dunno bout anyone else, but when i did my test, the tester bloke followed me in his car. i was taught by someone different too. it was easy, as i thought i failed in the first 5 mins, so i said screw it and rode normally, passed with 2 miners(sp)

good luck with the test, and seeing as im only in cambridge, we may need to go out for a ride sometime.

oh, and the dangers of riding come only with the pillock on the bike(and all the pillocks in the cars, but ill leave them out for now.)

I've read some nasty stories, which are pro and anti riding gear. The anti-riding gear was a guy who was riding home (in full gear) and got hit by someone in a car, he flew off his bike into a flood thingy they have in the US (I forget what they are called), he was badly hurt, he got holes in his hands from slidding so far, huge damage to his legs arms, chest back, was in nothing but pain. After about a year he took his own life to get out of the pain, but it was said "He is lucky to be alive thanks to his riding gear", lucky my ass, he was unlucky to be alive.

Sure they can save your life, but some times it'd be better to have just died. I've been hurt with and without gear, and to now I just don't go fast ever, I pretty much fear falling off again because the second crash was a biggy. But I'm not dead (thanks to the helmet), so I am lucky, the way I see it I best not push my luck anymore.

In my city there are lots and lots of bikers. In the summer where it's extremely hot, only 20% of them wear helmets. And it _is_ required by the law.

Some people are so stupid. illepall

And since we also have the worse accident rates in Europe, I'll give you two stories, which both involve cops in them. (Cops themselves are bad drivers and never really care to give the tickets that bad drivers deserve so much; everybody I know hates them!).

Story #1: Late night, low traffic. A police vehicle tries to cross across an intersection, while HAVING A RED LIGHT!! Yes, people are too stupid here and go through red lights all the time, grrrrrr. A bike with two kids passes the road at high speed and hits the police car. The kids died. They didn't wear any safety equipment, helmets or anything.

The police "officers" are still out there in the wild. They are above law, unfortunately.

Story #2: This actually happened two weeks ago, at a point that is part of my daily commute. Simlar to the above: a stupid taxi driver, went through an intersection with a red light, late at night. A motorbike with two cops who probably just ended their shift was passing at high speed, and hit the taxi. They both died! They didn't wear any helmets.

Well, what can one expect in a country where people can just pay a little more and get the licences at home by mail.

I had one fall on my bike. That was when I first got it. It wasn't anything big. I was nervous because some idiot in a pickup truck wouldn't get off my rear end on a back road. I'll admit in my nervousness I was riding slow. I saw a turn-off up ahead and figured I'd turn and loose him. The turn-in was full of a bunch of gravel, sand, and dirt stuff and I locked the front brake up. Getting frantic in my inexperience, I accidently goosed the throttle just a bit, enough to brake the rear loose in the gravel as well. Mind you, this is all at probably 5-8 mph. The bike slowly went down and me as well. Nothing major, I basically layed it down myself and rolled off the bike. I did hit my head on the pavement with a BIG thud. If I hadn't been wearing the helmet, I can tell you I would have had at least one hell of a headache from that.

There's a saying over here. There's two kinds of riders out there. Those who HAVE laid their bikes down and those who will.

Oh, I did have one other screw up. This one if funny. I pulled into the garage shortly after getting it. My wife's grandparents were over and her grandpa (80 yrs old) came out to check out the bike. I was sitting on it chatting it up with him for 15 minutes or so. He went in to see the kids and I leaned over to get off the bike. DOH!!! I forgot to put the sidestand down and over I went, LOL. Luckily, there was a pile of cardboard boxes next to me and that is what I and the bike fell into. I felt like a real dork though, because at the moment I realized the sidestand was still up, the bike was at that crucial angle where you could almost hold it and get it back up. I'm holding it grunting and groaning and everyone came out of the house to see what was going on just as I lost it and went over. Quite embarrassing.

A different motorcycle topic I was wondering about. Over here in the US, it is pretty much a given that every rider waves to another rider as they pass. That can make it a bit difficult when you pass those 20 bike riding groups, LOL. But I was wondering if this is customary in other countries around the world?

I have one other bike story about an old friend of mine, but I'll save that until later. I have to finish updating a skin and get out on the servers for a bit.

Quote from mrodgers :

I had one fall on my bike.

