Paul456

My question requires a bit of a story I'm afraid, but I'll try and keep it short as I'd really appreciate any advice. As you probably know the laws with the tests and licence structure changed January 2013, at the time I was 22 so caught between the ages. I was rushing to pass all my tests before the deadline date but persistent test cancellations (I think I reached 4 overall) and 1 failure meant I missed it much to my disgust. However, I did do the Mod 1 on a 98bhp 600cc Honda Hornet, which is firmly in the "big bike" category under the new laws and I'm pretty sure it says something in reference to it on my Mod 1 certificate. Anyway, my question is; do I need to re-take my Mod 1 even though I've already done and passed it on a bike that would qualify me for the complete licence? It seems insane to me that I'd have to re-take the same test on the same bike I've already passed it on, but my teacher seemed unsure. Obviously I'd rather like to avoid having to do an extra test and frankly I think I'll blitz the Mod 2 as I had a bad run last time but still passed and this time I've got a lot more riding experience under my belt. I've asked my instructor and he seems pretty unsure. I will ring a couple of test centers and try to contact the DVLA too, but was wondering if anyone here knows of anyone in a similar situation or simply knows the answer to this. Obviously with the weather getting nicer I'd like to get this sorted so I can go and treat myself to a new bike, so answers will be appreciated. Thanks. [edit] Apparently test center numbers are not readily available online, so guess I'll have to take a trip to one at some point. Anyone know the best way of getting in touch with the DVLA?

"> 1 min 10 I'm impressed, though at first i did wonder which helmet we were talking about after the comment about balls

I know I'm quite late replying to my own help thread, but i want to thank everyone for their responses, I've tried most of the things in this thread and think i've gotten better, even my dad said so. I've found that i need to relax (which simply going out on longer, tougher rides seems to have taught me to do), lean forward a little more, remember to keep my body loose and remember to look around the corner instead of at the road. It seemed to come together after i went for a ride with my dad who deliberately picked a mixture of relatively easy roads with the odd harsh bend in them (like i say, where i live there is an abundance of country roads to pick from, which is really nice). At first i was my typical nervous self, but after the first 30 mins i felt myself getting more confident and rarely slowing down more than necessary, though still not as fast as my dad. By the end, about 1.5 hours later i was on a road i know well and did 60-70mph (sorry, i mean 60-66mph ) all the way down it, which is roughly what i do in my car. I felt on top of the world quite frankly and i got that tingly feeling that first made me decide to buy a bike. So i don't think i'm fully cured by any stretch, but with some of your guys tips i'm pretty sure that with experience i'll gain confidence which will improve this.

Aww, a real shame this happened but i guess in a way its best for this to happen the way it did, at least she didn't physically hurt herself, and like you said "better off road than on," and imagine if it happened while in Europe somewhere. Every time i hear about or see someone come off I wonder if i'd get back on in that situation since I already admit i'm not the most confident rider, it certainly wouldn't do me any good. Every single one of my friends who's owned a bike has fell off and injured themselves at some point and only 1 of them has ever bought another bike.

I have tried to use countersteering and think i use it when going into corners, sometimes i notice it, although normally at smaller speeds. I didn't mention because i've seen its a controversial issue around here and i don't claim to know what i'm talking about I will keep all of that in mind (about body positioning etc.) and its good to hear someone saying that it doesn't matter if i'm a little slow. I too only really commute right now and have the odd potter around the countryside (i'm lucky enough to live in the middle of no where with loads of fields and nice sights to see) and don't really care about speed, but then i don't want to be slowing people down and annoying other drivers either, i still feel like i should be capable of a respectable speed. Thanks for that Again good to hear it doesn't matter again, maybe since my dad rides like a lunatic at times he expects me to do so too. Thanks.

I thought as much, i'm sure many people have thinner tires than me and are capable of more. I did think that, and i've only ridden a few times since last summer so kind of out of practice. Maybe if i'm still this unstable by my birthday i'll be concerned. I guess i've got to stick at it for now. I think what concerned me was that i followed my dad to work the other day, him in his car and he pointed out that i was going slowly around corners like i really shouldn't be by now. I've heard that too and know in my head its right, but then that makes me think my skill must suck which doesn't make me feel a whole lot better.

