2fast2soon

I've finally took a picture of mine (just cleaned and wanted photographic evidence that I have washed the bike at least once)

Looks like this is going ahead. 1:30pm start in Barrow's Asda car park, near the fuel station. 2pm head off from High Cross Inn car park in Broughton-in-Furness. and then off round Coniston. Anyone else fancy this, it should be a fairly easy pace as I want to gradually get up to speed after my winter hibernation.

Just had a word with oldgreg01, he'll be in work on the morning shift, but could meet us at point B on your map for about 2:30ish. Would an afternoon run be okay with anyone else?

Sounds good to me, I'm in.

Congratulations Aussie, especially considering today's crumby weather.

I was looking at them first, but was told its a PITA to apply the clear ones without bubbles and the black ones don't do it for me. I'm guessing all those sort of products will work within a similar tolerance though. Do the stomp grips stop you from riding forward under heavy braking?

Anyone use the Gripster pads, specifically the snakeskin variety? If so are they as good as I've heard - i.e. once you've ridden with them for a while, you won't want to be without them.

Hopefully it'll be Alan as him and Steve were the best as far as I'm concerned. The other's weren't bad, but those two are just a little bit better. Alan wouldn't do any swerve or emergency stop training on that car park behind DFS!?! Still, if you are off to practice on the course, that won't matter. Have fun on the 500s.

Won't get my bike back from the garage until the 31st at the earliest, another ride out I've missed

I'm with techno on this, the K5 litre (or the K6 as it wasn't changed at all according to the bike mag I was reading yesterday)

Sorry to hear about your off, at least you are okay and the bike is fixable.

Congrats on the pass. I found the mod 2 much easier than the mod 1 so you should breeze through it. Good luck with it.

Congratulations mate What in hell's name is the plastic maggot - or should I not ask have fun and don't get caught speeding!

Congratulations, It took me 3 attempts to do that, I then sailed through the mod 2 without a single problem. Good luck with your mod 2.

Hi, Could it be that your friend's insurance is much lower than yours as she has a full license while you still don't. My premium halved the minute I got my license, I only wanted to insure the bike against theft and damage but without my license the premiums were ridiculously high. Any locks with Sold Secure and Thatcham on them should be good, the best bet is to do an online insurance quote and see which locks appear in their list (they usually only list the ones they recognise) then go see which one is cheapest near you. I use Abus but they aren't cheap, they do however have a handy rating to show which of their range are the most secure. Good luck with your mod 2.

Hi Toby, I did my DAS with them back in October. Never ridden a bike before, they got me through my CBT, Theory, Mod 1 (after 3 attempts ) and the Mod 2. They have some very experienced and patient tutors, although the owner isn't one of them. He doesn't like it when people over estimate their ability, luckily I was never on the receiving end of his impatience, but a couple of lads who were there when I was got both barrels of his temper, one of which quit after the first day Alan and Steve having differing views but if you take their information on board and don't get affected by nerves too much, you'll be sure to pass. They're really good. I would strongly advise against booking their inclusive accommodation though as its a dingy little place with a funny smell. I hated it, only stayed one night then got in touch with a mate who lives in Preston and stopped with him and his missus for the rest of the time. The bikes were alright, nothing special but they worked. 500cc Kawasakis and Suzukis. I got one hell of a shock when I passed and sat on my Street Triple R though, there's a huge difference between 40bhp and 100+bhp! Wherever you decide to go, good luck.

Congrats on the mod 1. You've heard right, the mod 2 isn't as demanding as the mod 1, just remember to turn your indicators off and do the observations and you'll sail through. Good luck with it.

If it turns out the Shoei XR1000 is the best fit for you, get some earplugs as well, as mine's quite noisy! I think the whisper kit is supposed to help but I just bought a load of good quality ear pugs instead, same price but guaranteed to cut the noise down as opposed to taking the risk of forking out for the whisper kit if it turns out that it doesn't work.

I'd quite like to have a go at that, you might have to wait at each stop for me to catch you up though as I've not even got a whole year of riding in under my belt yet. I'll contact you nearer the time Frankie to possibly arrange a place to meet in Barrow, if that's okay with you..?

Congratulations. I'm also waiting to get a decent weekend where I can take my bike out - its not been out for almost 2 months now

You were doing 60 past a horse?!? No wonder it jumped out, it was probably bricking it wondering what the screaming noise coming up from behind was. Next time slowing down might be better than relying upon your swerve. Keep at it Danny, you'll get there in the end, I hit one of the cones on the figure 8 on my 2nd attempt, passed 3rd time round though. Its worth it in the end! On my first fail the instructors tried to cheer me up with some stories of the more spectacular failures, one guy wheeled the bike backwards over one of the cones, with both wheels, and then kicked it out of the way. Another managed to hit a cone when he failed to perform the emergency stop and sent the little cone flying into the perimeter fence, it was wedged in there. He passed on his 10th attempt. Stories like that makes you wish they recorded the tests as I'd have loved to see the guy kick the cone out of the way.

Congratulations Memame, Take it easy out there as the roads are sh** now, that doesn't mean you can't have fun though!

If your confident you can do the slow speed stuff with your previous experience then go for it. The mod 1 was the killer for me though, it took 3 attempts as nerves got the better of me and my slow speed control of the heavy bikes was poor. Only you can say if your ready, have you seen the example mod 1 videos from the DSA, do you think you can do that with very little practice? Good luck with the tests, hope to see you post on here with a "I've passed my mod 2" soon.

If noobs on dangerously fast bikes are allowed then I might have a go at this, as long as the weather isn't trying to make more lakes for holiday makers to visit. Oh and morning doesn't mean anything earlier than 8am.

Not sure about some of the other stuff but the liner gloves do help but can't do the impossible, I ride for about an hour on A roads and my hands are still cold at the end with silk liners (plush) and alpinestars goretex gloves. I'm gonna get some heated grips. I'm still undecided on luggage, I have a rucksack but think I'd prefer a tank bag to prevent load on my back and shoulders, but then again I don't travel with my laptop normally. I think I probably would put the laptop in the rucksack as I have no idea how powerful those tank bag magnets are.