RE: PH takes on the CBT
Discussion
I passed a full pursuit test when I was 15 - on Guernsey, where my family used to spend our Spring and Summer school holidays and where the legal age for motorcycles up to 100cc was fourteen IIRC. In those days you could only take the British test at 16 and it wasn't pursuit so much kudos from my mates.
I'm still riding nearly 50 years later, still love it just as much as I did then, and have probably covered 100,000 miles on two wheels in the interim. However it has to be said that someone - usually, but not always, a car driver - tries to kill me every single time I go anywhere on my motorbike. These days texters are the biggest menace, but too many drivers don't have the spatial awareness or level of alertness that it's reasonable to expect.
I'm still riding nearly 50 years later, still love it just as much as I did then, and have probably covered 100,000 miles on two wheels in the interim. However it has to be said that someone - usually, but not always, a car driver - tries to kill me every single time I go anywhere on my motorbike. These days texters are the biggest menace, but too many drivers don't have the spatial awareness or level of alertness that it's reasonable to expect.
Did they not tell you about this:
https://www.honda.co.uk/motorcycles/campaigns/step...
do your full test with a Honda approved school and get an extra £500 off any new bike over 125cc
go on get on and do it!
https://www.honda.co.uk/motorcycles/campaigns/step...
do your full test with a Honda approved school and get an extra £500 off any new bike over 125cc
go on get on and do it!
Prof Prolapse said:
Then don't be so selfish in your desire to keep yours then. You could save a half dozen people with just one recycled motorcyclist.
Just think of all those organs that can be refitted into overweight, unhappy, risk-averse people. You could keep them all alive until they're old enough to die of something else, at considerably greater expense.
What a time to be alive.
Or not.
Obviously.
Didn't mean to troll - I'm hugely appreciative of bikes and what they can do, but currently they're not for me - doesn't mean that won't change in the future, especially if it was for trackdays, which a number of my mates who ride bikes attend.Just think of all those organs that can be refitted into overweight, unhappy, risk-averse people. You could keep them all alive until they're old enough to die of something else, at considerably greater expense.
What a time to be alive.
Or not.
Obviously.
Ride safe
Get an old scrap 125 and rip about off-road in a car park / back yard in your own time; don't get all your training from official sources. And as a reward:
The boys at Old Empire bikes have an unsurpassed design ethic. Avoiding the handbaggery of the lifestyle Harley, the unbalanced idiocy of the ape-hanger cruiser, the generally-unconvincing pastiche of factory retro-reps and the real-world frustrations of 200mph sports bikes, these guys know when to stop. Subtle, balanced - just wonderful. I've always preferred the bobber and "sloper" looks; their Fox model is probably my favourite.
At: http://oldempiremotorcycles.com/
The boys at Old Empire bikes have an unsurpassed design ethic. Avoiding the handbaggery of the lifestyle Harley, the unbalanced idiocy of the ape-hanger cruiser, the generally-unconvincing pastiche of factory retro-reps and the real-world frustrations of 200mph sports bikes, these guys know when to stop. Subtle, balanced - just wonderful. I've always preferred the bobber and "sloper" looks; their Fox model is probably my favourite.
At: http://oldempiremotorcycles.com/
scarble said:
Very much this. There will always be twits in cars but a biker can do a lot to help themself. Don't get close to a car without making sure they've seen you, at junctions slow down if you're not sure, plan an escape route if you need to swerve, that kind of thing.
Yup. Observation and have a plan B (can you nip up the inside or stop if someone does something stupid kind of thing).Matt - nothing at all tedious about being told someone's just discovered the joy of biking - Welcome to the gang!
The recurring advice that seems to crop up is
1. Buy what you want - you’ll only get there very quickly in the end anyway
2. Get a loud exhaust they save lives
3. Maintain levels of formal training
4. Don’t nod at scooters
5. Ride for yourself f
k everyone else your the only one interested in your safety
6. And most importantly don’t wear a polite vest because that make you a wker
I’d also suggest coming from a car where you have developed this perfect balance of man and machine, bang down through the gears and get late on the brakes as you approach roundabouts not a good tactic to employ when you are stating out on a bike (it will come with time on the bike). Give your self extra time, as all the clutch, gears, braking, observation, road position coordination bit is a conscience process to start with + add more time on unfamiliar roads where your trying to work out which way to go. Other than that the only other rule is enjoy.
1. Buy what you want - you’ll only get there very quickly in the end anyway
2. Get a loud exhaust they save lives
3. Maintain levels of formal training
4. Don’t nod at scooters
5. Ride for yourself f
k everyone else your the only one interested in your safety6. And most importantly don’t wear a polite vest because that make you a w
kerI’d also suggest coming from a car where you have developed this perfect balance of man and machine, bang down through the gears and get late on the brakes as you approach roundabouts not a good tactic to employ when you are stating out on a bike (it will come with time on the bike). Give your self extra time, as all the clutch, gears, braking, observation, road position coordination bit is a conscience process to start with + add more time on unfamiliar roads where your trying to work out which way to go. Other than that the only other rule is enjoy.
