PH takes on the CBT
Learning to ride a motorbike shouldn't be that difficult, right? Enter Matt Bird...
I should have done my CBT yonks ago; when mates were doing it as they turned 16, when there was spare time and cash during university summers, when I started doing this job half a dozen years ago. And I didn't. Why? An assortment of reasons. While the idea of riding a bike has always intrigued, I've never yearned desperately to do it as I did with driving. As such, getting the CBT done, or saving money for a bike, was never prioritised, because cars were always number one. Plus there's the fact I was a bit scared: scared I wouldn't understand it, scared I'd fail.. just scared, to be frank.
Still, when the offer came - full disclosure and all that - from Honda to get a few car journalists behind the handlebars (I still have a lot of lingo to learn), it seemed like the ideal opportunity to scratch that two-wheeled itch. Or at least begin to, given there are still the A2 and A tests to do beyond the CBT. Here's what happened.
The CBT day began with the elementary stuff; this is Compulsory Basic Training, after all. So your vision is checked, as is your awareness of, y'know, wearing a helmet all the time and wearing flip flops none of the time. Once that's out of the way, the practical element can begin. In addition to getting familiar with which thing does what on a bike - like teaching the other guys in attendance to suck eggs, but useful when you really don't know - there's a lesson on daily and weekly bike maintenance. Again, it will seem painfully obvious to those in the know, but worthwhile to proper novices.
While it would be nice to tell a story of taking to a motorbike like a duck to water, the truth was anything but. Such was my chronic lack of experience (and, seemingly, aptitude), that I received one-on-one tuition while the other attendants made progress as a trio. Balance wasn't too tricky, given it is ultimately a bike, but combining that with my making hands and feet do things they've never really done before, while keeping myself from looking down at what they're doing, was really difficult. And that was just going in a straight line.
To say it clicked in the car park manoeuvring section would be exaggerating quite significantly, but things did gradually begin to make sense. In first gear, that is. Handily, some things were (and are) similar to learning to drive a car: keeping eyes up, making inputs smooth, thinking as far ahead as possible. Some of it, though, really took some concentration. Slipping the clutch to aid slow speed turns really makes no sense after a decade of driving, finding second at a stop happens as often as neutral and the initial first-to-second changes are jerky to say the least.
Just prior to lunch, though, when practising T-junctions, the whole process begins to flow a little, bringing together all that had been learnt in the morning about observation, pulling away, gearchanges and turns. But then everything seems easier in a controlled environment, right? After lunch is when it all becomes a lot more real, with a compulsory minimum of two hours riding on the road before qualification. Having not exactly mastered getting around cones in a car park, I was hardly brimming with confidence.
Especially after struggling with hill starts. (I promise some of the riding was good, honest.) But using the rear brake under my right foot as a handbrake while slipping the clutch in and adding the right amount of throttle felt like attempting keep-ups with a ping pong ball while juggling coconuts. And balancing a beanbag on your head. Perhaps that's an exaggeration. But be in no doubt that riding a motorbike isn't as simple as it might seem.
Bizarrely, when released from the confines of the car park and onto the open road, the process seemed a lot more logical. The gearchanges came together more cohesively, acceleration and deceleration was less jerky and - dare it be said - the whole experience was a lot more fun. Really, really good fun, actually. The sense of speed, immediacy and freedom was like nothing available on four wheels, even with just 125cc. Then it started to rain. Then it started to hail. Then riding a bike was less fun.
Still, despite some rather adverse conditions, some quite considerable panic at roundabouts and one or two iffy gearchanges, a solid chunk of the two hours on the road was immensely enjoyable; a realisation that the good bits of riding a bike were even better than hoped for. Oh, and I passed, by the way.
So yes, with presumably quite tedious predictability for those already on two wheels, the bike bug has bitten - I think it's great. There's everything you want in the best driving experiences, even while never going beyond 60mph: as a rider you're an integral part, the bike only as good as your inputs. In a lot of cars the driver can get away with being quite lazy; the demands of a bike mean that's never possible, but also that the rewards are on another level.
The next step is the theory test, then the two practicals; to say I'm enthusiastic would be accurate, certainly. For now, I'm all ears on any advice and tips that PHers may have, because goodness knows they're needed. More - hopefully - to follow soon!
After my 2 year probation I bought a ZX6R G1 (R586VEY), then a SV1000S (HF03NVC) a couple of years after that. There hasn't been anything in the garage for many years now though, and I do miss bikes. I don't miss commuting on one, but I've recently considered a ZX10R for those sunny days. Maybe...
A few of the kids near us had Suzuki TS80's. They must have been incredibly slow, but definitely quicker than a 10 speed racer, and something to lust after.
My brother's mate turned up at school one day with a low riding Yamaha 250. He let us all have a go on it, which was a memory that will stick with me forever. He came out of school one day & the bike was gone. When asked if he reported it stolen, he replied that it may not have been his to begin with
May 2004 & I got 8 biking friends interested in a trip to the Nurburgring. The group comprised a variety of bikes and riders (age & ability); 3 great riders, 3 older riders, and 2 more of us somewhere in the middle.
The ride was going great, the weather amazing, and we got off the boat in Calais & headed east. The fuel stops were frequent, and all was going well until the Antwerp ring road. Those of us that rode every day simply filtered through the traffic; the four behind didn't, which we didn't immediately realise. So we took the exit towards Aachen, got to the first services, and waited for about 30 minutes - no sign of the guys. Phone calls went to voicemail as they were riding, so we decided they would be fine, and set off towards Germany. At the next services we did the same, but this time I had a missed call back from one of the guys. This was a common theme, but 4 hours after Calais we got to the Nurburgring. The guys rang again, and we established they were still in Belgium, having gone via Brussels by accident. They bought a map, and got to the hotel at the Ring exactly 4 hours after us!!! The kitchen was closed, but the beer was flowing, so that's how day 1 ended.
Day 2, I went out for a few laps on my bike, all was good. One of the lads never even did a lap as he had waterproofed his lungs as well as his leathers before he left, so he wasn't in good health. I did a pillion lap with one of the great riders, which was stupid. Went into Koblenz that evening, all in all a great day.
Day 3, I went out for a lap, and it starting hailing at Aremberg, a wide fast corner. How I stayed upright I'll never know as the back end slid out at speed, sending me into a tankslapper. There & then decided cars were so much more fun on a track. We went home that night, and one of the bikes' alarm was going off on the boat & flattened the battery. Jinxed.
That was the start of my 'falling out of love' with bikes moment even through I kept it shiny side up, but the good times were excellent.
We went back the following year in a smaller group, and it was much more fun / manageable.
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