Quote from danowat :

U-turns ARE hard, period, some people can breeze them, but many people do struggle.

Quote from S14 DRIFT :

Always keeping mah head up, looking round to where I wanna be going, or I'll be "AHHHH **** THE GROUND <footdownfail>"

This guy makes it look easy.

Do you think they would fail him for putting his foot down?

If so, then here.

Quote from wark :

This guy makes it look easy.

Do you think they would fail him for putting his foot down?

That's a very good way to wear down the sole of your left boot!

Great if you have, maybe one leg longer than the other and just want to shave off a centimetre or two.

Ok second day of training, went ok. Only made a few minor mistakes, only one fail which was sitting at a junction (when my instructor didn't give me a direction), and it was a left turn only. Apart from that it was ok.

Test tommorow at 10.14am, >_< Scared.

Quote from danowat :

U-turns ARE hard, period, some people can breeze them, but many people do struggle.

The biggest tips I can give are, use LOTS of rear brake to keep the bike stable, and keep your head up, don't look down at the front wheel.

I would say a big majority of fails are down to the u-turn.

If you think the CG is bad, I did my CBT and first day of DAS on an SR125!!!!, the CB550 I did the rest of my DAS on was a MUCH easier bike to ride.

Biggest mistake people make on U-Turns is if they feel the bike falling in they panic and hit the brake/pull in the clutch. When what you should be doing is giving it a bit more gas to pick the bike up again. Kind of counter intuitive but it's what works.

Agree with using the rear brake to stabilise the bike too. In fact you shouldn't touch the front at all doing a U-Turn. It's all about back brake and clutch control. Oh and balance too of course !

PS - Just concentrate on observation and trying to predict other road users actions and you'll be fine.

Good Luck.

Quote from S14 DRIFT :

Ok second day of training, went ok. Only made a few minor mistakes, only one fail which was sitting at a junction (when my instructor didn't give me a direction), and it was a left turn only. Apart from that it was ok.

Test tommorow at 10.14am, >_< Scared.

You'll be alright good luck

Quote from S14 DRIFT :

Test tommorow at 10.14am, >_< Scared.

Good luck. In case you read this before you take your test: lane discipline. Particularly look out for bus lanes, and read the blue signs which give you information about when a bus lane can be used by other traffic.

Not using a bus lane when you are able to will probably see you fail the whole test, since the highway code states you should always be in the first available left hand lane.

Catches a lot of people out, that one...

Ok so.

I failed

-___-;

Was absolutley stupid error, as well.

Instructer said "Follow the road straight ahead", we came to a J shaped turn, I went straight on into a no entry thing. (The road curved round to the left, I should have noticed, but oh well. Happens.)Another 10 minutes and I would have passed. I had accumulated one minor during the ride there. If I had not of made this mistake, I would have passed. Oh well, only £80 down the drain, and knowning such a silly error screwed me over. I'll try to get my test rebooked and passed before Christmas. Depends on what little money I have.

Nihil I was told to not use bus lanes since it doesn't really matter

Ouch, going through a no entry sign is not a good thing to do on a test , it's not really a "silly error", it's quite a serious thing, shows you weren't paying enough attention to the road conditions and your surroundings.

Sorry to hear you failed man, there's always next time

Yeah..

When I mean 'silly error', I mean it's something I shouldn't have done because I know wayyy better.

Idk whether to be like "meh" or cry. It meant such alot. >___> Such a silly mistake which I shouldn't have done caused me to **** it up.

I remember when I did my DAS, I said to myself I'd be REALLY dissapointed if I failed, but you just have to accept whats happened, and don't let it happen again, I am sure you'll be fine next time round.

I might have missed it, but was the test for an A or A1 license?

For the full 33bhp 2 year thing. I think it's A2.

Ahhh KK, the standard "A" license then.

Yeah.

Thankfully my Mother is basically giving me £80 for a retest, just about to phone up to enquire about booking, etc.

I don't need to book another lesson so thankfully that will keep the price down.>_<

Unlucky mate, when are you going to do the retest?

I have a mechanism in life for dealing with disappointment. And that is this saying, "If you don't achieve something, you just didn't want it badly enough."

You'll do it next time, don't worry S14, just have a lesson before you retake it to make sure your skills are still sharp and away you go! Remember not to fall into the trap of thinking you're going to follow the same test route.

Well done on the 1 minor though. *impressed Kringle*

Hmm well, to the tune of some 150 quid, I have rebooked my test for the 16th of December. Mmmmmm...

Also, against my will and wallet, I have also booked a lesson before the test, so it's training etc in the morning, and the test in the afternoon. In the meantime, on the roads, I'm sure my Dad will be helping me with practise etc, but I just need to work on staying relaxed and scanning the road for signs etc, because I would have normally spotted something like that.

>_<

What bike are you thinking of getting?

I am going through my 6 monthly cycle (pun not intended) of looking for a new bike, only to find I can't find one that ticks as many boxes that mine does.......plus, it's not that easy to justify a new bike when you've done less than 1000 miles this year.......

What when I pass? SV650s, maybe an F800ST if I can stretch. Maybe even a CBR600RR.

If you're looking at buying a new bike though Dan, check George Whites in Swindon.

Buy pretty much any new bike and you'll get probbably 1/3 of the bike's value back in free kit.

For example, buy a Gixer thou' and you'll get like nearly £2500 of free stuff iirc. Arrow cans, Datatool alarms, helmet, gloves, top/bottoms, suits, boots, a cover for the bike, the list goes on

And considering there is 0% finance on nearly every new bike if you look around, sometimes it's better to buy new than used.

SV650 is a good choice.

I just can't really justify a new bike, used or otherwise, but it doesn't stop one from looking

Quote from S14 DRIFT :

What when I pass? SV650s, maybe an F800ST if I can stretch. Maybe even a CBR600RR.

If you're looking at buying a new bike though Dan, check George Whites in Swindon.

Buy pretty much any new bike and you'll get probbably 1/3 of the bike's value back in free kit.

For example, buy a Gixer thou' and you'll get like nearly £2500 of free stuff iirc. Arrow cans, Datatool alarms, helmet, gloves, top/bottoms, suits, boots, a cover for the bike, the list goes on

And considering there is 0% finance on nearly every new bike if you look around, sometimes it's better to buy new than used.

Ive used george whites before, top garage!

Ok semi bump - Night before my test. Got a lesson from about 9ish till 2 or so. My test is at... 14.57 till 15.37 or something stupid like that. Which could be a good or a bad thing. Could be alot of traffic, meaning I'm less likely to miss a stupid speed limit or something, or could be alot of kids using crossings and stuff which just adds stuff to go wrong. I haven't ridden my bike ... at all, actually, for like 2 weeks because I don't want it caked in salt. Tommorow, on the (probably icy and last ride before I die) journey into Reading, I'm going to be sure I'm going to be riding exactly how I should be. Wish me luck LOL

passed yay. motorways are boring. what was the point

Quote from S14 DRIFT :

passed yay. motorways are boring. what was the point

Well done, be safe

Nice one, keep it rubber side down though fella

Cheers guys and will do. Only thing left to do to complete the whole process is to thoroughly wash the bike. It's caked in shit, and is probbably the worst I've ever seen it. Looking forward to spening 3 or 4 hours cleaning it tommorow morning