so I get a 2nd hand 125cc bike in the next day or so to "tool" around on.....

Any you guys got any tips on what I should be focusing my attentions on in terms of helping me to get some confidence ?

If any of you can remember when you were in that position (6 hours riding experience :D ). What mistakes did you make that I should be watching out for to try and avoid ?

Got all the gear and presently no idea.....any maintenance tips or good riding sites I should take a look at ?

Any advice welcome :)

yes mate watch other car drivers as they never/see you,keep your distance behind cars,and try to ride near the white line as you wouldnt beleive how many drivers never use there rear view mirror (+wagons dont have them),advice keep yours eyes open,its unreal how many drivers pull out in front of you

Good advice above, remember to ride defenseivley and position yourself as to let other road users your there.
Find a quiet sopt to practice your emergency stops, hill starts and the horrid u turn. As you have your own bike, you should have loads of time to practice these and get them well polished before the day.
Are you takning some proper instruction before your test? Would be advisable.
Enjoy, be carefull and good luck:thumb: It will be best thing you have ever done.

1) Remember to turn your indicators off :D
2) Get into the habit of making shoulder checks/lifesavers right now. Don't save it for later when you've got 'used to the bike. Again do it now.
3) Start practising u-turns now. They're always done clockwise. Counter leaning is a slick method to use. Do not look at the opposite kerb, you'll hit it. look at were you want to go. People so often fail on not doing proper observations before starting a u-turn. Beware.
4) Emergency stops practise practise practise.
5) Target fixation is deadly and will kill you. Google it up and understand what it means.
6) You're riding a motorbike not a pushbike. Dont do this silly riding on the extreme left of the lane crap. The road is yours. Command it and live.
7) Unusual one this but don't use engine braking too much. Examiners like to see the brake light. Get used to using the brakes
7)Take a look here for people just like you: Bike Chat Forums : New Bikers (http://www.bikechatforums.com/viewforum.php?f=32)

Thats my disorganized pennys worth :p

Good luck.

Best bit of advice someone told me when I started riding - treat every car driver like a monkey, and assume they are going to pull out on you/cut you up.

Also, practice the U-turn a lot. That was the only thing I found really difficult to perfect when I was doing my test.

Thanx alot for the replies guys!! I am taking all this in :thumb:

Really looking forward to getting the bike now (on Sat!)

:cool: :p

Some good tips here.

I kept being told off for leaving indicators on..it even beeped while it was on but I just ignored it think a lorry was reversing somewhere! :lol1:

Been out tonight "practising" on some quiet roads. Meant to go out for about 40-50 mins........2 and half hours later :D

Gear changing on the way down is now quite abit smoother as I have worked out the blipping throttle bit before letting the clutch fully out (is that right ?) seemed to help alot anyway :)

I need to feel more confident with cornering, still feel very unsure about entry speed etc.......anyone got any good tips about this ?

Another biker nodded back tonight........yep i'm on my way now :thumb:

Blipping the throttle is fine if it's needed. It's not really needed for normal calmish riding, but maybe with a small engine if you're giving it some, it might smooth things out. Try going in a straight line fairly fast, and dropping down a few gears. You'll notice the back wheel locks up until the engine catch's up it's revs with the back wheel, then the wheel will spin again.

This is why you blip the throttle, to avoid the wheel locking by pre revving the engine so that it's going at a similar speed before the clutch engages. This is only really needed when you are slowing down really quickly if you're riding like you stole it, or on a track lol.

Different bikes ride different thoguh, so where it's not really needed on mine, if it smoth's your ride out, keep doing it! It's certainly not gonna wreck your clutch.

About the cornering, just make sure you always go too slow. It's an experience thing, as every corner is different, so just build up over time and you'll get faster as time goes on. The second you go too fast though you're in trouble, so build up.

Too slow round a bend is the right side of wrong to be!

Practice practice practice!! (Trust you to buy a bike on the wettest month ever recorded!!!!)

If you get home after your ride, you can't have done too much wrong :thumb:

Bongo

Gear changing on the way down is now quite abit smoother as I have worked out the blipping throttle bit before letting the clutch fully out (is that right ?) seemed to help alot anyway :)

I need to feel more confident with cornering, still feel very unsure about entry speed etc.......anyone got any good tips about this ?

Another biker nodded back tonight........yep i'm on my way now :thumb:

Blipping the throttle helps on down changes. With up changes you can just roll off the throttle and change. No need for the clutch unless you're in town.

