CBT - Experiences of other Members

[Guest]

K so thought I should add to this.

Completed mine last october with Horizon in Milton Keynes.

Had not ridden prior to this other than a couple of hours on a field when i was 14 on a little automatic moped... (less said about that the better )

Was pretty straight forward on arrival was a little worried as was the only one who had not ridden before so was the new boy lets say.

Interestingly haven thought about the CBT before hand I was thinking my biggest issue would be gears but throttle and breaking would be fine..

Gears were easy took to that like a duck to water but throttle control took a little while for me.. but got it in the end.

Horizon use the area around the milton keynes bowl so although its all off our normal roads they still have a road network so very good in that you use T junctions and roundabouts a fair amount before you go out.

The actuall ride out was fantastic.. the first feeling of the freedom.. you could'nt see it but was smilling the whole time especially when the route takes you out over some country roads.

Got back was advised I'd passed had a quick chat about future lessons and mod 1 and mod 2 and was then offered to go back out that very afternoon as one of the guys with us was told he would not be going out so had extra space.. needless to say I went out a second time with the same smile

Cant wait to do the rest and get out on my own! (I say my own I doub't that will last lol the wife is already looking at clothing lol)

[PetrolHead]

They said: "You are going to pass unless you do something really stupid."

[toon83]

They said: "You are going to pass unless you do something really stupid."

 

i did loads of stupid things and i still passed

my cbt was horrible and only bit i enjoyed was the end, tbh if they had told me to do a few lessons before the cbt i would of been fine as i had never been on a bike before that day..

its pretty impossible to fail once you are out on the road i did the following and still passed

left my indicator on 15+ times

locked up my back wheel

stalled over 30 times

went through 5 changing lights

nearly got hit by incoming traffic

[RoundEdd]

So I have been waiting ages to do this but finally today was my CBT and I am happy to say I arrived home with a certificate.

Such a great day from start to finish. Main problem I had while learning was putting the little Honda CG back on its centre stand finally got it at the end of the day though.

The 2 hour ride was fantastic although it was in Salford an area I am not familiar with and some quite busy traffic so when I was leading I was very cautious with me speed and told to hurry up. But afterwards when I followed at the back I was told to ease off and slow down because I was going to fast. Would recommend RJH Riding School in Salford although I don't think its a nice area to learn to ride, I had cars beeping at me and overtaking dangerously on roundabouts. Though I got a nod from a passing biker which made the day for me.

Can't wait to begin DAS when I get the funds.

[Guest]

Though I got a nod from a passing biker which made the day for me.

 

 

Its the little things lol.. tottally with you on that

[Reaper]

Only 12 days did i really look at bikes with any interest,before that i didnt look twice at them.In fact i would go on to say i used to laugh at the very thought of motorbikes and all that goes with it.

In 12 days my whole look on the subject has turned on its head,so much so that i booked by CBT for Friday gone and thankfully passed.

So,how did i do?

Firstly i have to say that i have NEVER rode a bike in my life,not even as a kid.I am now 48 yrs old and was about to take the controls for the first time in my life.

The morning was spent with the instructor and one other learner,the other chap had a rev and go,i was learning geared bikes.All the safety guidelines where mentioned and the highway code then off to the test area.The other chap found it easy,well he didn't have to do the gear change like me,but i struggled.having driven cars for 30 years the new setup on the bike was alien.I couldn't get used to the clutch and the braking,totally different to the cars i use.But i persevered to the stage i was to go on the road.

Not exactly excited at this prospect i rode out onto the road with the instructor and the other guy.I stalled many times because i kept failing to engage the clutch,but never fell off and for the most part did ok.Then we went on to a stretch of road that was a 50 zone,the instructor said `give it some welly`,well,i was petrified,i managed 45 mph but felt like 145mph,i was bricking it.

A few more streets and a few more turns and back at the center.He gave me my CBT but added that maybe one more additional encouraging lesson may be in order,to which i fully agree.But as a first timer i thought i did well.

I am now about to re-read the highway code for my theory,a book i haven't honestly read for 30 odd years.

So,one step at a time eh?

[tryme]

ok did my cbt last thursday and thought id add my story.

tbh because of driving a car for a few years i found it relatively easy to control the bike and ride it on the road once i got used to getting my hands to do what my feet normally do. This took about 20-30 minutes and after a while i only stalled a couple more times i think this was mainly due to nerves and trying to rush.

all i can say is stay calm and listen its pretty straight forward. if you drive already the laws of the road are pretty similar except for doing life savers but after a while this comes naturally....i even did a life saver in my car comming off the roundabout on the way home lol

so any ways on with the story...

i got to the cbt centre (in new addington) at around 8:50 at first i was the only one there and the guy was really nice made me a tea and talked to me in general and then about bikes. there was another guy due to do his cbt on a 50 twist and go but he turnt up late so we started the talk on bike gear etc without him.

when he arrived we briefly went over what we already said and then took the bike(s) on and off the stand and were talked over basic controls and checks etc.

then we went out onto a tennis court which is where they do it now (used to be in a playground but they moved) and firstly we walked the bikes round - easy as pie considering i thought id drop it. and then we started up and rode them about a bit doing various drills such as stopping between cones and doing a figure of 8. after this we did a pretend major to minor and minor to major turnings and doing U turns. we then did emergency stop and then went for some lunch..

after more talking we went out onto the road which was the best bit by far and i couldnt wait to get started. i was nervous at first because the other guy worked in a moped shop and seemed to know more than me but in fact i dont think he did and he was just blagging to look the part...he admitted after he was to worried to do his cbt on a geared like i did. we just did the same sort of things as the tennis court but on the road...minor to major major to minor U turns no emergency stop though...things like that

after about 2 hours on the road we went back and got our certificates...the guy training said i did really well and congratulations etc....then we spoke about the das and i went home

the end

[Silverspring]

I did my CBT in July at a school in Edinburgh city centre. I booked it with a friend, neither of us had ridden bikes before so we thought we'd be equally sh!t and could have a good laugh. As much as it was fun it was also quite intense and there wasn't as much opportunity for banter as expected! I had spent about a year as a pillion on the back of a gixer 750 so I had all the stuff but had no clue about how to actually ride!

Anyway, lovely sunny day, had the hour long 'This is what you need to wear on a bike chat' I was informed my visor was illegal (thanks to the ex) but I had awesome boots (Alpinestar SM-X), I think the line was, you won't see the car coming towards you but at least you'll not lose a foot in the accident there were 4 of us, 1 had a dirt bike for years the other was a mountain biker, then there was us newbie getting more nervous by the minute!

Anyway, it was a 2 day course, all yard stuff on the first day then you went back for 2 hours on the road. During the afternoon while practising junctions on the yard my friend sort of fell off her bike, went round the corner and it sort of collapsed. She was very upset. I think her pride was more hurt than anything else but she refused to get back on the bike.

We had a little break and I had a chat with her, tried the nice approach then tried the man up approach then tried the I'm disappointed approach, none of the worked, I was all out of ideas, she went home.

End of the day we did the 'How you're going to die on a motorbike' module then went home to think about the next day on the road.

I thought I'd be out on the road alone but there was another guy who'd spent 3 days on the yard to get good enough, I thought that meant he'd be better than me, I was wrong.

Out on the road was far more fun than I expected, we did junctions then roundabouts. I got straight lined on the 3rd round about, the instructor was swearing like a trooper at the driver who did it, I just laughed it off. I'd checked my mirror and realised the woman was coming on with me so when she cut me up I was already slowing down and hanging left.

Other than that it was a fun afternoon, any time someone left and indicator on they had to do press ups. I only had to do 1, only left the indicator on once. The other guy had to do it 4 times, when he left the instructor said if he hadn't been coming back for a DAS course the next week she would have seriously considered telling him he'd have to come back and do more!

[Guest]

Did my CBT Tuesday 22/11/11 with Link Bike Training in Chelmsford. Four people on the course, two experienced riders plus one who had ridden off road but never on road. I was kind of the opposite as I have a full car licence but zero bike experience.

The instructor was excellent, he set up the other three with excercises to do then devoted about an hour to me, getting me started and focussing on low speed control of the bike. Luckily, I took to it well and was able to join in excercises with the other three at the end of that hour, going round cones and avoiding each other!

After lunch we went out in groups of two on the road to put what we had learnt into practice. We rode for about an hour and a half around various housing estates, with radio link to receive instruction, and I got my pass certificate at 3pm.

I loved the day TBH and would recommend it to anybody, Link in Chelmsford I would recommend to anybody in the area. I celebrated my pass by buying a bike which wasn't that local, so my first ride after the CBT was on an unfamiliar bike, 50 miles from South London to Chelmsford... Reckon I could ride anywhere now!

[Harrydh3]

I did my CBT last thursday and did literally everything imaginable wrong simply because it was my first time on the road on a bike (i say bike, i did it on a 50cc moped)

went down 2 no entrys

left the indicator on more times than i remember

went over the stop line 5+ times

by the time we got back to the center i'd resigned myself to failing and thought it was a foregone conclusion, but he then comes through and say's i've passed.

although he was a terrible instructor, not helpful, didnt explain everything properly and just was a very poor at speaking to people who dont know much about riding motorbikes.

i would NOT reccomend LMT motorcycles in louth. DONT GO THERE.

-Harry

[Renavon]

Did my CBT a few months back. Was an interesting day, both me and my partner passed.

We started in a classroom, getting tested on a few different road signs and common knowledge. If we didn't know the answer he just explained it to us.

After we went out to a school playground (empty of course) and saw our bikes. The person i was with was on a 125cc geared chinese bike, and i was on a 50cc chinese twist and go scooter. We were taught about techniques for cornering, braking, acceleration etc.

The twist and go was pretty easy and i didn't have any problems. The other guy on the geared was having a few getting to understand the clutch, and was continuously stalling and surging forward. The instructor was beginning to get a bit annoyed after a while and so went over to give him a hand. Turns out, the reason for his problems was not only that it was his first time on a geared bike, but also he was missing the two middle fingers on his clutch hand. Apparently from where a toilet fell off a store shelf landed on his hand when he was young (Ouch). So the instructor felt a bit bad for his tone when he was talking to him...

