New To Motorcycles!

[Guest]

Hey all!

So I moved to the UK from Canada 3 years ago and only drove automatic cars back there. I have now applied for my provisional (Which hopefully should come within the next 2 weeks) and will then go for my CBT. Having never ridden a motorcycle AND never used manual gears, will it be difficult to pass the CBT with no experience? Or are these training courses which help with everything from the basics?

I bought myself a Honda Varadero 125 V3 the other week and can't wait to take it out for a ride but it's just picking up dust at the moment sadly.

Thanks

[mealexme]

Hey all!

So I moved to the UK from Canada 3 years ago and only drove automatic cars back there. I have now applied for my provisional (Which hopefully should come within the next 2 weeks) and will then go for my CBT. Having never ridden a motorcycle AND never used manual gears, will it be difficult to pass the CBT with no experience? Or are these training courses which help with everything from the basics?

I bought myself a Honda Varadero 125 V3 the other week and can't wait to take it out for a ride but it's just picking up dust at the moment sadly.

Thanks

The CBT stands for Compulsory Basic Training, and it is exactly that. It's basic training, designed for people who have never been in control of a vehicle before.

Unfortunately, having driven a car for many years, you may well find that you have picked up some bad habits (we all do it), but they will be picked up during the training.

If you find it hard with manual gears, you could always request to do it on an automatic and learn the gears in your own time. This is what I did, but found the gears to be fairly easy to learn anyway. Unlike car gears, it is literally just up and down on the gear lever.

They will go over everything on the CBT, and if you have any questions or issues, there won't be anything they haven't come across before.

Whilst waiting to do the CBT, have a look at "get on" - a government scheme designed to get people onto bikes. They give a free hours taster session, more than likely held at the same place that the CBT takes place

Congrats on getting the Varadero! That is possibly the best choice of 125 and yet one that is often overlooked.

I wish you a long and fun biking career, Alex

[Guest]

Well that's a bit of relief! I was worried that I'll drive everyone crazy (although I think it's a max of 1 instructor and up to 2 learners at a time). I wasn't aware that you can ride a manual bike if you get your CBT on an automatic. It might be a good idea to do it with a manual though in order to learn with an expert.

I'll look into that scheme indeed and hope to get on the road asap. The bike looks amazing (definitely not like a typical 125), so I'm hoping it rides just as well.

Thanks for the response and kind words

[Arwen]

I would recommend at least trying a geared bike on your CBT, you are paying for training after all and instructors will be able to give you tips and tricks to help with it.

I found learning what a clutch actually does and how it moves together helped me master it (albeit for my car test) so might be worth you looking into that.

Bare in mind that the CBT is just basic training. You may benefit from getting a few extra lessons once you have gained your CBT, especially if you are used to driving on the other side of the road

Good luck on your CBT! The Varadero certainly seems to get the most positive reviews out of 125cc.

[Remy]

You shouldn't find your CBT any harder than anyone else who has never ridden bikes before, they aren't anything like cars . I'd recommend getting used to gears as ultimately you will need to use them anyway! You could even do the CBT on your Varadero, if you could find someone to get it there for you although it might be a risk re. dropping etc, so probably better on an instructor bike.

Best of luck