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In general road riding if you notice any difference between a non-ABS and ABS bike, then it's either broken or you're riding like a spoon. Most people don't practice emergency braking, and even if you did you still couldn't be sure you're not going to grab a fist full of brake in the heat of the moment, or hit some diesel or loose gravel mid-braking. Pretty easy to do a perfect e-brake when the only thing you're going to hit is a cone, and you're expecting it. My bike has ABS, and I hope I never have to experience it working. Would I buy a bike without it? Yep, if I really liked the bike. But if i were 50/50 between a couple of bikes, the one with ABS would get an extra tick in the "pro's" list.

Welcome! Not my cup of tea personally, but chances are it would be illegal to use them "on the road". The Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989 > Part II > Regulation 11

Yep. 3000 mile max. No pillions. Datatag. Approved security device. Not my first rodeo with insurance, tried all the tricks like playing with job titles ect. Tried all the comparison sites (although I'm sure they all used pretty much the same system) and a bunch of brokers directly. Stick it in a garage would half it. Third party only would quarter it. Supposedly the first 3 years are the most expensive for brand new bikes so maybe in a coupe years it will drop significantly, who knows

Had a little more luck today. Called up Bikesure, removed KISS from my security and no increase in premium (because why would removing an anti-theft device make a difference to the price...). The lock I already have I managed to confirm as "sold secure gold" which was another prerequisite for the policy. Premium stayed at £1,300 for the year but whatever. I sort of knew what I was getting myself into pricewise last year when I bought a brand spanking new bike on my brand spanking new cat A license. I was hoping for a slightly more significant drop but then I still pay £700 on a car with 9 years NCB, so I shouldn't have been too optimistic. Good for another year Just need to get out on the bike this weekend to remind myself it's all worth it

Guess i'm back on the phone in the morning to cancel that policy. At least now I know for sure in the future I suppose!

Yeah i'm a pretty "by the book" person so I wouldn't anyway. That's why i'm going through all this hassle to try and confirm KISS and double check my alarm is "sold secure gold", I guess anyone else would just save themselves the headache and assume the insurance company is correct. Pretty much run out of all my google power now. So it looks like i'll just wait until my dealership emails me back. Spent all day dealing with insurance so i'm really hoping it does have one, just so I don't have to call anyone up again. I need a beer now

No mention of an immobiliser or KISS at all. I've emailed my local dealer and the main customer support for kwak. So i'll see if they can shed any light on the matter.

Sorry, it's KISS (Kawasaki) not HISS (Honda). Wasn't aware they didn't give red keys anymore so maybe I do have one after all! Here's my key... If you happen to know anything about kwaks...

I tried Bikesure, they are the ones that have said I have an immobiliser and i'm not sure if I do, I may have to call and cancel the policy before it starts. Emailed the dealer just to check. Bikesure luckily have given a discount for stored on private property. Although the guy on the phone was trying to convince me to store the bike in the house or buy myself a shed to lower it further. If I do have an immobiliser, then I just need to buy myself a "sold secure gold"/ thatham lock (don't think the xena is certified) as he added that as a condition to my policy to lower it down.

So it's renewal time. Cheapest quote was £1,100 (a stupid price, but it was £1,500 last year so at least it's going down...). Bike is stored in a locked rear private garden, under a cover with a xena disk lock alarm (stupidly loud!). I also park my car parked between the two houses so if you want the bike, you've got the move the car, break through the gate and carry the bike with the alarm going off through a gate barely wide enough. But they can't put that on my insurance quote, and it's not technically a driveway, so they tell me I have to put it as "on the road". So according to insurance companies, it's cheaper for me to leave the bike at the front of my house next to the road, than in a secure rear garden. WTF!!! Oh and I finally got a quote for £1,200 which I went ahead with. But the guy was convinced I had an immobiliser saying all bikes from a certain year had the K.I.S.S system manufacturer fitted. I have no flashing red light, and no red key when I bought it from the dealer brand new. So i'm pretty sure i'm going to have to call them back and cancel that policy, as I can't seem to find any proof that I have an immobiliser fitted! Why is it so difficult

Hi Jonathan! CBT on a geared bike would be your easiest route as it's just the generic "geared 125cc package" every place does. Just bear in mind you might spend some of the day re-hashing things you already know (especially if it's a group rather than 1-2-1). There's also refresher courses which you might want to enquire about. In these situations I would always advise to drop your preferred instructor/school an email before booking and explain your position. Whilst not always, they often can change things around to help you out and get something slightly more tailored (such as throw you in a group of people re-taking their CBT, so it's more bike time and less classroom time). Also consider looking for 1-2-1 instructors, they essentially just charge you for a day of their time and you can do whatever you like with that time.

