spafe2302

I'm not sure if you mean you hadn't practiced it and this was your 1st time, in which case that was a bit silly. If you mean you done it once before no problems, still should practice it, same goes with all of the simpler things. lad who was jsut before me on his mod one failed on moving it from one parking space to another, just cos he got caught out on it. Either way, unlucky, guessing your retaking soon? get that practice in! And nice, now you have good motivation as you can jsut go look at it and think 'yeh I want to ride that' (at least thats what I did, but at bikes in the dealership lol)

I'm in the area, done my theory in uxbrdige but found passmasters near polish war memorial was best for mod1/mod2. Their a bit more expensive but you will pass with them, if you dont they will give you more lessons until you do (think you pay for another test but not extra training). Can't recomend them enough, done my cbt with em as well before hand. Best of luck with your test mate

Also a Daytona/HGB in ruslip area (69-71 Park Way, Ruislip HA4 8NS) They've never done wrong by me yet, have bought couple of helmets from em along with a couple of bikes. Fozzie got his stuff from there as well iirc. Failing that theres metropolis in central somewhere, but cant remember where now

Both! Gloves can be as good as you like, they retain heat, that is all, heated grips are a source of heat (or those heated inner gloves you can get). Just a thought, I'm still currently riding around in summer gloves so have no prior expereince with either, but both fozzie and gin have heated grips and love em to bits

F**K it, BIke is falling apart and I cant fix it until insurance company send someone to look at it!!

Not a direct comparison I know but I had rst gloves and a frank thomas jacket when I got hit, Both held up well and saved my arm, Both were battered very hard and both wern't really usable afterwards. they were pretty much one use quality. I dont know how much this is compensated by other makes but i've heard people talking about how they are still wearing things like spidi and alpine after a off or 2. Just got my new gear yesterday and after having had those bits settled on spidi jacket and weise gloves this time as I want the best I can afford. After fit i'd say go for what feels most protective regardless of cost (and regardless of brand, I'm still sticking with cheaper lids due to them feeling more protective) Hope that helps

Bah!, never liked that bit anyway.

Fozzies almost right, it was more, whats the point of having crash fairings if i'm not going to use em. and what do I care if it looks a bit scratched, I enjoy riding it, dont care what it looks like. Having said that although its been down the road, it's never had anything a hammer cant fix (bent pegs etc, or just cosmetic damage) So after I total the bike so it then requires major repairs, then I might start being more careful with it. Til then the bikes invincible aint it (please note I do try to ride carefully etc, as I know i'm not invincible(yet to see counter evidence though) but it means I will not care if it gets dropped/scratched/kicked etc as long as the person is truly sorry and it wasnt intentional)

Techno, I enjoy riding in snow (although it has to be fresh) as providing I take it easy its jsut a nice change to normal riding. Once it's been there a couple of days and theres ice below it, no i dont enjoy it, but will still ride in it. As for cold, given me myself is sufficently padded to stay warm, and the silly tempretures my bike runs at assuming i'm not going above 50ish (why you'd do that through snow is beyond me anyway) then i'l stay warm enough. This last winter I took the bike for a service during the week when we ahd almost a ft of snow (think about 8-9 inches) and granted I had my feet down for approx half of the 2 miles odd to the garage, I loved every minute of it. the 2 days that my bike was being serviced was the only time I stopped riding, was out in it pretty much everyday.

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s126/tsurugi-ijin/Picture1302.jpg New Tag: http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s126/tsurugi-ijin/DSCN3826.jpg

The slalom and the figure of 8 should be easy. One trick that is good to know is there is no limit to how wide you take it, so dont try and keep it really tight, and wobble your way round it, take it wide, steady and at a pace where you feel comfortable. feathering back break works wonders, I went round that part of it with much higher revs than was relly needed, feathering the back break and riding on teh clutch basically. I just let my bike take one for the team so it made it easier for me to control. Once you've got used to them, then practice the u turn, as this follows the same principal in a tighter space.

CBT - 1 theory - 1 mod 1 - 1 mod 2 - 1 Yet to try car as i'm not old and boring with responsiblities yet

Found if you wash em slightly too hot then they shrink a bit, after 30 mins of wearing they have gone back to normal though. Mine havent given at all compared to normal jeans as the kevlar seems to hold them at the same size pretty well.

Sounds like your quite set on the M then, good luck with it, hope all this convo was for moot anyway and you never test it Let us know how it goes

If the meduim moves already then I would say it is maybe a little too big (bearing in mind any advice any of us give is based on how you describe so cant be that accurate). I wouldn't like to rely on the pumps on the helmet alone although i'm sure they are safety approved as I wouldn't feel THAT secure with it. Mine is secure without the cheeks inflated, they just make it more-so. If the meduim moves before the padding has given a little then I would say wrong size. It may jsut be that scorp helmets don't fit you. One last thing though, scorp helemts are angled forwards compared to caberg (my only point of reference) if you place your finger under your chin and theres no helmet inline with or below then the helmet should be tilted forwards more (so that the helmet is the 1st thing to imopact with the road rather than your chin). How this comapres to the other makes I dont know, but caught me out a few times after switching brands.

i'm pretty sure everyone has cheek bones..... and baby wipes work ace will deffo remember that one

