HomerPlata

Hahahaha brilliant

I think the problem might be a high concentration of nervousness at the very start, you are rushing to get into the turn and thus not taking off with enough speed. Maybe practise smoothly taking off, settle in with enough pace to complete the turn, and then start your turn a bit further down the test area? I know I had a terrible time with U-turns, until I spent 15 mins practising them from a rolling start. That really helped me to find the correct point/speed to begin my turn. Hope that helps

Gutted to read about you failing it today mate. You'll get it next time. The whole thing is a very entertaining read anyway, if that makes you feel better at all

Seems I've inspired some fiery debate I've decided to go with the safe option, by strapping a string of re-purposed Capri-Sun cartons around my waist.

2004, and yes I think so. I can't help with the petrol bottle but I can offer some advice , I think it will be the same as mine then, so I don't think they have a fuel gauge but it does have a reserve gauge. When you see that reserve gauge you've got 15-20 miles (I've not pushed it any further ) to fill up. IT should be 4 bars that go down, the first one lasts about 10 miles and the last 3 go very quickly after that. When it's full the reserve gauge wont come on for about 130-140ish miles. Unless they changed how they do it after a certain year but the F4i was from around 2001-2006 Ah, nice one mate. If I can get around 130+ miles out of a tank that's sound then, I'll just refuel every 2 days like I normally do (60 miles round trip to work).

2004, and yes I think so.

Do any of you guys carry around small petrol bottles in case you run out of fuel? If so, can you give me links to any suitable ones? Obviously I want to carry it safely, not just stuck in a used Lucozade bottle Preferably to fit under the seat of a CBR 600. My previous bike had a reserve switch, but my current bike just has a fuel gauge which I don't quite trust yet. Don't want to end up stranded.

I can't offer any helpful advice, but I really hope you get it sorted soon. Sounds horrific.

I can sympathise a bit. I dropped my bike outside work the other day, literally doing zero mph just trying to park up as I normally do. No injuries, no real damage, but my ride home that night was traumatic. Shaking like a leaf while filtering through massive gaps. I imagine coming off with an impact at speed is a million times worse, but you'll defo get through it if you just keep at it. With a bit of time, the realisation of how vulnerable we are on the roads on a daily basis won't be so fresh in your mind

You missed the boat he passed. Well done, good luck on Fri. Haha, I do believe you're correct Congrats and good luck for Mod 2!

Try practising an initial squeeze of both brakes, briefly let them out smoothly, then smoothly apply again until you stop. Even if you can't help pulling the clutch in, this should prevent your back wheel locking up, because you've taken off the top end of your speed before you apply the brakes a second time.

I'd say it's not too late to still consider the SIM only route. I cut my bill from about £46 a month to around £16, with more than double data usage. You said "regardless of whether I give her the S7 or not", so it seems like it's still an option to not have to upgrade your bird's phone. Just sayin'

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Battery-Rechargeable-Waterproof-Insulated-Motorcycle/dp/B078NM7XR9/ I'm thinking of getting the gloves at the link above - has anyone used them and are they any good? I got these gloves (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Juicy-Trendz-Cowhide-Motorbike-Motorcycle/dp/B001LO1D5K/) as a Christmas present, and they're already torn and letting in water

Thanks for the advice. Yes, I will be extra careful now that my hearing effectiveness will be lowered on occasion - although the wind generally makes hearing on the motorway absolutely useless

Nice one. They're almost identical to the ones I ended up buying. Some of the other systems recommended on this thread looked really good, but I'm a stingy c**t so I spent about 8 quid on that type of earbud that you can proper jam into your ear. Trialled them successfully this morning. If nothing else, they are very effective at dampening wind noise.

Thanks Chris

Thanks all

Can anyone recommend a decent set? Preferably with with an iPhone compatible volume thingy on the wire. Got a bit of riding to do soon which involves the need to use satnav - I'd rather have the voice assistance for times when looking down at the phone isn't practical or safe. And I also need to listen to several Iron Maiden albums at a reasonable/considerate volume. Tar.

I bought a Yuasa battery not long ago, after a faulty/shitty/old DataTool system 3 alarm drained the battery while my bike sat in the garage over the summer (bought it roughly 4 months before I passed my test, wrongly assumed I'd fly through my lessons...) Anyway, just follow the instructions. Fill it with acid then charge it up for a couple of hours. I bought a cheap trickle charger and it did the job nicely. Be careful with that acid though. It's pretty concentrated, as you'd expect, and you need to do this in a well ventilated area or else you might inhale some harsh fumes - not to mention the charging process apparently gives off hydrogen gas. As if riding a bike in general wasn't dangerous enough

Thank you sir

Thanks Bob.

I parked the bike outside work the other week, in the rain, and when I came back to it that evening it wouldn't start. The battery was fine, the starter motor was firing just fine, but the fuel wasn't igniting. I initially solved that problem by buying a bike cover, and now it successfully starts for the journey home no matter what the weather is like. I assumed this was purely an issue with getting the bike initially started. WRONG. Came to the end of the motorway a couple of days ago (after 30-40 mins of heavy rain), changing down gears as I approach the roundabout, dipped the clutch as I dropped into first gear and coasted a little bit towards the line. Off goes the engine. I got it started again by putting the choke back on partially, and had to leave the choke on for the remainder of the journey or it was cutting out every time the revs dropped. Any advice, or obvious diagnosis you can share, based on the symptoms? Any gut feel for the cost estimate of fixing? Tar.