Dombo

Sounds very much like my experience last year at a large franchise school, two on scooters and me on geared. I’m over twice your age but driven cars for 40 years and ridden road and mountain bikes for similar. One of the scooter pupils was a pizza jockey on his fourth or fifth renewal so aced everything. I was left to my own devices and told at noon to go home as I wouldn’t be road ready in time but to come back at a later date. I changed schools, went with a local independent instructor, got my CBT, then back to him a year later for my full licence. Much better experience - this instructor had been teaching for almost 30 years, very keen on biking and a natural teacher. Oddly enough, I have since found it easier to ride a geared bike than scooters as gears, feathering the clutch, dragging the brake etc just seems to give more control, even though I still consider myself a total novice, just without L plates. Oh, and bigger bikes are much easier to ride than little 125s on the road.

Don’t worry. I was also sent home at noon last year for not being able to control a geared bike on my CBT. The other two learners were a pizza guy on his 4th renewal so aced all the figure 8s , U turns etc, and a young woman who was doing ok as well. I, aged 60 at the time, kept over revving, stalling, couldn’t turn for toffee, which was annoying as I have ridden and raced mountain bikes for 30 years, and had a driving licence since 1980. I then changed schools, everything suddenly clicked - which may have been due to different, better handling bikes (Honda Grom instead of the standard CBF 125 at the previous school), and nicer weather, sunny instead of pouring rain. Since then my only riding has been a week rental here of a 125, another week touring Vietnam on a small dual sport, and in June this year did my DAS. Practice does help massively as since doing my DAS all I’ve done is a day touring off road on green lanes on a 250 dual sport bike and I found my slow speed stuff had deteriorated somewhat. However the best bit of advice I was given was to look where you want to go, really turn your head, and the bike will follow.

Well done. You’ll find everything so much easier on the bigger bikes for full licence. I also struggled on CBT hill starts, mainly because I’m used to putting right foot down when cycling, so kept trying to hold the little 125 on the front brake while attempting to give enough throttle not to stall. Luckily my bit of Surrey where I learned is quite hilly so we got lots of natural hill start practice without realising.

I had exact same experience trying to contact them last year, just got voicemail and emails unanswered. Hence I went with AJH for CBT and DAS, as detailed above, and very pleased I did so.

I did my CBT and DAS with AJH. Very good trainer, friendly, extremely patient and excellent bikes. For CBT we had Honda MSX which handled very well, and Yamaha MT07 for the DAS. Both times was just two of us trainees and the instructor. He has plenty of helmets and gloves and also provided waterproof overtrousers for the days on our DAS course when it rained. CBT training ground was a school playground marked out with cones and after safety briefing, full explanation of the bikes and importance of always wearing proper kit we practised everything until he was happy we’d be safe on the road, then it was two hours riding on a full mix of high street, country lanes and suburban roads. The area has a few hills so we got to do hill starts naturally as part of the ride. DAS was lots of riding and a great deal of Mod 1 practice (which I certainly needed). I did 5 days to get the most training, and passed both modules first time. The bikes are in very good condition and he is a very keen biker. Tests were at Mitcham and Burgess Hill so we got a real mix of roads, from busy South London to fast country, A roads with roundabouts and even a bit of 70mph dual carriageway. I would definitely recommend AJH to anyone.

Several times as a cyclist and riding motorbikes (I have a month-old licence so am no way a “biker”). Finished a road race, came to a halt, forgot I was clipped in and toppled off. Mountain biking down some steep rocky and rooty trail I braked, looked at some roots and fell off - my mates of course looked beyond the roots, took the trail at speed and sailed past unscathed. Pedal bike again, hit black ice on a bend, bike went down instantly. That one was the most painful. All the others just embarrassing. Practising U-turns on a rented YSR 125, looked down, touched the brake as the bike felt it was going to fall, stalled and fell. Top tip, give it more gas and the bike will right itself. Rental bike in Vietnam, trying to keep the bike moving in mud, eyes fixed on the front wheel as it ploughed its own furrow, crossed the trail buried itself and I fell off. Same thing on DAS, stalled the MT07 while making a Horlicks of figure 8s. Then dropped it while doing the wheel the bike from one space to another practice.

