Weebl

Absolutely brilliant advice. I took my MOD 2 yesterday and all of the above is bang on. I indicated to come off a roundabout at the first exit, even though I should have taken the second, I even had a late decision moment when I took the first exit and basically gave a little wobble and then a jerk of the handlebars. That was my one and only minor (for the bars, not for the wrong exit) The examiner even told me he knew why I did it at the debrief and he had no problems with me deliberately not going the way as signposted (It was on the independent ride) As to the speed, I saw all the signs ok, knew which speed I should be going but for some reason I could just not manage it? 40 limit, look down, 37, nudge throttle, 40 lovely, check mirrors, brilliant, glance down, 36. WTF, back up to 40, carry on, look down, 37!!, back up to 40, look down, 42, really?? back down to 40, glance down, 37. AAAAAARGGGH. This happened pretty much all test for all speeds. No idea why it happened other than nerves, I had sticking at speeds no issues all the way there and all the way back He did not even mention it. They know you are nervous, and they do make allowances for it.

Just insured her, she is not MOT'd though, I thought booking that knowing I have to ride to get her to the MOT station was just sticking 2 fingers up at the gods and was a little too presumptuous. Booked for tomorrow lunchtime though

1. No hard and fast rule, you can go round them but of course that depends on what traffic, pedestrians, parked cars, cats etc are also doing at the time, you can ride around if it is safe to do so, if it is not, go over them. 2. No.

Passed Mod 2 this morning, 1 minor. Within 3 minutes of the test starting, independent ride. He told me to follow the signs and approaching the roundabout it was showing as first exit. I indicate left on approach, as I join the roundabout I notice a small road which is actually the first exit. Minor moment of indecision, left it ever so slightly too late but decided to make the minor road so I was going where the indicator said I was. Jerked the bars over to make it and it was not pretty. That was the minor. Apart from that I thought it was the worst ride I have done. I would have picked myself up on so many little things. I even told my instructor as I walked back in I had failed. I honestly thought I had completely buggered it until he actually sat down and said congratulations.

You have had the engine apart. You will need to provide more info so people can have a stab at fault diagnosis than 'it won't start' Do the lights come on when you turn the key, does the engine turn over, do you get a spark, are you getting fuel through the carb, what made the piston go bad, did you put it back together properly? do you have compression?

Yep, I think it is around the £20-£25 mark, so not the end of the world, I am just being a bit tight to be honest. I have priced it all up and if she gets me the V5, and it passes the MOT first time, I can get it back on the road, Taxed and MOT'd, including serviced by me for just a smidge over £180, including the purchase price! I have set myself a bit of a challenge to get it done for under £200, which is normally hard enough for me as I am a bit of a perfectionist and will buy 'little bits and pieces' to make it tip top, they might only be a few quid each but it adds up Actually, just thought of a cost I had not added, so a tank of petrol and fill the bike tank with 2 stroke. Another £8-£10?

I picked it up from her house so if it is, I know where to point the Police. Still waiting for that I don't want to spend any money until I know I will be able to get it back on the road.

I got lucky and I am pretty sure I have got a good school. It was just luck really, we had just moved house, and my son needed to do a CBT so he could use a moped to get around the new area (it is a bit more rural than where we used to live) It was the closest school, so in we went and booked him up. He enjoyed it, and watching him ride I could see he had been taught properly. I then decided I wanted a full licence so I booked up too. If I had not got lucky, and we had a bit more experience in the area then I would have been asking around, other parents asking them where they sent their kids for CBT, what the experiences were like etc. I bought my own helmet, gloves and jacket. I did not need to, the school would have supplied everything but then when you pass you need to go out and buy it, so I started a bit early and picked up some bargains by being able to shop around with no rush. My advice would be to do the same, you are in no rush, you don't actually need it until you have passed, so you have loads of time to wait for the right deal I guess this depends on your school again, I am paying a fair bit compared to what I know others have paid but I am happy with the value for money. CBT = £130 Conversion lesson to 500cc, 3 hours = £100 Mod 1, full day training, then a 40 mile ride to the test centre and back the next day, fee included = £400 Mod 2, Full day training, again the 2 day split, fee's included = £310 The only other expense on top of that was my theory test fee (not including the new helmet etc) I know this is not the cheap end, but after my Mod 1, waiting for the guy who came with me to do his, another instructor and some students turned up. They were dressed in whatever they turned up in, hoodies and trainers etc and from what he was saying to them as they were waiting, his training had not been very comprehensive beforehand. I bet I paid more than them, but then I bet I have a greater chance of passing and a much better understanding of riding.

Cheers I am actually quite positive about the whole thing. Like with the Mod one, I know I can ride to the standard required, and the only thing that will let me down is a momentary lapse into stupidity (forgetting to cancel an indicator is what I seem most worried about at the minute) I will still be nervy as buggery come 10 minutes before the test though

Cheers Hard to believe that until the 18th of May (15 days ago) I had not ridden anything with gears or bigger than 50CC for 20 odd years. Now I am just the final step away from getting my full licence! The wait will be hard though I would rather do it tomorrow than wait two weeks and have time to start worrying about cocking it up

Thanks Everyone Mod 2 is now booked for the 14th (earliest date they had)

Buying clothes specifically to go and get oily and dirty fixing your own bike? Not a chance. Stuff like that is a possibility if you do it for a living, maybe. Apart from that wear something old that you don't mind getting dirty and ruined. Absolute worst case buy a pair of Overalls if you don't want anything you already own getting ruined, they should be £10-15 at your local market or Army Surplus store.

That is the point, you don't have to take any tests again, you simply swap your licence for a UK one. It is not exactly difficult, but your suggestion you could not be bothered because they would not know anyway was a bit silly. Your insurance will not ask, they will insure you on the information you give them, if at a later date you have an accident and are found not complying with the law then the insurance will become void. As for the holiday question, it quite clearly says 'resident in UK' in the rules, You are still resident here while you go on holiday. You say you would never drive with an invalid licence, but your last post clearly states you would because the 'cops' would not know. That is why people got a bit annoyed.

If you get stopped they will check. If you get insurance and have an accident, then that insurance will be invalid. I am not 100% sure if you need to get your licence converted to a UK one, now we are all one big cuddly EU, however, if you are supposed to, and you don't and therefore ride or drive illegally, then you are an idiot.

As far as I am aware, the EU licence category 'A' is ; Any motorcycle or motor tricycle not in category A1. Limited to 25 kW and 0.16 kW/kg for 2 years. So the 2 year thing is not a UK requirement or privilege, but is EU wide. As far as I can see, if you have an EU licence with category 'A' on it, then you can ride a 33 BHP bike. If you have had it for 2 years or more then you have an unrestricted licence. This counts in the country you passed in, as well as here. That is just my reading of it though, and it would be worth you contacting DVLA to confirm this. You may need to contact them anyway as you may need to get a UK counterpart (the paper bit) of your licence.

Thanks for the wishes everybody, I passed No minors, 60KPH for the Emergency stop and 53 for the Avoidance.

And nervous as buggery. I know I can do everything required (did it all today) but I hate being tested where I know that one silly mistake will fail me, especially when I know I could do 50 figure 8's no problem but if I decide to be an idiot tomorrow and dab a foot down on one of two, that's it! One thing we did today that sort of goes against everything that I have read and seen before, for the Emergency Stop and Avoidance Test, everybody recommends being in second and nailing it, but my instructor today got me to snick it into third and just sort of waft through the speed trap. The results surprised me to be honest, I was hitting 51-54 KM/H pretty consistently and everything seemed really relaxed and unhurried. I never opened the throttle much after changing into third and I personally felt this set me up to be much more relaxed for what came after the speed trap. Anyway, I will let you know tomorrow if it actually helped

Not really, discs warp in use, it happens. How old is it, , how do you ride, do you get the brakes smoking hot and then sit holding the brake on at the lights? A trick from my car days to check if it is actually warped, and not just appearing so because of adhered pad material. Ride the bike and use the brakes, a lot, get the brake very very hot, as hot as you can, and then brake some more to get it hotter. Then ride around gently without using the brakes at all to let it cool off, and most definitely DO NOT sit stationary holding the bike on that brake. When it is nice and cool, try it again. In my experience, 70% of 'warped brakes' are just adhered pad material that can be burned off. This tends to work on decent brake set ups. I have absolutely no experience of Chinese bikes or their brakes, from reading the above, it may just be that it is a cheap disc?

You are going to have to take the wheel and sprocket off to find what is broken.

Lots of bikes are sold without? What is the worst that could happen? Ride through a puddle and get a bit more splash than usual, the bike might get a bit dirtier? Absolutely worst case a stone might ping up and bounce off something rather than getting deflected by the hugger.

Well my CBT was 'interesting' The lady doing it the same time as me was a Filipino who although she spoke English, it was not brilliant, and although she had ridden loads of Mopeds in the Philippines had never driven or ridden on UK roads, and did not know anything about it, roadsigns, road markings, rights of way, nothing! After the initial bit on the test pad where she showed she was quite good at getting the ped to go where she wanted and I realised I could still manage to operate a bike clutch without stalling and also get it to go where I wanted we headed out onto the road. He sent me out in front while he kept a close eye on her at the back, I trogged off, following his instructions albeit not going much faster than 40 due to her being on a 50cc twist and go, she seemed to be doing ok, although he had to keep reminding her to not ride in the gutter, look in her mirrors, indicate and look over her shoulder. After a bit of riding about she got a little confused in town and basically zipped off on her own following the traffic, ignoring his instructions and not looking where she was going We got sorted out, did the U turn and emergency stops bit and rode back, and he lost his temper with her just a little bit for the first and last time after she got in the gutter to let a car who was sat on her rear quarter in town, squeeze past. We topped up with petrol, and he then let me ride back to the test center alone, while he followed on behind with her 'to let me open it up a bit' Overall I had a good time, it reminded me of what it was actually like to ride a bike again, and re-affirmed my decision to get my licence, I am looking forward to Tuesday, when I have a 3 hour conversion lesson onto a 500 The instructor was fantastic, he was incredibly patient with the other person, and although she was very dodgy at first, she was a lot better at the end (whether than sticks or not I don't know?) and I am happy that I have not forgotten how to stay on and make it go and stop, and I certainly learned when to lifesaver and how to position in the road, whether for riding along, roundabouts, or turning at junctions. Overall a good experience and it has given me a lot more confidence over what is to come

Just found this on a local selling site, Apparently it was about 6 months old when it was slid down the road and has been stuck down the bottom of somebodies garden since (it only has 1500 miles on it and it is a 53 plate) I went to have a look this morning and it rolls, the engine kicks over and most of the bits are there (somebody took the exhaust off to have a look at the damage but I have it) The major damage is the engine casing where the exhaust bolts on, it has snapped off at the lug, possible fix with metal epoxy putty? one indicator is snapped, a few minor bits of plastic snapped and some scuffs down the major plastics on the other side. I have one key but the lady could not find the V5, hopefully she will and she has said she will contact me to collect it if and when she does. So, the question, do I sort it out and get it back on the road and sell it, or do I just break it for bits? Oh yea, I paid a whole £40 for it so I am pretty happy with that

Does it have an automatic choke?

I remember my 16th birthday when I was legal to ride my newly purchased CB50. It was a geared Ped and I had never ridden anything other than a pedal bike before. No training, nothing. Applied for my license, saw the bike in the paper and bought it and got my dad to ride it home for me, got insurance ready to start on my birthday, that was it. I got up that morning, my Dad had gone to work and told me to wait till he got home so he could at least give me a few pointers, of course at 16 I was far to clever to need that so off I went, stalled it about 40 times that day, including at various junctions and roundabouts in traffic and basically wobbled my way around for a couple of days until I had a basic grasp of how it all worked. In hindsight it is a miracle it worked out as well as it did. My eldest son has just done his CBT and I must admit, I am much happier with his intro to biking, than mine, and at least I know he has been taught the basics and don't have a mild heart attack every time he goes out.

Why are you copying and pasting one liners from dealer adverts and Wiki onto people's reviews? I thought the idea of these reviews was to get owners genuine opinions?