Jump to content

CBT - Experiences of other Members


Recommended Posts

ok so had my CBT today everything went really well but i ultimately failed lol :( heres my little anecdote that yu can all have a laugh at :lol:


SO. . . the day started really well i had a good nights sleep was feeling good and went in a bit nervous but i figure thats normal lol :) there was me and one other guy who was doin a cbt before his proper test. so i had the safety talk got geared up got onto the geared 125 i would be riding and went out to the pad, everything was fine i hardly ever stalled had a few problems with the zig zag but apart from that all great :)

dinner break

on to the road!!

i was absolutely terrified at this point and the instructer took us a few times round the block which got my confidence up loads :) and then we rode round for ages lol i stalled at a massive roundabout in the town center and made alot of angry dirver 'friends' haha. but hey it was my first time on a bike so :up:

so it was all good my gear changes were smooth and i even managed to get some real speed up, my only problem was forgetting to turn off my indicator ( more times than i could count :oops: )

The instructor was a great guy thought i was doin really well and put me infront so thats when the real fun started for some reason i came to a junction did my mirror, lifesaver, moved over went to overtake lost contol and ended up a heap under the bike in the middle of the road :oops: i managed to smash the right mirror and smash the front light and really hurt my leg :( nice one karen :evil:

i then had some stupid woman honkin her horn to tell me to get outta the road, then she tried to run me over at which time the instructer saved my ass!

i was a bit of a mess but thought screw it i'm getting back on that bike and drivin it back to the school!! so i did much to the insructers surprise lol


obviously due to this i failed an was pretty miffed with myself :( so tomorrow i have 4 more hours of road practice I'll let you know how i get on :D

cant do any wose than today tho eh??

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dontcha just love car drivers in a hurry :booty:


It took Edison 1000 tries before he found the ideal components for the light bulb and no-one thought he was a failure!


Now you've had some 'on-road' experience the next time will be easier and more enjoyable too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

just thought i'd post this here, ive put it in my 'bike diary' thread (here) in the bike chat forum, but i thought more people prepairing for the CBT are going to read it here. if you want to see how im getting on after the CBT check out the other thread.

 

so i finally completed the CBT yesterday! it was one of the most intense days of my life, going from never riding a bike before to riding around Darlington for 2 hours during the school run.


i wont do a massive type up of the days events as i'd imagine most of you have done the CBT before, and there are loads of highly descriptive accounts of experiences in the CBT part of the forum, so i'll keep this brief as possible and stick to the actual riding experience!


I did mine at MMT motorcycle training in darlington who i would highly recommend to anyone who lives in the north east, they are excellent teachers and made a very intense and stressful day an enjoyable one!


so i got there for 8am after waking up an hour late and having to fork out for a £20 taxi to get me there on time, which was a bad start. There were two lads there already (both in their late 20's like me) and i quickly learned they had loads of riding experience so i was worried the day was going to go too fast for me. We did a few hours work at the base, the classroom stuff and then learning the bike controls (which i had already read up on myself) then we moved on to darlington football clubs empty carpark.


i was surprised at how quickly i picked up riding the bike, we did lots of maneuvres such as slow control, u turns, slaloms, emergency stops, how to turn at various junctions and roundabouts etc. they obviously found out at this point my lack of experience compaired to the other 2 guys so they decided that when we went out on the road one of the instructors would take the other 2 lads and one of them would take me out alone, which was just what i needed. so a couple of hours doing that we jumped back in the van and went back to the base for lunch and a bit more classwork for an hour or so, then out the road we went.


i hadnt quite prepared myself mentally for what was about to happen (i dont drive a car either by the way) so when i was on the bike kitted up about to pull out of the yard i dont mind telling you i was absolutely shitting myself. But we managed the 10/15 minute ride to the quiet area (it felt like a 40 minute ride in my head) then started a circuit of 5 roundabouts which took about 10 minutes each time, we went around it about 5 times. The roads were fairly quiet at this point but still plenty of traffic to keep me on my toes. Still doing 25 roundabouts after only riding a bike for a couple of hours in a carpark was very intimidating (especially as they were all right turns as well). with a massive amount of help from my instructor i kept control of the bike at all times and really started to get the hang of up/down shifting on the last couple of circuits. on the last couple of runs as well he was just giving me basic instructions to see what i had learned. at this point my legs were freezing from the air shooting up my trouser legs and my fingers were killing me from all the clutch/brake control, so we took a 5 minute break just to calm my nerves a little and discuss what i had done thus far.


