How I passed from scratch in a few days

[houltmac]

I wanted to make a point about how my training went from scratch. I had never sat on a bike before this and had only taken a couple of lessons in a car years ago, yet today I passed. I have already written this up in the other thread, so I'll keep it short. 2 weeks ago today I failed with no minors for a bad indicator (didn't turn it off in time) but today I passed! I had 2 minors but am still chuffed.

My training went as follows:

24/08/2009 - CBT passed by 2PM

25/08/2009 - 125 training went badly and considered the day a write off. Different instructor and just poor form me. Learned nothing.

26/08/2009 - CBT instructor back and on a 500. Learned very quickly and went well. Rode from Gloucester to Kidderminster and back among other Mod 1 things.

27/08/2009 - A couple of hours warming up then Mod 1. Passed first time with 1 minor after a gearbox issue. Day 2 instructor said I must have been a bag of nerves because it was like a whole different rider (still with CBT instructor, the other guy just came along for the ride).

07/09/2009 - Another instructor, different bike, bag of nerves, failed Mod 2. Rode well on test but my fault for one bad indicator.

21/09/2009 - Mod 2 re-test with new bike and CBT instructor. Went smooth, felt good and natural. Feeling confident and passed with 2 minors. Loved every second of it.

So... ignoring day 2 which was mostly spent off the bike trying to calm down (lack of sleep and nerves got the best of me) I spent 5 days (never finishing later than 3PM) going from zero experience to passed DAS rider.

I had heard some not so great things about Motag between booking and taking the course but it was excellent. Rick especially was amazing; I really enjoy riding with him and we take the mick with hand signals more than he bothers to talk on the radio since I know when I mess up anyway. I never thought I'd pass so quick. It took a month because of my momentary lapse on my first Mod 2 but it was really only 17 hours on a bike total (as in ever!). Preparation was excellent, and all the instructors were human and friendly.

I am seriously chuffed and would recommend all aspects of what I did to anyone.

[Guest]

I have been riding a 125 on L plates since passing my CBT in march. But from sitting my Theory/hazard perception test in mid Aug to passing my Mod 2 last Thursday the time elapsed has been 5 weeks.

I had one full days training with Cheshire Bike Training, cheers Bill and Mike before taking my Mod1 and Mod 2, then went back for another 4 hours training before my Mod 2 resit.