Paul456

I bought a bike at the weekend and the guy kindly gave me all of his equipment along with the bike. I actually have most of the equipment i need anyway, however i do like his leather jacket quite a lot, and it fits me well. Only problem is that both it and the trousers that go with it smell a bit as you would expect, and aren't really that appealing. I know i can wash the outsides with leather cleaner, already done that and looks better. I'm more concerned about washing the insides, but i have no idea how, any tips? I guess i can't just put them in the washing machine without damaging the leathers and they don't have removable linings or anything like that. Could i just turn them inside out and rub some sort of mild soap into them by hand?

Thanks for the advice in this thread, the guy i bought my bike off gave me all of his equipment with it including a full set of leathers, helmet, gloves, boots, luggage rack... and not really sure what to do with it. Most of it smells and i already have my own stuff so don't really want to wear it. Will contact my local ambulance/hospital and see if they want the helmet or anything else.

Ok....I bought a cheap stethoscope (£3) and took the head off then attached it over the speaker at the rear of my satnav. I then modified an old headphones set to take a 90deg airtube coupler from a fish tank. I then heated up and rebent one side of the stethoscope earpiece to suit my ear. I put it all together and presto one satnav system that feeds the voice striaght into my ear inside my helmet. I am currently working on a way to make a trumpet that will fit permenently inside the helmet I have. Hope this explains it? Any questions let me know... Very clever, like the idea. I could probably use something like this with my sense of direction. One question though, where do you guys stick your satnav? Mine has a tendency to fall off my windscreen when in the car, so i feel i need to find somewhere pretty safe to put it on my bike, obviously if it fell off it would be a bit of a problem.

After numerous cancellations of both modules in the winter and waiting for my instructor to get a 46.6bhp bike i finally passed last week. It wasn't a great test by any stretch of the imagination though, i actually thought i'd failed right off the bat and for the rest of the test my riding was pretty shoddy if i'm honest, i think nerves got the better of me and i forgot to do simple things like checks which i normally never forget and even didn't change down enough gears approaching a round-about once. This was all topped off by the radio, it was like she was talking through a distortion pedal from what i could hear, and when i tapped on my helmet and pulled over to tell her that it wasn't working she basically said we could either carry on or cancel the test, and after waiting for months to actually get a chance to even take a test and with summer slipping away i said lets just carry on but apologized in advanced if i misheard her and turned the wrong way. Problem being she seemed to try and remedy the problem by shouting, which was genuinely painful in my ear and made me jump the first couple of times she did it, which didn't help the nerves. Also, straight after telling her about the problem, when pulling back onto the road i think i pulled out in front of someone, a BMW. He was way way back when i checked my shoulder first and being in a 30 zone we should have had plenty of time to pull out, and i didn't hang about, but when i checked my mirrors he was right up behind the examiner so i guess he must have been flying, which might be why she let me off because i know in a car you fail for that instantly. All in all despite my poor performance (i was actually surprised when she said i'd passed, i guess she could tell it was nerves and not my normal riding standard) i passed. I don't blame the examiner for the radio problem, not her fault she'd been issued dodgy equipment and she was right, there wasn't time to go back to the center, get another radio and start again so given the situation i guess she couldn't have done much else. Bought myself a little ER-5 to celebrate. Restrictor kit coming today then i'll be hitting the road (hopefully not literally). My instructor always told me that going wrong on the independent ride surprisingly doesn't matter as long as you go wrong safely. Anyway, congratulations!

As feared my mod 2 was cancelled due to "bad" weather today, which i'm not happy about because i work a few miles away from the test center and the roads are fine, even our car park was defrosted at the time of my test even if it is freaking cold. Even if it was frozen somewhere i'd still rather have a go then not. I'm actually considering putting in a complaint about that since it pretty much means now I've got to wait for another 18 months before i can do my full license, which has annoyed me no end. I would actually go down there and take photos but I'm at work so can't now. So, i guess i'll be looking to do the 46.6bhp test now. How practical is a 46.6bhp bike? I've been learning on a 600 Hornet (98bhp) and i've gotten used to it, i can't imagine jumping on something with less than half the power and still finding it enjoyable if i'm honest.

One more thing i was wondering if anyone could clear up for me. Im currently 22 and my birthday is in August. If i pass my tests in February 2013 for example, would i have to wait until Feb 2015 for my unrestricted licence. Or would i be able to do the unrestricted test as soon as Im 24 (August 2014), when i have oonly a year and a half experience?

This is probably a very long shot, but if i had my tests booked before the change and had it cancelled because of poor weather, are there any ways of doing the full license at 22 anyway? Also, does anyone know of the best way to keep checking for availability of Mod 1 and 2 tests?

I dunno about the Hornet you are learning on....but I suspect that it may be restricted. Check with your instructor. The new rules (if they are coming into force as there seems to be some confusion at the moment) would restrict you to a bike limited to 47bhp. So I think you could ride a bigger bike as long as it has a restrictor kit (47bhp) fitted....but don't quote me on that..... I don't think so, instructor says it still has all 98bhp, and i don't know much about bikes just yet, but it feels bloody powerful to me anyway, haha. I've been looking on the DSA site and yeah, 46.6bhp apparently. Not seen anything anywhere else as regards to changes not coming in and my instructor this morning hasn't said anything about it. I hope to god they don't come in, but i'm not going to hold my breath. For anyone else that wants to see the DSA page about it, look here and here for a more specific explanation in a PDF.

