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Two wheels good.
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brandersnatch
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Warren t claim
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Re: Two wheels good.
Here's a cheeky update on my Confessions Of A Motorcycle Instructor tales.
Q. How many lessons will I need to pass my big bike test?
A. As I said on the aforementioned thread, we sold a DAS course consisting of a CBT and eight hours which comprised of three two hour lessons, a pre test lesson and the final hour being dedicated for your test. IIRC, back in 2003 that little lot would cost you the princely sum of £495 plus the cost of your theory and practical tests at prevailing DSA rates.
Q. That's a lot fewer lessons than it took for me to pass my car test and a car doesn't fall over when I come to a stop! Why so few hours instruction?
A. Two reasons. Firstly if you already have a car licence then you'll already be pretty conversant with roadcraft and know the difference between things like a stop sign and a give way. I quote my HGV instructor here when I say, "I'm not teaching you to drive, I'm instructing you how to upgrade your licence". Secondly, IIRC, I've only taught one person on a DAS course with a 100% blank canvas, even people who can't drive a car had some 125 experience.
Q. What's the time frame involved to getting me from CBT to full, unrestricted licence? Isn't it a long wait for a summer test?
A. Here's what we used to do. When a punter walked in wanting a DAS course I'd tell them to apply for their theory test the moment they left the office. Contrary to perceived wisdom, you don't, or at least didn't have to have completed your CBT to apply and sit your theory test. I'd steer you in the direction of some free practice sites online and sometimes Pearson would give you a date close meaning that you'd be taking your CBT in the position of already having your theory test passed and under your belt.
Another trade secret that you may or may not know is that both bike and car instructors can pre book practical test slots in our name and find a suitable punter to fill the test appointments, usually the 3.27pm slots for reasons mentioned earlier, to fill them meaning that if you're lucky you could have gone from total newbie to full, unrestricted licence holder in a fortnight. Occasionally we'd have consecutive test slots booked meaning I had both punters going in for their tests one after the other. What I'd do is then give the weaker candidate an extra hour's lesson for free and send the stronger candidate in for their test first. Hopefully he'd return with a pass meaning that the weaker candidate would feel more positive taking his/her test. If I sent the weaker punter in first and they failed then that could make the stronger candidate feel down and they'd feel that they'd failed before they even started.
Q. Another bike school has offered me a course that includes a lesson riding out to a biker's cafe in North Wales for an extra £70.
A. Yeah, whatever. Your practical test is won or lost on being able to successfully demonstrate to the examiner that you can carry out several slow speed exercises safely and handle urban left and right turns. Riding to North Wales on the A55 dual carriageway isn't part of the DSA test.
Q. How many lessons will I need to pass my big bike test?
A. As I said on the aforementioned thread, we sold a DAS course consisting of a CBT and eight hours which comprised of three two hour lessons, a pre test lesson and the final hour being dedicated for your test. IIRC, back in 2003 that little lot would cost you the princely sum of £495 plus the cost of your theory and practical tests at prevailing DSA rates.
Q. That's a lot fewer lessons than it took for me to pass my car test and a car doesn't fall over when I come to a stop! Why so few hours instruction?
A. Two reasons. Firstly if you already have a car licence then you'll already be pretty conversant with roadcraft and know the difference between things like a stop sign and a give way. I quote my HGV instructor here when I say, "I'm not teaching you to drive, I'm instructing you how to upgrade your licence". Secondly, IIRC, I've only taught one person on a DAS course with a 100% blank canvas, even people who can't drive a car had some 125 experience.
Q. What's the time frame involved to getting me from CBT to full, unrestricted licence? Isn't it a long wait for a summer test?
A. Here's what we used to do. When a punter walked in wanting a DAS course I'd tell them to apply for their theory test the moment they left the office. Contrary to perceived wisdom, you don't, or at least didn't have to have completed your CBT to apply and sit your theory test. I'd steer you in the direction of some free practice sites online and sometimes Pearson would give you a date close meaning that you'd be taking your CBT in the position of already having your theory test passed and under your belt.
Another trade secret that you may or may not know is that both bike and car instructors can pre book practical test slots in our name and find a suitable punter to fill the test appointments, usually the 3.27pm slots for reasons mentioned earlier, to fill them meaning that if you're lucky you could have gone from total newbie to full, unrestricted licence holder in a fortnight. Occasionally we'd have consecutive test slots booked meaning I had both punters going in for their tests one after the other. What I'd do is then give the weaker candidate an extra hour's lesson for free and send the stronger candidate in for their test first. Hopefully he'd return with a pass meaning that the weaker candidate would feel more positive taking his/her test. If I sent the weaker punter in first and they failed then that could make the stronger candidate feel down and they'd feel that they'd failed before they even started.
Q. Another bike school has offered me a course that includes a lesson riding out to a biker's cafe in North Wales for an extra £70.
A. Yeah, whatever. Your practical test is won or lost on being able to successfully demonstrate to the examiner that you can carry out several slow speed exercises safely and handle urban left and right turns. Riding to North Wales on the A55 dual carriageway isn't part of the DSA test.
TDW disclock and killswitch champion.
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DodgeRover
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Re: Two wheels good.
Bub & Hooli, trailer will be got out and tyre pressure checked ready for you, just let me know what day and if it will be morning or afternoon.
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Hooli
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Re: Two wheels good.
Brilliant thanks Dodge. It'll be Tuesday, I'll let Bub quote times as he's driving.
Morning though as the place is open 9-4.
Morning though as the place is open 9-4.
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bub2006
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Re: Two wheels good.
That's grand if it's going to be out and ready. If place is open till 4 I can collect around 930 and go straight up to Doncaster zoo and collect the supreme leader.
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bub2006
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Re: Two wheels good.
I'll be bringing a light board too just to be sure in case of electrical issues with light. I have my numberplate attached to the lightboard too.
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bub2006
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Warren t claim
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Re: Two wheels good.
Let's touch on the subject of punters learning on their own bikes. We were just a training school and with the exceptions of when I used to abuse my powers and flip bikes to pupils, we didn't sell bikes. This meant that pretty much all the local dealers who didn't run their own training school pointed their newbie bike buyers in our direction. I had a very unofficial arrangement with one dealer and if a punter was after a bike I'd make sure that we called into his showroom during a lesson for a coffee and for my pupil to peruse the stock and sit on as many bikes as he wanted. This was handy because Dean who owned the place would happily lend me anything in stock if I was left short of a bike due to a breakdown. As you've probably guessed already, I got a backhander from anything he sold to my punters. One day during a visit my pupil fell in love with a Harley 1200 Sportster Dean had in stock and what swung the deal was me saying that if he bought it now he could do the rest of his lesson and DAS course on it. Our instructor insurance covered both staff and learners on any bike with no questions asked so the lad swiped his card and rode away within 15 minutes as soon as I could stick some L plates on it. Dean helpfully carted our ER5 back to our base in his van and was a happy bunny selling the Harley for the full asking price.
Despite dealers delivering their punters brand new 50cc Pug Speedfight/Gilera DNA to our base the day before CBT day I'd usually try the pupil out one our scooters first as there's a decent chance that they'd bin it on our compound if they were a little bit cack handed. One exception was learners with Vespa/Lambretta scooters. The majority of those weren't just paying for a CBT, they were paying for the full CBT and 125cc course. Teaching those lads on a CG125 would be pointless as the mechanics of riding a scooter with twist grip gears is totally different and would be of little help when they rode away after their CBT on their Italian hair driers. One thing to note is that the cost of a 125 course was exactly the same as the full fat, 500cc DAS course, even if they were learning on their own bike.
As I'm sure I mentioned earlier, one 16 year old lad wanted to do his CBT on the Aprilia RS50 but after looking at the performance exhaust it was fitted with I insisted on test riding it first and even with my lardy arse aboard it his 60mph so I agreed to let him use it for the compound work but the road element would be completed on our Honda Vision for legal reasons. Even then, I could be caught out. One lad had bought a 125cc Cagiva Mito from a dealer who told me that he was pretty sure that the bike was still restricted when he dropped it off. All went well until the road element when I told the 17 year old to turn the taps on until he thought that he was riding at an appropriate speed. This was something I always said to my learners as our Lifan/Honda CG125s would struggle to get past 60mph. This lad opened the throttle and fucked off into the distance leaving me to stamp down at least two cogs on my company GT550 and I was still struggling to keep up! Sanity was restored after a brief look at 90+ on the speedo.
Despite dealers delivering their punters brand new 50cc Pug Speedfight/Gilera DNA to our base the day before CBT day I'd usually try the pupil out one our scooters first as there's a decent chance that they'd bin it on our compound if they were a little bit cack handed. One exception was learners with Vespa/Lambretta scooters. The majority of those weren't just paying for a CBT, they were paying for the full CBT and 125cc course. Teaching those lads on a CG125 would be pointless as the mechanics of riding a scooter with twist grip gears is totally different and would be of little help when they rode away after their CBT on their Italian hair driers. One thing to note is that the cost of a 125 course was exactly the same as the full fat, 500cc DAS course, even if they were learning on their own bike.
As I'm sure I mentioned earlier, one 16 year old lad wanted to do his CBT on the Aprilia RS50 but after looking at the performance exhaust it was fitted with I insisted on test riding it first and even with my lardy arse aboard it his 60mph so I agreed to let him use it for the compound work but the road element would be completed on our Honda Vision for legal reasons. Even then, I could be caught out. One lad had bought a 125cc Cagiva Mito from a dealer who told me that he was pretty sure that the bike was still restricted when he dropped it off. All went well until the road element when I told the 17 year old to turn the taps on until he thought that he was riding at an appropriate speed. This was something I always said to my learners as our Lifan/Honda CG125s would struggle to get past 60mph. This lad opened the throttle and fucked off into the distance leaving me to stamp down at least two cogs on my company GT550 and I was still struggling to keep up! Sanity was restored after a brief look at 90+ on the speedo.
TDW disclock and killswitch champion.
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DodgeRover
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Re: Two wheels good.
I did exactly that last bit doing my part 2 training on my RD125LC, instructor caught up into radio range and told me to wait at the end of the dual carriageway for the CG125s to catch up
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christine
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Re: Two wheels good.
Have you got it yet ? Has it fell off the trailer or any another Bub catastrophe?