After we went out on the road for about 2 hours, making our way back to the training centre, using radios with headphones. At one point, he said straight on, and at that point i was facing the first turning. So i went that way. Turns out he meant across the roundabout and i had just turned onto the dual carriageway. So absolutely scared Sh*tless, i pulled over and waited for the instructor who guided me up and around a main roundabout. Phew.

After that we made our way back to the centre and were told we both passed. Was a fun day ^^

[Inithra]

Did my CBT yesterday, did pass, but it was a bit of a mixed bag.

I managed to turn up late, by about 15 minutes, partly due to leaving late, partly because the postcode covers around 5 miles, the industrial estate wasn't in the SatNav and we ended up at the entrance to a park a few miles away

Bear in mind my brother was driving, not me, as I've never driven a car and have only ridden a geared bike once before, during a CBT 2 years ago that I didn't finish, and before that a moped a couple times 12 years ago.

So after sitting down with the other 2 people there, the instructor continued from where he had gotten to, without telling me what they had covered already (no big deal, it was only a few minutes, and I had done that part already, and I'm much better intellectually than practically), until it got time to bring the bikes out.

I'd been asked on the phone if I wanted to use a geared or automatic, and as I already have a geared bike waiting, I decided to use one for the course.

After a very brief discussion on maintenance, the other two got on their machines (one 125 same as mine, one 50cc auto) and rode off to the training area.

Then I was told to get on my bike, which the instructor has already started, and to put it into first, which I managed, and to pull away, again I was ok. At this point, I hadn't been told anything about the clutch or the brakes, instead he walked alongside as I rode along, and decided to tell me which was which when we got to the 45 degree slope with a right angle mid way down that led to the training area.

Having survived that, not sure how, I was told to merge with the "traffic" and do a few circuits. At first, I was ok, but quickly got out of my depth around corners, not knowing how to use clutch control properly, getting freaked out when the bike started to rev like a tw*t as I held it in, thinking I had somehow applied too much acceleration. This caused me to panic a little, and start putting my right foot down to slow myself, let go of the accelerator around the corner, and at one point I just got around the top, and instead of curving back down, went in a straight line and had to jam the brakes to stop.

Rather than tell me what I was doing wrong, and how to correct it, the instructor pulled me aside and suggested I switch to an automatic, so as not to delay the other students any more than I already had by being 10 minutes late. I reluctantly agreed, whilst thinking I might just pack it in altogether.

Back at the unit, I had a smoke, and decided I would switch, just to get it over with, and WOW, what a difference. It really wasn't any harder than riding a pushbike (with not much more power, to be honest!), soon I was riding better than the other students, and the two hours on the road (split into two sessions, so there were never more than 2 students to the 1 instructor) flew by, with no major incidents other than my hands feeling like solid, incredibly painful lumps of ice the first time out (I had the wrong gloves on the entire time! Summer not winter ones!), and being told to speed up, not slow down, on a corner the instructor "takes at 90", and forgetting to indicate right for taking the fourth exit on a roundabout.

Wow, that turned out to be a very long post.

At the end of the day, I have my certificate, so can legally ride my geared 125. Personally, though, I wouldn't feel comfortable doing so other than in a straight line in 1st, so I may get my brother to ride mine, while I ride his 125 auto before he sells it, to a nearby car park or something, and figure out clutch, back brake and gears there, before taking it on the open road. Nik (Moore, of Bike Moore, Banbury Oxfordshire) was a really nice guy, and a good instructor, but I did feel rushed and wasn't so much taught how to ride as put on a childs toy and instructed how I could best protect myself from other road users.

[Susieque]

Thanks for the write-up - glad you've got your CBT certificate.

IMO the instructor was poor! You paid good money for the training you wanted, not to be told to do something different just to suit other people!!

I wouldn't go back there for big bike training!!

[davefly76]

If he can't teach 3 people at once then he shouldn't be trying! You paid YOUR money to do what YOU wanted and he basically forced you to do something else..

Imagine you paid for something in a shop and the assistant gave you something else just because they were busy and thought you'd prefer the other item..

I wouldn't be visiting him again!

[Weebl]

Well my CBT was 'interesting'

The lady doing it the same time as me was a Filipino who although she spoke English, it was not brilliant, and although she had ridden loads of Mopeds in the Philippines had never driven or ridden on UK roads, and did not know anything about it, roadsigns, road markings, rights of way, nothing!

After the initial bit on the test pad where she showed she was quite good at getting the ped to go where she wanted and I realised I could still manage to operate a bike clutch without stalling and also get it to go where I wanted we headed out onto the road.

He sent me out in front while he kept a close eye on her at the back, I trogged off, following his instructions albeit not going much faster than 40 due to her being on a 50cc twist and go, she seemed to be doing ok, although he had to keep reminding her to not ride in the gutter, look in her mirrors, indicate and look over her shoulder.

After a bit of riding about she got a little confused in town and basically zipped off on her own following the traffic, ignoring his instructions and not looking where she was going

We got sorted out, did the U turn and emergency stops bit and rode back, and he lost his temper with her just a little bit for the first and last time after she got in the gutter to let a car who was sat on her rear quarter in town, squeeze past.

