Nimbus's DAS week
Discussion
Seen no one has posted one of these for a while, and as I found reading other people's quite useful when I was thinking of having a crack at biking...
I present.... Nimbus's week of CBT and DAS thread !!
So, after years of thinking about it, the weather has finally been so rubbish for gliding this year, that I have extra holiday, so decided to take the plunge and 'do' my bike test !
I did my theory test a month ago, and passed thanks to the donation of the DVLA Cds from Garyhun.
Went out and bought myself a nice shiny helmet the same day, then had a month of awaiting my DAS week.
In the meantime I've been avidly reading all the bike forums I can find, and scrounged the use of some decent gloves and a leather jacket.
That was until today, when my CBT and DAS course started.
So, in the time honored tradition, ( a la Dibble ) I'll be giving a run down of each day of the course, and no doubt asking lots of questions.
Here goes !
I present.... Nimbus's week of CBT and DAS thread !!
So, after years of thinking about it, the weather has finally been so rubbish for gliding this year, that I have extra holiday, so decided to take the plunge and 'do' my bike test !
I did my theory test a month ago, and passed thanks to the donation of the DVLA Cds from Garyhun.
Went out and bought myself a nice shiny helmet the same day, then had a month of awaiting my DAS week.
In the meantime I've been avidly reading all the bike forums I can find, and scrounged the use of some decent gloves and a leather jacket.
That was until today, when my CBT and DAS course started.
So, in the time honored tradition, ( a la Dibble
) I'll be giving a run down of each day of the course, and no doubt asking lots of questions.Here goes !
DAY 1 CBT
Been looking forward to this rather a lot as my only bike riding up until now has been on a mates old DT125 at my gliding clubs airfield. I sort of got the hang of the clutch and gears on that, but it was a few years ago and I was never what you might call 'smooth', more like hanging on !
So, first thing this morning, it's me and one other 'victim', and 2 'new' 1000 mile Honda 125s.
They never stood a chance
Queue a brief period of kangarooing around the carpark before it came back to me, followed by big grins as I got it upto 3rd gear, and back again in one piece.
U turns and emergency stops dont seem to bad on these machines, tho I think it might be more of a handful on a larger bike !
Had the standard safety briefing and all that, then it was out onto the road ! Cool
First observations are that its nowhere near as scary as I thought it was going to be, and that its a pain trying to remember to cancel the indicators. doh..
Had a great time following the instructor for a bit over 2 hours all over the place. Lots of nice curvy country roads, that I already knew well as I have given my fun car a good workout on them before a few times.
Plenty of getting upto the speed limit which the little Honda can 'just' about manage and generally just having a great time
Was rather sorry when we got back to the test centre to finish up for the day really
Could have stayed out all day
But, just as a taster for tomorrow, I had a 5 minute go on the 500 in the car park..
Bugger me it feels FAST !! Its a totally different ballgame, God only knows what a proper fast bike is like ! Mad I should think
So that's day 1 successfully over.
Tomorrow is the start of the DAS proper, and if its half as good as today, I'm going to have a great time ( much to my gf disappointment, as she seemed to hope today might have put me off..oh well)
Been looking forward to this rather a lot as my only bike riding up until now has been on a mates old DT125 at my gliding clubs airfield. I sort of got the hang of the clutch and gears on that, but it was a few years ago and I was never what you might call 'smooth', more like hanging on !
So, first thing this morning, it's me and one other 'victim', and 2 'new' 1000 mile Honda 125s.
They never stood a chance
Queue a brief period of kangarooing around the carpark before it came back to me, followed by big grins as I got it upto 3rd gear, and back again in one piece.
U turns and emergency stops dont seem to bad on these machines, tho I think it might be more of a handful on a larger bike !
Had the standard safety briefing and all that, then it was out onto the road ! Cool
First observations are that its nowhere near as scary as I thought it was going to be, and that its a pain trying to remember to cancel the indicators. doh..
Had a great time following the instructor for a bit over 2 hours all over the place. Lots of nice curvy country roads, that I already knew well as I have given my fun car a good workout on them before a few times.
Plenty of getting upto the speed limit which the little Honda can 'just' about manage and generally just having a great time
Was rather sorry when we got back to the test centre to finish up for the day really
Could have stayed out all day
But, just as a taster for tomorrow, I had a 5 minute go on the 500 in the car park..
Bugger me it feels FAST !! Its a totally different ballgame, God only knows what a proper fast bike is like ! Mad I should think
So that's day 1 successfully over.
Tomorrow is the start of the DAS proper, and if its half as good as today, I'm going to have a great time
( much to my gf disappointment, as she seemed to hope today might have put me off..oh well)Edited by Nimbus on Tuesday 4th September 23:26
UpTheIron said:
I see you're local - where are you doing your DAS? Did my CBT a few weeks ago, and having now done a few hundred miles on a 125 I'm itching to get my DAS booked.
Fairly local doing it in Didcot with these guys;http://www.allbikestraining.co.uk/
Seem pretty good so far
Day 2, DAS !
Started bright and early this morning, and looking forward to the first 'big' bike day..
