old - Fazer Owners Club - old
General => General => Topic started by: ogri48 on 26 August 2013, 03:48:32 pm
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Me, 1977. It was a tenner. You answered a coupla questions, read a car number plate, rode around the block trying not to fall off, stopped when a bloke standing on the path walked out from behind a parked car holding a clipboard, then wheelied up Woodbridge road squealing with delight when you got out of ipswich test centre with your pass. The most difficult bit was the wheelie ( a bus up ahead stopped outside a bus stop like they do and in my enthusiasm I nearly ploughed my bald tyred untaxed rd250 into it..)
If the motorcycling press are to be believed, the bike test is a bit more difficult/comprehensive/ expensive now...
Ps a tenner sounds cheap but in truth it was a bloody fortune, I was only on 21 quid a week and running a stroker...
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I did mine about 6 months before the 2 part test came out In, what, Jan '96? So August '95 for me.
CBT Sunday, a week riding around on a 10 year old Cg125 (much better than the newer Suzukis they had) and test on Friday.
Because the test was at rush hour, the examiner took me for a 30 minute blast around the back lanes. Quick u-turn and an emergency stop and it was back to the centre for theory. 3 questions later I passed!
A lot easier than now, that's for sure...
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Did mine on the first 2 parter, Jan 85, just before going off to start Air Force basic training; I was in a hurry to get it done before then. 1st booking for the second part was cancelled due to snow and ice, so I rode to the admin offices at Ruislip to get a cancellation. Passed, but shouldn't have as I locked the back brake a little on the emergency stop, but the examiner didn't spot it! The first part I found fairly easy, as I trained with guys from the bike club I was in (Harlow 70s) so I was very relaxed about it. About a week after passing, I took my 750 Turbo around the cones. (It'd been sat in the lock-up waiting, great incentive to pass!). Couple of weeks later, of to the RAF I went. Just before I did the second part, my little CB100 seized up, so had to use the training centre's KH125.
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Did mine in June this year. Theory test first (two parts, hazard perception and multiple choice). Then did the CBT.
After this did 2 parts of practical test, part one is off road and involves a figure 8, u turn, slalom, swerve, emergency stop, slow control etc.
After that, part 2 is a 40 minute "ride out" with an instructor in tow. Simples! :roll in:
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Me, like you Ogri, in 1977....but I hadn't remembered it was a tenner! :eek
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another oldie.........1980 for me,a peice of pi**.....no rd for me,had the far superior suzuki gt250 x7,first production 250 to crack 100mph,bought it brand new in the days when i was single and had a few bob in my pocket :lol
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I passed in September 2011. It was the 2 part test and it wasn't hard.
The off the road part is easy if you have good machine control and really noone should be allowed on the road without having good control of their machine. I did my cbt and spent just over a year on a cbr125 getting as many miles under my belt and practicing machine control a lot and I would say that's why the test was no problem, I'd also been driving for about 5 years so rules of the road and reading what other road users were going to do weren't a new thing to learn for me.
Chris
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September 1978, 3 days after my 17th birthday on my trusty CB250N Superdream, or wet dream as my two stroke riding friends called it. Oh how I laughed when a few months later I was riding a 1976 KH500 and they still had L plates :D
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1st June this year and the hardest part was calming myself.
I wonder how relevant a question this is though, because although it seems like the test is a lot harder nowadays, every student is trained up for it.
I told a guy at work I was doing a week long direct access and he said "You'll never pass 1st time." I asked why and he said that it's a lot harder than when he took his test, when all he had to do was ride round the block and slam the brakes on when the examiner jumped out.
I tried to explain to him that whatever testing I go through, I will have the correct training for it so it shouldn't be a problem. He couldn't get his head round that so I made it clear that when I pass my test I'll immediately be a better biker than he ever was.*
*Ok, probably not true** but it shut him the fuck up. :D
**It took me at least a week. :lol
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Passed mine in '97, but had already been riding for 10 years on L plates with 125's then new laws came in so i had to do a CBT? :rolleyes
Just before i took my test before the two year CBT period expired i thought i'd try a Sunday refresher course in case i had any bad habits that might fail me for whatever reason, but after being told by the instructors after a couple of hours that i really didn't need to be there i ended up giving the less experienced riders a hand to help out instead :)
Had my theory test in Watford, and will never forget it 'cos i had what i can only describe as a very upset stomach.
Hit the toilet before i entered the room, then went in, sat down and all was well until the woman said "Start now" and now realise she was obviously talking to my bowels because i suddenly got the pains but i wasn't allowed to leave the room until i had finished the test. :o
I think i finished it in around 15 minutes, instead of the given 40 minutes, then just ran out.
Was amazed when i got the results through and i only got 2 questions wrong, happy days :D
My test day absolutely hacked it down with rain, and it hadn't rained for about 6 to 8 weeks previously, so my examiner generally had the hump already, although i sensed that he wasn't exactly the jovial type anyway, and i did kind of hint i wasn't really too pleased with the weather either!
The ride went absolutely fine apart from 2 things:
He told me to ride up a road and do a right at the end.
Now, imagine the letter ''q", when i got to the end it was actually a roundabout but the road i was on was at the right side of it, and the right turn he wanted me to take was indeed just over to my right but i'd have to go onto the roundabout before coming off it.
So firstly, i just put my feet down, looked at him, then started nervously laughing through all the rain, then decided to play it safe and i rode all the way around the roundabout then saw him still sitting where i left off and as i approached the turning he just indicated right and took the direct route instead. :o
When we got back he asked me what the hell i was doing and i confessed i wasn't 100% sure if it was a 2 way roundabout so played it safe by going the normal route instead, as at least i wouldn't fail as i wasn't doing anything wrong.
But he then says to me "I wasn't trying to catch you out" and then rubbed my nose in it further by saying because there were parked cars around the outside i was theoretically riding on the wrong side of the road anyway!
Bastard!
Then, he says why was i also speeding on another road on the way back?
He told me the road and i explained i was doing 38 in a signposted 40mph road, and he said it actually went into a 30mph road.
Confused, i asked where the sign was and he said "Hidden behind that big tree"
Bastard!
But, after all that, he said my riding was generally good and he passed me anyway, so it all ended happily for me.
I can only imagine he takes that same route on every test to see what people do, although he insisted he wasn't trying to catch me out.
I think he was talking bollox actually and loved every minute of it. :lol
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February 1982 on a cb100 that I sold afterwards and bought a cb250n even though I could have ridden the 250 on L plates in those days.
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Oh come on............... there has to be someone older than me on this forum.
August 1966, Triumph Tiger Cub 200cc, around the block jobbie, wearing jeans, jacket and sheepskin lined flying boots and a lid with goggles. Those were the days. :)
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Passed in September 2011 same as Chris :)
Got my CBT on August 1st 2011, did my theory 3 days later then began doing my training / lessons for DAS Part 1 and 2 - same as others described. I already had my drivers licence and had been driving for 3 years so plenty of road experience.
After passing my test I told my parents (who I'd kept in the dark), they were relatively unimpressed with the idea but at 21 figured that they realistically couldn't do anything to stop me :evil Then 4 days after passing my test I took delivery of my first ever motorcycle - my 1999 Red FZS 600 Fazer :D
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Did the two part test in 1987.
Part one, the tester had to widen the cones for the figure of 8. We had an argument about it, I was adamant my 74 C90 didn't have the steering lock to do it. I was gonna fail cos it was simply not possible. Give it here the instructor said, he took my bike, attempted it and failed.
Part two. March gales, pouring rain, blown all over the place on the way to the test down the exposed coast road. Bike electrics (6v) shorted out half way through the test. Pushed it back to the test centre. Oh well he said, I'll ask you a few questions. The last question was - you've got a full car license haven't you? He passed me.
Miracle I passed my car test too. 1986. Adjusted seat just before test. Emergency stop. Drivers seat flies forward, crushes me against the steering wheel, car stops, seat flies full back and locks into the furthest back position. I'm just a wee fella. Technically I've failed, that's a fail pure and simple. But if I acknowledge the fail, it's beyond a shadow of a doubt that the fail will be a fail. I decided to pretend the obvious and hilarious (not to me it wasn't) had not happened. I discreetly shuffle right to the edge of the seat and continue to drive half of the test with my arms and legs full extended only just able to operate the controls. I do my parking, hill start, reverse round a junction (he picked one on a steep slope) all practically sitting on the back seat.
He passed me! I could not believe it. So the bike was the second lucky pass (or 3rd).
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1975, borrowed rd 250, one of them where you rode round the block if you reappeared in one piece you passed :lol
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I did the 2 part test in 1983 at 17 on a Z200 , can't remember much about the off road bit apart from a figure of 8 , I had to redo the road part when I nearly ran over the examiner on the emergency stop .
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peejay said Oh come on............... there has to be someone older than me on this forum.
I962 197cc James Captain, round the block clock and anti-clockwise, 100 yds. at walking pace feet on the rests & an emergency stop. Passed OK
ATB YFM
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Did my CBT in '06, passed test in '09 a few weeks before the Mod1 / Mod2 test came in; wasn't difficult particularly, apart from a slightly late lane change on a potholed A64 into town. Girl up doing her test before me failed (foot down on the U-turn) didn't exactly help my nerves though. (I were gutted for her, because she'd picked up no other minor points either).
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Past my moped test early in 1978, only did it so I could take the girlfriend on the back, passed the big bike test 2 years later on my mates GSX250, I'd failed twice on a KH250 and a RD250 but passed my car test and bought a Ford Escort.
I put in for my bike test again and passed on said 250, I hadn't ridden a bike for ages and had no insurance, just went on it for an hour before the test and the test itself, good days. :D
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1970 and it was a piece off piss
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did mine last year. mod 1, mod 2, theory, I have been driving cars vans etc for twenty years, so failed my first mod 2 for speeding lol, I was singing to myself , then heard slow down slow down, cost 900. :'( the re test with bike hire is 150.
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1973, on my yamaha rd250,as others say round the block and that was it!
Don`t think i could pass the new test.
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1971, about a month after my 16th birthday. Standard couple of theory questions and a ride round the block job. Although easy I thought I was going to fail. I burnt the ignition coil out on my Ducati 250 Monza the day before the test so had to try to borrow something and the only mate that was prepared to lend me his bike had a 1950's Lambretta 150. It was the first time I'd ever ridden a scooter with twist grip gears and the electric start didn't work so it had to be bump started. Despite that, as I didn't fall off it, I still passed.
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I did mine about 6 months before the 2 part test came out In, what, Jan '96? So August '95 for me.
CBT Sunday, a week riding around on a 10 year old Cg125 (much better than the newer Suzukis they had) and test on Friday.
Because the test was at rush hour, the examiner took me for a 30 minute blast around the back lanes. Quick u-turn and an emergency stop and it was back to the centre for theory. 3 questions later I passed!
A lot easier than now, that's for sure...
A local IAM member who is also a blood runner did a mock test on a IAM skills day and couldn't believe what you have to do now to pass, he wasn't totally convinced he would.
I was one of the first to take the 2 module tests, passed module 1 first time, took 3 goes for the on road part. :o
I am convinced though it was a better test then, but they have since watered it down again because of MCN complaining.
My instructor said if students couldn't pass they weren't being thought properly.
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peejay said Oh come on............... there has to be someone older than me on this forum.
I962 197cc James Captain, round the block clock and anti-clockwise, 100 yds. at walking pace feet on the rests & an emergency stop. Passed OK
ATB YFM
Another young buck, 1964, think it was on my Dads James Cadet 150cc just as above Passed OK, next bike was a Tiger 90 350cc.
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hi
1980 ish round the block and brake when i put me hand up, and youve passed. :eek
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1981 on a KH 250, loved the `ring ding ding `of the 3 cylinder two stroke.
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1970, second time (third if you count the one cancelled due to freezing fog) on 250cc starfire. Just didn't ride fast enough first time.
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Passed a couple of years ago and found it pretty easy.
Mod1 is in a perfectly flat yard. The lines for the U-turn are wider than most roads and have no camber. The hazard avoidance test is over hyped as you can avoid swerving altogether if you pick your line correctly.
Mod2 was pretty easy. I'd had a car licence for over 10 years and had ridden a bike for over a year on my CBT. A couple of lessons to shake off any bad habits and I was good to go.
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Like Ogri, mine was a quick ride round the block in 1987 or thereabouts.
Passed, but shouldn't have as I locked the back brake a little on the
emergency stop, but the examiner didn't spot it!
I took my test on an XS750 with a Sidewinder sidecar to avoid doing the playground part with the cones just because I could. I locked up the back wheel on the emergency stop too but still passed as I released it quickly and still kept control.
One of the questions he asked after was the importance of the front brake on a motorcycle. I replied along the lines about weight movement and too little weight on the rear means the rear can lock up like it did for me in an emergency stop. Still passed though.
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After I passed my test I jumped from the I962 197cc James Captain to a BSA 650 road rocket, I was late for work the first day with the rocket, I was just under 10 stone ringing wet and I couldn't kick it over to start it :lol
ATB YFM
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October 1971.....just a ride round the block! I think the price was about a fiver.....can't remember exactly.
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I took mine just over 6 years ago. The Theory questions were a doddle and the only problem with the Hazard Perception test was clicking when it was a "developing hazard". I tried some sample tests and kept clicking too early because I was thinking "Ok, that's liable to become a hazard, so I'll keep an eye on it".
The on-road test wasn't difficult, although the u-turn was on a slight hill with a bit of a camber which did worry me a bit, however it actually made it a bit easier to get the speed right :)
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1990 fer me. Easy to pass. After the test the instructor said i could use the bike for the rest of the day. I filled it up and went round m25 before gettin the bike back to vauxhall cross @ 6pm dead as they were just aboot tae report it stolen.
Got insured on a company kwaka gt 550 tank and within 2 weeks had crashed into another biker with his mrs on the back. Learnt from it tho as it really shook me up.
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From memory, shortly after my 16th birthday in 1965 !!!!!! on my Lambretta Li 150 Mk. II no less.
I am convinced that 8 years of cycling to school gave me all the road sense and confidence I needed.
I think my test was in Teddington and the only thing I needed to remember was that it was rumoured, and prolly tue, that the examiner timed you on your circuit around the block so it was standard practice to sedately drive around the corner then sit there for a few minutes before confidently returning to Mr. Clipboard.
Thinking back it was ridiculously easy as none of my riding abilities were actually tested.
Still, in my defence, the only problems I remember were SMIDSY 1) the bloke over the road reversed out of his drive and ran over my parked bike................. SMIDSY 2) A bloke in a Jag pulled out in front of me in the pissing rain, I went over his roof, he didn't stop.
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Did my test in 2000 and had my brand new Fazer waiting in the showroom for me. Only problem was that my U turns were iffy (still are if truth be told!) so I did my test on a 125 and had to have my shiny new black Fazer restricted! :eek The following year I helped to organise the first spring meet and my bike was still restricted until about a month before the meet. So...back to the test centre and sat my 'big bike' test and passed easily; then a few weeks later...off to Settle. :) :)
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Did mine February 2008 - was just before they split the test into offroad and onroad - passed first time with 3 minors for observation. Wasn't too difficult but was already driving so had some road sense I guess.
Was straight onto back of my mates bike to go pick up my FZS600 :) best feeling ever
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Passed 20 years ago next month in 1993 on an RG125 after having just come back from the TT. The 2 year limit on the provisional expired in November that year so I was constantly being ribbed at being potentially offroad for 2 years (I think it was) if I failed (unless I wanted to get a scooter *shudder*). I did fail by crossing hatchlines in the middle of the road when going up hill as the examiner wanted me to turn right and I was too eager to comply. Apart from that my ride was exemplary. When I got the same examiner the second time round a month later, the test lasted less than 20 minutes!
Speaking of tests, I think the time has arrived where I must seriously consider starting car driving lessons (merely as something useful to have under my belt) :crazy
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I did mine just over 10 years ago at 30 years old. I was a devout fast car man but commuting from Sailsbury to Blackpool every weekend for years changed me. I used to sit on the m5/m6 junction in jams just watching the bikes filtering through and just thought how stupid I was not joining them.
I did a 4 day 'crash course' which I initially failed, then got an opportunity to do my restricted test in the Army, and passed on a 350 Harley Davidson a week later! (those things are nasty!)
I'd already bought my gold boxeye, and luckily had an airfield to ride around, practicing for my unrestricted test which I took a couple of weeks later and passed! Got rid of my car, gone purely two wheels only ever since.
Covered about 250,000 miles since passing, and still get that tingle every time I get on the bike.
I get told quite often that I'm not wired up right as I roll into work piss wet through in sub zero temps. I just tell everyone who asks why I do it, "Every minute in the saddle is a minute well spent". Its a way of life!
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I passed my test in 1983 on my first bike a Suzuki GP100 found the test easy as you only drove round a couple of blocks with the examiner standing at corners. I later became a motorbike instructor working for different driving schools around Glasgow for 13 years I was an observer for the IAM as well.
Stevie
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1966 no less--seems like yesterday :)
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I passed my test in September 2008. I passed first time but was definitely quite fortunate as although I'd never been to Hartlepool and therefore didn't know any of the roads, it was said to be one of the easiest centres to pass at because it was too far away from any NSL roads so all you did was a little town riding. On the morning of my test the weather was looking ominous and I really wasn't looking forward to the emergency stop in the pissing rain, but again fortune was on my side and it remained dry. After the stop, I moved the bike into the side of the road and the examiner asked whether I had applied the rear brake, I hadn't until the bike was completely stopped but said I had and he seemed to believe me. Then just as we're about to pull away the heavens opened and the rain fell heavily. Phew! I passed with 4 minors.
My car test was only a couple of years ago and both my instructor and myself think I passed before I even got out of the test centre. My examiner had been drafted in from elsewhere and it turned out he was a biker himself. He mentioned that he'd noticed I had cat A on my licence and asked me if was getting rid of the bike, I replied that I was only taking my car test as my first daughter had just been born and it would be frowned upon if I carried her in the top box. He said "Thank foc for that, I thought you were getting soft!" We spent the whole test talking about bikes and it's amazing how relaxed that drive was.
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Passed in may this year, should of done it twenty years ago, fell like I have had to jump through hoops theory £30 ish lessons 3 days including test days £375 mod1 £15 mod2 £75 all done in a week lots of pressure had my bike already would of been devastated if I had failed but fortunately passed all first time, found it a lot harder than my car test in 1982. Best thing I have done in years absolutely love being back on the bike saves time with the commute I actually enjoy going to and from work :-)))
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1985. The only difficulty I had during CBT was with the figure-of-eight cones, but eventually I got the hang of it. I was using a Yamaha RS125 which had a wheelbase about a foot longer than the training centre's little KH100 machines that everyone else was using. When it came to the actual test, they set the cones to the correct spacing for my bike and it was a doddle. :lol
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I tried some sample tests and kept clicking too early because I was thinking "Ok, that's liable to become a hazard, so I'll keep an eye on it".
Interesting. Have a read of Keith Code's 'Twist of the Wrist' He explains how loading up the brain with too much 'potentialities' is quite a bad thing. The more you can discard from thinking about, the easier it is for the brain to cope with a hazard when it is 'on you'. I apply this to my own riding.
I probably havn't explained that at all well, but have a read if you get the chance Graham (if you havn't already).
I passed my test in 1978, a Suzuki 185 and it was the drive round the block tests, I passed first time. It wasn't difficult and the examiner was an old schoolteacher of mine who said 'At last, you are actually pretty good at something!'
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1985, had to do a cbt then a test riding round a block with the examiner running around, lol.
Passed both 1st time and took 3 attempts to pass my car test two years later.
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I tried some sample tests and kept clicking too early because I was thinking "Ok, that's liable to become a hazard, so I'll keep an eye on it".
Interesting. Have a read of Keith Code's 'Twist of the Wrist' He explains how loading up the brain with too much 'potentialities' is quite a bad thing. The more you can discard from thinking about, the easier it is for the brain to cope with a hazard when it is 'on you'. I apply this to my own riding.
I've not read the book, but I've seen the video :)
As regarding "potentialities", I've been cycling for about the past 40 years (gods, that makes me feel old!) and it's so subconcious now that I hardly even think about it.
As I scan the road ahead (and behind) I'm looking for all the little clues and subtleties that mean that if, as in one of the clips, there's a side road on the left, I can be watching for anything coming out of it or that may turn across my path, so when I see a vehicle ahead that's further out towards the centre-line than the rest of the traffic, I'm already thinking "hello, I bet he's going to turn..." and planning for it even before his indicator goes on.
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I passed my bike test on the 12th January 1984 on a Honda CB125T, I had to do the 2 part test which was easy. I passed on the 3rd attempt, the first on my moped (a Honda MB5) which I had no clue, the second time I failed on hesitation, my bike cut out in the middle of the road, this was the time when you had to ride around the block and the examiner was on foot. I passed my car test first time 2 years later, I was disappointed that the test was so short lol
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Just passed my Mod 2 last week. Took me about 5 months all in all and best part of £750.
CBT & theory pretty straight forward. Mod 1 was a pain, failed twice and as a new biker with next to no biking experience, i feel its easy to fail, i also understand why. Failing has made me a "better" biker as i learnt from it.
Mod 2 wasn't a wak in the park but passed 1st time but there are a lot of areas you have keep on top of especially your observations. All in all, i think the expereince has also made me a better car driver too mainly through being much more aware of whats going on around me.
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Just passed my Mod 2 last week. Took me about 5 months all in all and best part of £750.
CBT & theory pretty straight forward. Mod 1 was a pain, failed twice and as a new biker with next to no biking experience, i feel its easy to fail, i also understand why. Failing has made me a "better" biker as i learnt from it.
Mod 2 wasn't a wak in the park but passed 1st time but there are a lot of areas you have keep on top of especially your observations. All in all, i think the expereince has also made me a better car driver too mainly through being much more aware of whats going on around me.
Well done.
Good that you learnt from mistakes as well.
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Oh come on............... there has to be someone older than me on this forum.
August 1966, Triumph Tiger Cub 200cc, around the block jobbie, wearing jeans, jacket and sheepskin lined flying boots and a lid with goggles. Those were the days. :)
thats the year and month I was born m8 :)
did my CBT in February 2009, followed by the Theory test and then Direct Access lessons
Finally passed on the Thursday 23rd April, 4 days before the new 2-part test came into play.
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Just passed my Mod 2 last week. Took me about 5 months all in all and best part of £750.
CBT & theory pretty straight forward. Mod 1 was a pain, failed twice and as a new biker with next to no biking experience, i feel its easy to fail, i also understand why. Failing has made me a "better" biker as i learnt from it.
Mod 2 wasn't a wak in the park but passed 1st time but there are a lot of areas you have keep on top of especially your observations. All in all, i think the expereince has also made me a better car driver too mainly through being much more aware of whats going on around me.
Pretty sure that's about the standard cost now as that's roughly what I paid as well
Agree with the last bit though - having got my bike licence I think it helped improve my driving skill. The new tests are obviously more... shall we call it complex? compared to the old ones, but it does help to prepare you for your 2 wheeled adventures.
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September 1980. Old style test. Read number plate, ride around the block, avoid running down examiner during emergency stop and hey-presto - bike license. Far better than the current system! :rollin I took two tests in four days; bike test on the Friday and car test the following Monday.