SometimesSansEngine

I didn't even realise that [mention]elizabethf[/mention] was on there, and now I'm panicking about whether it's me or her who gets put to the sword now this has been divulged

Its on Facebook Where abouts? Just out of interest for a friend Their joining criteria is so strict I had to take a pic of her with her bike in order to be approved. So you might want to get your wig out.

Occasionally whilst sat on the sofa [mention]Magpie84[/mention] laughs, and when I ask what about she says "oh just something on Motorbike Women" and I'm allowed to know no more. A real top secret organisation and I believe there's penalty of death (or at least removal from the group) if you divulge any conversations or pictures therein to any bloke

Well, just as a technical point, you're right that they're not allowed to enter private property without permission. But they can without a warrant if for certain reasons (such as in pursuit of someone they believe has committed or about to commit a serious crime, sorting out a disturbance etc). Those boundaries exist, and if entering a property they need to be able to justify it. I don't think boundaries are necessarily a bad thing, and would prefer police are well trained to do the job they do. So in the example of a pursuit or tactical contact, I want the officer to be as skilled as possible and I think it's our duty to give them that skill and training. That will also allow them to do a better job for us. Let's not forget that many officers have barely more training to drive a car than we've had (and why you may occasionally see a youtube video with a copper in a police car making up bits of the highway code like "it's illegal to filter on a bike"). Do we instantly want them involved in all high speed pursuits? Personally I'd say no, I want them to be trained in advanced driving to do so. Not because I want to be a pain, but because I want them to quickly and safely stop criminals.

The guy in the video is an ass, should have just asked whether he was being detained and walked off when he was told no. Yes he clearly wanted some footage. Ah, three and a half minutes in and he finally asks that question, then carries on

Well done [mention]Pbassred[/mention], I found going around the cones on the curve really odd, like you've got no exit point to look at when you do a road to follow. On my training day I had to go around a roundabout on a quiet industrial estate.

Crikey, what a word for so late on a Saturday. ps why isn't dryness built into the highway code?

In an ideal world, you instinctively do the right thing and by the time you realise something is up it's already dealt with... If that makes sense

One handed typing finally comes into its own though

A three way tie, all within about five seconds of each other and about 200 metres from home. It was going to be the car that flew across the road on a blind bend right across the path But then there was the cat in the junction that suddenly stopped crossing and stared at me But then there was the stone on entry to the junction that made my back wheel step out as I was trying to work out what the cat was going to do Then the cat ran in front of my front wheel but luckily as I'd had to slow for the car at the start got clear So all in all, probably the cat.

Oh no, get well soon [mention]megawatt[/mention]. Hopefully at the very least you've got a good story to tell (you should have seen the road etc, it's taken several contractors a bulk delivery of aggregate and all day to fix the damage just my wrist caused etc)

As far as I'm aware they're the same thing, so yes. (someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong)

In my experience weather in February can be worse than December and parts of January, which can be milder. May vary based on your location of course, this is the south west. I'd book it all in now. I got very pleasant and useful 'words of advice' on going up through the gears too quickly on my mod 2, his observation was I could have stayed in each gear longer and use the acceleration of the bike to move away from hazards. It was nowhere near a fail because as [mention]Bender[/mention] intimates clearly I knew how to use them, it was just his feedback to help me be a better rider. He also told me not to pull the clutch in all the way on gear changes, which was also a great learning point.

Ah you'll be fine. You've already learned not to let the clutch out too quickly I'm in my first winter and the only thing I'd really dread and avoid is ice. But having been an all weather cycle commuter for several years now I find those days are actually less common than you'd think (there may be exceptions based on where in the UK are and if you have any untreated roads, for me usually the first 200 metres down the main road are the only dodgy bit). For those odd days, you may find an alternative such as a bus. And the good thing of that is after just one day on the bus you'll be itching to be on two wheels again, trust me. Rain is a mindset as far as I'm concerned, the only time it gets me down is on day 3 of constant rain, after the last two days of having to dry kit. If you have the right gear though the odd rain shower isn't much to worry about. And that's the other thing, like ice it doesn't actually rain that often. That may seem hard to believe but it's very rare that I get soaked commuting to work, and then when I do I have the gear that means my skin is actually drier than my colleagues who have to walk the last stretch to work after parking their car.

I don't know you [mention]elizabethf[/mention] so this is just my interpretation from reading your posts. But I think you've got a fantastic mindset overall and from what I've read I am sure you're a great rider. I wouldn't normally say that based on posts on a forum but I just have a feeling that you are generally safe, competent and capable. You have absolutely every right to feel frustrated and I'm sure that in a way even me saying this will rankle you. I will understand why if it does (you keep getting told you're fine by everyone around you, me saying this changes nothing and you still don't have your pass etc) but I needed to say it. I hope relatively soon when you've got your pass under your belt you'll look back at this post and understand. I don't know what else to say but say give yourself the space to feel frustrated, curse the other driver and then crack on as you already do. I get what you mean that you're not necessarily learning, we all have these moments on the road and no-one is hurt, it just happens. The only other solution I have isn't workable, and that's what I thought before I did my tests: I wish they actually followed you on the road for a couple of hours, giving them more of a time to assess your overall riding competency and let a bit of 'after you' at a junction slide, vs the 30-40 minutes they do get. But I imagine that that would send test costs rocketing.

Add on fashion indicators that end up getting lost in the light cluster. I'm spotting more of these, where they've clearly wanted the indicator to look good but it blinks away quietly within the headlights/rear lights Design over functionality.

One thing that helped my confidence with this was actually recording myself sat on the bike with it on the side stand and moving just my right buttock off the bike. It's amazing how just doing this (not 'driving weight' etc through the peg, just the act of moving your cheek off the side of the seat) makes the bike stand up. For me at least it showed me how even though I'm practically a third of the weight of the bike my body position really would help counterweight it Very true. The junction to our road is on a tight blind bend, where you can only see a car for about a second before it's on top of you. I never felt safe pulling straight into it on the bike (you don't have to worry about balance in a car!) so instead usually go up the road to a small roundabout with the aim of doing what is effectively a u-turn to double back on myself. First few times I did this after passing I really struggled until I realised it's downhill on entry, uphill on exit. So I needed to control speed on the way in, then let off the rear brake and ease out the clutch on the way out. The opposite of this but same principle of having to adjust what you're doing part way through. I was attempting the "mod 1" style of u-turn where you pretty much set your speed and hand/feet positions and leave it as you bring the bike around. Edit: I now sometimes taken even shorter a route by doing a tight 90 degree right turn into one of the old roads that lead to the miners cottages ...which then has another tight turn (yes that is a house extension on the right!) Both of which require getting the tyre leaned to make it comfortably. Funnily enough I find this tight manoeuvre easier than mucking around going around cones on my mod 1

I passed my car driving test third time [mention]elizabethf[/mention] and it's been scientifically proven that if you pass a DVSA test on the third try you are the best road user around

My issue with cones was and still is that they're just not realistic enough for me. Before I went out with my IAM advanced observer for the first time we spoke on the phone and I said slow riding was something I wanted to continue to work on. After our first ride he fed back that he was amazed I thought that as my slow riding + clutch control around junctions, in traffic and whilst filtering was very good. But as I said to him, that's real life and when there's a manoeuvre like that my brain will quite happy work it all out. Doing a figure of 8 around cones is an important test of skill (which does genuinely equate to the real world) but I think my brain needs two Smart cars or something to go around to make it easier for me Plus if I'm filtering and I dab a foot for a bit of confidence the world doesn't explode and I'm told I'm a massive joke of a failure

"> I think Diane is running against most public opinion as I understand it. I personally think there should be very strict guidelines for when this tactic is authorised, but that's the same as police pursuits in general as it stands. Make sure the guidelines are in place, train up the officers in the tactic and also when to call it off, and give them protection that as long as the guidance was followed and the contact was correctly authorised they will be covered.

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Well done [mention]Joebaxi[/mention], you're right that a pass is a pass (not sure if you've seen how I scraped a pass). Never look at a cone again but aim to keep those slow manoeuvring skills sharp

YMMV, but speaking from the experience of that I myself would still be upset if this happened to me. [mention]emmajaneg[/mention] has every right to be upset.

Was your instructor invited to be in the room with you when you got the result? Because this definitely sounds like a situation where you could do with a third party to ask a few questions around what happened and what caused the fail. I can't help but feel it's been poorly explained to you as a reason to fail, but then I wasn't there (eg did he mean you entered the junction and then were slow to get away, causing issues to traffic behind you)