Baby wipes you say? hmm, hadn't considered that it was harder to clean due to it being matt, I figured it was down to fiddly vents. this will be experimented with tonight when I go round a mates with a sprog of their own. ruthie. With the fitting of the helmet, Do what you'd normally do. I CAN wear my scorp without pumping the cheeks up and I think it would offer me proper protection, as it fits me, BUT the pumps mean reduced wind noice, an even more snug fit and proably greater protection. think of it as an extra rather than a replacement for good fitting. Also I understand you say you've lost a lot of wieght, but my cheeks are made of bone, I could lose every bit of fat on me and still be left with same cheek bone structure, so what did you lose to change your head shape so drastically Dan. yes you are old

Matt lids are different?!?!?! I liked the design, went with that one didn't relise there was a difference between the two. I tried on a M and it was a very tight fit (almost uncomfortable) which then gives a bit like all helmets so that its a snug fit. This is identical to all other helmets I have ever bought. THEN I inflate the pumps and it becomes a very snug perfect fitting helmet. Had it close to a year now, no major problems leap out. For you personally, If M was a snug fit, IF you can, hold out and compare it to a S just so you know whats best for you (fit it like you would any other helmet). if its loose before pumping it up i'd personally get the next size down. Since I bought it at same time as I bought my bike (and i'm a cheeky git) I paid 100 for mine, but would deffo pay 150 (you must be able to haggle them down a little?) for it. Hope this helps if you have any other questions or if I wasn't clear just ask

Well i'm going to assume you know how to corner and have been riding on roads with roundabouts etc. assuming you can do these sort of things comfortably at reasonable speeds then its fine. I think its mainly that it is a tightish corner, and then due to it being examined people panic and it then seems like a lot harder than it is. remember you have two trys at it, so treat the 1st one as a test run, then push it on the 2nd try. I also rode the turn backwards when going up to the start point, the examiner didnt seem to mind to you can get a feel for the steepness of the bend. If possible also start further from teh corner as you can get away with, alot of people (my instructor included) said you dont have time to change to 3rd so blitz it in 2nd, but due to a further run up I was in 2nd before entering corner, so could comfortably build up speed in the turn (leaning further to keep bike on course) then upshift mid-turn. made it with 3 miles to spare 1st time thanks to that. overall keep practicing your be fine. talk to your school and ask to get it done out of the way, since it sounds like mod 1 is in for review and the wheels turn very slowly with the powers that be.

Didn't they try this when they made CBT's last only 2 years? so you cant jsut do it once and be done with it. May be mistaken here as it was a bit before my time. If someone has been riding for couple of months then the corner shouldnt be a problem, its just having to get to 31 in such a tight space which is the problem. maybe jsut introduce a wider gap to get a better run up or more space between exiting the corner and the speed trap? just an idea

I've got the one in your 1st pic. Amazing helmet, very comfortable, perfect fit everytime. Found my old caberg ones after wearing for a while tended to give too much, so I had a snug fit in shop, then it molded (like its meant to) then after a while more it started having a tad free play (couple of mm at most but some nevertheless). Pluses The scorp one is perfect fit everytime no problems. Feels very secure and also blocks out a lot of general wind noise. If you like to listen to music (headphones) while riding its good as you can pop them in, then pump it up and still get tight fit. If you need pillion spares this is good as it can still be used by you no problem afterwards and more importantly, you know the helmet your pillion is wearing is going to offer good protection (assuming general size of helemt is right). Downs The air vents dont seem to do much, although have never really noticed much from vents in any helmets. cleaning bugs off can be annoying, as they get stuck in said vents quite often. Overall i'd recomend them to anyone, I dont think I'l be getting a helmet without this function for a long while. Fozzie and gin have both tried it on, loved the idea, feel and comfort of it and I think fozzie is planning on getting himself one when he can.

Not sure if I can offer adivice on legal issues, but well done to your lass for keeping the bike upright. Greyhounds arn't small so thats no mean feat. Feel sorry for you and for the dog, not for the owners though, they really messed up that time. Keep us updated on how this turns out

Just a quick point, for generaly advice (dunno if your ride in winter) but what ever you do, DONT use warm water after riding in winter, give the bike a rinse down (hose or whatnot) with coolish water (dont wanna heat crack the bike if its still very hot) to wash the salt off. If you use hot water then it will react with the salt making the problem worse! Something to watch out for.

I'm not sure how your school works it out then, mine said it was a 3 day course (that I was assessed and told I needed). It was one day learning for mod 1, next day go do mod 1, week later (when test was next avaible) spend morning riding around learning and touching up minor bad habits, then afternoon do mod 2. This was considered a 3 day course as it went on for 3 days, however that was using my own bike and not DAS so that might change things. If you are very certain then they may just do waht you ask but you will void any sort of obligation they may ahve to getting you to pass (mine was if I fail anyhting I get free additional training, then jsut have to pay test fees again). Ask them and they will proably acomodate your needs, but I would be suprised if they do jiff you a lot, since round my way they tend to rely on word of mouth to get more people to do their tests with them. Good luck with whatever you end up doing

Congrats on passing. sounds like you had a lot of tests, time to relax methinks. On a related note, why did you do a HGV license? and how easy/difficult is it?