Come back when you've got a decent crash story. Ya big girls blouse, i've had worse crashes in the back garden on a minibike.

Quote from mrodgers :

A different motorcycle topic I was wondering about. Over here in the US, it is pretty much a given that every rider waves to another rider as they pass. That can make it a bit difficult when you pass those 20 bike riding groups, LOL. But I was wondering if this is customary in other countries around the world?

Most over here give a little nod, but some wave, or stick a foot out (i think the foot out guys want a supermoto/crosser deep down.)

Quote from L(Oo)ney :

Come back when you've got a decent crash story. Ya big girls blouse, i've had worse crashes in the back garden on a minibike.

Well, I did say "It wasn't anything big."

Quote :

Most over here give a little nod, but some wave, or stick a foot out (i think the foot out guys want a supermoto/crosser deep down.)

The nod will come in the middle of a hard turn where you may not want to take your hand off the handlebars, but mostly it's a wave over here.

My last story. This wasn't me. I was still in high school and working at a grocery store. A buddy of mine had a new 89 GSXR 750. Him and his buddy on an 1100 GXSR were nuts. Eh, they were young, 17ish. Anyway, he was showing off in a parking lot riding wheelies and put the front end back down in some gravel. Wiped out. He didn't do anything to himself or his bike, just a bit of embarrassment.

A few days later he showed up from work with some nasty road rash on his knee. A woman had slammed her brakes on at a greenlight in front of him. He said he had no choice but to lay it down. He was alright, just roadrash on the knee. Nothing happened to the bike, it was fine.

About a week later, he shows up at work in the car. I asked, where's the bike? He said it's all smashed up. ??? He said he parked it in the garage, went inside to hear a crash. Went back out to the garage to find the bike laying on it's side. $1000 damage. Smashed the front fairing, little windscreen thingy, turnsignals, side fairing which was once piece wrapped around to the other side I think, and bent the footpeg. I couldn't help but laugh at him. Two laydowns within a week with nothing but some minor scratches, and he's got $1000 damage from it tipping over in the garage.

That's all from me. Enjoy the bikes, but be careful out there .

Ride hard, but ride smart!

Considering what I got up to in my mums Corsa after passing my driving test there is NO WAY I'm getting a bike. I trust that I'd be safe and all but it's all those other buggers on the road that make it unsafe. At least in a car I've got a ton of metal as protection from thier ton of metal.

Quote from yegadoyai :

Considering what I got up to in my mums Corsa after passing my driving test there is NO WAY I'm getting a bike. I trust that I'd be safe and all but it's all those other buggers on the road that make it unsafe. At least in a car I've got a ton of metal as protection from thier ton of metal.

yeah, tell me about it, i t boned by some old pillock in a micra, he just pulled out on me. when he decided to look my way he then STOPPED, if he'd carried on i would have missed him as i was already heading towards the back of his car. but my right hand side hit the back end, 5 broken ribs, broken collar bone and a puctured lung. the 'best' bit was getting a ride in the air ambulance, although you dont see very much as you are looking straight up into the sky!!
off work for 6 weeks, but test riding soon to be mine zx7-r after 4 weeks, trouble was the collar bone hadn't fully repaired so 'floated a bit'!!!

but enough of the doom and gloom, when the weather is good (yes i was a fair weather rider) motor bikes are the best!!

ok, what the **** is the pros for not wearing gear?? huh, can anyone answer me that?? there is no argument, if you dont wear gear and fall off, your ****ed no matter how sevire or small the crash. pink healing skin isnt attractive, and tbh, if you dont wear gear, i hope you do fall off.
oh, and for me, its a nod when riding normally, a wave when really relaxed and a footout when really going some upright. if im banked or anything near, ill ignore them as its more important to know what im doing than make a new friend for a second.


oh, and on a side note, i think that all car drivers should have to take a cbt or at least have a bike awareness course put into their getting-a-licence.

To answer you, v4, I'll make a short list of pros...

"I can see and look around better"
"I love the wind in my face and the fresh air"
"You feel more free than being constricted in a helmet"
"It's too hot wearing a helmet"
etc, etc, etc.

I put them in quotes. This is what folks at work have told me over the years. Over hear in the States, we have what is called the RUBs - Rich Urban Biker. These are the guys who buy the big $30,000 Harleys only because it is cool and the "in" thing. Not because they want to ride. They put a few hundred miles on them at most per year. I put 10-15,000 miles on mine when I can keep it on the road the whole season. I also ride a $900 23 year old Japanese bike, which will get you ridiculed to no end over here by the Harley crowd.

