CBT - Experiences of other Members

[staningrimsby]

Congratulations thebrasso enjoy the bike and ride safely

[Guest]

I passed My CBT on a geared bike on Wednesday

It was my second attempt – my first driving experience and my first time operating an engine. Previously the concept of the clutch had been a complete mystery.

I found it to be a steep learning curve, I felt challenged in a way I am not usually day-to-day at University for example. Simple skills and knowledge but it had my brain churning to take it all in.

Even the basic discussion on road knowledge challenged some of the pre conceptions I have accrued as a conscientious (I hope) cyclist.

Off road I found the mechanics of operating the bike very un natural and was having to run through mental checklists with every procedure, I was stalling a lot and dumping the clutch as I changed down gears. I was nervous when the instructor said he was happy to take me on the road.

After a shaky start things came together much better on the road; there was a lot more information to process, but also more time to get a feel for the bike. I was able to relax and get a sense of what the bike needed me to do. I was still making simple mistakes; leaving the indicator running and stalling sporadically when I came to a stop but riding as a whole felt much more natural and fun.

It was me and one other guy on a moped with the instructor, the other guy took the lead for the first half, which gave me some time to get a feel for things when it was time for me to take the lead. I was a little nervous but things continued on well and I was able to relax into it again, I had no idea where we’d got to by this point but it seemed we were in that weird place somewhere between suburbia and the beginning of the countryside, it was very hilly and controlling my speed as we came down hills was exhilarating and one of many aspects that hadn’t been discussed at all in the training up until this point. It was elements like this that gave me the chance to experiment and get my own feel for how the bike functioned.

At some point whilst coming to the top of a hill and slowing to stop for a red light I stalled with a line of traffic building up behind me. When I tried to restart the engine it wouldn’t come back to life. I returned to my mental checklist and gently tried gunning the throttle as I had been shown when the cold engine had been unwilling to start earlier that morning but this time I could tell it was different as the engine was giving off zero life signs. Meanwhile the lights had turned green and my instructor via one-way radio was slowly and firmly talking me through the steps of turning the engine back on and moving off. I tried to communicate non-verbally that there was a problem beyond my experience- by this point the motorists behind were sharing their impatience. I made the decision to dismount and push my lifeless bike out of the way of the waiting traffic. At this point my instructor was still telling me to get back on the bike and calmly restart the bike but was losing conviction.

It was a difficult position; I did not have the communication tools necessary to explain my situation, there was rising pressure and I felt the status of the CBT as training but also as a basic test meant that the instructor was obliged to encourage me to continue on even though I could not.

The instructor and the other mopedist pulled over once past the junction, I joined them pushing the bike and explained my understanding of the situation. The instructor looked the bike over, after a while he told us to wait and pushed the bike out of view for a few minutes. He retuned with the bike running (possibly after a hill start?). I wasn’t sure at this point whether I’d f**ked the bike up, or the bike had failed of its own accord or whether without radio contact there would have to be a rerun. With the engine still running he told us we would continue back with him riding my bike and me riding his – this meant we would be following him and would be out of radio contact as it was powered by a connection which was only on his bike. We set off; I found his bike to be a little more responsive, the clutch and throttle felt sharper and clearer. Cut off from the instructor and with more traffic the journey back felt more autonomous and it seemed to me that my riding improved to suit. Eventually we got back to the centre parked the bikes and got out of our kit.

My instructor; not the most active conversationalist sat down at his desk and went through the moped guys paper work and stamped it with a pass- afterwards he asked for my licence and gave me a pass stamp to.

Overall I am a much better motorcyclist now than I was before I did the CBT, meaning; I can actually ride a motorcycle as apposed to my previous vague fantasising about riding a motorcycle. Although I am far from assimilating the skills necessary to ride in a natural way, I can see that with practice I will get them. I think the return journey sans radio contact may have worked to my favour in showcasing my understanding of the basic training I had been given

A fantastic de-mystifying experience anyone who’s considering it should get on and do it.

