Phil Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 Hey up guys! I'm currently in the process of learning to ride.....So far I've done the CBT on an SR 125, and another 3 hours "conversion" lesson on a CB500.During the conversion lesson I had a few issues, but overall the instructor was happy with my progress and said I would need the minimum amount of training they offer to pass the module 1. That's two lots of 3 hour lessons, one of which is on the DSA test pad in Wakefield which they have access to on a weekend.The thing I'm wondering now, is that my mod 1 isn't until the 22nd of November, and it was about 3 weeks ago since I did my conversion course onto the CB500. I don't have my own (125) bike at the moment so I'm wondering now whether I ought to be thinking about doing another lesson in between just to keep things fresh.I know another lesson won't hurt at all, but when they're £85 for a three hour session, I'm thinking maybe I should just take a punt, take their advice and do the minimum amount of training to pass the mod 1. On the conversion lesson I did, everything seemed to feel fairly natural, I felt reasonably confident about the handling of the bike and the extra weight didn't bother me at all (possibly even go as far as saying it was reassuring). I'm still struggling with cancelling indicators though, and my road position was a little far into the middle of the road a lot of the time but other than that it seemed to go well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
priest Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 i'd say yes. if you fail you will have to rebook and pay again for it and the instructor and the bike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tango Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 Yeah.....another lesson inbetween will certainly not hurt....and failing to cancel indicators and road positioning could fail you....so a bit more practice would certainly help IMHO..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrbarry Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 I mixed mod1 and 2 training into full day lessons so I could stay fresh on the bike but not waste ££. Worked a treat for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted October 8, 2012 Author Share Posted October 8, 2012 Yeah.....another lesson inbetween will certainly not hurt....and failing to cancel indicators and road positioning could fail you....so a bit more practice would certainly help IMHO..... Yep, they're certainly things I know which can cause a fail, but they're also things which should in theory be easy to rectify with a bit more forward thinking. Apparently they're really typical things that car drivers do when moving onto bikes. Expecting the indicators to self cancel and sitting too far to the right (more or less where you'd be sat in your car ).I suppose their comment about me only needing the minimum amount of training was on the basis that I'd be taking my test reasonably soon, but unfortunately I just can't get the time off work for the test itself as it's midweek only. Although I've been driving for 7-8 years now, I've only really had 6 or so hours of riding a bike on the road so perhaps it might be wise to take some more time to get more comfortable with things. I don't really wish to get a 125, as from what I've been told I won't really learn a great deal on them (with them only being able to just keep up with traffic) and that they're expensive in comparison to bigger bikes, not to mention having it to sell again within a year if I'm to pass my test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrbarry Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 A decent 125 will do 80 mph with a tail wind. I wouldn't buy one my self tho. But a 125 isn't as feeble as they make out as a way of getting A-B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 Hi Phil Where are you from in the past few months I did my mod 1 and 2 at Wakefield and had lessons with ridesafe at holmewood in Bradford the guys there are great especially the two ricks that did all my big bike training on an er6. They have reasonable prices and I passed both mods with no minors so their training worked for me. If they are local enough to you I'd give them a look. Good luck whatever path you take. Ryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhJay Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 I'd say it's definitely worth keeping your hand in and getting some bike time in the interim. There really is no substitute for time in the saddle If you want to stick on the bigger bike then it would have to be a lesson. Can they do 1 hour lessons rather than a full 3? Just to give you some time with the bike? Go for a ride round the roads, get used to the road positioning and cancelling your indicators and general feel of the machine. Mind you, £85 for 3 hours sounds like good value to me.There's a lot you can learn on a 125, it's still a bike, you've still got to control it in the same way. It's easier to spot mistakes on the 125 but easier to haul them back again because it's that much lighter. And keep in mind that if you buy something for about a grand now, use it for a year, look after it well you'll be able to sell it for pretty much what you bought it for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megawatt Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Get more practice on the 125 and more lesson time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrbarry Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 £85 for 3 hours??? That's the most I have heard of tbf!! I paid £105 for 9 hour lessons that always ended up 10 hours cus the guy loves riding lol. Most places seem to say £50-60 for 3 hours. 1 hour is pointless IMHO because it's too short, Especialy by the time you've kitted up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlecat Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 instead of having a 3 hour block, consider having an hour a week to get some road skills in, and a session on manouvres before the actual test Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted October 10, 2012 Author Share Posted October 10, 2012 Like I said, I'll be having two 3 hour sessions the two weekends leading up to the test, one of which will be at the actual test centre sort of like a mock test. It's more the on road experience I'm thinking of here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 My advice would be to just book it! What do you have to lose? (....um, except money....and theres no way round that when you're learning to ride unfortunately!) The more experience you get, the more comfortable you'll feel on a bike and the more likely you'll be to pass first time too. But like a couple of other people have mentioned, if its an option - do a shorter (cheaper) lesson? I used to tag along on the back of mod 2 lessons just for the experience before I'd sat my mod 1 and that was good as there was no pressure and i could see what the other bikes were doing in terms of road positioning etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted October 10, 2012 Author Share Posted October 10, 2012 Rung the training place today to pay the deposit for the Mod 1 training (well it turned into the full amount when they asked how much deposit I'd like to pay ). Anyway, asked them about the training and they agreed it would certainly not hurt to get some time on the bike. I'll get a lesson booked next week Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted October 25, 2012 Author Share Posted October 25, 2012 Well the refresher lesson was today and it didn't go all that well.Struggled most of the morning with low speed maneuvering and nearly dropped it at one point after doing a slow u-turn and going too slow/not keeping the drive on (surprising how something like that can knock your confidence for the next 10 mins or so!). Had to put my foot down and got it very close to the point where most would have stepped off gracefully and placed it on the deck.Overall didn't feel overly comfortable today for some reason, was hesitant and struggled with the gearbox. Missing gears and I kept finding a false neutral between 2nd and 3rd on the CB500 which the instructor says happens from time to time.Concentrating far too much on the controls and not spending enough time watching the road etc.Positive points were that I did well on the higher speed maneuvers which we practiced, and I got a pat on the back for possibly saving my life after a truck overtook another truck which was pulling into the junction we were pulling out of. I didn't personally spot the truck, but I didn't feel safe to go even though the instructor was willing me on so I just sat there waiting. Then the truck came hurtling past .So overall in the positive side of things, I didn't do anything which would have been classed as dangerous, but just the silly little things which I felt were taking my concentration away from the job in hand. I'm glad I did another lesson as I think I'd have struggled just with the sheer lack of time I've had on the machine.Oh yeah, and I hit 60 for the first time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tango Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 It could have just been an off day mate.....so I wouldn't worry too much...... Obviously the ideal is to get to the stage where you don't have to think about the controls at all and can just concentrate on the road and all that around you.....but that only comes with practice. And some bikes really need a positive boot to get clean shifts......too gentle and you can hit false neutrals all through the box......another thing that gets rectified with practice..... Keep the faith.....and you'll get your test done no probs...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted October 25, 2012 Author Share Posted October 25, 2012 Yeah, I remember when learning to drive I had about 3 bad lessons out of the 25-30 I needed. Concentration levels seem to be much higher on the bike though as there's no room for error and I'm very self critical when I do things wrong. I suppose that's not always a bad thing though!You sound just like my instructor after the lesson! Yeah he did say it's possible I need to be more positive with the clutch and box when changing gear, it might have even been that I wasn't disengaging the clutch fully before hand. So far he seems quite impressed though considering i've had about 6 hours on the 500 so far and 9 hours in total on the road riding. That's without doing any other riding inbetween! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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