And I totally agree with your side note. They need to teach awareness before giving out a driver's license. There is no education at least in my state for getting a license. You just take a simple and stupidly easy written test for a learner's permit, then take your drivers test, which is done in a freakin parking lot. All I had to do was drive a little cone course that had a stop sign, left turn at the stop, little S-bend thing at like 15 mph, then a 3-point turn and I was done. Tells absolutely nothing of whether someone should be driving a car or not.

Quote from mrodgers :

To answer you, v4, I'll make a short list of pros...

"I can see and look around better"
"I love the wind in my face and the fresh air"
"You feel more free than being constricted in a helmet"
"It's too hot wearing a helmet"
etc, etc, etc.

I put them in quotes. This is what folks at work have told me over the years. Over hear in the States, we have what is called the RUBs - Rich Urban Biker. These are the guys who buy the big $30,000 Harleys only because it is cool and the "in" thing. Not because they want to ride. They put a few hundred miles on them at most per year. I put 10-15,000 miles on mine when I can keep it on the road the whole season. I also ride a $900 23 year old Japanese bike, which will get you ridiculed to no end over here by the Harley crowd.

And I totally agree with your side note. They need to teach awareness before giving out a driver's license. There is no education at least in my state for getting a license. You just take a simple and stupidly easy written test for a learner's permit, then take your drivers test, which is done in a freakin parking lot. All I had to do was drive a little cone course that had a stop sign, left turn at the stop, little S-bend thing at like 15 mph, then a 3-point turn and I was done. Tells absolutely nothing of whether someone should be driving a car or not.

Don't forget the guys who stick their bikes on the back of a trailer, drive to a biker meet then ride around a little XD

Tests here are done on the road, and there is a lot more then that involed in getting a license. Loads of driving around roads to learn, then you take a test (if I remember correctly you need to have at least 8 lessons under your belt before you can take your test). So I guess a lot of Americans wouldn't be driving if they had to take the test over here XD

[edit: I also think you now have to know basic mataince to get a license too, oil check, change tyre, little tasks that would help keep more people on the roads and not in crashes.]

The only protention I used to wear was a big flourenscent yellow jacket, but it was really to keep me dry and warm (Scottish weather, was in winter so I barely got a nice day)

I used to wear 2 pairs of jeans but that got annoying and it's warm enough without that too. Past few weeks when going to college I only wear a T-shirt with a little waterproof jacket over it (little thin thing, was small enough to roll up and put in my helmet with the leather gloves)

I only drive a little peugeot 50cc scooter, top speed is now down to about 40mph (used to hit 50mph but I had to get a new engine put in it) so i'm generally holding all the traffic up and it's not that chilly with only a t-shirt and a small jacket on.

Now I know that riding without safety equiement is dangerouse but me having aboslutely no money at all, but I do have a pear of leather gloves and a helmet!! :P

On the CBT thing, I went in at half 9 and had passed by half 11, it's wasnt hard at all, the instructor just drove behind me on a old Honda CBR 125.

Alot of people are really unaware of us motorbikes, pleanty of people just pull right out infront of me, and those of you who know me on LFS will know how I am when someone crahses me when laps down on me, well I just kinda shout and wave my arms about, makes me feeel better.

I've fell off motorbike spleanty of times but that was just in fields so the grass doesn't hurt half as much as the tarmac. But before I got my liscence I got a go of one of my mates scooter (One night on a twisty down hill single track road, no where for an ammateur) So I was going down the hill, the lights of Speedfights are really crap so I was kinda stupid going to fast, but I hit some gravel going round the corner, slid off the road, hit a uphill bank thing, bounced back onto the road and the front wheel fell away from me. I was only wearing jeans and a jacket really, ripped to shreads, my skin and cloths lol. Think I severly bruised or brok ea bone in my ancle, I was too embarrissed to go to the doctor about it lol, but I coldn't walk on it for a while, fe wmonths before I felt the pain go away. Only left with a few scars on my hands and legs...and my mates bike.

I will get a bigger bike when i'm old and grey with spare money about but when i'm 17 the bikes going and the car is in, what i'd do for a heater on a cold decembers morning!

Anyway, hope you have a good time doing your CBT and that you pass, ovcourse.

I could have flown through the CBT in about 2 hours tops, trouble is I was riding with people who hadnt even used gears before, therefore it took friggin ages.......

Dan,

Hang on you got your license and your on a 600 straight away? I thought you had HP limits over there?

In new zealand im allowed to ride anything thats 250 or less. That includes a 60HP Aprilia rs250 if i wanted to kill myself. But a 600 seems crazy for a learner...

A few questions to the UK guys.
Do you take the tests on your own machines?
How exactly do you "lose your tail" when it happens to be a car? Driving between lanes of stationary cars? Is it permitted?
Have I understood correctly that you pass the test in groups? Isn't that a tad dangerous in practice (you'd need to drive rather close to each other for the instructor to see and evaluate all of you) ?

In Poland the test is a bit tricky. First off, you ride a bike that's provided for the test (usually a Yamaha SR 250 [4-stroke] or the likes), so you don't "feel" it. First you need to push the bike from where it stands to the point where you'd start the next task, which is a rather tight 8-figure. If, on the 8-figure, you touch the ground with your foot or use the clutch (excessively or use at all - depends on the examiner) you fail and have a second (final) try. You also need to pray that you're not the first person on a not-hot-enough day, as the cold engine will stall in first gear without gas and clutch. Then, IIRC, there is starting from a full stop on an uphill ramp. If all goes well, you are allowed to have a ride on the streets, being followed by a car with the examiner, on a predefined route, which you're expected to know by heart (but you will be told where to go if you don't know; you get a radio receiver and an earphone).

Oh, and yes, if you pass, you can legally ride whatever you wish right away illepall

The "training" itself, I have to say, is wortheless in most "driving schools". The instructor usually has a car trainee to have a look at in parallel, so you get the keys, short instructions on what each lever is used for, and off you go, doing the 8-figures and uphill starts. No *HINT* whatsoever of what countersteering is (I'm pretty sure 95% of the instructors really don't have a clue such a thing exists! They're just car instructors with a quickly made additional "license" so that they can earn extra money), no info about the advantages and disadvantages of front vs rear brake...
Aaaand, usually you get around 8 hours of "training ground" (8-figure, uphill starts) and 2 hours of riding on the streets (at least that's how it was when I was applying for my license). After such a training and the test concentrating on low-speed manouvers, it's no wonder new motorcyclists have a lot of accidents, when they get their CBR's and gixxers (after listening to other motorcyclists' advice - "don't buy anything smaller than a 600, you'll get bored in a year and have to buy something else")... Well, my first bike was a 650... But it had a mighty ~30 bhp (Russian "Dnepr") .

Hope nobody fell asleep before schedule because of me I'd love to read more details of license tests in other countries

Cheers

Damn thats a crazy system you got there maczo.

In new zealand we have to sit a basic handlers test before we can apply for a license. If you pass the test you must sit a theory scratch test (like the scracth and win gambling tickets :P ) on the road code and the likes.

The basic handlers test is:

* Slow riding - You must ride at walking speed through a lane 0.75 metres wide and 18 metres long.
* Routine stop - You must ride at a speed of approximately 20 km/h and, when given a signal from the examiner, stop so the motorcycle's front wheel comes to rest within a marked square.
* Cone weaving (slalom) - You must ride along a slalom course, weaving between cones placed 3.5 metres apart.
* Quick stop - You must ride at a speed of approximately 20 km/h and, on a signal from the examiner, stop as quickly and safely as possible.
* Riding a curve - You must ride up to a curve from a distance of 25 metres at a speed of 20 km/h. You must then give a turn signal, adjust your speed and ride around the curve (which is 1.2 metres wide), keeping within the lines all the way.
* Stopping in the curve - You must ride up to a curve from a distance of 25 metres at a speed of 20 km/h. You must then adjust your speed, enter the curve and come to a stop within the curve.


And the rules for learners:

* You must carry your learner licence at all times when you're riding.
* You must have an 'L' plate attached to the rear of your motorcycle.
* You must not ride a motorcycle with an engine capacity greater than 250 cc.
* You must not go faster than 70 km/h on the open road.
* You must not ride between the hours of 10 pm and 5 am.
* You must not carry a pillion passenger.
* You should not drink any alcohol before driving.
o If you're under 20, your legal alcohol limit is 30 mg/100 ml of blood. This is effectively a zero limit - consuming one drink will mean a rider can be charged with drink driving.
o If you're over 20, the legal alcohol limit is 80 mg/100 ml of blood. Your riding, however, may be affected well before you reach the legal alcohol limit.

Even when you get your restricted minimum 6 months later the only change is your allowed to ride at 100kph. Still restricted to 250cc. 18 months after you got your restricted you can go for your full and then ride whatever you want.

I havent got my license yet. But i will hopefully go for it sometime soon.

*edit*
You can see what you need to do for restricted and full license tests here http://www.ltsa.govt.nz/licens ... torcycle-r-practical.html and here http://www.ltsa.govt.nz/factsheets/59.html

Here in New Jersey in the US (and probably the same in most other states) the test is as follows

-take a written test (that a monkey could pass)
-get a permit and schedule a skills test
-ride around a course of cones and white lines consisting of:
-90 degree left turn
-gentle stop with the front wheel in a white box
-slalom (dropped the bike and flunked the first time)
-180 degree right turn with a VERY small radius (I had a really tough time on it with my 250 enduro but I managed)
-brake test from 12 mph
-object avoidance test from 12 mph (start avoiding a white line at a specified point)

I thought the last one was ridiculous. My father agreed, noting that a good rider doesn't have to make sudden moves like that, you just see what's ahead of you and make adjustments accordingly well in advance, not letting yourself get into that situation.

After you pass the above, you can buy and ride whatever you want, which I wholeheartedly agree with. I would hate to be restricted to a small bike by some stupid law that arbitrarily said I was not ready to move up. That said, I'm glad I started on a 250 and after 3 years of riding it, can't wait to move up to a 600.

But what's really ridiculous is that when I went to take the skills test, I was the only one there on a real bike. Everyone else was on a scooter.

Quote from Forbin :

I thought the last one was ridiculous. My father agreed, noting that a good rider doesn't have to make sudden moves like that, you just see what's ahead of you and make adjustments accordingly well in advance, not letting yourself get into that situation.

A small animal running out on the road in front of you perhaps? That could be costly on a bike at speed. The 12 mph stuff is a bit ridiculous though.

Quote :

After you pass the above, you can buy and ride whatever you want, which I wholeheartedly agree with. I would hate to be restricted to a small bike by some stupid law that arbitrarily said I was not ready to move up. That said, I'm glad I started on a 250 and after 3 years of riding it, can't wait to move up to a 600.

I'm a little mixed at this due to the "kids" out there that purchase these GSXR1100s and CBR954s as their first bike.

There is a big difference to what your 250 is and what a 600 could be. As well as there is many differences on the many 600's. You can't judge the skills needed to ride by the engine displacement. My first ever ride on a streetbike was testriding someone's 650 he was selling (he didn't know I never rode on the street. I have ridden dirtbikes in the past though). It was a Yamaha 650 Special. Ever ride one of those? Twin cylinder (not a V-Twin) pushing about 40 hp. I got 5 feet down the road and new I would outgrow it before I reached the end of the road. My brother-in-law has a 600 cc bike, smaller displacement. Would it be even slower and better for a new rider? Hmm, 120 hp, 0-60 in like 3 seconds or better? 1/4 mile in 10 seconds at around 120? Top speed around 160ish? Yea, that is really comparable to the "bigger" Yamaha 650 Special. If this sounds like something against you Forbin, it's not. Just wanted to mention about the difference even with the same engine "size" and used your cc numbers that you mentioned.

Ok, now talking about the big sport bikes, I have 1 more story. A coworker told me this one. He rides a Honda Shadow as well as all his buddies ride cruisers. They go out on rides together cruising around, but there is the one guy who rides with them on a modified 1100 sportbike (can't remember what one). There is a road around my place that after cresting a hill, it dips down to around a 3 mile flat straight, slight little bump at the end, then a long bridge to a stop sign. Paul (the Shadow) was riding up front when he heard Ryan (the sportbike) in the back hit the throttle. Paul said Ryan passed him in a flash (as well as the 7 or so other bikes) and flew down that 3 mile stretch. At the little bump 3 miles ahead, Paul said he saw a flash of brake, just a split second, and a quick puff of smoke. When they all reached that point, they found him putting down the side of the road waiting on them all, and a 20 foot black skid mark from that split second flash of brake and puff of smoke. Paul said Ryan was all excited pointing to his speedometer. Helmet visor flipped up, Ryan's yelling at Paul "185 on the speedometer and it will do it! And I still had tach left!"

Paul also told me that this Ryan took his bike to Mid Ohio for a track day. Ryan, the one who seems to have no fear of 185 mph on the street, said he didn't like it at all. He said he was in corners at 150 mph and the experienced guys would have no problem coming on the inside of him at what seemed inches away and pass him. He said he'd never do track days again, it noided him out way too much.

My bike? It's a little 550 cc 4 cylinder Nighthawk (you all knew that). When I bought it, I never revved it above 7000 rpm. It was a great beginner's bike. Nice and easy to ride and easy on accelleration, until you break that 7k rpm. First time I hit above 7k, I felt the accelleration start to snap ahead. Whoa, it surprised me that first time. My bike isn't very fast for a bike, but it's not much of a slouch at 0-60 in 4.8 for how old and small it is. I've heard that the Nighthawk 550/650 engine (almost identical) was the engine that developed into the CBR600 . I don't know, I've just heard. I can tell you that 0-60 in 4.8 seconds is MIGHTY quick when you're not use to that kind of accelleration. But then, after 4 years of riding it, that 4.8 seconds just feels awefully slow. Speed is all relative to what you are use to. Ryan in my story above is obviously use to 150+ mph, so it doesn't feel all that fast to him.

I'm starting to ramble. Unwinding after running 45 laps at FE Gold in GTR's. What a rush. But I just love talking about bikes, and over here, all it ever is, is talking about the freakin not-worth-it way overpriced Harley Davidson.

Well, its a little convoluted here........there are a few things you can do (I think this is correct).

At 16, you can take CBT and ride up to a 50cc moped/motorbike ON L PLATES, then at 17 you can ride up too 125cc ON L PLATES (there are restrictions like motorway riding etc).

At 17 you can then take an A1 test, which means you can ride a 125cc without L plates, and I think any bike restricted to 33hp.

If you ride on an A1 license for 2 years, you then automatically are allowed to ride ANY bike.

Also there is what I am doing, Direct Access, you must be over 21 to do this test, and you must pass this test of a bike with more than 500cc and 33hp, after passing this test you can ride anything you want.

We can use our own bikes, but I wouldnt say its a good idea, my CBR is a litte tough to do a U-turn on, the test centre CB500's are much much easier to ride, if you are being followed by a car, it is very easy to lose, I have known lots of people fail there test because they were making "progress" i.e. driving to slowly.

Tests are ALWAYS done on a 1-to-1 basis, CBT is done in groups, but it is next to impossible to fail that.

Think thats about it.

Dan,

Yup Dan that's about it. I think some of the 50cc and 125cc also have power-weight ratios specified too to stop people putting in 100hp 50cc engines

I did the A1 route, got a ZZR250 (unrestricted actually, at a heady 35hp!), and rode that for a couple of years. Now I'm able to ride anything I don't have a bike, but at least I know I technically can...

I'm sure it was when my Dad did his CBT someone went the wrong way around a round-about. The examiner person had to go around and block that lane with his bike while he sorted the kid out. The kid failed and can you believe his Dad had a go at the examiner person for failing him! Would you really want to let your son lose on the road if he doesn't even know what way to go around a round-about! :s

Keiran

How can you get that wrong? It's pretty obvious which way to go round.
So people just should never be allowed on the road, and to be honest, if anyone makes a mistake like that, they should be banned from ever being able to get a license of any sort.

Do any of you english guys remember before the cbt etc, there was still some sort of limit, however, if you had a sidecar, you could ride anything!!
blokes could ride a gsxr1100 with a flexible third wheel on the side , which moved up and down to allow the bike to lean over, to get around the sidecar rule!!!! didn't look good though!

Yep, I remember people having them back in the early 90's (back when the 350LC was king!!), sidewinder I think they were called.

Dan,

too young to remember that

and if your over 21 you can do direct access, and ride anything you can get insured on, under, and its a 33hp restriction for 2 years.

cbt is easy...a little too easy i think, but meh, they wont change it.