We topped up with petrol, and he then let me ride back to the test center alone, while he followed on behind with her 'to let me open it up a bit'

Overall I had a good time, it reminded me of what it was actually like to ride a bike again, and re-affirmed my decision to get my licence, I am looking forward to Tuesday, when I have a 3 hour conversion lesson onto a 500

The instructor was fantastic, he was incredibly patient with the other person, and although she was very dodgy at first, she was a lot better at the end (whether than sticks or not I don't know?) and I am happy that I have not forgotten how to stay on and make it go and stop, and I certainly learned when to lifesaver and how to position in the road, whether for riding along, roundabouts, or turning at junctions.

Overall a good experience and it has given me a lot more confidence over what is to come

[MattB]

...Then I was told to get on my bike, which the instructor has already started, and to put it into first, which I managed, and to pull away, again I was ok. At this point, I hadn't been told anything about the clutch or the brakes, instead he walked alongside as I rode along, and decided to tell me which was which...

...I wouldn't feel comfortable doing so other than in a straight line in 1st, so I may get my brother to ride mine, while I ride his 125 auto before he sells it...

 

This is, to be honest, shocking.

An instructor should NEVER put a student onto a bike without first going through the explanations of the controls. There is also a lesson where you should manually handle the bike - on and off the stands, wheel it round etc. to get the feel of it. You should then be taught how to get on and off correctly, the safety position, in and out of gear, find the biting point.... And so on

I'm amazed you survived the day and I am concerned that you do not feel safe to ride on your own! The instructor that taught me always said - imagine they are your son or daughter, would you be happy for them to ride on their own at the end of the day?

You didn't get a proper CBT, despite the fact he was a nice guy. This is your safety that is at risk here. Why do we stand for such poor service in this country?

[philcarr24]

CBT COMPLETION : July 2012

COMPANY : Greenlight rider Training - Preston, Lancashire

At the start of my CBT I felt overwhelmed about the process of so much happening in such a small amount of time. Clutch, Gears, Front and Rear Brakes etc. Really does take concentration in the early stages.

Started off with a talk on what kit we should use, why, Rules of the road, insurance, and other relevant information (Took around 30-45 minutes). This section was EXTREMELY thorough, detailing different types of materials used in helmets, which I found extremely helpful.

ext was time for the Bike inspection. Here we went through basic features of the bike (Headlight, brakes, forks, chains, oil, clutch, etc) and daily, weekly monthly, yearly checks and maintenance. 15 Minutes

Next was time for getting on the machines and testing the controls, but first, getting the thing off and onto the centre stand and then the side stand. From here routines really. Learnt the controls moving off, front braking, driving around cones, figure 8's, junction turning, gears, u turns, emergency stops etc.

Around 2pm was time to hit the road. In pairs, with 1 instructor. we went out onto the country roads, did hill starts, dual carriageways, town traffic, and more U turns, emergency stops and junctions on the street.

When we got back, we received a de-brief on possible ares of improvements for future riding, and issued our certificates

All in all, i see this course as a valuable part of gaining your license. Cant wait to get though my DAS

[murp24]

The story of the CBT and The Tit.

I did my CBT a few years ago and I dare say it was a totally shit experience...apart from being able to ride a motorbike. I went to a place in Billingham in Teesside called ACE Motorcycle Training and all seemed alright on arival, had a large car park, big building, and shipment containers...thought these were for the bikes...YES that is correct but one was the office! So i though that was a bit odd as they had a fairly big building. Anyway I sat down in the container going through my details and payment etc and then was handed to a man, can't remember his name...lets call him 'the tit', well we went into the building for the first time where he drew a few pics of signs and busses etc to see if i had any road knowledge and then told me i looked like the type of person who looks quiet but would smash someones face in in a heart beat and scare everyone...ok a bit odd as i just turned 18 at the time. Me and the tit went outside and showed me the bike, it was a Honda CG125, and then pointed out parts of the bike and asked if i knew what they were and what they did and I passed that easily as i was striping my Honda MT50SL down to rebuild at the time and had a fair knowledge of bike engines etc. He then started with daily and weekly checks such as oil, petrol, tyres etc and when it came to the forks he said you need to keep an eye on the seals and if you see oil on the forks then its a sign/or the seals have gone, he then trailed off and I looked at the forks and to my amazement they were oily ... so i pointed it out as i didnt want to be getting face planted on the road ... and the tit said 'oh ye....i will let them know and put that in the book' f**k me! Now heres were it gets worse, I am now getting onto this bike and told to start it, i turn the key and i press the electric starter and nothing...flat battery so i kick it and get it started and then ride it forward to a stop and then told to ride around and get a feel. I then go through basic movement and hand the bike to the tit so he can show me a basic turning, change lane and stop and after this as i go to get back on the bike the tit says these bikes are easy to wheelie and he gets back on and tries to wheelie it with no success and almost falling off. Anyway I do the basic manover and told to do it again and again till i get it tip top as a few times i stalled and when i cracked it i looked over to my right and he had f**ked off, so i keep doing it and then the tit apears and says 'thats mint well done you got it' so i though i would now be moving on to something else...nope...he f**ked off again. When he finaly apeared and went through a few more things i parcked the bike up and put it on its master stand and chained it up and handed him the key, he then told me he is off now and got to go back to duram and that he would of took me around the streets but he forgot a radio (bollocks), so I am confused by this (i have never been to billingham before and was given a lift to the center) he then said i should go to the boss in the container, and the boss said he is going for some dinner and will be going for 10-15mins and that there are a few shops a few streets away if i wanted to get anything (all i wanted was to pass and be gone). He then locked everything up and went. I was left there on my own for 30mins and when he finaly returned he told me to put a radio and hi-jacket on. This is the boss and not the instructer. We go through the prosedure if i dont hear an instruction to tap helmet and if its not that and a problem with the bike to tap helmet again (this guy did his job properly and made sure i knew what he was showing me before i left) i was then told to ride the bike around while he got ready just to warm it up, we went out and did u turns, emergency stops (got told off because i had my thingers over the clutch ready to engage for the stop ) We then rode around the streets some more and got back to the center where he said i have failed today... because i wasnt checking my blind spots...i was always checking my mirrors and checking next to me when turning but just because i felt the need...the instructor never mentioned blind spots. I was then to come back at a later date to do my test again this time with the boss and a other learner, this time i was on a beat up smashed in twist and go 50cc scooter, not a clue what it was, to scratched to tell, looked like a chinese import. This time it was pissing it down badly, and went out to try it again, and remebered to check blind spots mirrors and signal, watch my speed etc, needly flew off the bugger on a roundabout felt the back end slide a bit, well long story short i passed. Hurray! If you read all this im sorry i was bored and i bet you are too after reading this haha.

