Just booked my DAS
Discussion
Hi All,
After riding around my fantastic little 125 commuter scoot on L plates for 4 years on CBTs I've decided to bite the bullet and do my DAS. The rising cost of doing a CBT (now £190 here) is one reason, but also the L plates do attract the "i'm better than you" driver, despite having driven for 16yrs, built/own various classic and kit cars etc. It's like a red rag to a bull.
It is quite funny how knobbish a lot of drivers are, flying past you and then getting stuck in traffic or at lights as I filter past at walking pace to the front
Having driven open, classic cars for as long as I've been driving, cycling and scooting has done a decent job of preparing me for the "every road user is a psychopath" mentality and "expect all outcomes" eventualities.
Initially I'm happy with the little scoot. Its nippy enough, frugal (95mpg), easy to park and manoeuvre, loads of underseat space and starts on the button every time....
I have absolutely zero desire to dress up as a power ranger and climb aboard a crotch rocket... but...
The draw of a classic (50s,60s) 300-500cc single is definitely something I can see myself buying into. Ariel, BSA, Matchless, AJS, Norton, something like that.
I need to finish a 1958 Austin A35 im restoring first though...
Ive already got my motorbike theory test done and out of the way, and a colleague has leant me "Motorcycle Roadcraft" to read.
So, two questions really.
1- any hints, tips or advice?
2- when the time comes (and I can see it in the stars), what classic singles would be good for a taller rider?
After riding around my fantastic little 125 commuter scoot on L plates for 4 years on CBTs I've decided to bite the bullet and do my DAS. The rising cost of doing a CBT (now £190 here) is one reason, but also the L plates do attract the "i'm better than you" driver, despite having driven for 16yrs, built/own various classic and kit cars etc. It's like a red rag to a bull.
It is quite funny how knobbish a lot of drivers are, flying past you and then getting stuck in traffic or at lights as I filter past at walking pace to the front
Having driven open, classic cars for as long as I've been driving, cycling and scooting has done a decent job of preparing me for the "every road user is a psychopath" mentality and "expect all outcomes" eventualities.
Initially I'm happy with the little scoot. Its nippy enough, frugal (95mpg), easy to park and manoeuvre, loads of underseat space and starts on the button every time....
I have absolutely zero desire to dress up as a power ranger and climb aboard a crotch rocket... but...
The draw of a classic (50s,60s) 300-500cc single is definitely something I can see myself buying into. Ariel, BSA, Matchless, AJS, Norton, something like that.
I need to finish a 1958 Austin A35 im restoring first though...
Ive already got my motorbike theory test done and out of the way, and a colleague has leant me "Motorcycle Roadcraft" to read.
So, two questions really.
1- any hints, tips or advice?
2- when the time comes (and I can see it in the stars), what classic singles would be good for a taller rider?
carinaman said:
Is that the family heirloom A35 that belonged to your wife's father?
That's the one... had some unexpected health issues last year that needed some fairly major surgery (plus complications) that somewhat put a pause on it... Will be back on it again in earnest very soon I hope!
Eta- it's 3 generations in now...
Edited by Ambleton on Monday 18th May 22:40
My wife and also good friend are both going through this process at the moment.
My wife got herself a cheap 125 and has been bimbling around on that for around a year. She has done her Theory test and has lessons booked.
My mate didn't bother with the 125, he just wanted to get it done and get onto a bigger bike (he did used to race motocross and ride trials bikes so is not exactly new to bikes)
My wife tells me of the lack of respect from other road users with the L-plates on. I genuinely think once she has passed and is on something meatier without the dreaded L's she will be safer. It's a long time ago since I rode with L plates and I was 17/18 at the time so was probably blind to the dangers. The roads are also much busier some 28 years later as well but they do seem to attract a complete lack of respect from other road users.
My wife got herself a cheap 125 and has been bimbling around on that for around a year. She has done her Theory test and has lessons booked.
My mate didn't bother with the 125, he just wanted to get it done and get onto a bigger bike (he did used to race motocross and ride trials bikes so is not exactly new to bikes)
My wife tells me of the lack of respect from other road users with the L-plates on. I genuinely think once she has passed and is on something meatier without the dreaded L's she will be safer. It's a long time ago since I rode with L plates and I was 17/18 at the time so was probably blind to the dangers. The roads are also much busier some 28 years later as well but they do seem to attract a complete lack of respect from other road users.
8IKERDAVE said:
My wife tells me of the lack of respect from other road users with the L-plates on. I genuinely think once she has passed and is on something meatier without the dreaded L's she will be safer. It's a long time ago since I rode with L plates and I was 17/18 at the time so was probably blind to the dangers. The roads are also much busier some 28 years later as well but they do seem to attract a complete lack of respect from other road users.
My wife is cutting around on 125 on L plates just now, mostly with me on my bike. She tends to follow, not iwlling to lead yet but have had a few instances where I've dropped in behind her to fend off someone tailgating.Linksmas said:
2) does it have to be a classic single? Royal Enfield, Triumph, Honda and BSA all have modern classics. Look old, but have waterpoof electrics, push button start and headlights that illuminate the road.
Yeah, that doesn't really interest me. Gimme a carb, cable, choke, straight pipe and the patpatpat machine gun fire noise and I'll be happy as a pig in muck.
Time4another said:
8IKERDAVE said:
My wife tells me of the lack of respect from other road users with the L-plates on. I genuinely think once she has passed and is on something meatier without the dreaded L's she will be safer. It's a long time ago since I rode with L plates and I was 17/18 at the time so was probably blind to the dangers. The roads are also much busier some 28 years later as well but they do seem to attract a complete lack of respect from other road users.
My wife is cutting around on 125 on L plates just now, mostly with me on my bike. She tends to follow, not iwlling to lead yet but have had a few instances where I've dropped in behind her to fend off someone tailgating.
ts. Most of the time I find it's when she is in a 30mph zone and just doing the speed limit. It's as if they think that is the top speed the bike will go and they must get past at any opportunity.8IKERDAVE said:
It really exposes their vulnerability doesn't it when your wife is being bullied by tts. Most of the time I find it's when she is in a 30mph zone and just doing the speed limit. It's as if they think that is the top speed the bike will go and they must get past at any opportunity.
The amount of times I've been overtaken at 30 in a 30 zone is ridiculous. Usually on a blind corner and/or into oncoming traffic. ts. Most of the time I find it's when she is in a 30mph zone and just doing the speed limit. It's as if they think that is the top speed the bike will go and they must get past at any opportunity.I genuinely think the CBT should be part of the process of learning to drive (if able
Ambleton said:
1- any hints, tips or advice?
Get yourself a copy of the Mod1 training layout, some football cones and go and practice in a car park once you're comfortable. U-turns, slalom, all that slow-speed handling isn't to be taken lightly even from an experienced 125-er.Otherwise relax and enjoy it! Big bikes ftw.
carinaman said:
Sorry to learn of your health problems and complications Ambleton. The A35 restoration was pretty hardcore.
Good luck with your motorcycling adventure.
Ah its okay.Good luck with your motorcycling adventure.
The entirity of last summer i was basically a vegetable for 3 months. Three hospitals and two ambulance transfers. They ended up rearranging some organs and cutting/shutting and replumbing my upper GI. s
t happens, no point getting upset about it (although I will need some more surgery at some point).Not ideal with a 6m old baby though! My wife was STRESSED.
The A35 was certainly an "all or nothing" job. Im only just about now getting to a stage where im happy to lie on the floor and roll about under cars and my last surgery was on 18th July last year.
First day today was redoing my CBT. This time on a geared bike, a Honda CG, which is quite a small bike for a big 6ft4 bugger like me.
Round the yard i did all the exercises no problem, even on a quiet estate I did the U-turn and emergency stop fine, but i really struggled with the clutch and gears from a standstill.
When going from a junction or a roundabout i'd stall almost every time, often more than once. I'm convinced there was an issue with the bike as nearly every time it was in second or third when I went to go despite downshifting.
It only seemed to be in 1st if you actively went down all the gears before coming to a stop.
Eg say you're in 4th, slowing down... clutch in, 3rd, clutch out, slow, clutch in, 2nd, clutch out, slow, clutch in, 1st, clutch out, slow, clutch in, stop.
I did highlight this to the instructor but he jumped on and it seemed to be okay for him so maybe I was just being a retard.
Before doing any more of my DAS, im going to hire a geared 125 off the school for a few days to ride around and get used to gears and clutch.
Round the yard i did all the exercises no problem, even on a quiet estate I did the U-turn and emergency stop fine, but i really struggled with the clutch and gears from a standstill.
When going from a junction or a roundabout i'd stall almost every time, often more than once. I'm convinced there was an issue with the bike as nearly every time it was in second or third when I went to go despite downshifting.
It only seemed to be in 1st if you actively went down all the gears before coming to a stop.
Eg say you're in 4th, slowing down... clutch in, 3rd, clutch out, slow, clutch in, 2nd, clutch out, slow, clutch in, 1st, clutch out, slow, clutch in, stop.
I did highlight this to the instructor but he jumped on and it seemed to be okay for him so maybe I was just being a retard.
Before doing any more of my DAS, im going to hire a geared 125 off the school for a few days to ride around and get used to gears and clutch.
Edited by Ambleton on Thursday 11th June 19:56
Bike gears don't change at a standstill like car gears, you want to be downshifting while you're moving. When the bike is stopped, sometimes the dogs on the gears won't line up and it won't go in without a whiff of clutch. It's also good practise to always be in a gear where you can pick up power and ride on, therefore dictating that you change down sequentially whilst still moving.
When I was learning I had a bad habit of not releasing the shift lever completely, thus not allowing the shifter to reset. I'm the same height as you and incompetence aside, I think part of the problem might have been that with longer legs your feet end up more tilted down, therefore the shift lever is often a bit too high and it can be hard to lift your foot high enough to reset the shifter when doing consecutive downshifts.
When I was learning I had a bad habit of not releasing the shift lever completely, thus not allowing the shifter to reset. I'm the same height as you and incompetence aside, I think part of the problem might have been that with longer legs your feet end up more tilted down, therefore the shift lever is often a bit too high and it can be hard to lift your foot high enough to reset the shifter when doing consecutive downshifts.
Edited by TurboHatchback on Thursday 11th June 11:57
TurboHatchback said:
Bike gears don't change at a standstill like car gears, you want to be downshifting while you're moving. When the bike is stopped, sometimes the dogs on the gears won't line up and it won't go in without a whiff of clutch. It's also good practise to always be in a gear where you can pick up power and ride on, therefore dictating that you change down sequentially whilst still moving.
When I was learning I had a bad habit of not releasing the shift lever completely, thus not allowing the shifter to reset. I'm the same height as you and incompetence aside, I think part of the problem might have been that with longer legs your feet end up more tilted down, therefore the shift lever is often a bit too high and it can be hard to lift your foot high enough to reset the shifter when doing consecutive downshifts.
Ah yes that makes sense RE the dogs not lining up and dropping into gear.When I was learning I had a bad habit of not releasing the shift lever completely, thus not allowing the shifter to reset. I'm the same height as you and incompetence aside, I think part of the problem might have been that with longer legs your feet end up more tilted down, therefore the shift lever is often a bit too high and it can be hard to lift your foot high enough to reset the shifter when doing consecutive downshifts.
You make a good point about the leg angle. My left hip has been really hurting all day and I think thats a result of the funky leg/foot angle you mention.
I think I'd find a bigger bike slightly easier. Not only because of the physical size, but also the availability of low end torque.
Edited by Ambleton on Thursday 11th June 19:59
Hydraulic or cable clutch? Hydraulic can sometimes need a bleed and symptoms usually mean difficulty getting into neutral at a standstill or selecting first gear, when you're moving it's fine.
Tips for your test.... well it's nearly 30 years since I did mine, but...
1. Do really positive life savers, i.e. rather than move your eyes move your head and do it way more than you think you need to, the tester will be behind you looking for this.
2. Tester will be speaking to you to ask you to turn, stop etc, if for any reason you didn't catch what he said or it was confusing tap your helmet - he should see that and repeat what was asked.
3. My tester asked me to take the next "available" left turn, I indicated but realised the next left was a no entry so rode past to the next one, they may try and catch you out like this.
4. Practice stopping, indicating, life savers, side stand down, getting off the bike, centre stand if it has one down/up, getting on the bike, indicating, life savers and moving off.
5. U-turns, obviously no feet down.... but you will need to learn to lean the wrong way/sit upright, clutch control etc. My instructor took me to the road where my test centre usually did u-turns.... he took me to the exact spot where the road was flat and slightly wider so I had the best chance of completing it.
6. Emergency stop, I didn't even learn this until the morning of my test, I guess he wanted it fresh in my mind..... Doesn't matter if you stall, it's all about stopping quickly but safely, just don't fall off.
HTH
Tips for your test.... well it's nearly 30 years since I did mine, but...
1. Do really positive life savers, i.e. rather than move your eyes move your head and do it way more than you think you need to, the tester will be behind you looking for this.
2. Tester will be speaking to you to ask you to turn, stop etc, if for any reason you didn't catch what he said or it was confusing tap your helmet - he should see that and repeat what was asked.
3. My tester asked me to take the next "available" left turn, I indicated but realised the next left was a no entry so rode past to the next one, they may try and catch you out like this.
4. Practice stopping, indicating, life savers, side stand down, getting off the bike, centre stand if it has one down/up, getting on the bike, indicating, life savers and moving off.
5. U-turns, obviously no feet down.... but you will need to learn to lean the wrong way/sit upright, clutch control etc. My instructor took me to the road where my test centre usually did u-turns.... he took me to the exact spot where the road was flat and slightly wider so I had the best chance of completing it.
6. Emergency stop, I didn't even learn this until the morning of my test, I guess he wanted it fresh in my mind..... Doesn't matter if you stall, it's all about stopping quickly but safely, just don't fall off.
HTH
Thanks for all the pointers folks.
I hired one of the schools Honda CG 125 bikes for 24hours over the weekend and managed to get about 6hours in the saddle.
Within about 30mins it seemed to click and I just "got it". There was still the occasional miss-shift but I think a lot of that was foot/leg angle. I could bum around on it just fine by the time I handed it back.
When i dropped it back, I opted for an introduction/training session in the yard on one of the "big" DAS bikes (a Yamaha MT07).
Hopped on and it instantly felt better. Being a physically much bigger bike than the little CG125, my legs were positioned nicer and my knees weren't interfering with steering. Me being on the CG was like an adult trying to ride a kiddies bike.
The chunkier controls and torque made it a whole bunch easier too. Did nearly an hour and a half of low speed stuff. Fig8s, UTurns, slalom, 4mph, plenty of stopping and starting etc.
I can see why the MT07 is a popular learner bike, jumping on it i found it easy to control and not intimidating at all. (Although I never got out of 1st today).
Looking forward to the rest of the course.
Got two full days this week, Wed/Thurs, including MOD1.
I hired one of the schools Honda CG 125 bikes for 24hours over the weekend and managed to get about 6hours in the saddle.
Within about 30mins it seemed to click and I just "got it". There was still the occasional miss-shift but I think a lot of that was foot/leg angle. I could bum around on it just fine by the time I handed it back.
When i dropped it back, I opted for an introduction/training session in the yard on one of the "big" DAS bikes (a Yamaha MT07).
Hopped on and it instantly felt better. Being a physically much bigger bike than the little CG125, my legs were positioned nicer and my knees weren't interfering with steering. Me being on the CG was like an adult trying to ride a kiddies bike.
The chunkier controls and torque made it a whole bunch easier too. Did nearly an hour and a half of low speed stuff. Fig8s, UTurns, slalom, 4mph, plenty of stopping and starting etc.
I can see why the MT07 is a popular learner bike, jumping on it i found it easy to control and not intimidating at all. (Although I never got out of 1st today).
Looking forward to the rest of the course.
Got two full days this week, Wed/Thurs, including MOD1.
Edited by Ambleton on Sunday 14th June 21:54
Two days completed on the MT07.
Yesterday was just training in preparation for MOD1.
My instructor is incredibly firm, but friendly and drills everything into you. Its quite daunting at first but this militant approach is good because it really sets you up to be better at controlling the bike I think.
At the end of the day yesterday when everything was on point, we were informed that he sets his cones up 20% closer than they do in the mod1 test!
Early start this morning for day2 and we take a 40minute road ride to the test centre. This was good as it allowed me to settle into the bike a bit and also meant we could assess the direction of the hazard avoidance and get a feel for it all and watch a few other candidates tests first.
Having watched 4 or 5 fails back-to-back (mostly feet down on slalom and fig8, or cones on hazard avoidance), my time came up.
Thankful to say I managed to keep my nerve and I passed. Its very easy to get into your own head and just let that nervous energy muck it up and make silly mistakes.
Pleased with that!
Roll on the next bit of training and MOD2.
Yesterday was just training in preparation for MOD1.
My instructor is incredibly firm, but friendly and drills everything into you. Its quite daunting at first but this militant approach is good because it really sets you up to be better at controlling the bike I think.
At the end of the day yesterday when everything was on point, we were informed that he sets his cones up 20% closer than they do in the mod1 test!
Early start this morning for day2 and we take a 40minute road ride to the test centre. This was good as it allowed me to settle into the bike a bit and also meant we could assess the direction of the hazard avoidance and get a feel for it all and watch a few other candidates tests first.
Having watched 4 or 5 fails back-to-back (mostly feet down on slalom and fig8, or cones on hazard avoidance), my time came up.
Thankful to say I managed to keep my nerve and I passed. Its very easy to get into your own head and just let that nervous energy muck it up and make silly mistakes.
Pleased with that!
Roll on the next bit of training and MOD2.
Forums | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff