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Bandicota

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Bike(s)
    Keeway RKS 125
  • Location
    Burnham-on-Sea

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  1. You're overthinking it. It's a normal schedule. I went for full-day lessons on weekends (2 or 3 I think), while I had a 125 I used to use for my commute during the week. But some people do the whole thing in a block, in an intensive 3- or 4- (consecutive) day course with both tests scheduled for the same day, at the end. I think that that sort of stressful arrangement was all the rage among Rossi-wannabes a few years ago (when people were spending more money on bikes). On the other hand, your schedule is relaxed and easygoing, like mine was. Remember, the test is just there for you to show you can ride the way you've been taught, which is, basically, follow all traffic rules, be safe and visible, don't be a hazard, do all your observations. And you have to do that on a variety of roads over a very short period of time. Nothing special is really required - you've just got to prove that you can do it right. It's not a high standard - mod 1 is a piece of cake, and mod 2 gives you a few minutes on each type of road environment. The one thing I would be concerned about is the day of the test. When I did my mod 1, I had had limited experience on the instructor's bike, and my posture wasn't fluid or relaxed (all noobs are in the same boat). This meant that I, too, had an hour or so of practice doing maneuvres before my mod 1, which made me feel exhausted, with tension in my arms and shoulders. It didn't affect my performance (I got no minors), but it was physically and mentally taxing, I remember. And I think it was because of all that intensive practice just before showtime. As for the moments before mod 2, they're probably better spent talking and clearing up any questions or issues with your instructor.
  2. Cowhide bike leathers do last, but they end up in the back of the wardrobe when the owner puts on a bit of weight. They don't really stretch out over time.
  3. I assume this is the thing where someone standing around amid a gang of youths looks at you and makes a sort of throttle revving gesture with their right wrist? I've had people doing this on 2 occasions recently. It bewildered me on both occasions.
  4. Thanks for the thoughts guys. Very useful to read an actual experience of taking the ERS! Since the ERS is still relatively new, etc. The ERS seems like another way to propound more of the same, then, and definitely isn't interesting to me. So it's more or less the same as an extended Bikesafe, taught alongside IAM, ROSPA, etc. Not useful at all - massively oversold to be blunt. The California Superbike School does seem more helpful and useful for real-life country bimbles on clear, dry days. I read all the TOTW2 stuff and tried to implement it. Kind of dangerous where the best racing line overlaps with Roadcraft positioning for left-handers (and lo and behold an oncoming vehicle isn't maintaining lane discipline because they're dodging potholes - ouch) - but I don't want to get started on all that. LOL. But realistically I think my best bet might be to just find an instructor who can really ride well and ask him to follow me and comment. No papers or certificates needed - just honest feedback.
  5. What are your thoughts on this new 'advanced' training scheme? The backdrop is, I feel that my riding has actually got worse (in some ways) over time rather than better. I can't put my finger on it but I know I've got into some bad habits and there's something wrong with my riding. I'm not a post-test noob - I've been riding for several years. As far as I can tell, the options for advanced rider training are the old-school Roadcraft-based IAM and ROSPA, which really doesn't tickle my fancy at all (for lots of reasons) and then something new, being promoted by the government, called the Enhanced Rider Scheme (ERS). There isn't that much info about the ERS online, so a few months ago I made some enquiries, got in touch with an ERS school and obtained lots of information about it. In the end I decided against it for many reasons (not least of which because the riding school I contacted treated my simple request for info as a preamble to a kind of "covert contract", as if I'd handled soft fruit at a market stall then decided to buy nothing). I felt like a sales prospect even after the guy said he was only doing it for love not money (just covering his basic costs for the day he said LOL) and since I owe nobody a living and didn't see any utility to numero uno what was on offer, I said no. Here's the most important breakdown of the ERS syllabus: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dvsa-enhanced-rider-scheme-syllabus/dvsa-enhanced-rider-scheme-syllabus#structured-planned-approach-to-riding As you can see, there are 7 'core modules', and there's nothing wrong with them as yet another Bikesafe or generic post-test clipboard checklist, but the scope for interpretation of competence is all on the head of the individual riding instructor providing the training. It's a strange concept, because the instructor could tick your riding off as 'advanced' and that would be the end of it, forever. Or they could provide more training in a manner that suits them (which would be more profitable), and then tick your riding off as 'advanced'. Personally, for a £120 day (which is what I was quoted) it's not what I'm after. I don't want a useless bit of paper to file alongside my 100m swimming certificate saying that I'm now 'enhanced'. I want to find out what might be suboptimal about my riding posture, setting up for corners, foot positioning, etc. Something a lot more individualised and completely bespoke, not institutional or standardised or a pro forma in any way. For that to work, I have to actually trust and believe in the instructor's ability, and then dictate, e.g. "follow me along this route, and observe and tell me what I'm doing wrong". What are your thoughts? Are there any better options out there?
  6. I think it all depends on you, your style of riding, how much you ride, where you ride, and your bike. My current bike is my only bike, and I only use it for leisure purposes. I never ride in city centres if I can avoid it. I've had it for 18 months and in that time I've put 10000 miles on it and have fallen off it just once. This happened when doing a U-turn in the middle of a quiet suburban road. It cost me a new pair of mirrors and nothing more. This, however, was not my first 'off' on a bike. I would say, the moment you are relaxed and confident in your riding you'll probably have an 'off'. If I were using it for commuting, it's probable that I may have had a few low-speed falls from it by now. The roads are heavily congested, there are inconsiderate drivers at rush hour, mistakes happen when filtering or when people jump out to cross the road, etc. If I used it in a typical very-low-miles way, i.e. just a couple of sunny weekends to a cafe somewhere, then it's highly unlikely I would have ever dropped it. For the sports bike/overtake-everyone type of leisure riding, the risks of actually coming off at speed (i.e. a serious crash whether involving another vehicle or not) are much higher. I tend to avoid this approach most of the time, and chill out when riding, but only because the amount of concentration required puts my nerves on edge and tires me out, so it gets uncomfortable to sustain it over longer periods.
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