I'm a fairly new rider, got my A2 license (bloody European laws!) at the end of last summer and ridden a few hundred miles in total since then, not a lot i know. But now i'm doing more again and I want to make myself into a more confident rider before i'm 24 this summer so I feel confident to go out and buy a bigger bike. My main concern right now is my cornering. I actually do wonder if this is a little to do with my bike (learned on a Hornet with decent tire size and felt pretty confident, then bought an ER5 with thinner tires and i have no confidence), but I don't want to give any excuses really and would rather admit i'm not very good and want help since i'm sure many people have similar bikes and are just fine. Anyway, my problem seems to be medium-high speed cornering in bendy roads. I follow cars and try to use them as my guidance for my speed (i do drive, but since i drive fast on bendy roads not trying to match my driving speeds yet) and when they're driven by a little old lady (sorry for stereotyping ) i can keep up just fine without thinking, but if its something faster then on some bends i'm fine but on some i end up letting go of the throttle to slow myself down else i feel myself drifting out and cannot stop myself for some reason. I think a lot of it is down to confidence, but when i feel myself going wide i know i need to correct it and i know how (lean a little more, turn handlebars a little more) but can't force my body to do it for some reason and often make it worse by looking down instead of up so messing my balance up even more. I feel stupid for knowing what i'm doing wrong, but not being able to stop myself doing it. The corners i see myself doing this on tend to be at like 50-60mph ones on country roads. Any tips or help would be greatly appreciated

It can be sort of scary and make you feel a bit vulnerable. I'm a new rider too, passed my test about a month ago, but never been that bothered about this (guess its cause i've used the road for 5 years). You're doing everything right; mirror, signal, maneuver is the saying, but having an extra life saver check in there can't be a bad thing. I do it exactly the same; check, indicate, life saver, move over swiftly. I think its perhaps a confidence thing, maybe after you've ridden for a little while you'll calm down. Remember to make those checks count, when you look over your shoulder make sure you really look what's in that other lane behind you. If there's something too close, or approaching at speed then don't go. The check is to make sure the lane switch is safe, if you've seen nothing is wrong then you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

Nice one buddy, its a good feeling getting out there and being able to do your own thing. Good to see that you're interested in your safety rather than rushing through it.

To be fair my instructor charges £26 / hour to use his 600 Hornet, which probably isn't much more expensive (if not cheaper) than getting a dyno test done and involves a lot less faffing about and risk.

No probs. Ah yeah, got mine either Tuesday or Wednesday this week, so yours will probably come any day now if you sent it off the same day you did your test.

Mine (A2, but i imagine its the same whatever license you have) says the date i took my mod 2 test.

Thanks, good to know. I guess its as much for my safety as it is saving money on insurance though.

Do you not have anyone who could just ride the bike there for you who isn't on the A2 license? Its a bit dodgy, although theoretically you could "prove" that your bike has the suitable power either way, you're still riding it there illegally because its actual power is too much. If you got pulled in by the police and they were suspicious they'd take you to a dyno, then you'd be in the shit. I mean that's pretty unlikely, but that's the risk you run. I'm also unsure how a test center would take it if you turned up on a bike that's too powerful for your license. I guess there's not much they could do really though, but i find its always nice to have examiners on your side rather than thinking you're the type of guy who happily breaks the law. About this time next year i'll be in the exact same situation as you. I think for a one off cost though i'll just suck it up and borrow my instructor's bike.

Thought that might be the case. Oh well, only 12 months to wait. Thanks mate.

I had to do the A2 license because of my age (apparently being 24 makes me more capable of riding a bigger bike than being 23?) although managed to do the mod 1 part of the test before the law change on a big bike, so i think i won't have to re-take that test no matter what. Anyway, question is, when i'm 24 (12 months time, i'll have only had my license for 13 months) will i automatically qualify for the full A license? If not, then after 2 years do i automatically qualify or will i need to take the test on a larger bike? I asked my instructor this and he wasn't too sure and i can't seem to find much on it online, the gov website doesn't seem to say. Some people say i will have to, others say its automatic.