Edited by MDUBZ on Thursday 9th May 08:20
bogie said:
Its nothing to do with the bike...they are machines with a human who is (supposed to be) in control 
Statistically its the lack of experience/training that increases the chance of an accident. Simple as that e.g. human error. Hence the insurance premiums drop rapidly once you get 2 years claim free experience under you belt, whether you are 25 or 45 years old, just the same.
Last year, more pedestrians were killed or seriously injured than motorcyclists.....its a risky business going out of the house ...so you stay at home....then look at the RoSPA stats for deaths in home due to accidents ...yep...its more than motorcycling too !
Cheers, you saved me the bother of replying to him!
Statistically its the lack of experience/training that increases the chance of an accident. Simple as that e.g. human error. Hence the insurance premiums drop rapidly once you get 2 years claim free experience under you belt, whether you are 25 or 45 years old, just the same.
Last year, more pedestrians were killed or seriously injured than motorcyclists.....its a risky business going out of the house ...so you stay at home....then look at the RoSPA stats for deaths in home due to accidents ...yep...its more than motorcycling too !
Cheers, you saved me the bother of replying to him!
Prof Prolapse said:
Then don't be so selfish in your desire to keep yours then. You could save a half dozen people with just one recycled motorcyclist.
Just think of all those organs that can be refitted into overweight, unhappy, risk-averse people. You could keep them all alive until they're old enough to die of something else, at considerably greater expense.
What a time to be alive.
Or not.
Obviously.
Damn, loving the replies on this thread since I've been away!! Quality my man!
Just think of all those organs that can be refitted into overweight, unhappy, risk-averse people. You could keep them all alive until they're old enough to die of something else, at considerably greater expense.
What a time to be alive.
Or not.
Obviously.
Damn, loving the replies on this thread since I've been away!! Quality my man!
If any of you ever find yourself in Ireland during the less wet months of the year (usually just the first week in July!), I'm one of the track instructors at Mondello Park. If you look up 'Mondello Motorcycle Track Days' on FB, that's me stood at the very @rse end of the Benelli with sunglasses on. We actually do 'Track Training Days' throughout the year, where everything you learn is also directly translatable to the road too. But even on normal track days, we're available throughout the day to give one-to-one instruction too - all for no extra cost (we have 3 groups: Novice, Intermediates and Advanced - so we'll never let you feel out of your depth!).
Plus, I just love to show pictures to strangers of me dressed head to toe in leather like a Ninja turtle!!
Having said that, there are plenty of car track days here too (though I only instruct on the bikes): there's a video somewhere on YT of me tearing around in me little 205 1.9GTi. Once had my old 944 S2 around here too.......... it really IS possible to love both!
I do have to admit though, I so also own a few Ducatis! I bloody despise the image of them though, so I keep them purposely filthy to annoy the other 'Ducatisti'. Mostly though, I have either my Gixxer 1000 or Trumpet 675 racebike at Mondello, but that's coz I'm a sl*t and will ride anything!! Hehe!
Plus, I just love to show pictures to strangers of me dressed head to toe in leather like a Ninja turtle!!
Having said that, there are plenty of car track days here too (though I only instruct on the bikes): there's a video somewhere on YT of me tearing around in me little 205 1.9GTi. Once had my old 944 S2 around here too.......... it really IS possible to love both!
I do have to admit though, I so also own a few Ducatis! I bloody despise the image of them though, so I keep them purposely filthy to annoy the other 'Ducatisti'. Mostly though, I have either my Gixxer 1000 or Trumpet 675 racebike at Mondello, but that's coz I'm a sl*t and will ride anything!! Hehe!
Prof Prolapse said:
Jazoli said:
Tri_Doc said:
I'd love to ride a sportsbike - performance per £££ is unquestionably better than 4 wheels, only issue being that I quite like my kidneys, liver, spleen, pelvis, c-spine and the rest of my long bones.
Just admit you are scared, you could get hit by a bus or be in a plane crash tomorrow, people who spout *omg I'd kill myself* get on my tits! Also, that's a very mixed shortlist of body parts to feel very protective about. I mean, who the hell won't get a motorcycle because of the risk to their top three anatomical favourite, the "spleen"?
When I die you can cut me up and take all that you please,
But pity the poor dumb fool who gets my bleeding spleen.
Corn pone, I born tomorrow, my bone marrow protein filled
Scotch whiskey Men of Tain have come to split your skills.
Hey, Hey.
Edited by BrassMan on Thursday 9th May 16:44
I passed my bike test the same day I passed my car test, 1st May 1980. No CBT then, just a restriction to 250cc. I passed the test on a borrowed Honda Super Dream then bought an old BMW with a twin headlight fairing.
I gave up riding in 1981 when I had a week with a near-miss/evasion situation every day and the Sunday when a mini pulled out on me and I hit the driver's door/B pillar. (The driver turned right across me from a side street, leaving me nowhere to go, classic SMIDSY). This put me off riding a bike as I had a perfectly good car to drive, (and flashbacks).
Since then I have only ridden my Father in Law's Honda Bi-Whizz moped and pedalecs.
I gave up riding in 1981 when I had a week with a near-miss/evasion situation every day and the Sunday when a mini pulled out on me and I hit the driver's door/B pillar. (The driver turned right across me from a side street, leaving me nowhere to go, classic SMIDSY). This put me off riding a bike as I had a perfectly good car to drive, (and flashbacks).
Since then I have only ridden my Father in Law's Honda Bi-Whizz moped and pedalecs.
Snoggledog said:
For me it's not the bike, it's the other idiots on the road who put me off ever riding a bike. I see too many people on their mobile phones, drinking mugs of coffee or yelling at screaming runts and generally not paying attention, to want to take the risk.
Agreed. IIRC, I turned 17 just before all the changes, and I wish I'd stuck a big bore kit on my DT50 and turned up at the local test centre.
Mrs PB has never been keen for me to get one - she's seen me drive a car after all! - and, as I've got older, I've realised I'm not sure I'd want to risk it these days.
Arsecati said:
If any of you ever find yourself in Ireland during the less wet months of the year (usually just the first week in July!), I'm one of the track instructors at Mondello Park. If you look up 'Mondello Motorcycle Track Days' on FB, that's me stood at the very @rse end of the Benelli with sunglasses on. We actually do 'Track Training Days' throughout the year, where everything you learn is also directly translatable to the road too. But even on normal track days, we're available throughout the day to give one-to-one instruction too - all for no extra cost (we have 3 groups: Novice, Intermediates and Advanced - so we'll never let you feel out of your depth!).
Plus, I just love to show pictures to strangers of me dressed head to toe in leather like a Ninja turtle!!
Having said that, there are plenty of car track days here too (though I only instruct on the bikes): there's a video somewhere on YT of me tearing around in me little 205 1.9GTi. Once had my old 944 S2 around here too.......... it really IS possible to love both!
I do have to admit though, I so also own a few Ducatis! I bloody despise the image of them though, so I keep them purposely filthy to annoy the other 'Ducatisti'. Mostly though, I have either my Gixxer 1000 or Trumpet 675 racebike at Mondello, but that's coz I'm a sl*t and will ride anything!! Hehe!
How much are the track days there?, always fancied giving Mondello park a go!.Plus, I just love to show pictures to strangers of me dressed head to toe in leather like a Ninja turtle!!
Having said that, there are plenty of car track days here too (though I only instruct on the bikes): there's a video somewhere on YT of me tearing around in me little 205 1.9GTi. Once had my old 944 S2 around here too.......... it really IS possible to love both!
I do have to admit though, I so also own a few Ducatis! I bloody despise the image of them though, so I keep them purposely filthy to annoy the other 'Ducatisti'. Mostly though, I have either my Gixxer 1000 or Trumpet 675 racebike at Mondello, but that's coz I'm a sl*t and will ride anything!! Hehe!
Finally got my first track day on the V4 next month at Brands GP so looking forward to that, I did have one last summer but put my back out really badly a week beforehand so couldn’t go!
.Good read, looking forward to the next update!
I remember my dad passing his test in Blackpool in the early 90s, I was about 10 and I'd ride pillion anywhere I could with him, up to Kirkby Lonsdale and Glasson Dock.
I was keen to get a bike as soon as I could, but it didn't happen.
I eventually took my bike test over here in the US at 33, and have been riding for 2 years and love it.
I like to read everyone's impression of riding in the UK, also I'm not familiar what the cost and complexity of the test is like.
In the US, it was a 3 day course, all parking lot, with a 10 minute skills test at the end. Total cost was $80!
I've learnt more and more over the last 2 years doing a mixture of off road and on road (tarmac and unpaved roads) on a dual sport.
I remember my dad passing his test in Blackpool in the early 90s, I was about 10 and I'd ride pillion anywhere I could with him, up to Kirkby Lonsdale and Glasson Dock.
I was keen to get a bike as soon as I could, but it didn't happen.
I eventually took my bike test over here in the US at 33, and have been riding for 2 years and love it.
I like to read everyone's impression of riding in the UK, also I'm not familiar what the cost and complexity of the test is like.
In the US, it was a 3 day course, all parking lot, with a 10 minute skills test at the end. Total cost was $80!
I've learnt more and more over the last 2 years doing a mixture of off road and on road (tarmac and unpaved roads) on a dual sport.
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