As for corners you just need time on the bike in the main. Get used to how it feels on bumps and the wet also on bends. For right handers, stay more to the left so you can see more of the road around the bend. For left handers stay more in the middle of the road. Get the Police Motorcyclists manual and IAN Roadcraft and READ them. You'll learn stuff from that that may seem obvious when you try it out but learning on your own it would take many years of experience to pick up.

Most of all, enjoy the bike!

Dave

Out for session 2 I realised how much I had regressed from the end of session 1. Soon got back into it and realised one difficulty I have is with my left foot and changing up. I got size 13 boots u see and me feet are just too long to be comfortable when changing up.

During the session I realised the best way round this was to angle my foot outwards on the peg and just turn the foot in when I wanted to change up :D Is the gap between the peg and gear selector adjustable ?

I'm doing everything very slowly and building up my confidence with the bike controls. Did alot of different things tonight including slowing the bike to a crawl and trying to ride in first as slowly as possible without wobbling controlling the momentum on the clutch, rear brake and accelerator.

Again an intended 40 minutes turned into an unrealised 2 hours :p

The ride home as always was significantly smoother than the ride out.

Looking forward to session3 now I understand how to make my life easier on the change up. :thumb:

During the session I realised the best way round this was to angle my foot outwards on the peg and just turn the foot in when I wanted to change up :D Is the gap between the peg and gear selector adjustable ?

That will depend on the bike. If you get something bigger than a 125 when you've passed then you'll have a bit more space.

I stick the toes out sometimes on long rides though just to change how i'm sitting.

5t.

you could try practising the correct foot method, which is to have the balls of your feet on the pegs and only move for the brake pedal/gear shift when required. this method becomes a lot more comfortable prevents your feet from sticking out like air brakes :)

you could try practising the correct foot method, which is to have the balls of your feet on the pegs and only move for the brake pedal/gear shift when required. this method becomes a lot more comfortable prevents your feet from sticking out like air brakes :)

Thats by no means the "correct method" merely a difference of opinion when it comes to comfort!

for me, thats very uncomfortable, as it bends my knee's more than i want them, and is even a pain in the arse whenever i want to use the gears or brake, as i totally have to move my foot rather than just my toes.

Everyones different when it comes to things like that.


Bongo

Well did session3 tonight and everything is starting to feel more natural :)

Changing gear is becoming more like second nature and I generally feel like I am "thinking" less about "operating" the controls.Admittedly I have spent the first few hours focusing on controls and operating the bike rather than just gettin out there and "riding".

I suppose I just feel happier feeling confident and in control of the bike before venturing into different environments (routes/journeys). For me I think this is going to pay dividends overall though :)

Met another biker coming the other way and he nodded first! :p :thumb:

Thanx for all the input so far, I have been absorbing all the different comments like a sponge! :D

Thats by no means the "correct method" merely a difference of opinion when it comes to comfort!

more to do with clearance than comfort

http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/photos/_ebb6159_-_version_2.jpg

http://www.lordcaffeine.com/images/69.jpg

if you have the arch of your foot on the peg it forces your boot to stick out and this (your boot) will touch down way before anything else.

but horses for courses

yeah but we're talking in a "just done my CBT thread" about tips on learning to ride a bike, not to get 45 degree corners down at speed!

Clearly it's needed though in those circumstances yup.

bongo

Well did another hour tonight. Have my proper biker trousers rather than just jeans so I have all the gear now :p Had a police car following me tonight out of a right hand junction. To be fair to the chap he kept his distance and let me breathe a bit. Unlike the twat in the Audi earlier who decided some kind of intimidation was in order. I held my line though, if you want to overtake me then you are going to have to make it a positive overtake......made sure I was up to the limit of the road as well. Ironically, dickhead in the S3 was turning right about 20 yards from where he was up my chuff........totally uncalled 4 etc......

Funnily enough I met the guy again as I was approaching a roundabout and again the twat decided to just get that bit too close for comfort. By then though I had been practising some positive countersteer so I didn't give him much time to close the gap.......I concluded a class1 knob though :D

Did try some U-turns on a quiet road to see how I might fair and it wasn't as great as I had hoped. Any tips ? Something to focus on.....:thumb:

u-turns just need practice, inexperience usually will mean that you are possible turning too slowly and hence wobbling, just keep practicing until you get the speed/turning balance right, don't be afraid to lean, although it's better to be slow & wobbly than giving too much power and ending up lying on the floor, and always make the 'life-saving' shoulder glance before any lane change manouvers...pr1cks like the audi driver will always be there, just adjust your driving accordingly, the main thing is that you knew he was there and how close he was and you anticipated his overtake and then typical hard on the brakes junction turn just after. be safe and assume you are invisible to cars at junctions, myself and numerous bikers here can confirm that the number of cars pulling out, even when they appear to make eye-contact is scary, and my pet hate, is drivers with heavily tinted front glass so you cannot even see the driver.....

Good job fella, absolutely fantastic that you've not allowed anyone to intimidate you on the road. The police recommend that if someone is driving to close to you and you are on the speed limit....Slow down. It works very well, its defensive and above all safe. You can also of course just pull over if it all gets too much.
U-turns? Mmm...The faster you go the more stable the bike becomes but the examiner does want to see good clutch contol. That means keeping the engine at constant revs and slipping the cluth to control the speed. You can really keep the revs quite high then forget about them and focus on the clutch. It may sound noisy and ugly but thats OK.
Oh and whilst you're at it did you do all your lifesaver/shoulder checks before commencing the turns? It is critical you do start this now. Seriously. No point doing it later. Its as big a fail as putting your foot down not to do them.
Counter lean the bike. Its pretty much possible to do a u-turn bolt upright. However if you want to become a u-turn aficionado, someone who excells in one particular element counter leaning will work on an uphill u-turn, downhill, level, whatever. Counter leaning is also a very efficient method in riding your bike period. Go out and find a quite stretch of road with a nice corner. As you approach push the bike down underneath you but keep yourself as upright as possible. It becomes very predictable, its advanced without being at all hard and gives you a much better view of the road. Give it a go.
Keep up the good work fella, you're doing good.

Well after several 'planned sessions' things are definitely moving forwards. Still I find cornering an issue although all of the tips and advice here have helped to make this not as big of an issue as it might still be :)

One thing biking has made me realise is just how feckin atrocious the average driver is at not having any ounce of intelligence when it comes to anticipative driving. I hold my hands up a bit because before I rode I didn't have much comprehension of being on the road from a bikers perspective although some of these drivers I have encountered need their heads examined and a retest......

I had a pillock tonight coming off a roundabout decide that he had seen my L plates and becos I was going round the bend fairly cautiously that as soon as the road straightened up he would attempt a lukewarm overtake. Ok so may be I shoudln't have opened the throttle quite so hard but I was happy to "make progress" and get up to speed. I was happy to stay dead centre, if you want to pass me dude do so with conviction :D

Eventually he got the idea unlike Mr Nova driver who seemed hell bent on being a pillion :Whatever_

Well done. The anticipating other road users is why there should be a CBT as part of the car test. I think anyone that has ridden a bike can apply much better anticipation to their car driving and it would really improve 90% of people's roadcraft!

Keep up the good work.

5t.

Hello mate.

I passed my DAS in October so know what your going through!. Quick couple of points:

U-turns - Probably been said before but try and pick a point on the other side of the road where you want to end up and then just focus on it. Last thing you want to do is look 3 foot in front of the bike or at the kerb in front. Also dont let the revs drop. As soon as the revs drop and the bike slows down youll wobble. Its natural to look where your going as opposed to where you want to end up but after a while you will have it nailed.

U turns on my CBT (6'4 on a 125) were a shocker but found them slightly easier on the 500 due to having a bit more room. I found that sticking my right knee out helped but horses for courses.

Regarding any other tips. The biggest scares I have had to date have all been from coming into a corner a bit too fast which then tightens up unexpectedly. Natural reaction is to panic and then either grab at the front brake or stare straight into the bush\on coming car. I tend to be alot more relaxed now and have more confidence to just lean the bike over but this comes with hours on the road and confidence in your bike I guess.

So whats your plan then now? Going to practice for a bit then take your DAS?

I thought the DAS was a bit of a joke really. I know they are changing it soon but it taught me nothing about how to ride safely on the road or how to deal with differant circumstances. All my instructor did was take me round the test route time and time again.

The oldest one is probably the most important. Always assume that cars are out to get you. If there is someone at a junction assume that he is going to pull out - slow down, cover the brake and try and make eye contact. I have not even been riding a year but can count 15-20 times where a car has made me take evasive action.

Best of luck with everything and stay safe!!!!