Or one of these, Harley Electra Tri-Glide

My advice for the slow stuff, having stalled enough times on CBT and managed to drop an MT07 on DAS, is to keep the revs up, around 3k, and slip the clutch. Bike clutches are wet so don’t mind being slipped, unlike car clutches. Also keep your head up and look where you want to go. A mate showed me a neat trick, he put a glove on the ground, told me to look at it and asked “can you see the top of the tree?” I could. Then he told me to look halfway up the tree - “can you still see the glove?” I could. “Then you don't need to look at it and you won’t hit it will you?”

Some of the peripheral kit can be sourced on eBay. For example I got a pair of leather Alpinestars Sp-1 gloves for £25, Sidi Black Rain boots for £50. Bullit armoured Covec jeans were £60 in the sale from a big online store. Armoured jacket - I got a summer Revit one and can wear waterproofs or warmer jackets over it. As for helmets you have to try them on in a shop. I find HJC fit me very well so got their C10 model and a pinlock visor, about £120 total. I also have their i30 half face model with a sun visor but found I never use it. The C10 has no fancy features but is the latest EC 22.06 standard, and fits perfectly. CBT and A2 lessons are about right at £1k total, I did a 5 day DAS course. Insurance is down to your age and with luck it’ll come each year down with no claims discount. As an example I am 60, got full licence a month ago and was quoted £500 for standard 400-500cc bikes, Hondas, Royal Enfield etc, second hand value around £3-4k. I had no prior bike experience, even 125 on L plates.

Change schools. I did a five day course with an independent school, sole instructor training two of us for DAS, I am similar age bracket to you. Instructor had been doing it for close on 30 years and was a very keen biker with an impressive collection of bikes. Mod 1 was on day 4, Mod 2 the following week on the final day. Every one of the first four days we practised Mod 1 stuff and the instructor never took his eyes off us - luckily for me as I was struggling with the fig 8 and U turn right up until we headed off to the test centre ( where I somehow nailed it). Riding between car parks for the Mod 1 sessions was our Mod 2 practice. The bikes were in excellent condition, with crash bungs and bar protectors and I had no trouble getting into neutral or any other mechanical issue. Both of us passed first time with only one minor in my case. Definitely try another school.

You should give Spain a try. The Pyrenees are great and there are some fantastic routes in Navarra. Check navarider.com.

Congratulations on the Mod 1 pass. I found that by far the harder test, having just done both in the last couple of weeks. As well as lifesavers, don’t forget to cancel indicators on Mod 2. Other than that, just treat it like a ride. I have seen the same issue with insurance quotes, car licence for 40 years, garage the bike, looking at Honda CB500. Cheapest quote is £500 and that’s with £1250 excess, so I’m thinking maybe get something small and cheap for a year to continue learning on and hopefully get some NCD.

You pass through a couple of yellow cones which has a speed trap. The examiner puts his hand up once you’re through so he knows your speed is recorded. The issue I had when practising this was looking at the speedo so barely getting past 30mph. By the time of my Mod 1 test I pretty much knew what 30 and 40 felt like so just wellied it through. The engine note helps too. Leave it in second as you’ll probably have changed into third in real life before getting to 30 so if it sounds a bit more revvy than usual chances are your speed is ok. I had been changing gear far too early on the road rides, treating it like a car. It was only when joining a dual carriageway and getting up to 70 I realised how quick these bikes are. 50-70 knocks spots off a 911!

