CBT Sunday - any advice?
Discussion
Finally got round to realising my dream which started with a visit in 2000 to the TT races. So my CBT is happening this Sunday. Been pratting about all week breaking in my new gear, looking like a power ranger on speed and running around the garden practising my clutch control, I am Rossi of the fish pond right now. Fortunately my neighbours are more than used to my behavior and just roll their eyes and shake their heads.
Anyway any good advice for my first go on a bike, I feel I've exausted the performance of my air bike.
Cheers
Dave
Anyway any good advice for my first go on a bike, I feel I've exausted the performance of my air bike.
Cheers
Dave
I hadn't ridden a motorbike properly since 1987 and back then I only rode a friends bike a couple of times for about half an hour, yet I found the CBT I did just over a week ago an absolute doddle.If you can balance on a pushbike and ride it relatively slowly without wobbling all over the place and understand bike gears, then you will pass imho.
My day started with some basic chatting and some minimal question and answer type stuff regarding bikes and the highway code (none of which counted towards a pass/fail so to speak - there was also no need for me to brush up on road signs!).It was just general stuff and common sense really.We were asked how to avoid and spot things such as diesel spills and wet drain covers etc and also had a few questions about where the clutch and front brake etc were on the bike.To be honest, it was more of an informal chat than anything, as they were talking you through it all anyway.We then had a brief chat about why slamming on the front brake was not a good idea in a turn etc, geared up and got onto the bikes to ride around cones and practice pulling away etc.We also got shown the correct way to get the bikes on and off the stand.It was all very relaxed again and anything you were not sure of or not very good at, the guys simply talked you through it and let you try, try and try again.The last part of the day (assuming you have shown you can now ride and do not get on the bike facing the wrong way etc) involved a couple of hours out on the road, but to be honest it, felt like we were out for 10 minutes as it was such a superb experience.Again, all very relaxed, any mistakes, dodgy maneuvers, lack of or too much speed etc and you just had the instructor pointing them out via the radio earpice (which did hurt a bit to wear under a helmet).We swapped positions several times too, so sometimes I was at the front, other times I was at the back and was able to watch the other pupil up ahead.We also ended up right outside my place of work to practice emergency stops and said u-turns.At the end of the day, a couple of the riders in our group were told that they needed to go out again for a short while, simply because they lacked a bit of confidence and made a few silly mistakes a few too many times, but they still all passed in the end.
The main things which suprised me were....
1) Slow U-turns took a few attempts to get used too.My natural reaction was to keep looking back at my front wheel as I turned, but looking around at the instructor (the way I needed to go) soon sorted the problem out.This was despite me having rather good slow speed balance too.I won the 'bit of fun' slow race we did quite easily and didn't put a foot down at all, but my first few u-turns had me slamming down my feet!
2) Despite me driving an HGV, I had no idea the wind had such an effect on you.Several times I found myself being blown towards the centre of the road or towards the kerb
3)I felt like I was sitting at 60 mph when I was told to "get my speed up" and a quick glance at the speedo showed that I was travelling at around 25 mph
Mind you, it's suprising how quickly you get used to it and even after only a few rides on my own bike, 70 mph now feels quite a relaxed affair.
4)Stopping distances on the bikes were longer than I expected.
So, to sum up, if like me, you are one of those people who listens to their mates suggesting things like.. "pah! the dentist isn't scary at all" or... "pah! open heart surgery is nothing to worry about", yet you still can't help but worry and get anxious, then believe me, you honestly have nothing to worry about at all regarding a CBT as it really is a great day out.Just get used to the bike, keep to the position on the road they like you to be at, remember to cancel the bloomin indicators, look around a lot and simply use your current road sense to judge gaps or give way to oncoming traffic etc.Most of all, have fun
My day started with some basic chatting and some minimal question and answer type stuff regarding bikes and the highway code (none of which counted towards a pass/fail so to speak - there was also no need for me to brush up on road signs!).It was just general stuff and common sense really.We were asked how to avoid and spot things such as diesel spills and wet drain covers etc and also had a few questions about where the clutch and front brake etc were on the bike.To be honest, it was more of an informal chat than anything, as they were talking you through it all anyway.We then had a brief chat about why slamming on the front brake was not a good idea in a turn etc, geared up and got onto the bikes to ride around cones and practice pulling away etc.We also got shown the correct way to get the bikes on and off the stand.It was all very relaxed again and anything you were not sure of or not very good at, the guys simply talked you through it and let you try, try and try again.The last part of the day (assuming you have shown you can now ride and do not get on the bike facing the wrong way etc) involved a couple of hours out on the road, but to be honest it, felt like we were out for 10 minutes as it was such a superb experience.Again, all very relaxed, any mistakes, dodgy maneuvers, lack of or too much speed etc and you just had the instructor pointing them out via the radio earpice (which did hurt a bit to wear under a helmet).We swapped positions several times too, so sometimes I was at the front, other times I was at the back and was able to watch the other pupil up ahead.We also ended up right outside my place of work to practice emergency stops and said u-turns.At the end of the day, a couple of the riders in our group were told that they needed to go out again for a short while, simply because they lacked a bit of confidence and made a few silly mistakes a few too many times, but they still all passed in the end.
The main things which suprised me were....
1) Slow U-turns took a few attempts to get used too.My natural reaction was to keep looking back at my front wheel as I turned, but looking around at the instructor (the way I needed to go) soon sorted the problem out.This was despite me having rather good slow speed balance too.I won the 'bit of fun' slow race we did quite easily and didn't put a foot down at all, but my first few u-turns had me slamming down my feet!
2) Despite me driving an HGV, I had no idea the wind had such an effect on you.Several times I found myself being blown towards the centre of the road or towards the kerb
3)I felt like I was sitting at 60 mph when I was told to "get my speed up" and a quick glance at the speedo showed that I was travelling at around 25 mph
Mind you, it's suprising how quickly you get used to it and even after only a few rides on my own bike, 70 mph now feels quite a relaxed affair.4)Stopping distances on the bikes were longer than I expected.
So, to sum up, if like me, you are one of those people who listens to their mates suggesting things like.. "pah! the dentist isn't scary at all" or... "pah! open heart surgery is nothing to worry about", yet you still can't help but worry and get anxious, then believe me, you honestly have nothing to worry about at all regarding a CBT as it really is a great day out.Just get used to the bike, keep to the position on the road they like you to be at, remember to cancel the bloomin indicators, look around a lot and simply use your current road sense to judge gaps or give way to oncoming traffic etc.Most of all, have fun
Edited by Digby on Saturday 19th July 00:05
Recently did mine and as the guys above have already said, it's not a test, just treat it like a long lesson. Best fun I've had in years and all at leagal speeds. Plus I'd never been on a bike before and managed to pass, apart from the instructor telling me to stop pulling away like I was in a GP 
he was more than happy.
he was more than happy. 
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