Cheers

Thanks 4 all the replies guys I am really getting alot out of your experience. Another 'sesh' tonight (Can't seem to resist :lol1: ) saw a very relaxed session involving a new technical element....tried a very steep hill start. Kept the engine revving (may be a bit too much) but the pull away was reasonable and I didn't stall :thumb:

Decided to mix it up with some more cars and overall I was very happy with how things went. Cornering is definitely improving, I am taking bends faster and with some confidence in the lil bike. I still feel a little "hindered" in this area though and a few times coming out of corners I have noticed drivers deciding "yep he's slow I must overtake"...I always give it some beans coming out of corners and they change their minds.....I try to ride as fast as I can but always within my limits.......tonight I felt just better about my overall riding and it was a great place to be :D

Starting to think about my options and the DAS path is appealing more and more now. Just from a comparison point of view does anyone have any good URL's that give details about 0 - 60/0 - 100 of 600s ? or even the stats of my lil CG125. I'm just curious to know now how the times stack up against my experience of some reasonably fast cars :)

Thanx all again :D

How are your observations going?

How are your observations going?

pretty well, I even do lifesavers in Tesco's (with the trolley............). Mind you thinking about it the way some people are in the aisles its probably just as well :p

Going out for another sess tonight, see how it goes. U'eees are def on the cards again! :) :brickwall :)

Well tonight I decided to venture further afield on the trusty lil CG125. Went about 35 miles in all, across some really different mixture of A roads, B roads, very minor country roads. Through a few town centres, villages. A couple of main (onto motorway type) roundabouts.

I'm glad I had spent alot of time focusing on controlling the bike before doing this and I did find although I had to concentrate hard, the controlling of the bike was alot more like second nature than it might have been had I just gone "out and rode". I def need to brush up on how I do observations in "the heat of the moment" and a couple of times I found myself straying a little in lanes.

The ride back was at ngiht, which I hadn't really planned for .......my eyes aren't great in the dark which I know from driving a car(long boring medical story.........;) ) so I realised I would have to concentrate alot harder on the bike. U know u go where u see and that was sometimes a bit of a problem with the glare of oncoming traffic........still I got home in one piece.

I started to really see the speed limits of the CG (especially uphill), don't get me wrong though it is an excellent bike to learn on because it really is very, very forgiving of my mistakes.

I actually overtook a slow "getting on my tits" driver in a car :hjtwofing

All in all a very good session in my 2 wheel learning curve.

Down at the dealership yesterday, I saw a lovely red CBR600F and it hit home that me owning such a bike was looking more and more possible :p

The other benefit of all this, is that I have totally forgotten about owning anymore exotic cars........

Excellent stuff!

I took my test at 27 and wish I had done it years ago. I bought a CBR600F as my first bike but only kept it for a couple of month as really wanted an R6. CBR6 is a very capable bike though and is often touted as a decent option for a first bike.WIll be more than fast enough believe me...

Regarding 0-60 times people tend not to get too hung up with them on bikes as they are all so close. Got to be looking at anything between 3 to 3.5 seconds really. A mag like Fast bike or Super bike normally lists the times but the differance between say an R6 and an R1 to 60 is something like .2 of a second.

Rode my mates Gixxer thou K5 last weekend. By christ thats quick.

Sorry not posted in a while. I have been riding pretty regularly every couple of days or so and I feel things are starting to really click into place.

In the last couple of weeks I have noticed I very rarely seem to be in anything less than 3rd gear :D and the amount of times I wiished I had more power is now considerable :p

Riding in the hot sun wasn't exactly a bundle of laughs but on the sweeping country roads I was on, I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else :)

I just wanted to say thanks for all the great advice I have been given over these first few weeks into biking. I have currently got my head in the theory dvds/books in order to pass the theory so I can then move onto the practical.

Thanks again guys, this adventure so far has been fantastic!! and if there is anyone out there who likes fast cars and is thinking about getting into biking then my advice is just "TRY IT", do a CBT or something.

Keep it vertical (well ish........unless ur a knee down specialist :thumb: )

Thanks Fabioso for starting this thread! Its been very helpful:thumb:

Having been pillion since i was 8yrs old and threatening to take my test since i was 17, I finally did my CBT 3 weeks ago and have just done my theory on monday(i passed :D ).

Am doing my DAS the first week in Sept with my test on the 7th. I haven't had chance to get out there and practise, but i've got the school's 125 for the day next week, and my dad is coming along on his bike to supervise and advise me. Its gonna be a tough day, practising the dreaded U'ey and whatever else i can fit in. My dad's talking about going a hundred miles or so :eek:(slave driver!)

I suppose i should have done the 125 thing and practised for a while, but me being me, bought a CBR600F a couple of weeks ago :Whatever_ I know that passing the test is only the beginning, but am hopeful that some stalwarts of the bike scene, will allow me to ride with them and teach me a thing or two :thumb: