# 4 - Lesson 1 on a 125cc

CBT in hand I arrive back at ART training after battling with the 20 mile queue in my car on the A23, one of the reasons why a bike is much more handy!

Anyway arrive late, apologising to Graham. it turns out that the other guy I’m spending the day with on a bike is also late due to the delays, caused by a motorbike and a car, wont go into details.

Not to worry, I get a heads up by getting back on the bike in the training area before he arrives. A few circles round, U-turns etc, and he arrives.

I have a quick break while he warms up, and then were off.

This time as we approach the road I feel much more confident, albeit raining harder than I think I have seen in a good few months.

As we take on the country roads, there is a lot of surface water, which is making me on edge, trying to do all my pre planning seems to go out the window as I approach large areas of water that look like lakes when approaching them on a bike.

After bending and weaving down the country lanes I’m feeling good.

Although after an hour or so at a complicated junction I nervously end up dropping through the gears too quickly, hitting the back brake, the back wheel slips on the road. So now my heart is in my mouth, but I’m still rubber side down.

How exhilarating I thought! I have to say I wouldn't have thought it if I was on my backside and the bike was 30 feet in front of me!

Anyway onwards and upwards.
Another hour into it we decide to stop and have a bite to eat. At this point I have to add I’m getting a little damp in places due to the amount of water falling from the sky. As were having a laugh, and chat about the last few hours and waiting for my greasy lunch I look outside at the torrential downpour!
I can’t believe I have to go back out.

After a large mug of tea, and lunch I feel ready again to go out. I’m amazed at how much brain power riding uses. I’m sure it will get easier!

In the afternoon we go through mini roundabouts, and counter steering (where by you steer the bike by leaning in the direction you wish to go rather than turning the front end of the bike, which we were apparently doing before Graham told us how. Now we have to consciously think about it I’m having trouble, I’m sure I will get it back?

Another hour or two I feel myself making stupid mistakes, I’m turning into tired and grumpy Binny!

We go over left and right turns from and onto major/minor roads. By this time my feet and hands are soaked, I’m also freezing.

Mental note after today’s class go and get some weather proof clothing, gloves at the least.

As we finish off and head back to the school, I know a good day’s work has been done, and with Graham’s great tuition I have learnt a lot more.

He is pleased with my riding, and says I'm a confident rider. Due to my stature another day is possibly required on a 125cc before I move up to the 500, mainly because of the size and weight of the bike.

With the weather starting to get better already I can’t wait till my next class.

Look out for my next blog coming soon when I get leathered up!

Until next time.

Al's blurb

Hello, welcome to Al's blurb, a blog from the world of freelance motorbikng journalism.

Every couple of weeks I'll be updating you with some of the back story stuff, unpublished pics and any insider stuff that ukbike.com can get away with printing without being sued.

Hopefully you'll like it enough to keep coming back for more. Comments or emails are welcome, but don't expect replies to random abuse, I get that from half my editors as it is...

Lately then, I have been mainly gathering material for The Cafe Racer Phenomenon book, which is due out with Veloce Books in August 2009. Some great interviews with riders who were active in the 60s, 70s and 80s, modifying bikes, going to The Ace, Calypso, Station Cafe at Tamworth, Johnsons on the A20 etc. Interviewed Paul Dunstall a couple of weeks back and found it fascinating to hear how he got into the tuning and customising business. Just made a few sets of spare exhausts for his own Norton Dommie racer, then people came in the shop asking for a set...took off from there. Within a few years sponsoring Ray Pickrell, beating factory Nortons and a 64 page catalogue mail order business worldwide.

It's the grass roots stuff that brings a book like this alive though... talked to a guy called Pete Schneider, he met his wife-to-be via building a cafe racer - a Yank mag wanted a pretty girl sat on the bike for a feature, so Pete recalled a girl who was a nice looker from school, asked her to pose, chatted her up and ended up marrying her!

I'm all fired up getting the social side of it, the human stories in there, as well the usual stuff about the bikes themselves. Another guy told me how he built a bike inside a council flat in the early 70s, then took the front end off - having tested it by running the bike in the flat - and transported it downstairs for his first road run in the lift. Brilliant.

Otherwise, I have been at Trade Expo and the MCN London Show.

The Trade Expo has all the new kit for the year for the dealers to look at and some things caught my eye; Bering have some waterproof leathers, lovely Segura stuff...plus BLH budget gear and the Trophy group who own Bering/Segura also had some natty scooter aprons for 2009. I liked the retro Lancaster leather jacket that BKS/Frank Thomas have for this season, but then I am an old giffer...

Delkevic in Stoke are gearing up to do loads more products in 2009 - radiators, exhausts, slip-ons - they have a new system for the old Honda CBX1000 six, plus a system for the VFR 750 FR-FV models.

Highway Hawk had adjustable bar risers for cruiser bikes, dead simple idea, yet effective, just rotate the bars through about 90 degrees, as well as gaining the extra couple of inches height by fitting `em. Cool.

The word from Mike at Victory UK is that the US brand is gonna do some work with Hawg Haven, on creating a limited edition Victory later in 09 - should be good, Hawg Haven have done show-winning bikes in the past, some featured on the Carole Nash stands at the NEC.

I heard from a classic bike dealer yesterday that one guy took his life savings out of the bank recently, bought a Gold Star and Velo Venom, had the fluids drained from the bikes, and keeps them in his living room as a better, safer type of investment. Let's face it, you get cock-all interest from the badly run banks these days...

Got me thinking, out of today's cheaper bikes, which might be classics? Hard to pick out something like a Goldie, a bespoke racer, as they don't really make stuff like that these days, but I guess an early twin headlamp Fireblade, 98 Yamaha R1 or maybe a Kawasaki ZXR750 can only go up in value if you find an unmolested example..? Otherwise the rare modern machines like RC30s, Duke 916 SP, Bimota Tesi/SB6R etc is already at classic Britbike money.

all for now, Al the Blurb.

#3 - CBT

With my confidence blooming after my new rider course, I’m ready for the CBT (I think?)

So there is myself and four other guys. One is training up to be a new instructor and the other three are in the same position as me.

Graham and Steve are our instructors for the day.

After having a coffee, and meeting the other guys and sharing riding experiences (or lack of) also discussing pet stories (how random!) its time to go through official bits and pieces.

Driving license – check, plus going through helmet and relevant first sections of the CBT syllabus, and plan for the rest of the day. Including clothing, protective/safety gear, this was module A. I have to say though I was very surprised to learn that legally in the UK; the only protective item you need to wear is a helmet! Now obviously I have a while before I start riding like Lady Godiva, but seriously just a helmet! I just want to take this moment for anyone thinking of going out for a ride with no protective gear on. Think again, you only get this set of skin!Module BThis is where we get introduced to the bike (again in some cases) learn some basic maintenance, special emphasis on safety, and proceed to remove and replace the bike on the stand.
If you read my last blog, I wasn’t too hot at this, but this time it came quite easily you will be pleased to know!
Module CThis is where you start learning to ride, beginning with moving off and stopping and developing your skills through a variety of exercises until you are readyto go on the road.
After doing the above on the new rider course I was so ready and just as good (if not better than my peers, who had all ridden before) well done me! Ok well done Graham, he is a great tutor, and apparently no-one rides better than him. He will love the fact I have mentioned that!
So at this point all was going well until one of our fellow students lost the knack of clutch control, and took a stumble off the bike! To which the two other guys and myself got quite shaken by. Not even mentioning the guy who came off!
He wasn’t hurt, and got back on, ready to go again. Anyway after some 1-2-1 tuition of the slow clutch control, again he lost his confidence and came off, luckily missing the metal fence by about a foot!
At this point he was advised to take a break. Then had to be booked back in for another session. We did feel for him, as we had started the day well together as a group.
Well onwards and upwards, it was time for some lunch!Module DThis is a classroom based session about how to ride on the road safely. You are expected to already have a good understanding of the Highway Code. I have to say we all did, although Graham may quote me on that! Ok, so maybe we had got a little lazy as we are all car drivers and have been for a fair few years. So back to swotting up on this area!Module EMinimum (legal requirement) two hour road ride. (Your instructor will issue you with a radio, ready for your on-road session. This will last at least two hours, and will involve a variety of roads. There will be regularstops to discuss aspects of the ride, with debriefing sessions and discussion of various road hazards.)
By this point I was very excited about getting on the road. The other two guys went with Graham and I had Steve.
So I was ready until all module D started going round in my head, about what happens when you come off, and slide etc. Especially now out of the confines of the safe iron fence. Now there are cars and lorries to contend with.

Nerves aside I put my ear piece in, and get communicated with Steve.
So when you’re ready of we go…
A shaky start I’m faced straight away with gravel! I slowly go across and get to the road. My heart starts pounding and I suddenly feel very vulnerable. I didn’t think I would feel so exposed. After driving for 11 years you begin to feel a little indestructible on the roads. Now all of that has gone and a little slip and I could be under the car over the other side of the road!
I hear a voice in my ear then giving me confidence and guiding me where to go. Steve was very reassuring, and a great instructor! Although at some points I would have rathered him actually being on the bike with me!

Checking my speedo, I realise I’m bombing along at a not very respectable 30mph on a 50mph road!

Anyway an hour or so later were getting up to the appropriate speeds no problem. At this point when you have the open road in front of you, you feel so free on a bike. I have to also say it is so fun!

Although Steve will hate me saying this, as you’re going along at such speeds the thought goes through your head “what if I were just to let go?”
No need for answers on a postcode, I do know.

Before I knew it it was over and we were back at the school. I was very tired but pleased to say I got my CBT, and so did the two other guys.

Thanks so much to ART for getting me through, and look forward to my next lesson with you!

Blog #2 – The new rider course

After choosing the test centre of choice (ART Training….those lucky people!) Getting booked onto the new rider course, then the day arrives to get back on a motorbike.

I arrive at ART training after following their very good directions. The weather was not on my side I’m afraid, but then what did I really expect learning in the winter!

So I arrive at the centre, to a warm welcome by Kim, and Frank, with beaming smiles. Suddenly my nerves hit in for reasons I can’t even explain. Anyway Frank (or Spanky as he is more fondly known! I didn’t think I ask questions!!) asks me about my riding experience, I give him the small low down on it, 2 mins later and my life signed away into the safety of his hands, its time to get practical.

So, I didn’t mention before I hadn’t thought too much on my attire, except for my huge grin (from nerves and excitement) and my sparkly new helmet (from topgearsuperstore.)
I was donning my huge brown new rock boots, yes new rock you may say, great for biking! Well these have a large platform and heel, photo of these to follow on request!

After a long conversation on these with Kim and Spanky, we decide I will get on the bike and see how it goes, as these boots are more or less attached to my feet at all time, and during many of my daily activities.

Did I say in my last blog that ART provide the basics whilst you train with them? Well I lied. They more or less provide everything you need! I am faced with a wall of new waterproof jackets nicely hung in all sizes, a wall of gloves again hanging in size order. Followed by high-vis vest, trousers (if required,) and helmets. I was very impressed as I remember back in the day of my last CBT it was just a bin full of mismatched gloves, wet jackets, and that was pretty much all they gave you, oh and a helmet that looked like it was just about surviving, and wouldn’t protect anything on impact! I’m told that these types of places are still around training people, basically from a shed with no luxury facilities!

Back to ART, I didn’t mention that they don’t train you from a shed either! They have a large, heated cabin, with chairs, tea and coffee making facilities, and toilets.
If there are any other budding bikers out there I would recommend you think about these things when choosing a training school, as although you are there to ride a bike, all these other things come into play before and after the class.

Ok, so in a nice new waterproof jacket, gloves, helmet, high Vis. All check. All that left is to see if I will be able to ride in my boots. 5mins later on the bike the boots will do the job.

First thing Spanky got me doing was taking the bike of the stand. Great I thought – easy. 5 mins later I’m still tooing and frooing tying to get it off the stand. By this point it feels like 20 mins, and I feel a bit of an idiot! I finally more or less get it. Oh did I mention I’m vertically challenged, standing at 5ft 1”. Yes the 1” is important!

Moving on, I learn 1st gear, and neutral. Again easy you say. 20 mins later im still trying to put it into neutral from first, I start to manage it by going into second, and tapping down. Spanky reassures me that alot of people do this! I have to say it wasn’t the boots, but turns out after years of dancing I don’t have a gentle touch in my feet!

I will just stop there and say by this point I’m starting to think this is not going my way, or maybe I’m just not very good! Spanky is reassuring though, which is slightly helping.

Give it half an hour and I’m flying round the track, stopping at relevant points, and pulling off again. Before I know it Spanky is getting me changing gear, weaving through cones, and doing figures of 8. OK the figures of 8 were quite difficult, and after mild hysteria, managed about 1 decent one. But the gear change etc was going well.

I’d like to point out at this point it was raining quite hard, and I was doing very well, so Spanky was moving me on quickly.
I then had a taster of what’s to come in the CBT, like U turns, emergency stops and using indicators. I can hear all you bikers out there chuckling to yourselves that you don’t think twice about these things when riding now, but try to take yourselves back to being a learner. ;o)

By this point I’m feeling really good, and realised how I hadn’t noticed how quickly a) the time had gone and b), how fast spanky had moved me on. What a great instructor. I would like to add that during some of these tricky manoeuvres, my smile had gone and turned to concentration – sometimes too much. At these points Spanky would yell to me to keep smiling which made me relax, and therefore ride better.

It was such a great experience and has given me a real confidence to go on to do my CBT. The new rider course is such a good idea, and at a price of only £55 for 2 hours incl.bike hire, it’s a real bargain.

I have now booked onto do my CBT and cant wait. A bit nervous about being outside the confines of the fenced of track that ART have, but I’m sure I will be fine.

Now I’m off to study my highway code a bit more.

Due to the weather no photos, or video was taken during this time, but fingers crossed we will have some road action from my CBT.

Muse3 - Winter riding by endemoniada_88

Grey Horizon (MPH MMIV)

So, winter riding: still a topical subject, particularly given the current cold snap we are experiencing. In fact, this is about as bad as it gets down here in the South: sub-zero temperatures all day long, anonymous grey cloud stretching to the horizon in all directions, morning frost thick enough to look like snowfall and the ever-present dangers of black ice and careless, frozen motorists.

Granted, it's a little more difficult to appreciate the joys of biking under such circumstances, but all-year-round means just that. Unless conditions are utterly hazardous, it's still better, faster and more fun to be rolling on two wheels. The only question, really, is which two?

It's long been one of my contentions that any bike can be an all-weather, all-purpose vehicle with the addition of four items of equipment – Scottoiler, crash protectors, sport rack and cargo net - and a can of WD40. It's worked on an awful lot of bikes over the years, during which time I've had to borrow something with four wheels or resort to public transport no more than a handful of times.

There are some obvious disadvantages to this basic approach, of course.

The first is cost and inconvenience if it should all go wrong. My first proper winter crash was carried out on a lovely, shiny '86 VFR750. Being on the young and foolish side, I looked at the rutted, part-melted ice and decided it would be fine. And so it was - until the first corner. Turning on to a shady side road had me sliding helplessly on a flawless, frozen sheet. Miraculously, I didn't fall off, but turning around was out of the question, so it seemed like a good idea to creep around the block, park up back at home and walk to work. Nearly made it, too...but the very last corner put me down on my ear, wrecked the fairing and my leg. And I still had to walk to work, not just that day but until the VFR was fixed - at great expense.

The second is that, although it can be done, it may not always be comfortable. I spent one winter on a harshly-throttled '96 Fireblade and another on an '01 GSXR1000 with a badly squared-off and largely-shot rear Pirelli. With both, when the frosts came, it was a job not to be highsided at every corner and sometimes, with immoderate use of the throttle, even in a straight line. Never actually got as far as falling off either, but the constant feeling of being about to did get a bit wearing on the nerves. Too much power for the conditions, really, even trying to keep it all smooth and progressive.

The third is cosmetic damage. Not that I have much in the way of mechanical or aesthetic sympathy, but when the salt and gravel are down in thick, damaging layers and every metal part on the bike is turning either brown or furry – and sometimes, both – it does leave me feeling a certain amount of guilt about maltreating my vehicle. Probably not a good plan, either, if intending to get top dollar on a trade-in at any point in the future.

There is a near-perfect solution to this, though: buy another bike, preferably of the genus known as "winter hack". Not least among the arguments for doing so is that will give you at least two bikes to mess around with – and that can only be a good thing.

Opinions vary considerably as to what constitutes a good hack: the answer, it would seem, is pretty much anything that a rider can get along with, bearing in mind it will deliberately be exposed to abuse in order to save a "proper" bike. It simplifies the purchasing process somewhat: style and desirability not an issue, cheapness and reliability definitely are. