I've finally done it!

After months of lurking, planning and plotting, I've got the blessing
of the examiner to be let loose on the road.

Not totally uneventful through. The last minute practice drive to the
test centre and a quick, let's do one more u-turn and bam, I hit the
cerb, miss my footing and bike come crashing down on top and pins me
to the ground.

Instructure helps me extracate myself from the mess and sets about
replacing the mirror. At this point we are about 10 minutes before the
test time and I'm seriously 'wibbling'.

We set off regardless, more 'wibbling' on my behalf and Dave (the
instructor) sets me straight on a few things!

Take and pass the test. Bloody elated!

Get home and eagerly kit up to drive my garaged bandit 600s, freshly
delivered last Tuesday and, bugger, the battery is flat as a pancake!

I guess I will need to wait until tomorrow to actually get on the road
proper after all.

 

David Thompson wrote

Well done and welcome to the darkest side.

Yebbut, in time honoured tradition, you are allowed to sit on your bike
in the garage and go "Vrooooom Vroooooom."

 

He's also allowed to bounce start the bastard!
How *could* he *wait*? Tcha : (

In case CBT & DAS didn't cover that, this is how you do it.

Best: Find moderate hill:
Turn on fuel. Sit at top on bike, brake on. Check kill switch is not set to
'off'. Switch on ignition. Apply maybe 1/4 choke. Engage 2nd gear. Hold
clutch in. Release brakes. Roll to about 12 / 15 mph & drop clutch swiftly.
Bike's motor turns over and should fire up. If not then return choke to
normal and do again slightly quicker with about 1/4 throttle.

Flat area:
As above but this time either you find people dumb enough to push (preferred
option) or you run with it in neutral, leap on clutch in, select gear
sharpish, drop clutch. With practice you can run with it in gear (clutch in)
leap on side-saddle whilst you drop clutch (so your back wheel has enough
weight to get traction & turn motor over) leap off and keep shoving - This
may not be so easy for a newbie though and you don't wanna fall off & drop
it.

Now:
You know you want to ride it.
You know you can't wait.
Go for it!

Tomorrow:
You will be having *very* pointed words with the vendor about selling you a
bike with either a fkd battery or an electrical fault. Do *not* believe
they didn't know. A dealer should, an owner would. Where's it from?

--
Nidge
ZX6R J2 Stunning in zit yellow. Bits of CB500S in Norwegian Parrot blue.
BOTAFOT#63

'Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand'.
(Homer Simpson).

 

Y'know, there could be hours of fun watching a newbie try this.

So, if you're going to give it a go set up a web-cam first, please.


--
AndrewR, D.Bot (Celeritas)
Kawasaki ZX-6R J1
BOTAFOT#2,ITJWTFO#6,UKRMRM#1/13a,MCT#1,DFV#2,SKoGA#0 (and KotL)
BotToS#5,SBS#25,IbW#34, TEAR#3 (and KotL), DS#5, Keeper of the TFSTR#
The speccy Geordie twat.

 

Good for you Dave. Welcome to the dark side and all that. Where are you
based and when are you coming out for a run?

--
cane [at] ukrm.org ¦ fireblade, r30
botafo t#50 f#03 YTC #15 bbb #6 pm #6 apostle [kotl] flo#12[with bar]
New? http://www.ukrm.net/faq/ukrmscbt.html
Rideout? http://www.horrible.demon.co.uk/botafof/
"Suckling the Mender"

 

I thought that he's only passed his test, not bought an angle grinder.

 

Well batted there sir.

 

Alan.T.Gower wrote

Give him time.

 

Guilty as charged. 'Tad embarrasing to be caught at it by the local
teeny mob though!

 

OTOH, bike could have an alarm fitted of the old and shite Datatool
variety and been sat there for a while sucking the life out of the
battery...

Fannily enarf, I met a blerk a few months back at Chiswick 'Onda who'd
just poichased a blue Bindit 600. Well chuffed he was and said so to all
who'd listen. Sounded like a bloody bargain, too; 02-plated Bindit6, 13k
miles, FSH, etc. a smidge over £2k.

"'Kin 'ell!" I exclaimed to him and then, (half) joking, "What's wrong
with it, then?"

"Nuffing!" says he.

Cue five minutes of him trying to start it and the bike cranking over
slower and slooower and slooooower before "Whrrr-click-click-click".

Oh deary me...

 

Conga-rats, chap.

Now, DFC.

 

Where abouts? I'm sure the next run somewhere, a FOt or a FOF perhaps,
you could ride up with me, (Hove, East Sussex), I've only got an old
bike. Shouldn't be a problem.

 

Slow it is, easy to keep up with. And huge, so easy to follow through
traffic and junctions. Oh, and black. Very very black so no chance
of sweller blending into the background unless that's black too.
Ideal, really.

 

East Grinstead way.

Just taken the thing out in the pouring rain; to say I was crapping
myself on the twisty downhill corners is an understatement. Not that
anything slipped, I just have NO idea how 'sticky' this is!

After all the scare stories during the CBT and DAS, I've much learning
to do...

 

I'm only just down the road in Uckfield myself..

It's not rained for a bit, so it is quite slippy out there now.

Be careful and ride your own ride, and you'll be ok.

--
Muck
Bandit 600n(With added ducktape); CG125(MSOTHPR)
"I've got a CG125, and I'm not affraid to use it."
DS#1 ; DOMO#1 ; SH#2 ; ICQ: 166144431
Remove _TEETH_ to e-mail

 

Well done! As they have all said already, the learning has only just
started. I am a newly qualified rider, having never ridden a bike in
my life before doing my DAS last November. At least you got on a bike
straight away. I think it is really important to do that. I made the
big mistake of leaving it until the following April before buying a
bike (for various reasons, one of which was a bus crash I was involved
in!) and have only managed 500 or so miles so far.
So, I'm still trying very hard to gain confidence taking corners etc.
Each ride is a continuous learning process for me and I feel like a
complete novice compared with my fellow riders who have more
experience - one of whom is my husband who has been riding since a
teenager, another of whom is a bike/car instructor! Some days you
will go out, have a fantastic ride and return home elated. Other
times, you will ride like a complete idiot (as I did on a trip with
six or so bikers last week) and go home feeling like you're total
crap.
However, it is fantastic knowing I now have a licence to ride a
motorbike. It is something I have been meaning to do for years. One
day, I might even be able to ride it properly!

Mandy

 

Hi Mr PW. Well, with all that riding, you must be quite an expert.
So, any advice you would like to offer is gratefully accepted
Even if I used the bike every day for work, it would take me ages to
do 500 more miles! I only work 3.5 miles from my office! What do
you do to cover so many miles a week?

 

Oh, I dunno... go on a ride somewhere, 'cos you just enjoy it, like?

Hint: you don't *have* to take the shortest route betwixt home and work,
you know.

 

I only work 3.5 miles from home. I do that in the car to get to work.
When I take the bike in, the journey is around 28 miles...depending on
which route I take.

Sets me up for the day with a big smile )

 

I'll try it one morning! Will make a change from the usual method for
putting a big smile on my face! :-o)