I take it that if you're under 24 they simply wont let you take a test on a 600cc? I've been learning on a 600cc Hornet and sort of fallen in love with it and was actually planning on going to see one to buy in the next week, but my mod 1 was cancelled this morning because of ice and it's looking pretty unlikely i'll be able to get another before the law change. What would be the best way of doing my test after Jan 19th if it comes to that? I'm only 22 and waiting for 2 years on a restricted or less powerful bike sounds like hell now i'm used to the Hornet.

I was meant to do my mod 1 this morning, but it was frozen over at my instructor's house so he said it was too dangerous to ride to the center, which involved nearly an hour on all back roads, so he was probably right. What's the best way to keep an eye out for any available tests? Mod 1 and 2. Being only 22 i would have to wait for 2 years to do my full test if i don't do it before 19th Jan, and i really really don't want to do that.

I did in fact pass the next weekend. We went straight on the road, but having a week between my only 2 biking experiences i stalled twice (while going down hill, haha, because i was in 2nd gear), so we just went down to the playground for 10 minutes then straight onto the road. Damn i enjoyed it, more than i thought. Just slowly going around estates and through a busy town on a 125 brought me much more joy then i ever expected. The week before i was wondering weather or not to continue, but this has confirmed that i really need to get my test passed. That day i passed my CBT although he said he needed to see my clutch control get much better before going on a bigger bike. I had another lesson the following Friday which was just brushing up on the 125, he said i nailed my clutch control, did pretty much everything perfectly, and this weekend i'm having my first lesson on the 600 Hornet (a bike i would like to buy if i pass my test in time).

If he took money off you for a test which he never bothered to book and won't give the money back (if he gives it back it could be put down to a bad, but simple mistake), then isn't this basically fraud? If he flat out refuses a refund i'd contact the police myself, and i'd tell him that you intend to do that.

After reading a few people's posts in this thread, i'm still not really sure how to feel after my attempt yesterday. All of my friends passed their's on the first day, i didn't finish mine yesterday though (does this class as a fail if they tell you that you need a few more hours?). All the theory stuff was pretty straight forward, i've been driving a car for 5 years so i know how to use the road without crashing on every journey, so i guess that gives me a little advantage. And being an engineer and looking after my own car i also know about doing checks and the legal requirements of vehicles too, so all that went well. I jumped straight on the 125 geared bike (a Yamaha), and got used to letting the clutch pull me using a small amount of throttle and just going around the play ground, that felt natural. However, next cam the figure of 8, and i just could not do it. It was a vicious circle, i got mad at myself for not being able to do it, which made it seem harder than it probably ever was, i was actually worse at it by the end than after the first couple of goes probably. The instructor told me to just go and relax, finish of the safety theory stuff and have a drink, so i did. After this i went back out feeling more relaxed and more confident after him telling me that riding the bigger, geared bike first does make it more difficult than using a rev-and-go. We moved onto gear changes, emergency stops, road positioning etc. I seemed to get all of that fairly quickly, perhaps not with the most confidence (it was raining and slippery by this time, which unnerved me a little). After practicing different types of junction and he basically said it was getting too late and wet (only 2:30 i think) to finish off and spend the two required hours on the road. I must admit, when i got home i was very disappointed in myself, i really couldn't believe i'd not managed to pass on day 1 when all of my friends had done. Still not that sure what to think about it, i wanted to do my direct access before the law changes next year, but this has put a bit doubt of my ability to do this in my mind now. I will say though, that the instructors seemed pretty good, they were both pretty calm, they didn't shout at me once, they kept telling me what i was doing wrong and how to correct that (even if i still forgot to do what they told me), if i was them i probably would have got frustrated at me, haha.

Thanks. I passed my theory test and started my CBT (stopped due to pretty heavy rain) this weekend and loved it, so i don't think i'll regret it either. Didn't have any problems with my instructors either. Thanks, i might well do that, although my instructors seemed nice and like they knew what they were doing on the CBT yesterday, so will probably stay with these i reckon, unless they can't get me in of course.

I guess when you break it down like that it doesn't seem too bad, no. After looking at a couple of other schools in my area that seems to be about the going rate anyway, going to have to just go for it i reckon.

Swindon is a little far for me, but thanks for the tips. I was thinking of using these guys (Complete Bike Training) in stoke, but £170 / 6 hour day seems pretty steep. That means if it takes 4 days plus the CBT it's going to be £800.

Hi, I don't come here all that often but maybe i will once this is all underway. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with Direct Access trainers around my area. I live near Uttoxeter (pretty much half way between Stoke-on-Trent and Derby), with Stoke being my nearest city. Got my theory booked for a couple of week's time, but then i need a trainer to do all of the practical stuff with. I've found a few near-by, but wanted some un-bias opinions on people they used if anyone happens to have done their courses near me. Thanks in advanced. I guess while we're on it, any tips for someone who's barely even touched a bike before in his life before doing the Direct Access?

Some useful advice in here, thanks guys. Sounds pretty similar to the car one really and i had no problems with that. I saw the Help For Heros ride over in Scarborough on my way to York last weekend, was quite a sight and reminded me of how i need to get my tests and everything done as soon as possible ready for my 21st.