I have just done mine. I spent four days of the five day DAS course, including morning of my Mod 1 test on day 4, making an utter Horlicks of my figure 8s and U turns. I kept looking down at the cones rather than up, keeping the gap between them in my peripheral vision. U turn practice I kept hitting the opposite line as I was looking at it. Test was in Mitcham at lunchtime so a slow crawl through 20mph and walking pace South London traffic then it all came together. Figure 8s I kept my head up, ignored the cones and made it, U turn I twisted my head round like an owl as I started the turn and looked way up in the distance, ending up with a foot to spare from the line. In both instances I kept clutch and throttle steady to provide drive and used the back brake to control the speed. For the emergency stop and hazard avoidance I left the visor open to judge speed better - there’s a good run up to get up to speed so I managed to inadvertently hit 65kph through the trap on both. They seem pointless as exercises but we later had some tight mini roundabouts where the slow, tight control of the figure 8 helped, and later in a petrol station, coming in tight then round to the pumps. Then in real life you’ll have tight corners, hairpin bends going up or downhill, manoeuvring around car decks on ferries, etc. Several mates of mine who ride tell me they still practice slow speed stuff, as they hate being seen paddling anywhere.

Pleased to say I passed Mod 2 today. Details on the Mod 2 thread for those interested.

Passed Mod 2 today at Burgess Hill. I had booked a 5 day course with an independent school as I had next to no prior experience since CBT a year ago. The last four days were split between road riding and prep for Mod 1, which I did last Friday. Not much to say about that except I was making an utter pig’s ear of the U turns and figure 8 until I relaxed, looked where I wanted to go and kept steady throttle, feathered the clutch and dragged the rear brake (exactly what my instructor kept telling me). And when it mattered it all came together. My road riding was gradually getting better, smoother gear changes, less jerky coming out of junctions and better slow speed stuff in traffic, even filtering at walking pace in places. Today’s test was at lunchtime so the morning spent getting to the test centre almost as an independent ride, the instructor telling us what places to head for as we made our way down. Once there, paperwork completed, read a licence plate, a couple of show me, tell me’s, and off we went. The ride took about 40-45 minutes. It’s quite hilly round there so I must have done the hill start naturally, usual stop then move away, and angled starts were ok. Plenty of roundabouts, standards and minis, which were all ok, indicators on and off when necessary, then on to a NSL dual carriageway. I picked up one minor here for slowing down before leaving rather than using the slip road. Then it was independent ride following signs back to Burgess Hill and the test centre where the examiner gave me the result. Very happy it’s all done and dusted.

I did CBT about a year ago and currently in the middle of DAS. Other than CBT my only other experience was renting a Yamaha YSR 125 for a week on L plates, then a week’s holiday riding on a Honda XR 150 - a dual sport bike sadly not available here. My DAS training is currently on a MT-07, which is 700cc or so and 70-odd bhp, and although heavier than the 125 to wheel about, it is much more planted on the road and much easier to ride. I didn’t really enjoy the 125 and other than having one for a year to get some no-claims discount and very cheap commuting I didn’t see the point. Incidentally when I ran some sample insurance quotes I was getting cheaper for a bigger bike with brand new full licence than 125 on provisional with just CBT. I have been mountain biking for years so when fully licensed probably looking at something that can cope with off-road, and a fair bit smaller than the MT-07 I’m learning on. Best of luck with whichever route you take, I’ve a full quarter century on you and wish I’d done it sooner!

Passed Mod 1 today after four days of lessons and against all odds. Just two of us, me and another lad, training on MT-07s with an independent school in Surrey. The weather was changeable all week, nice and sunny one day, then rain, mix of both and today mostly rain then wind. Every day we set off on a ride for about an hour or so to a large car park where we practised slaloms, figure 8s and the various other Mod 1 tests. My slaloms and fig 8s were dreadful all week, going too wide, over-revving, even dropping the bike at one point. My problem was not keeping my head up and looking at the cones rather than the gaps - bikes go where you look. During the practice hazard avoidance swerve manoeuvre I clipped a cone, and failed to get up to speed on the emergency stop, but each day I got slightly better. Then after lunch more road riding and Mod 1 practice. Road riding was fine, as I drive anyway, and cycle to work in London so ok on observations, and with 75bhp on tap the bikes are easy to get going, trickle in traffic slipping the clutch and dragging the brake. We did a dual carriageway spell which was fun, and then after a day off yesterday we had our tests booked for lunchtime today. The morning was spent doing more practice, and everything fell apart for me but the instructor was super patient and kept me practising until I’d nailed a couple of slaloms/figure 8s in a row that would be passes if done for real. Then it was off to the test centre. Quick intro to what was required and I did the manual manoeuvre ok and the ride to a controlled stop. Then everything just clicked, slalomed fine, figure 8s without a problem, emergency stop I clocked over 60kph through the speed trap and was similarly lively on the swerve manoeuvre, although got a minor for going a bit too far beyond the stopping point. And that was it. Very pleased to have got it out the way and all the extra fig 8 practice has made tight cornering and mini roundabouts a lot easier. Fingers crossed for Mod 2.