[Mrs_T]

Hi! This is long, sorry!!

So, I did my CBT yesterday!!

I went with a local and popular training and examination centre in Hull, as I'd seen them training on the school behind my house for 5 years and they seemed down to earth, plus no one tends to have a bad word to say about them...

7.45am start, powerpoint presentation with added safety gear video. I had opted for a geared bike as I don't really fancy a scooter and never wanted to be left without a clue if I happened to only be able to find a cheap bike with gears. Having never ridden on a bike even as a pillion, this was a brave move! There were 3 of us learning geared bikes, and 4 riding scooters, all but 2 of us brand new riders (the 2 not-new riders hadn't ridden for 3.5 and 4 years anyways, so practically new riders!). I was surprised that out of the 7 of us, there were 3 females.

We picked out the safety gear we wanted to borrow after having a look around the bike and being shown how to conduct basic safety checks like that the wheels move, full lock left and right can be achieved and the lights are all working. I would now suggest to any smaller people to barge to the front at this stage. I spent the entire day in gloves that were ripped down most of the fingers and too big for me, a jacket that would have fit another one of me in (their smallest; I'd advise taking your own) and a helmet that was too small for me causing me to remove it to a spotty imbedded-lining-face after spending the day very squidged and uncomfortable.

I stalled and chugged repeatedly, and very nearly fell over/crashed into fences for about half an hour . I'm pretty certain that this was because of distraction (could see my daughter in her bedroom from the pad and as it was now 9am I was nervous my babysitting sister hadn't yet gotten up to feed her - as soon as my sister came to the window I could immediately do corners, check morrors and pick up speed!), so try and clear your mind of all other things before you start. We then got on to changing gears and picking up speed, before learning how to do a lifesaver. We spent about 2.5 hours on the pad in all, practicing these things (about 45 minutes longer than those on the scooters). We only did two left hand corners, compared to about 30+ right hand corners, and I totally lost my balance and nearly fell off again doing that, despite riding relatively confidently by this point. After this, went back to the base and broke for lunch for an hour!

Our instructor over on the pad really needs to be referred to at this point. I won't name him as I've named the company and think that it would be unfair, and as such will refer to him by a fitting nickname. We'll go for "Shouty Man". Although I appreciate he had best interests in heart, wanted to ensure our safety and undoubtedly knew better than we did, he seemed to have a pretty short fuse on him. Yes I was making stupid mistakes by letting go of the clutch too soon and not picking up brand new manouvers immediately, but I don't feel I needed shouting at for it. It made me more nervous, and I screwed up more because of it. He put it down to me rushing when I then made another error. I put it down to fear and tension. The company has 6 instructors, and the others are extremely banterous and down-to-earth, and I loved being in the base to have a laugh with them. I saw one of them conducting more training today when I was walking into town with my daughter and got a wave! Shouty Man was not someone who would like jokes. Or waving. When I was at home making lunch for myself, daughter and sister, I was really considering just not returning to complete my on-road part. I had very little confidence in my ability to ride, and couldn't imagine myself completing it successfully. Perhaps Shouty Man is more used to teenaged boys who need their feet keeping on the ground? He was positive at times, and was capable of positive reinforcement, but it was kind of over-shadowed by the Shouty-ness.

Anyways, £95 out of pocket and no driving license currently in my possession (they keep it in the centre all day), I decided to return to the base for the road ride. When we were let back in, we went upstairs for a delightful little powerpoint about all the different ways that you could die from riding a motorbike, graphic images of what happens if you wear shorts as opposed to trousers, a reminder that helmets can smash in half on impact and a rules-of-the-road mini-quiz in which the 4 drivers (including myself) realised that we collectively had absolutely no idea what an amber light meant in a traffic light sequence. Luckily we were with one of the 5 other instructors, and it was something to laugh at ourselves for, not a Shouty matter. We thought it was a "get ready" signal, as opposed to a "make sure the person behind won't kill you if you don't move" signal. I did, however, promise to re-read my Highway Code.

After the powerpoint that sent half of the class to the toilet in fear, we got ready to go out on the road. We had an earpiece each to put on, and with a helmet too small that was even more of an issue for me, with my ear fast becoming bright red and really painful. My heart sunk when Shouty Man announced that we would be with him. We went down the road perhaps half a mile to a dead end to pick up some confidence. It was pretty cool riding down there, up to the point that I realised I was riding at 20MPH and nearly messed myself! Little bit of failing-to-do-manouvers-and-being-shouted-at later, we went for a ride around the estate. I was up front for most of the 2 hours, as the other girl's battery died on her earpiece thing, so my confidence had to pick up. I learnt to steer more with my hips than with my shoulders, which made things so much easier. I don't know if that might be a frowned-upon way to ride by bikers generally, but shouty man never rollicked me for it, so I assume it must be somewhere near safe. I was terrified about doing a roundabout but on approach at a relatively large roundabout I kicked its butt first time. Shouty man kept talking to the other girl despite her earpiece not working, and never bothered to use her name, which scored me a right rollicking for pulling into a carpark after he shouted "GO LEFT, GO LEFT" into the mic and I followed the instruction. The radio contact is one way, and so there's no way of checking the instructions are actually for you. The idea is you nod if you can understand them, and shake your head if you never made out what they said, or are psychic and know they're talking to you through their helmet but can't hear them in your ear (something the other girl got a rollicking for). As he wasn't directly behind me at this point (still on the main road when I was down side street), nodding never worked as there was no opportunity for him to say 'Not you'. He kept saying to me once I'd pulled up in the car park (in angry voice) "why have you pulled into there? I never told you to go in there, so why did you go in there". When I nervously answered "I'm sorry! Her earpiece isn't working, I'd come left around the corner and you said to 'go left, go left', I assumed you wanted me to come into here? Sorry." he replied "I understand why you did that now, then, but you've put yourself in danger coming into here [an scubadiving kit car park] and shouldn't have come in" (still angry).

Bit more riding later, ability to get to 30mph achieved, confidence heightened, free-riding done when instructor and other learner got stuck at traffic lights/junctions/roundabouts later, I PASSED my CBT! I actually couldn't believe it!! They way he'd been going off at us I assumed we were both useless (you can still hear when the other person's getting told off, even when they're not psychic enough to know they are)! Back at base we were talking to two others who'd gone out with a nice, jolly man and mentioned that Shouty Man was very "stern", and the other girl replied, "yeah he did get angry fast, didn't he?". My sister did her CBT with the same company a while back, and apparently her instructor gently encouraged her when she screwed up with "you know you did that wrong, don't you, don't worry about it and just don't do it again" in what she described as a clearly friendly and relaxed manner. It would seem that this one instructor is suited to teens who ride like maniacs, not girls who're terrified of a machine they've never sat on before. Although I passed, what was supposed to be an enjoyable experience was terrifying. I'd seriously suggest that, if you don't trust your instructor to not keep yelling at you when you're not the sort of person who benefits from tough love in such an environment, ask someone if you can go with a different instructor. It may or may not have made a difference for me, but I am terrified of getting on a bike now. Despite his words of encouragement, his shoutyness has stuck so much more.

[murp24]

Hi! This is long, sorry!!

So, I did my CBT yesterday!!

I went with a local and popular training and examination centre in Hull, as I'd seen them training on the school behind my house for 5 years and they seemed down to earth, plus no one tends to have a bad word to say about them...

7.45am start, powerpoint presentation with added safety gear video. I had opted for a geared bike as I don't really fancy a scooter and never wanted to be left without a clue if I happened to only be able to find a cheap bike with gears. Having never ridden on a bike even as a pillion, this was a brave move! There were 3 of us learning geared bikes, and 4 riding scooters, all but 2 of us brand new riders (the 2 not-new riders hadn't ridden for 3.5 and 4 years anyways, so practically new riders!). I was surprised that out of the 7 of us, there were 3 females.

We picked out the safety gear we wanted to borrow after having a look around the bike and being shown how to conduct basic safety checks like that the wheels move, full lock left and right can be achieved and the lights are all working. I would now suggest to any smaller people to barge to the front at this stage. I spent the entire day in gloves that were ripped down most of the fingers and too big for me, a jacket that would have fit another one of me in (their smallest; I'd advise taking your own) and a helmet that was too small for me causing me to remove it to a spotty imbedded-lining-face after spending the day very squidged and uncomfortable.

I stalled and chugged repeatedly, and very nearly fell over/crashed into fences for about half an hour . I'm pretty certain that this was because of distraction (could see my daughter in her bedroom from the pad and as it was now 9am I was nervous my babysitting sister hadn't yet gotten up to feed her - as soon as my sister came to the window I could immediately do corners, check morrors and pick up speed!), so try and clear your mind of all other things before you start. We then got on to changing gears and picking up speed, before learning how to do a lifesaver. We spent about 2.5 hours on the pad in all, practicing these things (about 45 minutes longer than those on the scooters). We only did two left hand corners, compared to about 30+ right hand corners, and I totally lost my balance and nearly fell off again doing that, despite riding relatively confidently by this point. After this, went back to the base and broke for lunch for an hour!