[Joeman]

What bike was the instructor riding? Normally they are big bikes... Seems strange he let you ride his bike?!

[Guest]

It was the same type of bike I was riding, a Honda CG125 I think..

[Guest]

I felt a mix of emotions on my CBT. Our instructor was telling us all the injuries he had from riding before we even hit the roads so that almost put me of straight away.

I had not passed my driving test by then so I was still learning how to use the clutch properly so that aspect was a little bit challenging.

The first time I hit the roads I was being overly cautious as riding is a different feeling to being in a car and I was scared of coming of the bike. My instructor kept shouting at me to keep up as I was doing 40mph but I started to gain confidence as the day went on.

Overall, I would say even though I passed my CBT first time, retrospectively I would take the time to ensure that you pick the right training school/instructor that suits your style. My instructor was very bullish/aggressive so I did not get on with him and the experience would have been a lot better if I had taken the time out to go to a few riding schools and speak to some CBT instructors beforehand to see what their teaching style is like and whether it suits the way you learn.

[Psychybikey]

Very true, wildmaurice, I had some most off-putting experiences at the first school I went to and it's only looking back now that I can see there were a couple of things they could have done differently and it wasn't all my fault.

My bike won't start if it's in gear, even with the clutch in. Not always easy to remember in the panic situation of a stall in traffic. Especially as the neutral light is a bit temperamental so I can't always tell unless I go back down to first and work my way back up. I'm getting less bothered, though, about traffic behind me if I do make a mistake. That's what my L plate is for.

[rennie]

Sue passed her CBT again today!

with complete bike training telford.

[Guest]

First post and thought I'd relive my cbt experience

Never been on a motorbike before but always wanted to, now at 44 I've decided it's time to try.

I don't drive a car, did lessons a long time ago (over 20 years ago) but lack of money and slow learning pace meant I gave up.

My cbt day was a nervous one, I've never even sat on a motorbike so I was both excited and anxious about that first feeling of being on one.

The instructor seemed great at first, cheerful but professional and reminded me of a policeman. There were 3 other riders, I was by far the oldest and least experienced.

All the initial stuff was fine, safety chats and gear, and even the centre stand bit went well

Round about the time when we started doing straight line riding I felt my nerves kick in. Despite my best efforts I felt like I was riding a kangaroo at times, jerky throttle and clutch control, but I got through the basic stuff and was actually fine with the figure of 8 and u turns.

The problems started here though. It was a really hot day and I was melting in my big jacket and boots.

I also have dodgy hearing, fine normally but sometimes I can't pick out things people say so I was missing the odd thing here and there I was being told.

This meant that when they did the thing with the cones as junctions and stuff I wasn't sure if it was green cone start your checks then red cone indicate, white cone turn, change gear at second yellow cone,stop at third set of white cones or some other combination.

The whole thing with pretend the cones are various road markings was starting to get to me anyway what with still trying to perfect the clutch and indicator on offs, alongside remembering the right point to check mirrors and lifesavers etc. When we stopped for lunch I felt I was missing a lot of things but at the same time, hadn't got anything really wrong, just a bit slow or lacking confidence.

Then came the clash point. It had been pretty intense so far, the heat and the fast pace we were rattling through things was tiring and at one point I thought the instructor was talking to another student as I was adjusting my helmet. Turns out he was talking to me but I could barely hear him. I said, sorry didn't know you were talking to me there, he started shouting about not taking me out on the road if I didn't pay attention. I said sorry again but could see in his eyes he'd already decided I was not taking him serious. That wasn't the case at all, so I felt even more anxious.

It sort of cascaded downhill from there lol. What I felt I needed was 10 minutes just to ride around in circles even, just to help me get a better feel for the clutch, but it seemed like a rush, and I started to notice the other students ignore me (after I got shouted at) and so when we came to do the emergency stop my head was spinning.

Again, I was sure he said, come to a stop then go into neutral and quickly walk the bike to the side and off the road. I stopped fine I thought, went to change to neutral and got shouted at again, "what are you doing, I said stop then walk the bike off the road", I replied I was trying to get into neutral but I got scowled at. Apparently I was wrong, it was meant to be clutch in and walk the bike to the side, in whatever gear you were in, I wasn't doing it wrong on purpose I'd just misheard the instruction. Second time I did it fine.

At this point I did feel a bit overwhelmed, in total I think I'd had about 30 minutes of actual bike riding, it was 1pm, I was still trying to perfect the clutch and remember to do all the checks at the same time but other than 2 or 3 small laps of the small yard hadn't really had a chance to practice it.

Then the moment came, I was pulled to the side and told that as I didn't seem to be getting it I'd not be going out for the road ride. I was 50/50. On the one hand I agreed that I felt I needed more practice, on the other hand I felt I could have been treated a little more patiently and hadn't done anything badly wrong, other than a few stalls and misheard instructions I wasn't far behind the other students.

I think I expected more encouragement or something,

I think that in all truth I wasn't ready to be out on the road, but that's mostly because the test centre was in the middle of a very busy town, there's no nearby quiet area's, I didn't really think that any of the students were ready for that lol. But, with a little more actual riding time during the day and more encouragement from the instructor I would have been. It just felt so rushed, and it went to the pace of the fastest learner not the slowest.

I've watched lots of videos of cbt's and read other stories and overall I'd say I was average on the day, I had no real disasters and was fine with all the slow speed stuff, what I got wrong seems to be what most people got wrong, some stalls, leaving the indicator on a bit long and the odd jerky movement.

I don't want to blame the instructor and test centre, ultimately it's my fault if I didn't reach the required standard in one day. I think I'm just shocked at how rushed and impersonal it all is. It's like if you don't instantly get what they're telling you then there's no real feedback or instruction. I worked out that I'd had a total of about 45 minutes riding all in by the end of the day, the rest was sitting around while other people did things or listening to someone explaining what colour cone is meant to be what. .. muffled,from a distance.

It hasn't put me off, I've booked some car driving lessons to get used to the road again, I tried to book some more bike time but the school "don't do that", it's cbt or nothing, so I've actually booked another cbt somewhere else in the meantime,if I pass that then great, if not I'll go back to the first place for my repeat.

[onesea]

so I've actually booked another cbt somewhere else in the meantime,if I pass that then great, if not I'll go back to the first place for my repeat.

 

I had similar experience was not allowed on road first day, of course it was the centers fault not mine , similar grumbles.

Did my CBT again at another center had a good morning and great ride, for various reasons did my DAS at another school...

Best thing I did learned allot from all 3 centers....

[Guest]

Interesting you said that.

I've now done a practice session with another school and the differences were surprising.

It was basically a mini cbt. The instructor was much more relaxed and explained things in a much better way. The whole experience was more suited to me, and he said that if I do as well as I did in my practice he'll have no hesitation taking me out on the road.

I still don't think the first place did anything wrong as such, just the teaching style didn't work for me, it was very lecture like and stiff, the second place we're more encouraging and happy to stop and explain things if you asked

Feeling more positive now.

[Psychybikey]

Bozaboza, you are just a spring chicken, I was 60 when I did my cbt and what a mess I made of it - what a lot of messes I made of it - and things definitely improved when I changed schools. It really does make a big difference if you can find somewhere that suits your learning style. Also, some of us need more personal help than others, and much as it pains me to admit it, at 43 years older than most of the other learners it takes a bit longer for things to sink in, for me. I was on the point of giving up many times and the only thing that kept me going was that I couldn't stand the thought of my husband, or worse, my son, shaking a pitying head and saying "Maybe it's not for you."

We're all different and I ended up paying for some lessons so I could concentrate on my individual problems.