I started doing my training and tests in the winter and the biggest added difficulty by a mile is the damn cancellations. I had 2 mod 1s cancelled and 2 mod 2s, which eventually made me miss the Jan 19th law change date. Once i arrived at a mod 1 test and the pad was completely flooded, the second time it was icy. Then both mod 2's were cancelled because of the ice but on the second one there was no ice on the roads what-so-ever, so i think they just couldn't be bothered to go out on a cold day (i work like 2 miles from the test center on a little industrial estate and there wasn't a patch of ice to be seen, even on our unused car park). I wouldn't say any of it is any harder though. In mod 1 you're traveling a low speeds and stopping quite a lot, so its not that hard to keep warm. Although i've heard people complaining about slipping off doing the swerve in the wet, but i did it in the wet tons of times and never fell off. As for mod 2 its no different to riding on the road normally, in theory at least. Just do what you can when you can afford it and you'll get there eventually.

Congrats! Now time to go and try one out. On hazard perception you're shown a video as if you're going down a road on a bike, you're simply meant to click every time you see a new hazard and click again if the hazard gets worse and you're going to be forced to take action to avoid it. Hazards are classed as almost anything though, even things like people walking down the pavement or a car at a junction sometimes. But if you click too much, then it thinks you're cheating by just clicking at random.

The license restriction goes on power, not engine size. If the bike you do the tests on is under 46.6bhp you will qualify for an A2 category licence, meaning 46.6 bhp is the highest you can ride. If you go over that you get your full A license and you can ride anything. That's how i understood it anyway. You can still get light bikes over the 46.6 limit and personally i'd say its better to have the freedom to go over if you ever wanted to rather than being stuck with a limit when you don't really need it. But obviously that's up to you. Read through this for the official rules... https://www.gov.uk/motorcycle-practical-test/rules-for-mopeds-and-motorcycles-used-in-the-practical-riding-test

Well i did most of my training around christmas time and did the mod 1. Sadly due to numerous test cancellations, the law change and waiting for my instructor to get a 46.6bhp bike i didn't get chance to do the mod 2 till recently even though i hadn't touched a bike in 6 months, i only had 2, 1 hour lessons to refresh myself and i passed first time. I'd say to go to an instructor and ask for a go on a bigger machine to see what it feels like and ask him to go through the tests with you, i'm sure after some experience though you'll find it no problem. Mod 1 is all about your control. You do emergency stops, slow riding maneuvers (figure of 8, U turns, slalom, slow ride...) and the swerve. The swerve was the only one that caught me out and i clipped a cone on my first attempt in a test despite doing it probably 30 times properly in the playground prior. Practice the exercises with an instructor and you will know when you're ready. Mod 2 is like your car test, they take you on the road and follow you. They're looking for you being safe and law abiding more than anything. Also, if you haven't done a theory test you'll need to take one of them (not sure if you need one for your CBT or not). TBH that's mostly common sense, but there's the odd tricky question thrown in there. There's free online practices and you can get DVDs pretty cheap to practice the awareness part.

I was wondering, what sort of difference this makes to insurance? Want to do it with my instructor next month when i've been paid, especially since there is a similar scheme where i live where the council pays some of the bill for you and i feel i could use a little extra tuition.

Congratulations! I always found the mod 1 the hard part, now you've just got to relax and do the fun bits. Just remember its no different to a lesson and s/he's making sure that you're a safe rider more than anything.

Don't be too disheartened, i didn't get the pass on the first day either and i was like you, i knew i wasn't ready to go out on the road (hell, after the second day of it when i'd passed i wasn't sure) but its just down to practice and its better to pay a bit extra than him just give you the cert and then you go and hurt yourself. If you aren't happy with his instruction and don't want to wait till he;s back then sure, go for someone else. But you will have to go through everything again as he has to assume you know nothing. With me when i went back for the second day i was only there for about 2 hours, we did a warm up in the playground and then out onto the road after an hour, a different instructor wouldn't have done that.

As a new rider, thanks for this, downloaded it and will definitely have a good read of it.

Thanks for the advice guys. Already did that a little bit, but apparently not enough, still smells haha. Nice find. Not really sure how much they're worth tbh, but i don't really have any money right now so could still be a lot cheaper than buying some new ones. Ah, good idea, i might try that, don't see what harm it could do as long as i'm careful not to damage the leather with the heat. Thanks.