I am in similar situation to you and in fact taking my DAS lessons and Mod1 this week, Mod 2 hopefully next week (if I pass Mod 1). I have done a taster session on a big bike, a Honda CB500 and slow stuff is much easier. They feel better balanced and planted and are powerful enough to crawl along at very slow speed with little throttle. Overall they are easier to ride. When riding an L plated 125 I found my first to second gear shift was a bit jerky - letting the clutch out too quickly apparently, as you do in a car - and the worst error was forgetting to cancel the indicators but that came with practice when I rented a bike for a week. I booked the maximum five day course as I figured any extra time spent under instruction was worth it. Pass or fail, I’ll post on here in more detail in a couple of weeks.

I have noticed the same. 60 years old and planning to do DAS this year and looking at RE Himalayan or Honda CB500X. Clean driving licence since 81 but no biking experience other than CBT, and a week’s rental on L plates, live just inside M25, employed, married, homeowner etc. Quotes for above bikes, garaged, SDP and commuting coming in at £500 with over double that for excess. Even when I tweak the details on comparison sites, remove commuting, put full bike licence for a year, BikeSafe course and IAM bike pass there’s little difference. For a 125 on a CBT only the quotes were double that.

There were quite a few bikers on the ferry to Bilbao when I last went a couple of years ago. Our place is in Aragon about 35 miles SE of Pamplona. Fantastic roads around there as well as light off road to explore. There’s a website, navarider.com that has routes as well as organising guided rides. Its name comes from Navarra which is the province next to Aragon.

Traffic was generally very light and overall much slower than we are used to. The locals all ride smaller bikes and even car drivers would have grown up riding them so tend to be more aware of motorbikes than in the UK. In towns the traffic looks like total chaos but seems to work and everyone seems to expect everyone else to look out for them. Our little XR150 bikes had a fair amount of road presence among all the Honda Blades and Visions that made up the bulk of the other vehicles, and in heavier traffic the law of gross tonnage seems to apply. Compared to the locals I was also very over-dressed with proper helmet from UK, armoured summer jacket, boots, gloves and knee/leg pads. My only near miss was passing some water buffalo just as one decided to make a bolt for it.

We didn’t have time to get full licences here before we went so only had our recent CBTs. For Vietnam you need a 1968 IDP and ours were both stamped in the motorbike box (as well as just about everything else except buses and HGVs on mine). This satisfied the police when they flagged us down. Apparently they tend to assume that a foreigner on a “big” geared bike is likely to have a full licence back home - most tourists ride the smaller semi-autos or point and squirt automatics. They’re only interested in the IDP, not our UK licences.

Just spent six days riding this area of northern Vietnam with my son and a local guide. We were all on Honda XR150’s. Excellent bikes, suitable for on and off road, and about as powerful as our 125s but not available here as no real market for them in that engine size. Absolutely stunning scenery riding on mostly twisty mountain roads, three days dry and sunny and three days pouring rain thanks to Typhoon Talim.

I have the Revit Eclipse mesh jacket, t-shirt underneath when it’s hot, and I use my hi viz waterproof cycling jacket over it in cold weather. It has elbow and shoulder armour along with a pocket for a back protector, and I can vouch for the armour in a couple of very slow speed embarrassing tumbles off road.