I actually hate this style of training. Signalling should be your default, with the conscious decision to not bother. This style of training risks teaching (in my opinion) not to signal by default, and makes it something you have to think about. A non-required signal never killed nobody, but one forgotten... If you would signal with a car behind, signal with the examiner behind. They need to know, that you know, how and when to signal. Maybe, treat him like someone you're towing but they have the sat nav You should signal to let them know what you're doing, but don't wait for them to pass (because they won't, and if they do, somethings probably gone wrong). In all seriousness, the whole "treat him like" things are generic statements. Not words to stand by completely and certainly many exceptions to each one. They're said to help ease your nerves, not to be over-analysed. You sound about as anxious as I was for my test last year. Once you're 5 minutes into it, the nerves will still be there but you'll be too preoccupied to start over-thinking every decision before you make it.

I use Wurth cleaner & lube. Not out of experience, it just happened to be mentioned a lot when I Googled "Best motorcycle chain lube" when I got my bike. Seems to be doing fine so far.

I had / have exactly the same "issue". However mine is on a brand spanking new kwak ninja 650. No matter what gear or what revs (unless you're going to slow for your gear), without throttle input it will engine brake hard. I had to break my engine in so it never went above 4k rpm, and even that felt like it was nose diving when I let off the throttle. I had my much more experienced rider friends check for issues and it's since been in for 2 services since I bought it. It really concerned me as it just didn't feel right and I hated roundabouts for the same reason as you. What's the problem then? Well it's you It's just a characteristic of your bike, I don't know enough to say why your training schools bikes didn't do it (mine didn't either, i learned on an er6n, so both bikes were parallel twin), some people have said wear and I guess that could be true. It's just something you need to spend time with and you'll get used to it eventually. It still catches me out sometimes, but i'm quite comfortable with it now. If you're putting too much weight on your arms like I was when I started, it will impede your fine motor control and that makes it harder to be smooth. Once I got out of that habit and started to grip the tank before leaning over, roundabouts were much easier. Long straight roads like m.ways are the worst as you can't reposition your hand on the throttle without unintentionally scrubbing a load of speed off, and give up trying to wave at anyone with your right hand, that thing has to be glued to the throttle whilst in motion. If you do need to let off the throttle, pull in the clutch if your sitting up straight and it won't cause you any issues (and hopefully no mechanical problems). I'll do this if I really have to free up my right hand. Just be careful when getting back on it that you let the clutch out smoothly and match your revs otherwise engine braking kicks in. Be in the highest gear possible beforehand, easier to rev match at 3k than at 9k in my experience. It's not all bad though. You'll learn excellent fine motor controls, less brake pad wear and once you're used to it, you can roll up to things, you just have to let off later than you currently are with a much slower smooth roll off. Grip the tank with your knees, keep the weight off your arms and it's perfectly pleasant. The important thing is you've realised how it could affect other road users and like me you tap the rear brake to let them know you're slowing down. Had a few get a little too close for comfort in my first few months! (and not just car drivers). ------- As for the gear selection issue when coasting, yep I had that one too if it's what i'm thinking of. All bikes are the same, although the wear on older bikes may mitigate it somewhat. If you pull the clutch in too early, roll to a stop with it in, then try to change gear, the cogs may not be lined up correctly. Either roll the bike forward or a back a little and try again (hope they now line up close enough), or tease out the clutch until it starts to bite, pull back in and try again (get's things spinning just enough to change gear). If you do coast up to anything, anticipate early and change gears whilst you're rolling before you stop. Once again just something you get used too

https://www.devittinsurance.com/motor-trade/motorcycle-hire/

Ah I think I understand. I never really thought about it being a concertina but I can see what you mean. Maybe me panicing when the lights go green and i'm not in a lane is what's doing me. I probably just need to keep moving slowly and gaps will naturally present themselves as the concertina opens towards me and the cars just in front start to move away. At which point I can give it a quick zip into a gap.

Apologies in advance for the long read, I may be over explaining everything... After a couple of months of not having the chance to get out, I finally got out for a ride last weekend and it was the first time I came up against a queue of traffic at roadworks where i've decided to make my way to the front. Single carriageway, with a solid white line on my side. Couple of cars are nice and move over, but within 10 car lengths i'm stuck beside a car as the one in front is too close to the solid line. Fair enough, it's bumper to bumper so he couldn't move even if he wanted to. I couldn't see the start of the queue, and there's nothing oncoming, so I edge over the line and make slow progress down. I'm scanning for places to pull in if i see something oncoming, there's the odd spot where there'd be just enough room to pull in close to a car if I had too but i'd rather not. I've got a decent view around the bend in the road, nothing coming so I pull out further into oncoming lane and speed up. Luckily nothing come down, I got near the front and the 3rd car in line waited to let me in (thanks!), although I did notice I was then in a yellow hatched no waiting box . This situation is something any experienced biker wouldn't bat an eyelid at. Proven by the fact 1 minute later another biker came down the line and parked right at the front of the queue as if it wasn't an issue. So because i'm still wet behind the ears and probably overthink every small detail too much, I have some questions for you more experienced guys and gals. 1. The whole "don't overtake/filter unless you can see to get back in" is fine in theory, but doesn't work in practice. You're looking down a line of traffic, it would be impossible to judge the gaps between cars from that angle unless you have the ability to bend light. Traffic lights on multi-lane carriageways are the same, if you're 30 cars back, you can't tell me you can see a gap near the front before you start filtering. Once you're committed you can start scanning for pull in places, but there's no guarantee there will be one. This is the number one reason I don't filter very often, how do you start to approach this situation? 2. So i crossed a solid white line. It extended for the entire length of queue, and whilst I started with my wheels inside the line, I very quickly had to go over it. The other biker I saw couldn't have given 2 F's. Is it a case of take your chances and hope no police cars are in that queue? 3. Everything i've read says never go to the front of a queue. But every biker I know or have seen does exactly that. They will pull into cycle boxes in front of the lead car, be half over the stop line, go past the red "wait here" board at temp traffic lights. Is this another case of just hoping there's no police around? Anyone actually be taken aside for a stern warning for doing that kind of thing? 4. What do you do if traffic starts moving before you've found somewhere safe to pull back in? I had this the first time I tried to filter with a friend and it's probably what put me off trying it again. He's confident and shot down the middle of two lanes and parked up half over the stop line at the lights and was away when they changed without hassle. I come bumbling down slowly, see the lights start to change and can't find a gap to pull in. So i poo myself as cars either side start to pull off and i'm in the middle. Luckily after a few cars passed me a nice driver to my left slowed to let me in. Now I know there's a golden rule of "if you're not confident, don't do it". But you have to practice to be confident right? I ride only for pleasure on nice weekends so luckily i'm not dealing with rush hour traffic or poor weather at any point.

I thought i'd found it and someone had resprayed it. Then I realised the reg was wrong... Good luck with the search!

There's 2 techniques that I know can work well for this. Both are just different approaches to getting it to counter steer quickly. The first is what I was taught by my instructor and that's to simply throw the bar's to the side aggressively. If you need to swerve to the left, throw the bike, your hands, your body, everything to the left hard and fast. Don't hold anything back and I find shouting your favourite expletive at the same time helps. This is a good one for new riders who tense up (I was super tense throughout my practice and tests, even after passing it took me months to relax on the bike). If you try and counter steer when tense you can end up fighting yourself, so by just throwing the bike to the side you're using your rigid body position to help rather than hinder. The second is to just push forward quite hard on the bar in the direction you want to go (woo counter steering works). Need to go left, push left (and pull right if you want to really make sure). This is the relaxed, "I can do this easy" approach. You'll soar through with a swan-like elegance. Since passing my test and finally starting to relax on my own bike I've started practising this method in car parks. It's effortless and will get you around the cone with loads too spare. But you have to be relaxed; a rigid body position will just have you fighting yourself. Everyone's different though, that's just what worked for me. Whilst playing around on my bike, i've also found adopting a sporty body position can help if you're a bit tense. Absolutely a bad idea for low speed stuff, you'll be unstable as hell, but for the swerve it puts the rigid body to good use focusing most of your upper body weight through your one arm when you start to lean it over which speeds up your counter steering; something which doesn't happen so naturally in a more upright touring position. Good luck on your next try

The CBT isn't a test. You essentially have to convince the instructor that you have the basic skills to ride a bike and be safe on the road, whether that takes a few hours or a few days. The problem you may have is finding an instructor who can accommodate you. If you're doing it in a group with a normal training school then the logistics would be difficult and many may just flat out refuse rather than deal with the hassle. A self employed 1-2-1 instructor may be a better choice as they can tailor things to suit you more easily (and they aren't excessively more expensive). However bear in mind you're asking them to have 2 unpaid mornings so flexibility is key. My instructor always block booked early morning Mod 1 & 2 tests so wasn't uncommon to have an unbooked afternoon free. So yes it is possible, you just need to find someone willing to do it. Best option would be to draft an email and send it to every training school and instructor you can find in the area.

Thanks for the info. Just ordered me a set of those so i'll see if I have the same result

That's the biggest thing for me. The liner of my trousers wraps my legs like cling film before i've got the bike out the back garden. Glad to hear i'm not the only one! Sports Direct have some own brand heat gear stuff at about £20 for the set. Or there's Under Armour stuff at £50 for the set. So i'm going to order something from there and see how I go

Base layers are for retention of body heat. No, they are not exclusively for retention of heat. they tend to have very low water absorbance and are high wicking.. which means that in the warmer weather as you sweat it evaporates faster and cools you down. in the cold.. we don't sweat so much so that feature isn't apparent. Thermals are not just for the winter. Though in summer i tend to wear the white ones I have for when the jacket comes off. Thanks for the replies. I think i'll grab me a set of Under Armour layers whilst it's not yet baking hot and see how I get on. May still have to go buy some mesh gear for summer but it doesn't look like there's much between tarmac and skin with mesh stuff so ideally i'd not be reliant on it too much.

Hi guys & gals. After some advice on dealing with the whole sweating thing. Been riding nearly 10 months now and pretty much every time I go out on the bike my t-shirt is drenched, my socks are giving me trench foot and my legs feel like i've just stepped out the shower. Being uncomfortably warm is normal daily life for me, I sleep with an Air Con fan unit blowing directly at me throughout the year even when there's snow on the ground outside. On the bright side my central heating bills a pretty low until the other half wins the thermostat battle. I wear a supposedly all-weather jacket with all the vents open ( https://www.jsaccessories.co.uk/buy/frank-thomas-tornado-jacket-black-white/24571.htm ), and likewise vented trousers with the thermal lining removed ( https://www.jsaccessories.co.uk/buy/frank-thomas-reflector-pants-black/26303.htm ). Underneath it's just a t-shirt on top and boxers on the bottom (I tried 3 quarter trousers underneath once, it felt horrible). I'm thinking of heading back to J&S and seeing what mesh jackets they have. My mate has an RST mesh jacket that looks much lighter and airier (unfortunately he's a small chap and the jacket won't fit me to try it out) and I noticed they do some mesh stuff in their FT brand if I want to cheap out. I'm hoping i'll also find some lighter trousers whilst i'm there, although I haven't found anything specific like the jacket options. I've read online some people swear by base layers. Seems counter intuitive to me that putting additional clothing on would result in a net reduction in body temperature. Does anyone here actually suffer from sweating that is fixed by base layers that can attest to this? Oxford sell some cheapish base layers, or there's sports shops that sell the under armour stuff. So i'm willing to try that out. So does anyone have any tips? Anyone tried base layers to stay cooler? Anyone have a mesh jacket for summer use that they can recommend?

Everyone's different, but knowing the roads isn't always as useful as it sounds. If you're doing the majority of your training on roads you know, will you be fully prepared if your test is on unknown roads? I'd say the majority of people are more attentive and aware when on unfamiliar roads which translates to better observations which in my experience is the main thing an examiner will look for. Having said that, it's surprising how far you can go if you're doing a full day training. Even if your schools local, chances are you'll be miles away from home come lunch time. The most important thing is find an instructor you're comfortable with, if you don't gel on the first lesson, then look elsewhere. Personally i'm far too self conscious worrying about what other people think, especially when they see me riding (i'm still like it now), so I paid a little extra to go with an instructor that only did 1-2-1's, i'd have never even done my CBT if I had to do it part of a group. I went from never having rode in my life to full license in 4 weeks (about 6 full days training including CBT) and I attribute all of that to finding the right instructor for me.