CBT - Experiences of other Members

[dar1976]

On 30/01/2022 at 14:26, dar1976 said:

My CBT Experience.

 

I turned up for 0830 ready for a 9am start.  Temperature was -1.  By the time I had my full gear on, I barely noticed the chill.  I had previously had a few email conversations with Stuart of Andover Rider Training so we followed up on various concerns in person whilst we waited for the other trainee to arrive.

 

I had already mentioned my desire to move on to bigger geared bikes in the Summer and so I thought I should aim for a geared 125 bike today.  The other chap was there for his second CBT and has motocross experience.  So the session had it’s challenges for both of us.  He felt he had to knock some of his bad habits away and I had to conquer my fears of never having ridden a motorbike. 

 

We were shown the controls for the bikes – 2021 Binelli 125s – and all happy with that.  Then we wheeled the bikes over to the pad.  Manual handling was all good.  No issues there. 

 

Started up the bikes and the other guy goes first.  Showing how to ride in a straight line from one end to the other.  No pressure then.  He does this 2 or 3 times end to end, round the end cones and back again.

 

Then it’s my turn.  I mount the bike, start it up and try and find the footpegs with the lack of downwards peripheral vision inside a helmet.  Took me a while to get the hang of that.  6ft4 with long legs wasn’t doing me any favours.  Anyway, I get a run up and down the yard a few times – stalling from dropping revs too much or forgetting to pull in the clutch when I come to a stop.  Not exactly foreign as I have been driving manual vehicles for 20 years.  Just struggling to convert foot actions into hand actions.  By the third time he left me to do it on my own as he could see I was stressing myself out.  That bit finally clicked.  I was getting quite good at slow control in a straight line and paddling round the corners with my feet.  

 

Meanwhile the other chap had moved on to slow control exercises – U-Turns and Figure of 8.  I could see he had much more confidence and was getting through the session much faster than myself.

 

I will give Stuart credit, he was very patient with me and gave me plenty of opportunities to get the hang of it. It was around this point that (after 2.5hrs) Stuart said we really need to be getting moving and pushing on.  Fair enough.  SO I was given the option of a 50cc Automatic or go home, lick my wounds and come back another day for some geared bike lessons.   For all I was kicking myself, I knew I was holding up the other trainee and Sturt only had so much patience. 

 

I had a 5 minute chill and decided to go back another day.  I would have been cheating myself to scrape through on a ped.  Also I am 23 stone.  That ped would have screamed for mercy

 

So all in all, I take away a  couple of positive things.  He said my knowledge was good (Thanks YouTube) and he could see I was making progress – just not at the rate that either of us were comfortable with.  I am 45 so it’s taking a bit more to sink in.  I was also doing shoulder checks naturally (my HGV training rubbing off)

 

So I am going back for a few 1-1 lessons on the geared bike.  He’s certain I will be fine.  Just a bit slower to pick things up than others.

 

Oh and I didn’t drop it.  So I can’t be that bad

 

 

So today was my second session with Stuart.  I've come away buzzing.  Have spent 2 hours in the yard cracking out U-Turns, Fig-of-8's and Slow Speed Exercises.   Wobbly start, but half an hour in and I was a lot more confident.   Then we went and did gear changes up the access road.  Got up to second and third gear and back down without too much drama.  Then back down the yard to do simulated junctions.  Slow Speed stuff had sunk in and was passable.  It's all starting to get through my thick head.   He is pleased with my progress (as am I) and says we can go out on the road and potentially sign me off next Thursday.  I am so much more upbeat today than last session.  Looking forward to it.  Then save my pennies for the 'big bike' course.  Thanks to all for your words of encouragement.  Keep up the good work and good luck to all that are doing their CBT between now and next Thursday.

 

Dean

[Bender]

@dar1976soon be distant memories, all the stress that is , some take longer than others, better you feel comfortable on the bike than been thrown straight out on the road terrified. 

 

[dar1976]

On 11/02/2022 at 12:41, dar1976 said:

 

 

So today was my second session with Stuart.  I've come away buzzing.  Have spent 2 hours in the yard cracking out U-Turns, Fig-of-8's and Slow Speed Exercises.   Wobbly start, but half an hour in and I was a lot more confident.   Then we went and did gear changes up the access road.  Got up to second and third gear and back down without too much drama.  Then back down the yard to do simulated junctions.  Slow Speed stuff had sunk in and was passable.  It's all starting to get through my thick head.   He is pleased with my progress (as am I) and says we can go out on the road and potentially sign me off next Thursday.  I am so much more upbeat today than last session.  Looking forward to it.  Then save my pennies for the 'big bike' course.  Thanks to all for your words of encouragement.  Keep up the good work and good luck to all that are doing their CBT between now and next Thursday.

 

Dean

So I’m just back from a 2 hour ride around Andover and pleased to say I’ve made the grade.   The learning begins here.   But my DL196 is in my possession and it’s a step in the right direction.  Onwards and Upwards.   
 

Cramp started to set in after about 45 minutes of riding the Benelli at 6ft4.  So I’m glad we got to stop at around that point and go over how I felt the ride was going.  
 

Thanks to Stuart at Andover Rider Training.  Highly Recommended if you are over this part of the country.  
 

Good Luck to all who are training.  
Dean 

[MikeHorton]

1 hour ago, dar1976 said:

So I’m just back from a 2 hour ride around Andover and pleased to say I’ve made the grade.   The learning begins here.   But my DL196 is in my possession and it’s a step in the right direction.  Onwards and Upwards.   
 

Cramp started to set in after about 45 minutes of riding the Benelli at 6ft4.  So I’m glad we got to stop at around that point and go over how I felt the ride was going.  
 

Thanks to Stuart at Andover Rider Training.  Highly Recommended if you are over this part of the country.  
 

Good Luck to all who are training.  
Dean 

The cramp and ache thing is  most likely down to using muscles in a way you haven't before, sat in an unusual position and moving parts of your body differently. When I came back to biking I picked my 250 up from Peterborough and rode it all the way back to the west Midlands I felt the same. You will soon get used to it. 

[S-Westerly]

33 minutes ago, MikeHorton said:

The cramp and ache thing is  most likely down to using muscles in a way you haven't before, sat in an unusual position and moving parts of your body differently. When I came back to biking I picked my 250 up from Peterborough and rode it all the way back to the west Midlands I felt the same. You will soon get used to it. 

Ditto. Bought mine in Vauxhall, London and rode back to Gloucestershire.  Longest and furthest I'd ridden in over 30 years. With hindsight probably not the most astute action I could have taken.  

[MikeHorton]

1 hour ago, S-Westerly said:

Ditto. Bought mine in Vauxhall, London and rode back to Gloucestershire.  Longest and furthest I'd ridden in over 30 years. With hindsight probably not the most astute action I could have taken.  

A definanate John Wayne swagger

[robinj]

Interested to hear others experience and to guage whether or not I am in the wrong here.  My 16yr old did her CBT yesterday.  She has been riding bikes in our fields/hill for years so perfectly happy with that side of it, but obviously been 16yrs old (to the day) she had never been on the road before. 

 

There was a bit of a cluster when they got to the centre as 2 of the bikes were broken, so they were delayed for an hour or so.  The others on the course were all middle aged (and car drivers).  One of them could barely ride the bike and dropped it twice in the car park.  When they went out to do the road bit they were short of time due to the mix up with bikes and they had to share the bikes, meaning that he took them out 2 at a time and was running quite late.  I suspect he was therefore in a bit of a hurry.  The instructor took them once round an Industrial Estate (with him in front) and then put her in front and promptly went up to a roundabout, followed by traffic lights onto quite a busy road.  She managed ok but was pretty nervous so on a couple of times made a few mistakes.   1hr 30mins later (max, might have even been 15mins shorted than that) they were back at the centre.  She got her certificate but the instructor said she clearly had no road experience and should have a bit of extra road riding training which is fair enough.  HOWEVER, I would have thought that it was entirely obvious that a 16yr old would have no road experience and part of the CBT should have been working on that.  I don't feel that putting her in front right away and straight into hazards etc was a particularly good idea.  The course seems completely geared up to older people who have been driving cars for years and are therefore used to being on the road.  I am being unreasonable in thinking they should have spent a bit more time driving around with the instructor in front and getting her used to being on a big road, OR were we totally unprepared?  The instructor was very insistent that I book her a half day road training session and kept saying I should do it right away (just go round to the office now and book it).  I don't have a problem with that, but I think I am going to book it somewhere else as I don't feel entirely confident in that centre.  Presumably as she actually has her certificate she is perfectly legal to now go on the roads (we live in a very quiet rural area and she can do little rides with her Dad who has 35yr plus experience) and then in a few weeks I might book another session somewhere else to get her a bit more road experience.

[Stu]

1 hour ago, robinj said:

Interested to hear others experience and to guage whether or not I am in the wrong here.  My 16yr old did her CBT yesterday.  She has been riding bikes in our fields/hill for years so perfectly happy with that side of it, but obviously been 16yrs old (to the day) she had never been on the road before. 

 

There was a bit of a cluster when they got to the centre as 2 of the bikes were broken, so they were delayed for an hour or so.  The others on the course were all middle aged (and car drivers).  One of them could barely ride the bike and dropped it twice in the car park.  When they went out to do the road bit they were short of time due to the mix up with bikes and they had to share the bikes, meaning that he took them out 2 at a time and was running quite late.  I suspect he was therefore in a bit of a hurry.  The instructor took them once round an Industrial Estate (with him in front) and then put her in front and promptly went up to a roundabout, followed by traffic lights onto quite a busy road.  She managed ok but was pretty nervous so on a couple of times made a few mistakes.   1hr 30mins later (max, might have even been 15mins shorted than that) they were back at the centre.  She got her certificate but the instructor said she clearly had no road experience and should have a bit of extra road riding training which is fair enough.  HOWEVER, I would have thought that it was entirely obvious that a 16yr old would have no road experience and part of the CBT should have been working on that.  I don't feel that putting her in front right away and straight into hazards etc was a particularly good idea.  The course seems completely geared up to older people who have been driving cars for years and are therefore used to being on the road.  I am being unreasonable in thinking they should have spent a bit more time driving around with the instructor in front and getting her used to being on a big road, OR were we totally unprepared?  The instructor was very insistent that I book her a half day road training session and kept saying I should do it right away (just go round to the office now and book it).  I don't have a problem with that, but I think I am going to book it somewhere else as I don't feel entirely confident in that centre.  Presumably as she actually has her certificate she is perfectly legal to now go on the roads (we live in a very quiet rural area and she can do little rides with her Dad who has 35yr plus experience) and then in a few weeks I might book another session somewhere else to get her a bit more road experience.

 

Hi and welcome to the forum 

 

Many years ago when I did mine they catered for everyone! 

 

There was a fair few instructors and they watched us all and separated us in to those that could ride and had road sense and those that couldn't ride and had no road sense 

 

There was one woman who was struggling with everything so one instructor took her for one to one training 

 

It was well organised and everyone passed their CBT and they all passed safely 

 

It sounds to me like that centre was totally unorganised 

 

Personally if she is OK riding the bike and its just road sense then I would be taking her out and educating her yourself and maybe invest in some bike to bike intercoms so you can talk to her if need be to give instruction 

[dar1976]

1 hour ago, robinj said:

Interested to hear others experience and to guage whether or not I am in the wrong here.  My 16yr old did her CBT yesterday.  She has been riding bikes in our fields/hill for years so perfectly happy with that side of it, but obviously been 16yrs old (to the day) she had never been on the road before. 

 

There was a bit of a cluster when they got to the centre as 2 of the bikes were broken, so they were delayed for an hour or so.  The others on the course were all middle aged (and car drivers).  One of them could barely ride the bike and dropped it twice in the car park.  When they went out to do the road bit they were short of time due to the mix up with bikes and they had to share the bikes, meaning that he took them out 2 at a time and was running quite late.  I suspect he was therefore in a bit of a hurry.  The instructor took them once round an Industrial Estate (with him in front) and then put her in front and promptly went up to a roundabout, followed by traffic lights onto quite a busy road.  She managed ok but was pretty nervous so on a couple of times made a few mistakes.   1hr 30mins later (max, might have even been 15mins shorted than that) they were back at the centre.  She got her certificate but the instructor said she clearly had no road experience and should have a bit of extra road riding training which is fair enough.  HOWEVER, I would have thought that it was entirely obvious that a 16yr old would have no road experience and part of the CBT should have been working on that.  I don't feel that putting her in front right away and straight into hazards etc was a particularly good idea.  The course seems completely geared up to older people who have been driving cars for years and are therefore used to being on the road.  I am being unreasonable in thinking they should have spent a bit more time driving around with the instructor in front and getting her used to being on a big road, OR were we totally unprepared?  The instructor was very insistent that I book her a half day road training session and kept saying I should do it right away (just go round to the office now and book it).  I don't have a problem with that, but I think I am going to book it somewhere else as I don't feel entirely confident in that centre.  Presumably as she actually has her certificate she is perfectly legal to now go on the roads (we live in a very quiet rural area and she can do little rides with her Dad who has 35yr plus experience) and then in a few weeks I might book another session somewhere else to get her a bit more road experience.

I had to sign a disclaimer to say I had enough training and was comfortable to go out on the road.   As said above, it sounds like they were highly disorganised.  She is fortunate to have Dad as backup and she has the bit of paper to say she is allowed out.  Maybe Dad can take her out for some initial sessions before she goes out on her own.  

[robinj]

Thanks, that is what we are thinking, though her Dad will need to take her out as we'd just fight over the intercoms!  Just really felt like they were only prepared for people who had already been driving for years and as that was what most of the group was, they worked to that level, not hers.  Coupled with being short on time due to lack of bikes she didn't have enough time on the road.  I did think sticking her in front after 5 minutes was a bit extreme and bordering on dangerous .  

[KiwiBob]

3 minutes ago, dar1976 said:

I had to sign a disclaimer to say I had enough training and was comfortable to go out on the road.   As said above, it sounds like they were highly disorganised.  She is fortunate to have Dad as backup and she has the bit of paper to say she is allowed out.  Maybe Dad can take her out for some initial sessions before she goes out on her own.  

I think it might be Mum as back up and Mum that can take her out. ')

 

[robinj]

3 minutes ago, dar1976 said:

I had to sign a disclaimer to say I had enough training and was comfortable to go out on the road.   As said above, it sounds like they were highly disorganised.  She is fortunate to have Dad as backup and she has the bit of paper to say she is allowed out.  Maybe Dad can take her out for some initial sessions before she goes out on her own.  

hmm, don't think she did that, just signed the CBT certificate.  Yes, time on the quiet roads with her Dad and me to build up her confidence.  I am going on theory that she has the bit of paper now so am going to ignore the centre's "request/demand" she comes back for more training.  Not sure I trust them anyway!

[robinj]

Just now, KiwiBob said:

I think it might be Mum as back up and Mum that can take her out. ')

 

hahaha!  We can both ride bikes but to be fair Dad is ALOT more patient than I am so he would be the best person to do anything that involves trying to teach her something!  I will follow at a safe distance with my mouth firmly shut!

[robinj]

Thanks for the responses.  She's had a good ride this afternoon with her Dad and is already feeling much more chirpy, her confidence clearly got a bit of a battering yesterday so great to get out on a sunny afternoon and have a ride about and remember why she wants to do this!

[Bluemoon77]

Just back from my CBT, got to finish it on Saturday with road riding. 

 

Initially was disappointed I didn't get to have a road ride, but actually in retrospect I agree with the Instructor that I needed some more slow control work. Struggled with the figure 8 for quite a while, was so difficult to get out of the habit of using the throttle to stop and start, rather than the use of the back brake to anchor and the clutch on biting point, along with the habit of leaning into the turn on the figure 8 rather than away, but eventually got there.  

 

Enjoyed it, and I think I'll be fine on Saturday, but itching to get it all right!!

 

I obviously want to get my CBT (hopefully on Saturday) and then get some lessons to get the full motorcycle licence.

 

I am working throughout the week so likely to only be able to get lessons at weekend.   I would obviously like to ride a bigger bike eventually and will have lessons for this. 

 

The instructor did mention about possibly getting a 125cc to practice on with L plates, initially this had not been my plan as I was just thinking lessons on a bigger bike would get me to the standard required.  However the instructor got me thinking. 

 

What's everyone' s thoughts on:

(i)  buying a 125cc to practice on with L plates, alongside lessons (DAS)? 

(ii) I can also hire the 125cc from the riding school for £45 for half a day, or

(iii) just take DAS lessons weekly?

 

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

Bluemoon77

 

[Fish]

I was on a 125 for a year (covid and lack of tests being the reason) and I found it a great learning aid. It kept me out and about learning.

 

I'd go with getting a 125 until you can book the 3-5 days off for the DAS course. I'm not aware of anywhere that hire's 125's, you'd be paying for a half day lesson with the school which will become expensive quickly.

 

I'm also not aware of any companies that split the DAS down so that you can do a day a week sort of thing. 

 

Good luck with which ever way you decide to go down.

[dar1976]

Have a chat to your instructor.  They may split your learning down to a 4 hour session on PAYG.  Salisbury Motorcycle Training (one of my local schools) does this.   Bear in mind that it may stunt your learning curve.   And tests can generally only be done Monday to Friday and are dependent on instructor availability - often CBTs are done at the weekend.  

[timmy164]

Taking more time to get used to riding bikes is not a bad idea.

everyone learns at their own pace, no right or wrong in that.

 

I think your getting good advice, take your time. 
A 125cc for a few weeks/months isn’t or shouldn’t be a deal breaker.

Enjoy it.

 

Good luck.

[dynax]

I am starting my DAS at the end of the month, I am doing a 4 day course split into a half day a week, so it possible to have the training to suit your needs.

[Gerontious]

In my opinion its only worthwhile buying a 125cc bike if: you cannot afford the DAS and then buy a bigger bike AND insure it. Or, if you intend holding on to the 125cc for at least 12 months, before moving up. Riding the bike for 12 months will give you 1 years "No Claims" which will have a significant effect on your insurance when you move up.

 

But, there have been plenty of people on this and other forums who have just gone for it. from zero experience to full license in just a matter of weeks. we're all different and this suits some people where it may not suit you. Its your money, your decision to make.

[Blackholesun]

I rode a 125 for a year and found it Def helped me gain confidence.also apart from insurance you won't lose any money on a second hand Japanese bike either 

[Shasel]

So my CBT experience was interesting. I live in shetland so have to come to the mainland to do anything test related. Decided to do CBT while on holiday visiting relatives. First day I was super nervous and truth be told a little frightened of the bike. Trainers were old school bikers who had next to no patience, didn't really explain anything well about how to control the bike and shouted a lot. That did not help my nerves. I was getting there but not ready to go out on the road so spent more time in the yard trying to cope with gears and clutch. Came away pretty deflated and was ready to give up to be honest. My wife suggested I should try again while it was still fresh. I decided that I would go the automatic route to just get the CBT and then run a 125 for a period and learn on ym own time. Really enjoyed it on the automatic and got my CBT. Almost went the twist and go route I enjoyed it that much.