emergency vehicles with lights on? It was hindering my progress so I overtook it, like any other piece of traffic

But you are improving and getting closer mate I can only assume you've maybe picked up a lot of bad habits in the mean time, and that's why it's taking a little longer to train you out of those habits. But best of luck mate I'm sure you'll be fine.

I found it STUPENDOUSLY easy this way. I didn't ride a 125 I just stuck with the training and passed both modules first time with no experience. I hated the U turn as well mate (in fact I hated the whole Mod 1, stupid rules) I even dropped the bike 3 times in my training session for the Mod 1 doing u turns, come the day of the test I couldn't manage to consistently string together some successful ones so it was gonna be hit or miss...picked up 1 minor because my wheel edged over the white line slightly on the U turn Like everyone has said, keep your head and eyes up, point your chin where you want to go. Keep the revs up and slip the clutch, use back break if you need to help. Something worth pointing out is don't worry about "over-revving" the engine, if you know what I mean, if your slipping the clutch and the revs are way up high and the engines singing, it doesn't seem to matter I completed everything, some of the slow stuff though I sounded like I was doing 30mph!! Last bit of advice (because I was totally guilty of it) don't overthink anything. Take your time and hit one manoeuvre at a time, it's only 8 manoeuvres and lasts about 10 minutes in the end so don't over think anything. Oh and don't forget to do EVERY shoulder check, and even when he asks you to drive into and out of the test bay you're still being tested! Make sure you do all the checks during those times too and you'll be fine.

My wife posted one of my lad yesterday...he probably hates it as much as I do.

Yeah its all dependant on you and your confidence mate. I did my DAS and passed both Mods first time. But when it came to buying my own bike, I realised that I'd passed the test and everything with something that I didn't feel I was truly ready for. Part of me thinks it was blind luck of stringing it all together at the right time that got me passed. So I went with a Ninja 250 for my first bike. I'll hang on to that for a while and see how we fair. I plan on all weather/season riding so i'll give it time and settle into it....that said I have already had it up to a ton but it was a quiet and straight empty stretch of tarmac

Where is that?

I'm exactly the same Neil. As long as everyone comes back safe its all good fun.

I saw that kick off. Although I saw Marquez tweeting a response saying its absurd what people are saying about it and that he wished Vale a speedy recovery. Most riders do some form of offroad training, some fans can be a tad fickle I think.

Well that's his championship over with for sure. Can't see Yamaha doing much more with Vinales. Hopefully it maybe see's Rossi taking on a mentor role with him now and helping him to grow as a rider and make it his bike. But yeah I've been firmly routing for Dovi since day one of the season. Love that guy and really hope he does it!!

Probably won nob of the century that one.

That's probably one of the best!! My wife (who is learning to drive) got one last week, which I answered because she was in work. "Hello is Mrs. Cow (always wanted to say that) there?" "No this is her husband, can I take a message for her." "Oh I'm calling from Scamsurance regarding the insurance cover on her car, we believe we can get a better deal." "She doesn't have a car. She doesn't drive yet." "Oh, is this Mr. Cow? Its about the Skoda." "I don't drive a Skoda." "Oh I meant the Ford." "I don't drive a Ford either. Don't ring here again." Remember the days that they actually had the right details and you were almost fooled by these people? At least those criminals did a bit of homework.

Top of the post says "All Sizes 12/14"

When it costs around £100 a ticket for the MotoGP at a track that is a 4/5 hour drive away, compared to £27 per adult and my kids go free to Oulton Park for the BSB I know which one I'm taking. I appreciate that the level and the bikes are at another plateau, but the money is insulting! As much as I want to see Rossi race in the flesh before he retires, it'll be cheaper for me to book a holiday for the family and go abroad for a race somewhere.

Myself. First ride out on the bike on Saturday and riding into Morecambe, sudden and massive power loss whenever I started accelerating. Managed to pull another 20 miles or so before it just died completely. Checked the tank and it had fuel (but not much...) got it fired up and to the nearest petrol station and filled her up...yeah...I was out of petrol...on a NSL road (that is bloody fantastic at speed...) and I ran out of petrol. In my defence, I'll say that it highlighted that my fuel warning light doesn't work.

This is good, that means you can do whatever you like as far as which license to go for. It'd make more sense financially to go straight for the full A license, unless you know for 100% that you're not going for a big big bike. Theory test you can do whenever you like and you have 2 years after passing it to complete your full test (the same time limit as your CBT). You will be expected to complete that in your own time. Two ways you can do this. Like you said, if you pass your CBT you'll be able to ride a 125 with "L" plates for two years, after two years you need to have passed your test or you'll need to retake your CBT. The other and what a lot of people do, and its what you HAVE to do if you go for DAS, is you use the bikes provided by a recognised training school. Take a look for motorcycle training in your area and I'm sure you'll find some reputable schools nearby. At your age, A1 and A2 are somewhat pointless unless you have a real problem getting used to riding the big bike for DAS. But it depends on you, if you want a 125 for commuting a short distance and don't want to have "L" plates, and you know for 100% that you won't ever want anything bigger than a 125, then do the test on the 125 and stick with that. The thing with riding is it is very infectious. You'll ride a little while on a 125 get comfortable and confident and you'll want to go faster...which is why its best to do DAS if you're old enough. That way you can ride whatever you like whenever you want to.

Your tests will cost the same and are the exact same tests whatever bike you d them on. The reason the DAS is usually so expensive is because you have no choice but to take lessons with the school and use their big bikes. With A1 you can obviously just use whatever 125 you already own. You ultimately do what suits you best. The school I went with offered to kinda pay in installments so I could spread the cost a little easier, maybe thats something you could arrange? It also kind of depends on what experience you have and how well you learn/ride/adapt to using the big bike. Sent from my F3111 using Tapatalk

I bought all my initial gear from a shop. Problem is that the only shops stocked up are a fair old drive away...usually around a 2 hour drive down the motorway. It was worth it for my initial stuff, and when I come to buy another lid I think i'll travel and try them on, for other stuff like jackets, pants etc i'll probably take a gamble and buy online now that I've got a good idea on sizes.

What Joeman said! If its new then it should be under warranty and they should be sorting it out. I have to wonder as well if it is new, was it run in? is there some running period you should have followed before taking it over a certain rev limit? Just a thought, I don't think it would have such dire consequences in fairness either way.

Admittedly I probably read deeper into than you intended...I'm a pain for over thinking!!

Any updates to this [mention]Tango[/mention], very interesting project. It's actually something I'd be interested in doing myself sometime. I love to tinker with stuff.

Some Black Stone Cherry for your listening pleasure this morning https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZoKmdbERzA&list=RDMM3ZoKmdbERzA Oh and as a bonus...a couple of the greatest cover versions I've ever heard. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgFQ6WmxdMs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt1Pwfnh5pc

All of this! I'd say if you could afford it, get all new gaskets and seals, they shouldn't be too expensive and the last thing you want really is to get it back together to find that a joint has failed somewhere and you need to re do all your hardwork. If its apart and you can get the spares just swap any and all seals you find. A bit of research online and you'll be able to find all the stuff you need. The first time I stripped an engine down I felt the same, but its not difficult when you get stuck into it. What makes it difficult is when something goes wrong (which is when you come back and ask more questions) or when you don't have enough room for your stubby little sausge fingers (Curse you genes!!) Oh and one more thing, before you start rebuilding make sure everything is given a damn good clean, especially sealing surfaces. A nice clean surface will mean a better seal and save time later.

You know what I quite like those. I'd like to have them in the office just to scare all the clean cut types in here.

I got 54 for the emergency stop and 52 for the swerve. Which out of the 4 that did the Mod 1 that day was the highest speeds