Learning to ride in 2020
Discussion
Anyone else in the process of learning to ride a motorcycle at the moment? Or planning on do so in the next few months? What have your experiences been so far?
After selling my car back in July, I decided to book in my CBT. After months and months of delays due to lockdown, the current date is 10 Dec. I've already passed my theory test in the meantime and also had to buy almost all of my gear (driving schools not lending any of their helmets or kit out currently).
Not looking too great for Mod 1 & 2 slots for the next few months either!
After selling my car back in July, I decided to book in my CBT. After months and months of delays due to lockdown, the current date is 10 Dec. I've already passed my theory test in the meantime and also had to buy almost all of my gear (driving schools not lending any of their helmets or kit out currently).
Not looking too great for Mod 1 & 2 slots for the next few months either!
I got a cbt in June when things started to open up again, mod 1 & 2 tests just weren't available with none of my local schools taking anyone on I just got a 125 for the Summer. I struggled to get a theory test and had to wait nearly 3 months for mine. I have found a training school that is doing lessons in 2 hour blocks as an intensive just wasn't going to work with my annual leave, I did have a mod 1 booked for November along with a number of lessons that got cancelled. Mod 1 has been rebooked for next year, hopefully that goes ahead and I can get both parts done by the spring.
It's been really stop start and will probably end up with more lessons than I would hope due to the gaps in between restrictions, if I can get everything done to have a decent summer with a new bike and full license I'll be happy.
It's been really stop start and will probably end up with more lessons than I would hope due to the gaps in between restrictions, if I can get everything done to have a decent summer with a new bike and full license I'll be happy.
Yeah, I do worry a bit about the regularity of lessons. I'm going to book with a school for DAS which doesn't specify a specific number of hours/days and will only put me in when they feel I'm ready. I'm the opposite I'd rather book block and do an intensive course to reduce the AL days required.
I think it's pretty much impossible to book intensive courses in the current climate due to the long delay to get a test slot.
I think it's pretty much impossible to book intensive courses in the current climate due to the long delay to get a test slot.
Got my cbt in February. Booked my theory straight away for end of March. Managed to get in done last month, and booked my DAS for 19th December. I chose the end of December with the anticipation of a 2nd lockdown, figured they’d open everything up for Xmas again. Seems to have worked out alright so far, but having the theory cancelled 4 times was a right pain.
Fingers crossed my DAS dates are unaffected. Been a long, irritating road.
Fingers crossed my DAS dates are unaffected. Been a long, irritating road.
I have my mod 2 next week, started learning in July I think but then had my test cancelled for mod one, and was getting one half day lesson per 3 week at one stage. Had more lessons than I expect I would normally have done but I enjoyed them and there was bugger all else to spend money on.
I failed my mod one first time due to a stall on slow walk, and the mod one round here were impossible to get. Took a month for a resit.
I was trying to keep my CB125R mint by not riding in adverse weather, which is severely limiting my practice for last month
. I can't decide whether to hold on to it until Spring and see what bargains appear next year.
I'm looking forwards to getting a midrange bike, but the market is much smaller than it seems to be for cars, I'm curious if this is as per a normal year or tighter as everyone learned during covid this year...?
I failed my mod one first time due to a stall on slow walk, and the mod one round here were impossible to get. Took a month for a resit.
I was trying to keep my CB125R mint by not riding in adverse weather, which is severely limiting my practice for last month
. I can't decide whether to hold on to it until Spring and see what bargains appear next year.I'm looking forwards to getting a midrange bike, but the market is much smaller than it seems to be for cars, I'm curious if this is as per a normal year or tighter as everyone learned during covid this year...?
Not sure myself, but bikes do seem to move a lot slower on AT than cars, but that could be bikes being more sensitive to seasonal demand?
Any bikers know if there is much variation on price of second hand bikes between winter and spring prices? I'm quite tempted to buy a Honda CBR600F before obtaining my licence if they're much cheaper now than in spring. It's definitely going to be my first bike but I'm not sure if it will be worth the hassle to buy now unless it makes a substantial saving though.
Any bikers know if there is much variation on price of second hand bikes between winter and spring prices? I'm quite tempted to buy a Honda CBR600F before obtaining my licence if they're much cheaper now than in spring. It's definitely going to be my first bike but I'm not sure if it will be worth the hassle to buy now unless it makes a substantial saving though.
Yes, similar to a poster above, I did CBT in June and theory as soon as they opened in July. Despite the instructor saying just go straight for the main test, I wanted to get some miles under my belt on a 125 as I just didnt feel coordinated and comfortable enough with controls - I just wanted my own space and time to practice manoeuvres and bike control to the point where I didn't have to think too much about it (and I wanted to be able to ride the test duration without leaving the bloody indicators on!).
