CBT - Strange way of learning...take 2

[Guest]

Morning folks,

I'm Jon, first post on this forum so Hi!

I recently took my CBT, and did terribly. My tutor is a no-nonsense, no f**ks given sort of bloke who will stop you when he thinks you suck.

I spent about 20 mins or so on his YBR-125, and simply couldn't co-ordinate the Back brake, front brake, clutch and accelerator correctly. I was pulling the front brake to stop and accidentally revving the bike, I was pushing on the back brake and forgetting to do things with my clutch etc. Instead of giving me a simple task that involved 2 of the above controls and then let me put them together, he seemed to expect me to put it all together immediately. After the 20 mins he told me to get off the bike and pulled out something I hated more than cars. A Scooter.

He told me to learn everything I need on the Scooter, come back for a few hours for a road test another day and pass my CBT on the Scooter. Then he would teach me the basics of the bike. He seemed to think that putting together what I've learned on the Scooter with the basics on the Bike, I should be able to ride without an issue.

Now I don't like to but in with what he is trying to do, or try and tell him how to do his job, but this just doesn't sound right. I may know how to slow ride, do Figure of Eights, do U turns and Junctions etc on a Scooter, but doing all that shit on a bike with little more than an hours practice is going to seem impossible. I am aware that my control of a 2 wheeled vehicle is going to be 10x better after the practice on the Scooter, and my Throttle Control is now 2nd to none, but it was the clutch and positioning of the back brake that got me on the bike, and I haven't touched on them since he took me off.

Have you guys got any insight into this? Any method to his madness? I understand his point, but I don't see it working out like he planned.

Note, that I have time for a 2 hour Road Ride and 1 hour bike practice on Friday. I can get my CBT Cert on the scooter and ride a bike legally. However I don't want to be still figuring out where my biting point is when I'm on a town centre, 2 Lane roundabout at rush hour...

[klingelton]

He's right. you get the road craft using the scooter as the controls are much easier. Some people pick up the control of a geared bike easily, some people take longer. You need to listen closely to your instructor at exactly what he's telling you. A controlled stop is a pretty simple thing.

approach junction:

roll off throttle (roll off, don't just shut it off!)

gently apply front brake and gently increase the pressure.

use the rear brake very lightly.

shift down through the gears while slowing letting the clutch out gently between each gear change.

into 1st pull in your clutch before you stop.

you should be using about 90% front to 10% rear. you need the drive from the engine to make sure the gears engage correctly

There's really very little wrong with a scooter, it's a 2 wheeled vehicle with an engine. Don't be a snob! (I am someone who nods to scooters, because they're taking the same risks)

[priest]

I think you need to listen to what your instructor says. He does that for life and i am sure you are not the only one having this issue so he has got the experience to handle it the best way

[Joeman]

How would you expect him to teach you?

If you can't coordinate the controls of a geared bike, then giving you a bike with less controls seems the logical first step.