We then did the emergency stop, and the U turn (which i had a bit of trouble with, but JUST about got it in the end) then we rode off for the trip back with a hill start on the way. so he took me the long way back because it took at least 20/30 mins to get back, on a busy 70 mph road to start with then lots of tricky junctions in the middle of darlington with the school run going on around us, it was very challenging but i did manage it. Did the hill start after a couple of attempts stalling (i was expecting to do it on a nice gentle incline but this was steep as f**k and right into a busy junction, so i infact did 2 hillstarts in quick succession) then got back into the base. by this point i was completely frazzled, and needed a cup of coffee and a sit down. The other 2 lads came in shortly after and were very impressed that it was the first time i had ever ridden a bike before and managed to complete it with very few hiccups, and to be truthful i was pretty surprised myself.


the whole day was excellent and i cant praise the instructors enough, they were very friendly and professional and gave me exactly the support that i needed.


so thats that, ive got my certificate and its time to start riding!

 

if anyone is reading this thread before doing the CBT and you've never ridden a bike before and you're looking for some advice here it is:


LEARN THE BIKE CONTROLS BEFOREHAND! you dont even need a bike for this, just do some reading and watch some of the tutorial vids on youtube or something. if i went into my CBT completely ignorant on where anything on the bike was alot of it i wouldve really struggled on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Passed my CBT this week and this thread helped me a little (and to be honest scared me a little in places :P) so I thought I would contribute and possibly scare others :)


Well luckily for me the weather was lovely on the day of my CBT and it was just me and one other guy. I was really nervous at this point having never ridden even a twist and go and going straight for a geared bike. Also by brother of some 5 years younger took his CBT a while back and passed in like 3 hours! (he had ridden before the cheeky scamp) So if I failed I would never hear the end.


We spent abut an hour going over what you needed to wear by law to ride and what you should wear to be safe then went out and learned some very basic bike maintenance (checking tyres, brakes, lights, oil etc) learned how the controls worked and biting points etc.


Now was the first of many moments of truth for the day, time to ride the bike! I was reasonably confident on getting the bike to move but lifting my feet onto the pegs and trusting the bike not to fall over immediately was scary, but the panic passed quickly and I was soon trundling around the test center doing 20-30 changing gears all that business having a great time.


Sadly this joyous care free feeling only lasts so long as I had to do slow clutch/brake control which I sucked at. I kept trying to adjust my speed with the throttle instead of staying steady on clutch and throttle and controlling with the break. After a while I got myself all frustrated and seriously had to do some bad boys “wooo saaa” chants to try and vent the annoyance (and it helped). The best advise I can probably give at this point is don't expect to do it right first time, listen to the instructor and keep your cool, if you get frustrated like me it only makes it harder to think about what you are doing. Also don't try to hard, the only time I fell off / dropped the bike the whole day was trying to be clever and do really tight figure 8's when I had only just picked up basic slow control. Take it show and practice.


Well, now game the realllllly scary part “OK Brian, we will have some lunch then are you comfortable going out on the road?” I was terrified, I wasn't quite comfortable with my slow control and was a little rattled from dropping the bike earlier on. Still I think my crazy biker side has craxy fast reactions as it managed to say yes with no hesitation leaving the rest of my being screaming “what are you doing!?” internally.


Only scary thinks were getting used to junctions I was not great at dropping gears initially so I stalled a few times, this is a prime example of when not to get stressed, don't worry if you are delaying people or anything like that. Much better you pull out safe that in a rush and get yourself killed. Also scared the crap out of myself and most likely the instructor when I misheard him on a round about and ended up committing to the left lane (and I wasn't going to swerve across lanes on a busy roundabout!) onto a duel carriageway instead of the middle lane meaning I was on my own on a 60mph road with no immediate exit. After that the nerves were pretty much gone ^_^


I guess the moral of my story is calm it down and breath deep if you are getting frustrated, I don't think you can get more nervous or scared than I was going onto the road but the instructor won't let you if he doesn't think you are safe. Also you normally start on side roads and can come back if you are not comfortable or the instructor does not think you are safe.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know I needed a full day but I do recall my instructor saying that the requirements were that he was confident you were safe on the road and at least a 2 hour road ride. If you can convince the insturctor that you are safe to go on the road and know all the bike safty / highway code stuff in an hour then I guess it can be done or maybe he just had a dodgy instructor *Shrug*

Link to comment
Share on other sites

guesss what-i failed my CBT three times-on the third time i pancickd and slamed the brakes becasue a trusck was coming towards me on a roundabout and i though he was guna turn off becaasue he had his indicators on and when he didnt i got really scared thus slamming the brakes and falling off the ped,i missed hitting the truck by about half a meter-becasue of that incident my confidence has litraly gone-i really want to get back on the road my im just to scard at the moment to attempt it. i dunno know what to do-somebody please give me some advice.


:((((((((((((((((

Link to comment
Share on other sites

rs50soulja, I wouldn't worry about it too much. We've all had near misses. How old are you and do you have much road experience (cars bicycles etc)? If not, I'd say get out on a pushbike for a little while and think about where you need to position yourself and looking out for how others are driving and what to avoid. You've not mentioned if you've done your CBT with the same place. I would look at going to another school. Explain to them what's happened and you've had your confidence knocked. If they're a good school, they'll be patient with you before taking you out.


A CBT isn't a test. Compulsory Basic Training. If you're not being trained correctly (which it doesn't sound like you are), find somewhere else!


Good luck next time round and keep at it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi, Last weekend I did my CBT on Suzuki GN125 with Ace Rider Training from Ewell but the training was in Tolworth. I was a bit scared a bit but on the day I stayed relaxed and did very well imo, I never made any serious mistakes etc and on the road 2 x 45 min I was leading the way most of the time as I was pushing and leading the way instructor wanted me to do.


There were 8 of us and 6 passed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just had my CBT today. Only had brief experience on an old field bike of a mates about 25 years ago. Did a small free taster session on Tuesday gone, but only spent 10 minutes on the bike. There were 2 of us there doing the CBT, the other lad had done his CBT 5 years previous and had rode 125's on the road before.


So we went thru all the sit down stuff that's already been mentioned here, and did the yard work (biting points, stopping, junctions etc), and I felt pretty good about it. Had no real dramas and nothing seemed too difficult.


Had some lunch, then a 30 minute talk, then out onto the roads. OMG, was I unprepared for that!!! :shock: :shock: :shock:


Couldn't get my right foot out of car mode, so kept trying to pull away with the rear brake on thinking my foot was on the gas pedal of the car. A couple of times I was trying to pull away in 2nd. The instructor got us to do a couple of U turns in the road, and my clutch control was garbage. Then we went to do a couple of emergency stops, and I hadn't looked behind me properly when I first pulled away and he wasn't impressed with that. He did say the 2 stops I did were quite good tho :D


However, eventually towards the end, it started coming together a bit and I started to relax. But it's the toughest thing I've ever done. But, I did pass it, and I've now got my certificate :D


One of the guys behind the counter asked me if I'd enjoyed it, when I booked my first real lesson, and I said no, which I hadn't. I'd had too much to think about and couldn't take it all in. It was too stressful be be enjoyable, but next time I might be better prepared for what the roads are all about.


I'm sticking at it, cos I've signed up for the full direct access. Had I just booked the CBT, my biking days would probably be over before they'd started :) Don't take this as a negative attitude, I really want to get my test and a bike, it's just I'm normally like Homer Simpson, if something is hard at first, give up. :)


Right, I'm off for some paracetamols, my head is pounding. :)


Andy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've just passed mine today as well (geared 125cc). :D I thought it was very easy but I have about 6-7 years experience on a 125cc scooter. (although it was on private roads in a relatively large housing cooperative in a different country. :mrgreen: )


Anyway good luck to anyone who are about to do their cbt's. :D

Just relax and enjoy as others previously said. :cheers:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I passed my cbt yesterday.


At the start of the day I was going down the DAS route about 2hrs in I was n't.


Day started off well just two of us on cbt training- myself and a young lady.

A couple of hours of safety chat - road positioning etc


Then the exciting bit my first time on a bike - they gave me a yamaha sr125 - I've got to admit was a bit small for me i think, I'm 6ft.

Went over checks on the bikes.

I've never used gears on a bike. So he quickly explained Down for first up for second .

Tried for about 20 mins to sort out the biting point - finally started to pull off ok. Then change to second and back to first on his mark.

Well i completely lost what gear I was in. I'm still confused even now about the gearing.


A big downer was when he said we'll be here till 5pm with you on that and asked me if i'd go on a twist and go scooter.

I quickly said yes to get it over with. He did say i could complete my cbt on the scooter then buy a geared bike to practise on.

Makes sense I suppose.


The usual turning left, right and braking excercises and it's off on the road !!!!!!!! Scary or what !

I'm a car driver since I was 17 but I was nervous - First thing he said was 30 mph please not kmh !!


Rode about quiet streets then did the u turn excercise and braking. Then turning excercises over and over.

I was loving it even on the scooter - what a thrill riding down the road at 30 feeling like it s 60 !

Back to the training room and it was time to get the certificate.


Feeling great today- I'm now going to get myself a 125 and build up to a big bike and gain experience

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I turned up late too my cbt to be greeted by the instructor that wasnt to happy, He then took £250 deposit for my das and we went into a little room upstairs where there was 2 other people sitting! I thought it was just me :(

Anyway started by showing us clothing and helmets and explaining what we where going to be doing which all sounded so simple. Out on the yard (that was tiny!!!) he showed us the bikes controls and stuff and for the other boy the scooter controls. Next thing up was taking bike off and on stand (simple so far) and after that the scooter boy went round in circles on his twist and go like he been riding for years! (he was only 16). Now the turn of the woman that was going on 125, She also took to it working that clutch like a dream which was the point i thought id do well too......Well my turn clutch in.. into gear...rev a little.....moving moving.... too many revs now as my hand is moving its self and my fingers are pulling and letting out clutch there selves too! I just couldnt do it! was really getting mad until 15 mins trying and everyone laughing (including me) i done it i was going in circles yippppeeee lol

Done figure of 8 (wobbly but done it) emergency stop and a u-turn which were ok but not perfect! Now time for class work learning about junctions and road possition then off to lunch at about half one. Two o'clock we resumed and i was told i had to wait an hour because legally he could only take two people out at once! i was gutted sitting there when they where away on the road. An hour and a half later they came back and it was my turn OH boy did the nerves just kick right into action heavy breathing and all! woo i was SH*t%NG my self.

Got on bike and started like i was taught and got in gear looked in mirrors done all lifesavers everything and moved off without a problem (which i couldnt do in the little yard without trouble) took a left at the first roundabout with no problem and then a left up into a country road and was told to get up to speed so i did got up to 50 i then was told to slow down as we where leaving scooter boy behind oops done a utrn on road and emergency stop and headed back to drop scooter boy off and pick up the woman who was waiting for us to get her as she had to go back out on road for u turn and emergency stop. After picking woman back up and going out again we arrived back at the cbt training place we both were presented with certificates i was surprised i passed as i thought my show in the moring was going to ruin my chances of passing even tho i was good on the road.

I asked the instructor what i should be working on to make it easier for continuing das and he said everything as i was SH*TE (his exact words lol) in the morning with my slow speed control. BUT I PASSED !!! CBT PASSED 23RD APRIL 2010 YIPPEEEE

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I turned up late too my cbt to be greeted by the instructor that wasnt to happy, He then took £250 deposit for my das and we went into a little room upstairs where there was 2 other people sitting! I thought it was just me :(

Anyway started by showing us clothing and helmets and explaining what we where going to be doing which all sounded so simple. Out on the yard (that was tiny!!!) he showed us the bikes controls and stuff and for the other boy the scooter controls. Next thing up was taking bike off and on stand (simple so far) and after that the scooter boy went round in circles on his twist and go like he been riding for years! (he was only 16). Now the turn of the woman that was going on 125, She also took to it working that clutch like a dream which was the point i thought id do well too......Well my turn clutch in.. into gear...rev a little.....moving moving.... too many revs now as my hand is moving its self and my fingers are pulling and letting out clutch there selves too! I just couldnt do it! was really getting mad until 15 mins trying and everyone laughing (including me) i done it i was going in circles yippppeeee lol

Done figure of 8 (wobbly but done it) emergency stop and a u-turn which were ok but not perfect! Now time for class work learning about junctions and road possition then off to lunch at about half one. Two o'clock we resumed and i was told i had to wait an hour because legally he could only take two people out at once! i was gutted sitting there when they where away on the road. An hour and a half later they came back and it was my turn OH boy did the nerves just kick right into action heavy breathing and all! woo i was SH*t%NG my self.

Got on bike and started like i was taught and got in gear looked in mirrors done all lifesavers everything and moved off without a problem (which i couldnt do in the little yard without trouble) took a left at the first roundabout with no problem and then a left up into a country road and was told to get up to speed so i did got up to 50 i then was told to slow down as we where leaving scooter boy behind oops done a utrn on road and emergency stop and headed back to drop scooter boy off and pick up the woman who was waiting for us to get her as she had to go back out on road for u turn and emergency stop. After picking woman back up and going out again we arrived back at the cbt training place we both were presented with certificates i was surprised i passed as i thought my show in the moring was going to ruin my chances of passing even tho i was good on the road.

I asked the instructor what i should be working on to make it easier for continuing das and he said everything as i was SH*TE (his exact words lol) in the morning with my slow speed control. BUT I PASSED !!! CBT PASSED 23RD APRIL 2010 YIPPEEEE

 

Good on ya mate. I've had my first "real" lesson last Sunday, and after a couple of mistakes (which I had to pull into the side and be told about strongly :)) I got much better and I've been told the next lesson is on the 500. Cannot wait. I was garbage on my CBT.


Stick in there, it'll all come together.


Andy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Well....where do I start!

Had my CBT today. There were 4 of us. They had all ridden before except for me! 2 of us went with one intructor (who seemed very strict) and then the other 2 of us went with a different guy.

We all had a CBF 125 to ride on which were nice bikes. Got on mine and I could only put my tiptoes on the floor. I phoned these guys when I booked and said that I was only 5'1 and they said that they had a small bike that I could ride. Turns out they didnt!


Anyway, spoke about the bike a bit. The instructor very briefly went through all the parts on the bike.We then started off by slowly moving the bike and then progressed to going faster and moving up to 2nd gear. Everytime I stopped the bike though, I lost balance and even managed to fall off 3 times.

Did a couple of left and right turns, did out U-turn, did a figure of 8 and then a couple of emergency stops.

All in all, I dont think we really spent much time practicing. There wasnt much space where I was either and the car park surface was REALLY uneven.

We then had a brief chat about the highway code, what signs mean what etc then we got out on the road.

My instructor thought it'd be a good idea for me to go on one of the 50cc scooters because of the height problem on the bike. I could still barely touch the floor when I was on the scooter.

Anyway, the first 10 mins on the road went ok and then the reason I failed...

Went to turn left onto another road and no idea what happened but I just totally lost it and went smack bang into the side of a car (it was a learner as well). I really couldnt work out the steering on the scooter, after all, I had spent ALL day practising on the bike.

Is it just me or was putting me onto a scooter that i'd never ridden before a bad idea?

Totally gutted and feels like I've just wasted my money.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

first off: Congrats to all who passed their CBT, and to those that didn't - you will get there, don't give up!!


Now, what the hell are some of these instructors up to? Are they trying to get people throught their CBT or create more work for themselves??? Strikes me anyone taking their CBT should ask around and pick a centre with a good reputation. Thankfully, I didn't have to do CBT, just the two part test (after failing the one part test - I cut it too fine :roll: )

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well....where do I start!

Had my CBT today. There were 4 of us. They had all ridden before except for me! 2 of us went with one intructor (who seemed very strict) and then the other 2 of us went with a different guy.

We all had a CBF 125 to ride on which were nice bikes. Got on mine and I could only put my tiptoes on the floor. I phoned these guys when I booked and said that I was only 5'1 and they said that they had a small bike that I could ride. Turns out they didnt!


Anyway, spoke about the bike a bit. The instructor very briefly went through all the parts on the bike.We then started off by slowly moving the bike and then progressed to going faster and moving up to 2nd gear. Everytime I stopped the bike though, I lost balance and even managed to fall off 3 times.

Did a couple of left and right turns, did out U-turn, did a figure of 8 and then a couple of emergency stops.

All in all, I dont think we really spent much time practicing. There wasnt much space where I was either and the car park surface was REALLY uneven.

We then had a brief chat about the highway code, what signs mean what etc then we got out on the road.

My instructor thought it'd be a good idea for me to go on one of the 50cc scooters because of the height problem on the bike. I could still barely touch the floor when I was on the scooter.

Anyway, the first 10 mins on the road went ok and then the reason I failed...

Went to turn left onto another road and no idea what happened but I just totally lost it and went smack bang into the side of a car (it was a learner as well). I really couldnt work out the steering on the scooter, after all, I had spent ALL day practising on the bike.

Is it just me or was putting me onto a scooter that i'd never ridden before a bad idea?

Totally gutted and feels like I've just wasted my money.

 

my older brother had the same set of circumstances to you. he was with 2 other people when he did his and they had both ridden a bike before and my brother never had so like yourself barely got any time to practice. i think its probably cuz the instructors look at the pupils and if they see most are competent and getting on well they must just think "right then on the road we go".. and forgive me if i sound like i am taking the p*ss but you couldnt work out the steering on a scooter?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Welcome to The Motorbike Forum.

    Sign in or register an account to join in.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use Privacy Policy Guidelines We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.

Please Sign In or Sign Up