When I'd had a nice summer riding and felt comfortable, I booked the next slot for mod 1, which was November, which obviously got cancelled. Rescheduled for beginning of Jan, so too many fails notwithstanding, I hope I can be on the road for spring.
Meanwhile, lots of internet research about which big bike to buy.
When I'd had a nice summer riding and felt comfortable, I booked the next slot for mod 1, which was November, which obviously got cancelled. Rescheduled for beginning of Jan, so too many fails notwithstanding, I hope I can be on the road for spring.
Meanwhile, lots of internet research about which big bike to buy.
Best of luck to everyone learning at the moment. It's not nice to keep having tests and lessons put back.
KC_TypeR said:
Not sure myself, but bikes do seem to move a lot slower on AT than cars, but that could be bikes being more sensitive to seasonal demand?
Any bikers know if there is much variation on price of second hand bikes between winter and spring prices? I'm quite tempted to buy a Honda CBR600F before obtaining my licence if they're much cheaper now than in spring. It's definitely going to be my first bike but I'm not sure if it will be worth the hassle to buy now unless it makes a substantial saving though.
I would say prices for bikes are like convertible cars. Strongest in the nicer months s that's when people want to use them. Any bikers know if there is much variation on price of second hand bikes between winter and spring prices? I'm quite tempted to buy a Honda CBR600F before obtaining my licence if they're much cheaper now than in spring. It's definitely going to be my first bike but I'm not sure if it will be worth the hassle to buy now unless it makes a substantial saving though.
I did my theory test and managed to get an almost immediate CBT, as most people that had booked hadn't done their theory. With the test centres closed, I got to jump ahead of the queue.
But like others, I can't get my DAS booked, so Ibit the bug and went for a new CB125R. I went way over budget because it looks cool, and man maths justified it with the notion that I'm really only paying for its (minimal) depreciation!
I would think it's a pretty silly idea to buy a bike without a license. You have no idea what the future holds - buy what you can use now.
You can hire bikes off most bike schools for extra time, and I would add to your Christmas list that you want vouchers so you can get additional training. It's all about seat time really; if I could get out more I would, but now there's the weather to deal with.
But like others, I can't get my DAS booked, so Ibit the bug and went for a new CB125R. I went way over budget because it looks cool, and man maths justified it with the notion that I'm really only paying for its (minimal) depreciation!
I would think it's a pretty silly idea to buy a bike without a license. You have no idea what the future holds - buy what you can use now.
You can hire bikes off most bike schools for extra time, and I would add to your Christmas list that you want vouchers so you can get additional training. It's all about seat time really; if I could get out more I would, but now there's the weather to deal with.
I did my cbt in july im no spring chicken so i bought a fantic flat track 125 in october to tool around and get a feel for riding again its been about 35 yrs since my last bike think ill wait a bit do the theory and get the rest of the tests done next year ,enjoying riding again but its furking freezing seems a lot colder than i remember .
thelostboy said:
I would think it's a pretty silly idea to buy a bike without a license. You have no idea what the future holds - buy what you can use now.
A very fair point, I guess i got a bit ahead of myself looking at all the very reasonably priced bikes available right now! Hopefully they won't be too jacked up when I pass Feb/March time.I did my CBT on the 30th of October, first time riding a geared bike (Have ridden sequential quads on farms and auto scooters on holiday etc) and managed to get that done in some absolutely horrendous weather. I had originally planned on just getting the full licence done and get myself in to something bigger (400cc-600cc) thinking that a 125 would be too slow and too small but I had a seat on a friends yamaha R125 he bought around the same time I did my theory and I thought "Hey, this fits okay" so bought a wee KTM duke 125. It's slow, but plenty fast enough for learning. I had also got my theory test done in that time.
There's a lot to be said about going straight for the full license but for the price of a CBT, insurance etc it's worth riding about on a little bike until you get your full licence. The lessons you learn whilst out on your own is massive.
I plan on doing my full license next year once the weather shows signs of improving and then upgrading to a bigger bike for summer. It can feel a bit stupid as an adult, hopping on a wee 125 with L plates that you likely bought from a 17 year old but it's great fun.
There's a lot to be said about going straight for the full license but for the price of a CBT, insurance etc it's worth riding about on a little bike until you get your full licence. The lessons you learn whilst out on your own is massive.
I plan on doing my full license next year once the weather shows signs of improving and then upgrading to a bigger bike for summer. It can feel a bit stupid as an adult, hopping on a wee 125 with L plates that you likely bought from a 17 year old but it's great fun.
I would echo what everyone else has said really with my DAS...
Took my CBT in early Sept and managed to get a theory test quite soon after, although this was a mission and i had to travel about 40 miles to a non-local test centre, otherwise it would have been at least a 6 week wait.
Then I had to wait until late Oct for Mod 1 which was duly passed with Mod 2 booked for 18th Nov. Obviously this was cancelled, so then had a date of 5th Dec. Unfortunately i then managed to pick up the bloody coronavirus, so was not able to take the December test, next available is 4th January so fingers crossed for the weather to play nicely and no lockdown III
Took my CBT in early Sept and managed to get a theory test quite soon after, although this was a mission and i had to travel about 40 miles to a non-local test centre, otherwise it would have been at least a 6 week wait.
Then I had to wait until late Oct for Mod 1 which was duly passed with Mod 2 booked for 18th Nov. Obviously this was cancelled, so then had a date of 5th Dec. Unfortunately i then managed to pick up the bloody coronavirus, so was not able to take the December test, next available is 4th January so fingers crossed for the weather to play nicely and no lockdown III
I decided to do my CBT in August on a bit of whim.
I last did my CBT about 18 years ago, but then decided not to go ahead with what would have been my restricted (A2) bike test for a number of reasons, but it has always remained on my bucket list of things to do. My wife's uncles, cousins and my brother in law all ride, so on a particularly nice day this summer I decided to phone my local bike school to see if and when they had CBT availability. Expecting them to say it would be weeks or months away due to everything that's going on, I was pleasantly surprised when they said they had a single space for a CBT two days later. I booked myself in and got my CBT and then decided to go ahead with my DAS.
Booking a theory test was a challenge. Everywhere locally had just opened after lock down, and there were no theory tests for 3 months. I found one 100 miles away for exactly 7 days later, so booked it. The theory test was all very straight forward and I called my riding instructor as soon as I passed the test to get my DAS booked. Had my Mod 1 training 7 days after my theory, then the test 7 days later. Mod 2 training day was 7 days after that and my Mod 2 test 7 days later! In the mean time I went 'just looking' at bikes with my brother in law and ended up buying something rather lovely. Unfortunately I didn't pass my Mod 2. I made one single mistake, but that mistake was considered a fail. Another Mod 2 was booked for exactly a month later, but lock down number two postponed that. I ended up getting my test at the end of last month and passed.
I've really enjoyed getting out on dry days over the past few weeks and I'm on the waiting list (can't book for next year yet) to do a local Bike Safe day.
Roll on Spring!
I last did my CBT about 18 years ago, but then decided not to go ahead with what would have been my restricted (A2) bike test for a number of reasons, but it has always remained on my bucket list of things to do. My wife's uncles, cousins and my brother in law all ride, so on a particularly nice day this summer I decided to phone my local bike school to see if and when they had CBT availability. Expecting them to say it would be weeks or months away due to everything that's going on, I was pleasantly surprised when they said they had a single space for a CBT two days later. I booked myself in and got my CBT and then decided to go ahead with my DAS.
Booking a theory test was a challenge. Everywhere locally had just opened after lock down, and there were no theory tests for 3 months. I found one 100 miles away for exactly 7 days later, so booked it. The theory test was all very straight forward and I called my riding instructor as soon as I passed the test to get my DAS booked. Had my Mod 1 training 7 days after my theory, then the test 7 days later. Mod 2 training day was 7 days after that and my Mod 2 test 7 days later! In the mean time I went 'just looking' at bikes with my brother in law and ended up buying something rather lovely. Unfortunately I didn't pass my Mod 2. I made one single mistake, but that mistake was considered a fail. Another Mod 2 was booked for exactly a month later, but lock down number two postponed that. I ended up getting my test at the end of last month and passed.
I've really enjoyed getting out on dry days over the past few weeks and I'm on the waiting list (can't book for next year yet) to do a local Bike Safe day.
Roll on Spring!
Bungleaio said:
I would say prices for bikes are like convertible cars. Strongest in the nicer months s that's when people want to use them.
Some dealers are clearing Euro 4 compliant bikes to make way for Euro 5 versions, start of 2021 the UK will adopt this and manufacturers will be able to clear limited numbers from stock after this date.Being in Bedfordshire I don't think my mod1 will be going ahead next month, I originally had a test date in November and that got cancelled. I don't want to be overly pessimistic but I don't see tests coming back until spring, DVSA don't seem to be a very pragmatic organisation either.
Pete-mojsh said:
Being in Bedfordshire I don't think my mod1 will be going ahead next month, I originally had a test date in November and that got cancelled. I don't want to be overly pessimistic but I don't see tests coming back until spring, DVSA don't seem to be a very pragmatic organisation either.
Ditto -originally booked for Nov, new date in Jan. Bedford in tier 4, but Peterborough possible alternative which could be OK as Cambridgeshire is tier 2... Except Peterborough itself is tier 4. Really frustrating as I just want to do the test now, but then it's small fry compared to the rest of what's going on. I notice Wales are carrying on with motorbike and tractor tests, but England not. Aside from the risk of falling off while riding there and having to go to hospital, the tests represent very little risk as there's no indoor interaction with anyone.
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