DAS soon - what should I practise?

[Rodders]

Yo

I did my CBT in July, haven't ridden since as I've been intending to do DAS this year. I've booked my first training session for next weekend. The training school have 125s for hire, so in prep' for next weekend I have booked one out for the day tomorrow. I did OK on CBT, had most difficulty with slow control - moving away co-ordination of clutch and throttle, and the emergency stop gave me the jitters because I thought I was gonna lose the front end.

I wondered what things would be best for me to practise the most, aside from the two above. And any drills you can recommend (not the Makita 18v type )

For context I've been driving for 21 years and was a driving instructor for 5 of those, and I ride push pike on the road in London every day, so I'm fairly confident of my road sense. It's more about getting used to the controls of the bike.

[Bender]

You probably just in need of time on the bike, once you have to stop having to think about what your hands and feet are doing everything gets much easier.

[mike_1984]

Id agree with bender, time in the saddle so your not worrying and looking for the controls .

[Rodders]

Well, I got about 2.5 hours riding in before having to take the bike back. Would have liked more, but it was great fun and useful.

I started by riding back to my house through fairly quiet and slow roads. A little bit wobbly in places when moving off, and there was a definite problem when needing to almost stop then get going again - in the car I call this a Rolling 1st and I think it will work the same on a bike but I need to get used to the throttle and biting point, as well as the balance and whether to put a foot down or not. Also, moving off just takes a bit longer than I'd like so when I got stopped at some traffic lights, I felt a bit vulnerable for a few seconds when they went green and I couldn't get moving.

I then headed out into the countryside where it was almost empty of traffic, so I could practise moving off, hill starts, and emergency stops. I'm not as scared of the front brake throwing me over the bars now, and I got a feel for the rear brake for hill starts....and then decided I quite like using it for junctions and lights etc. much like the handbrake in a car - a kind of "launch switch".

Then I did about 1 hour of normal town riding, deliberately looking for situations where I couldn't predict the stops and starts - parked cars, blind corners, pedestrians etc. By this point I was getting fairly smooth with everything, though I do find I miss the gear lever frequently and also flick it into neutral rather than 2nd occasionally. Perhaps that's down to new boots, and partly down to the Lexmoto YZF not being the most ergonomic of designs (I liked it though).

I felt like I was really conscious of what I was doing, and what other road users were doing. I used to be a driving instructor so it's quite natural for me to be alert, but riding raised that because I felt more vulnerable. I spotted cars that hadn't seen me, and started to prepare to avoid a collision, and that's obviously very healthy. I do think my control skill need a lot of work so that I can deal with stuff more instinctively though.

Next week I'm doing a day on a 600cc, with an instructor for guidance, so I'm looking forward to that.

[Tango]

Nice one, mate......glad you enjoyed it......

Yep, the rear brake is a bit like the handbrake in the car......The use of it will be covered in your DAS training, as it's invaluable for low speed control too......

You'll probably find the 600 easier to ride than the 125......Most people do......

[Rodders]

A couple of other things I forgot to say:

1. I made a conscious effort to look where I wanted to go. We've all heard that advice about not looking at the opposite kerb when you emerge to the right etc. I nearly got caught out during my CBT, so yesterday I tried looking up the road I was turning into and I found it helped way more than I ever imagined. I ride push bike a lot and have plenty of experience on how to lean the bike etc which probably helps a little, so it's just a case of looking at the right place and thinking about the controls.

2. I've bought all the gear I need for riding over the last couple of months - decent jacket, helmet, jeans, boots, gloves. Yesterday I got to test it out and I was really chuffed. The jacket was warm enough without the lining, and the helmet was comfy at all times. My leather gloves let my hands get a bit cool in the morning, probably made worse by clammy hands.

[Bender]

When pulling up if in doubt stop, if your confident it's clear go, it will become easier with time and you will find yourself stopping less.

When pulling up and deciding what to do, drop it into first, slow down using rear brake only, by that I mean once you have lost speed not at 30mph, you can then find the bitting point and put weight on the clutch, if it's clear you can start accelerating don't worry about slipping clutch and away you go, if you find you need to stop everything else is in place just pull in clutch and stop with rear brake, your left foot doesn't have to worry about finding a gear your already in it.

Things like this will soon become a distant memory.

Your best keeping your hand off the front brake when going slow, it's so easy to go over with the bike if you have any amount of lock on.

[Rodders]

When pulling up if in doubt stop, if your confident it's clear go, it will become easier with time and you will find yourself stopping less.

When pulling up and deciding what to do, drop it into first, slow down using rear brake only, by that I mean once you have lost speed not at 30mph, you can then find the bitting point and put weight on the clutch, if it's clear you can start accelerating don't worry about slipping clutch and away you go, if you find you need to stop everything else is in place just pull in clutch and stop with rear brake, your left foot doesn't have to worry about finding a gear your already in it.

Things like this will soon become a distant memory.

Your best keeping your hand off the front brake when going slow, it's so easy to go over with the bike if you have any amount of lock on.

 

That's ace, seems pretty obvious to use the back brake like that. I'll try it on Sunday. I was dropping to 1st at very slow speed but it was the jump from front brake to throttle, whilst finding the buying point, that was making me wobble. I have to get used to the fact that bikes have slipper clutches mostly.

[SVS]

Nice following your recent efforts Rodders.

I recently passed my CBT, and was thinking of doing the same.

Will slowly buy the gear, then rent out a 125 for a few days for some experience. Then go ahead and book the DAS, fingers crossed I'll only need a few days.

Been driving a car for over 10 years and I'm confident on the road.

Thanks for sharing!

[Rodders]

Keep us posted [mention]SVS[/mention]

I'm looking forward to my first ride on a bigger bike. The 125 is fine, but everyone tells me that bigger bikes are more stable and generally better to ride.