Quick 30 mins of stop start in the carpark to get used to the new machine, seems a lot heavier, and trickier to turn, but soon had the hang of it, then we went onto U turns.....
Hmm, bit harder on a larger bike.. queue lots of swearing, revving the engine, nearly stalling the engine, putting my damn foot down, and generally not 'getting it'. After what seemed like forever I can do it 75% of the time, but everytime I think I have it nailed, there it goes again
I've got the idea of keeping the revs constant and using the rear brake and clutch, but my mind keeps panicing and cutting the revs when it all gets difficult.
Still, got a few more days to nail it, and at least I didnt drop the bike like the other chap. Expect I'll manage that tomorrow tho...
Quite a detailed chat about roundabouts, and the mirrors left/right and appropriate life saver looks, then it was off onto the road.. woohoo
Already started to adjust to the extra power so was looking forward to this and I wasnt disappointed.. straight out of the centre, and straight up to 60.. cool
Lots of driving around roundabouts for an hour, then a nice coffee break, bit more roundabouts and junctions, intersperced with a drive thro the centre of Oxford to see all the nice scantily clad new students, err I mean to get near some traffic... and then off for lunch at a 'biker cafe'.
Great fun, especially the zipping away from traffic at lights, and getting it upto 70 on dual carriageways. Seems totally stable and no where near as intimidating as I thought, can definitely see how people get up to 'nutter' speeds...
Finished the afternoon off with a few hours going over to Reading, down a mixture of fast A and B roads and a few small country lanes, again great fun, and good for the confidence. Certainly feel like I can ride the bike now, tho obviously a heap to learn yet..Still having to think everything thro before doing it, rather than it being automatic tho..
So, day 2, did 160 miles, 2 cups of coffee, 1 baked potato and beans, overtook 3 lorries at NSL (muhahahah !), stalled twice, and had an allround fantastic time
Cant wait for tomorrow now
Started bright and early this morning, and looking forward to the first 'big' bike day..
Quick 30 mins of stop start in the carpark to get used to the new machine, seems a lot heavier, and trickier to turn, but soon had the hang of it, then we went onto U turns.....
Hmm, bit harder on a larger bike.. queue lots of swearing, revving the engine, nearly stalling the engine, putting my damn foot down, and generally not 'getting it'. After what seemed like forever I can do it 75% of the time, but everytime I think I have it nailed, there it goes again
I've got the idea of keeping the revs constant and using the rear brake and clutch, but my mind keeps panicing and cutting the revs when it all gets difficult.
Still, got a few more days to nail it, and at least I didnt drop the bike like the other chap. Expect I'll manage that tomorrow tho...
Quite a detailed chat about roundabouts, and the mirrors left/right and appropriate life saver looks, then it was off onto the road.. woohoo
Already started to adjust to the extra power so was looking forward to this and I wasnt disappointed.. straight out of the centre, and straight up to 60.. cool
Lots of driving around roundabouts for an hour, then a nice coffee break, bit more roundabouts and junctions, intersperced with a drive thro the centre of Oxford to see all the nice scantily clad new students, err I mean to get near some traffic... and then off for lunch at a 'biker cafe'.
Great fun, especially the zipping away from traffic at lights, and getting it upto 70 on dual carriageways. Seems totally stable and no where near as intimidating as I thought, can definitely see how people get up to 'nutter' speeds...
Finished the afternoon off with a few hours going over to Reading, down a mixture of fast A and B roads and a few small country lanes, again great fun, and good for the confidence. Certainly feel like I can ride the bike now, tho obviously a heap to learn yet..Still having to think everything thro before doing it, rather than it being automatic tho..
So, day 2, did 160 miles, 2 cups of coffee, 1 baked potato and beans, overtook 3 lorries at NSL (muhahahah !), stalled twice, and had an allround fantastic time
Cant wait for tomorrow now
Cheers for all the support guys
test is Friday afternoon, so another day and half to go Tomorrow we are spending the day on the roads where the tests are done so that should be a good confidence boost.
Cant really imagine how fast bigger stuff is yet, this 500 already feels as fast as most of my previous cars and I havent really thrashed it yet !
test is Friday afternoon, so another day and half to go
Tomorrow we are spending the day on the roads where the tests are done so that should be a good confidence boost.Cant really imagine how fast bigger stuff is yet, this 500 already feels as fast as most of my previous cars and I havent really thrashed it yet !
Edited by Nimbus on Wednesday 5th September 17:13
Nimbus said:
UpTheIron said:
I see you're local - where are you doing your DAS? Did my CBT a few weeks ago, and having now done a few hundred miles on a 125 I'm itching to get my DAS booked.
Fairly local doing it in Didcot with these guys;http://www.allbikestraining.co.uk/
Seem pretty good so far
Hooli said:
i didnt get the hang of clutch control to a few months after my test. i ended up holding the clutch steady & tweaking the revs to suit. not ideal but it got me a pass so i was happy.
For an ideal U-turn you need to hold both the clutch and the revs steady and control the speed solely on the rear brake. Lots of practice will allow you to pass the test then you can just about forget it as who gives a toss if you put a foot down once you’ve passed your test.Good luck with the rest of the course Nimbus. Please continue the great write ups and if you think the DAS 500 is quick, you wait until you get onto something decent.
Day 3 DAS part 2...
Ferkin U turns !!!
Day started out quite well with 15 minutes intense U turns.. Had it cracked between the cones and could soon do it 100% so was quite chuffed with myself ! More on that later..
next came emergency stops.. bit of a mental hurdle, getting upto 30 in a car park, then hammering on the brakes.. Lots of locked rear wheels and not believing it would work..
Got the hang of that in the end tho.. so, just about no rear brake, keep it straight, aim for the instructor, and dont panic !
Right, back onto the fun stuff, the road..
This time we needed to get a new tyre for the instructor as he picked up a nail on the way to the centre this morning, so we had a good long run down past Basingstoke on the A34.. Great fun, lots of dual carriageway overtaking at NSL + a decent amount, and a really good experience to see what it will be like once I've passed.. Well worthwhile, and good for the confidence..
Mental note to self tho, anything over 15 mins at NSL+some is knackering on a naked bike.. Think I'll be wanting something with at least a half fairing...
Rest of the day was spent in Reading on the 'test routes'.
No real problems here, I know that area of Reading pretty well, we even went past my old house Lots of roundabouts, traffic lights, and junctions to negotiate while the instructor sits at the back occasionally muttering
But then we came to the U turn in a street exercise... Bugger !
I dont know why, but I just couldnt get it right... Target fixation on the curbs, and a general loss of nerve...
Now I know you are meant to look where you want to go, and pick a point NOT the curb, but.. My brain kept misbehaving... and of course it had to happen...
I dropped the bike arse feck arse
A quick panic and over the curb we went, and off the side I hopped !
Bike now minus one full brake lever...
back on the horse to crack it.. and... over the edge we go again..
Bike now minus right wingmirror.. opps
After that I sort of managed it a couple of times, but pretty annoyed with myself, and to be honest, thats the only bit of the test I'm worried about..
Rest of day was a 'spirited' ride back to the centre taking it in turns in the lead, tho keeping to the limit....
So, last full day... another 90 odd miles covered, emergency stops cracked, U turns iffy... bike minus one full brake lever and one wing mirror.. Me.. pretty happy, tho a bit worried about the dreaded U turn...
Tomorrow we have a full morning on the test routes, and no doubt U turning until I can do it in my sleep, then the test in the afternoon...
Fingers crossed !
Still, whatever happens tomorrow, I've enjoyed it so much that I will be getting a bike, so to cheer myself up, I went and bought a nice shiny new set of leathers
hopefully they will be lucky on the U turns tomorrow !!
Nim
Ferkin U turns !!!
Day started out quite well with 15 minutes intense U turns.. Had it cracked between the cones and could soon do it 100% so was quite chuffed with myself ! More on that later..
next came emergency stops.. bit of a mental hurdle, getting upto 30 in a car park, then hammering on the brakes.. Lots of locked rear wheels and not believing it would work..
Got the hang of that in the end tho.. so, just about no rear brake, keep it straight, aim for the instructor, and dont panic !
Right, back onto the fun stuff, the road..
This time we needed to get a new tyre for the instructor as he picked up a nail on the way to the centre this morning, so we had a good long run down past Basingstoke on the A34.. Great fun, lots of dual carriageway overtaking at NSL + a decent amount, and a really good experience to see what it will be like once I've passed.. Well worthwhile, and good for the confidence..
Mental note to self tho, anything over 15 mins at NSL+some is knackering on a naked bike.. Think I'll be wanting something with at least a half fairing...
Rest of the day was spent in Reading on the 'test routes'.
No real problems here, I know that area of Reading pretty well, we even went past my old house
Lots of roundabouts, traffic lights, and junctions to negotiate while the instructor sits at the back occasionally muttering But then we came to the U turn in a street exercise... Bugger !
I dont know why, but I just couldnt get it right... Target fixation on the curbs, and a general loss of nerve...
Now I know you are meant to look where you want to go, and pick a point NOT the curb, but.. My brain kept misbehaving... and of course it had to happen...
I dropped the bike
arse feck arse A quick panic and over the curb we went, and off the side I hopped !
Bike now minus one full brake lever...
back on the horse to crack it.. and... over the edge we go again..
Bike now minus right wingmirror.. opps
After that I sort of managed it a couple of times, but pretty annoyed with myself, and to be honest, thats the only bit of the test I'm worried about..
Rest of day was a 'spirited' ride back to the centre taking it in turns in the lead, tho keeping to the limit....
So, last full day... another 90 odd miles covered, emergency stops cracked, U turns iffy... bike minus one full brake lever and one wing mirror.. Me.. pretty happy, tho a bit worried about the dreaded U turn...
Tomorrow we have a full morning on the test routes, and no doubt U turning until I can do it in my sleep, then the test in the afternoon...
Fingers crossed !
Still, whatever happens tomorrow, I've enjoyed it so much that I will be getting a bike, so to cheer myself up, I went and bought a nice shiny new set of leathers
hopefully they will be lucky on the U turns tomorrow !!
Nim
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