Our instructor over on the pad really needs to be referred to at this point. I won't name him as I've named the company and think that it would be unfair, and as such will refer to him by a fitting nickname. We'll go for "Shouty Man". Although I appreciate he had best interests in heart, wanted to ensure our safety and undoubtedly knew better than we did, he seemed to have a pretty short fuse on him. Yes I was making stupid mistakes by letting go of the clutch too soon and not picking up brand new manouvers immediately, but I don't feel I needed shouting at for it. It made me more nervous, and I screwed up more because of it. He put it down to me rushing when I then made another error. I put it down to fear and tension. The company has 6 instructors, and the others are extremely banterous and down-to-earth, and I loved being in the base to have a laugh with them. I saw one of them conducting more training today when I was walking into town with my daughter and got a wave! Shouty Man was not someone who would like jokes. Or waving. When I was at home making lunch for myself, daughter and sister, I was really considering just not returning to complete my on-road part. I had very little confidence in my ability to ride, and couldn't imagine myself completing it successfully. Perhaps Shouty Man is more used to teenaged boys who need their feet keeping on the ground? He was positive at times, and was capable of positive reinforcement, but it was kind of over-shadowed by the Shouty-ness.

Anyways, £95 out of pocket and no driving license currently in my possession (they keep it in the centre all day), I decided to return to the base for the road ride. When we were let back in, we went upstairs for a delightful little powerpoint about all the different ways that you could die from riding a motorbike, graphic images of what happens if you wear shorts as opposed to trousers, a reminder that helmets can smash in half on impact and a rules-of-the-road mini-quiz in which the 4 drivers (including myself) realised that we collectively had absolutely no idea what an amber light meant in a traffic light sequence. Luckily we were with one of the 5 other instructors, and it was something to laugh at ourselves for, not a Shouty matter. We thought it was a "get ready" signal, as opposed to a "make sure the person behind won't kill you if you don't move" signal. I did, however, promise to re-read my Highway Code.

After the powerpoint that sent half of the class to the toilet in fear, we got ready to go out on the road. We had an earpiece each to put on, and with a helmet too small that was even more of an issue for me, with my ear fast becoming bright red and really painful. My heart sunk when Shouty Man announced that we would be with him. We went down the road perhaps half a mile to a dead end to pick up some confidence. It was pretty cool riding down there, up to the point that I realised I was riding at 20MPH and nearly messed myself! Little bit of failing-to-do-manouvers-and-being-shouted-at later, we went for a ride around the estate. I was up front for most of the 2 hours, as the other girl's battery died on her earpiece thing, so my confidence had to pick up. I learnt to steer more with my hips than with my shoulders, which made things so much easier. I don't know if that might be a frowned-upon way to ride by bikers generally, but shouty man never rollicked me for it, so I assume it must be somewhere near safe. I was terrified about doing a roundabout but on approach at a relatively large roundabout I kicked its butt first time. Shouty man kept talking to the other girl despite her earpiece not working, and never bothered to use her name, which scored me a right rollicking for pulling into a carpark after he shouted "GO LEFT, GO LEFT" into the mic and I followed the instruction. The radio contact is one way, and so there's no way of checking the instructions are actually for you. The idea is you nod if you can understand them, and shake your head if you never made out what they said, or are psychic and know they're talking to you through their helmet but can't hear them in your ear (something the other girl got a rollicking for). As he wasn't directly behind me at this point (still on the main road when I was down side street), nodding never worked as there was no opportunity for him to say 'Not you'. He kept saying to me once I'd pulled up in the car park (in angry voice) "why have you pulled into there? I never told you to go in there, so why did you go in there". When I nervously answered "I'm sorry! Her earpiece isn't working, I'd come left around the corner and you said to 'go left, go left', I assumed you wanted me to come into here? Sorry." he replied "I understand why you did that now, then, but you've put yourself in danger coming into here [an scubadiving kit car park] and shouldn't have come in" (still angry).

Bit more riding later, ability to get to 30mph achieved, confidence heightened, free-riding done when instructor and other learner got stuck at traffic lights/junctions/roundabouts later, I PASSED my CBT! I actually couldn't believe it!! They way he'd been going off at us I assumed we were both useless (you can still hear when the other person's getting told off, even when they're not psychic enough to know they are)! Back at base we were talking to two others who'd gone out with a nice, jolly man and mentioned that Shouty Man was very "stern", and the other girl replied, "yeah he did get angry fast, didn't he?". My sister did her CBT with the same company a while back, and apparently her instructor gently encouraged her when she screwed up with "you know you did that wrong, don't you, don't worry about it and just don't do it again" in what she described as a clearly friendly and relaxed manner. It would seem that this one instructor is suited to teens who ride like maniacs, not girls who're terrified of a machine they've never sat on before. Although I passed, what was supposed to be an enjoyable experience was terrifying. I'd seriously suggest that, if you don't trust your instructor to not keep yelling at you when you're not the sort of person who benefits from tough love in such an environment, ask someone if you can go with a different instructor. It may or may not have made a difference for me, but I am terrified of getting on a bike now. Despite his words of encouragement, his shoutyness has stuck so much more.

 

Hi there, sounds a bit like my story above. When I went back the second time I had blue riped gloves on and when I took the off at the end my hads were died blue, looked like I had badly bruised my hand. Don't let it get you down, when I passed of a scooter I bought a geared bike and just went around my local streets to gain my confidence on it. You could always get a bike and just ride it to a car park and practice...theres always the scuba kit place Pretty bad that he didn't stop you both and replaced the earpiece for the girl as its standard safety for the instructor to be able to comunicate with every pupil incase of an acsident or emergency. Helmets are meant to be tight but not painful, you are meant to have plumped cheeks (kinda looking like a fat kid with its face shut in a lift).

[Mcv]

I took my CBT today, never been on a motor bike before, my hubbie is into his bikes and wanted me to be a pillion, but I rather be in controll so decided if I can't beat 'em I will just have to join 'em lol.

The instructor was a really nice bloke, and I was with 2 others, one 17 yr old lad who was doing his CBT for first time, although he has been riding on the road with out one on a moped. The other bloke was doing his CBT for second time and has lots of experience on bikes and on the road.

First of all we had the suitable gear chat, and then off to make our selves familiar with the bikes.

I thought I picked it up quite well and once we had done figure of 8, U turns and emergency stop, we had lunch some theory and then out onto the road.

I did find slow manovers not so easy out on the road, but I didn't do too bad as I did come away with my certificate.

I need now to get as much practice as possible, the end of September I have 2 training days then my mod 1.

Claire

[Paul456]

After reading a few people's posts in this thread, i'm still not really sure how to feel after my attempt yesterday. All of my friends passed their's on the first day, i didn't finish mine yesterday though (does this class as a fail if they tell you that you need a few more hours?).

All the theory stuff was pretty straight forward, i've been driving a car for 5 years so i know how to use the road without crashing on every journey, so i guess that gives me a little advantage. And being an engineer and looking after my own car i also know about doing checks and the legal requirements of vehicles too, so all that went well.

I jumped straight on the 125 geared bike (a Yamaha), and got used to letting the clutch pull me using a small amount of throttle and just going around the play ground, that felt natural.

However, next cam the figure of 8, and i just could not do it. It was a vicious circle, i got mad at myself for not being able to do it, which made it seem harder than it probably ever was, i was actually worse at it by the end than after the first couple of goes probably. The instructor told me to just go and relax, finish of the safety theory stuff and have a drink, so i did.

After this i went back out feeling more relaxed and more confident after him telling me that riding the bigger, geared bike first does make it more difficult than using a rev-and-go. We moved onto gear changes, emergency stops, road positioning etc. I seemed to get all of that fairly quickly, perhaps not with the most confidence (it was raining and slippery by this time, which unnerved me a little). After practicing different types of junction and he basically said it was getting too late and wet (only 2:30 i think) to finish off and spend the two required hours on the road.

I must admit, when i got home i was very disappointed in myself, i really couldn't believe i'd not managed to pass on day 1 when all of my friends had done.

Still not that sure what to think about it, i wanted to do my direct access before the law changes next year, but this has put a bit doubt of my ability to do this in my mind now.

I will say though, that the instructors seemed pretty good, they were both pretty calm, they didn't shout at me once, they kept telling me what i was doing wrong and how to correct that (even if i still forgot to do what they told me), if i was them i probably would have got frustrated at me, haha.

[Susieque]

Don't feel bad about it - there is no actual pass/fail as it's traqining not an exam.

The slow manouveurs (?) are tricky for a lot of people - I was the same as yourself, got really cross with myself which made it worse! It will come to you!!

The instructor was probably right not taking you out if the weather was dodgy and it would've been starting to get dark when you finished. No matter! If they're a good training school they should just let you go back and finish the training FOC on another day, and you'll feel fresher as well.

[Paul456]

Don't feel bad about it - there is no actual pass/fail as it's traqining not an exam.

The slow manouveurs (?) are tricky for a lot of people - I was the same as yourself, got really cross with myself which made it worse! It will come to you!!

The instructor was probably right not taking you out if the weather was dodgy and it would've been starting to get dark when you finished. No matter! If they're a good training school they should just let you go back and finish the training FOC on another day, and you'll feel fresher as well.

 

I did in fact pass the next weekend. We went straight on the road, but having a week between my only 2 biking experiences i stalled twice (while going down hill, haha, because i was in 2nd gear), so we just went down to the playground for 10 minutes then straight onto the road. Damn i enjoyed it, more than i thought. Just slowly going around estates and through a busy town on a 125 brought me much more joy then i ever expected. The week before i was wondering weather or not to continue, but this has confirmed that i really need to get my test passed. That day i passed my CBT although he said he needed to see my clutch control get much better before going on a bigger bike.

I had another lesson the following Friday which was just brushing up on the 125, he said i nailed my clutch control, did pretty much everything perfectly, and this weekend i'm having my first lesson on the 600 Hornet (a bike i would like to buy if i pass my test in time).

[Phil]

Although it's not really advertised or shown as a pass or fail, it's still the instructors right to refuse you a certificate if he/she thinks you're not up to standard and invite you back for some more training. Sounds like on this occasion though it's just taken you a little longer to pick it up and they'll always make sure you're safely in control of the machine before taking you out on the road, even if you've got to go back another day to complete it.