I'm just coming up to a year after my cbt now and really need to get cracking on some more practice so I can think about taking my test to be able to ride something with a little more power than a 125, to get up our Welsh hills - not interested in speed, but you do have to do 70 on a dual carriageway as part of the test. As recently as last week this seemed like an impossibility but I did take my 125 up to 60 on Sunday so I know I'll be able to do that. It's the slow stuff that's going to be the challenge.

[Guest]

I don't feel like a spring chicken lol.

Well the good news is cbt now done

Everything went good apart from one wrong way moment, but other than that I'm happy. I need to work on getting up to speed quicker but I'll get that with practice.

I think I'm as well going straight into full test now, while my brain is in learning mode, good idea or bad idea?

[ortonas]

Few months ago I passed my CBT on first try. It was okay experience. Rainy day so I was a bit shiting my pants when instructor keep telling me to do 50 miles on this wet and bendy road as I have no sense whatsoever at what angle I will slide off, you know the grip of bike on wet or dry road. The headset was too loud, I couldnt understand what he was saying half of the times, but I managed to follow the directions which is still something. Also, driving a 125 bike is way more extreme than I thought so, I cant imagine wanting anything more powerful than that. And I cant decide if I was very stressed or very focused, definitely not relaxed tho. I suppose you get used to it, dont you? Or maybe because I was too worried about the instructor and not crashing somewhere.

Obviously, I made few mistakes like stalling in the hill and in roundabout I think I used back brake instead of front so when I would try to move it would cut off, but nothing major, I had few car beeps on small roundabout because for some reason it took like 20 seconds to get it started again.

[JBaptist]

I thought my CBT was bad, I'm shocked at the way some of you poor people have been treated!

Having never ridden a motorbike I was nervous and the day didn't fill me with any confidence

Jacket too big, gloves were ripped on the palm and catching on the throttle

the guy instructing us was a great guy, very mellow but he wasn't actually an instructor from the company, he was a friend filling in

I didn't feel ready to go on the road but the other 3 did so I was talked into it, basically told I'm worrying about nothing

1 of the guys didn't have a radio in his ear as it wasn't working, so he had to follow blindly, really felt sorry for him

Really couldn't get to grips with the clutch all day as I'm used to driving a car and letting the clutch pull me along with no gas, the 125 clutch just stalls the bike rather than actually takes you anywhere!

I expected them to fail me but they did give me a certificate, the guy just told me to have a little practise and get used to my bike on my own before going in heavy traffic

Wasn't impressed with the actual place but I don't want to namedrop incase it bounces back on me, arrogant and rude, quite intimidating when you don't know shit about bikes!

When i do my full test and training I will be going somewhere else!

[Guest]

I can't recommend D&J in Hebburn/North East enough. The guy is an absolutely spot on man and isn't afraid to slightly.. Go outside the rules a little.

Already booked all my lessons and test through him.

[Oasis]

Just done my CBT with Wigan training on a very wet and breezy day. Had a great day thanks to the instructor, but I'm terrible with names!

I just kept forgetting to turn the bloody indicators off!

[Tango]

Just done my CBT with Wigan training on a very wet and breezy day. Had a great day thanks to the instructor, but I'm terrible with names!

I just kept forgetting to turn the bloody indicators off!

Nice one mate.......I know other bikers that have been riding a long time that still forget to turn off the indicators occasionally. ......and I'm guilty of that too from time to time......

[Hoggs]

Congrats! Turning indicators off will become second nature once you've been riding a while and you'll remember to turn them off most the time! As Tango said... We do all still forget occasionally

[JRH]

Well done. I still occasionally forget the indicators and I don't want to think how long I have been riding.

[Oasis]

Cheers guys. That's good to know

[Westbeef]

I do my CBT Thursday and I was quite confident after having done one some years ago on a 50cc and also driving for quite a while. It may not be as straight forward as it seems reading what others have been through, slightly nervous now .

[Hoggs]

Hey Beefy (can I call you beefy?) you'll be fine! You can't fail a CBT because it's not a test. It's training - if they worry you might end up getting confused mount a pavement and run over a small dog they'll suggest you come back for more training just to get you as safe as possible

Just go enjoy it!

[Westbeef]

Hey Beefy (can I call you beefy?) you'll be fine! You can't fail a CBT because it's not a test. It's training - if they worry you might end up getting confused mount a pavement and run over a small dog they'll suggest you come back for more training just to get you as safe as possible

Just go enjoy it!

 

Of course you can call me Beefy I get it a lot with this username I pick up my bike the day after so I really hope I don't need to push it back an extra day .

[Adsh]

Thought I would post regarding my CBT experience

Day started off ok, the instructor was late and only one other person had turned up and he was resitting his for the third time because he only wanted a 125cc.

After a quick meet and greet the instructor went off to get the bike and rental gear, and promptly returned with a little 125 scooter, it was in a sorry shape (to be expected I suppose) and the gloves were in worse shape! started the CBT in what must be the usual fashion walking around using the stand etc. Shortly after it became time to ride and the biggest problem became apparent... The scooter would stall every time you closed the throttle.. I was assured that once were on the road it would be ok. We did a few exercises and practiced life saver etc, we were all done with them by 1100 took a thirty minute brake and we were off out on the open road! I made the mistake of closing the visor and it instantly steamed up and spent a good while trying to work out how to open it (first time wearing a helmet!) The nightmare of the turning off bike continued throughout the road test, resulting in one hairy moment at a roundabout! We did some more exercises and rode around for a while taking a couple of brakes.

Then went back to the lockup where I was told I had passed and got my cert and was home by 1430

All in all, I felt somewhat under prepared for riding out on the road and I was somewhat surprised people with no road experience are allowed to after doing such a short course. 4 days later I had my first bike delivered a CBR 125 was somewhat concerned about gears as I had never ridden a geared bike but worked it out in a few mins

Really enjoying my daily commute and only almost been killed once by someone reversing out on me! Will be booking my full test at some point

[Westbeef]

Here is my experience a couple of weeks after the occasion:

Arrived early, there was 3 of us. 2 of the lads were on 50cc twist and go and I was on a geared 125, an old Honda CG. We skipped a large majority of the early stuff and he got the lads going on the 50cc's right away and let them ride around getting used to them. During this he taught me through the gears and clutch (never ridden a geared bike before). We spent most of the morning getting used to setting off, stopping and gears etc. I really struggled with the slow speed control stuff (I'm gonna blame it on an old bike and my lack of experience with gears ) I kept applying too much throttle and jerking around, however it was quite an unresponsive throttle for the most part I couldn't hold it in a nice area for slow speed. My figure of 8 was woeful as were a couple of my U-Turns.

We got through everything to the point where he was happy with our control of the bikes (even though I didn't feel 100% with the controls of the bike). He went through the highway code stuff, one of the lads had to miss the road-ride as his provisional hadn't arrived yet. Which left two of us to go out on the road, we got geared up and off we went. The road ride was going mostly well, however I couldn't get the bike into 1st when coming to a stop ( defo the bike, as I've got my own now and I can do it with ease). I was kicking down the gears and it was sticking in second and I thought I'd done enough to take it down, this meant I kept stalling the bike. Instructor got a bit stressy about it, telling me "it's the last time I'm gonna tell you" just ignored him in regards to this and kept my head cool. I got around it by stopping completely and putting it into 1st at a stop (this worked for some reason). I started to do a little better then and got through the rest of the ride problem free. CBT passed and have been on my own bike a few times since, which is much much better. A lot smoother, nicer gear changes and quite nippy .

I have to say the CBT experience kind of ruined my excitement for riding, with me feeling like I was struggling and a stressy instructor (only really during the ride and my slow speed control). However I got on my bike and with the freedom and no pressure it instantly came back!.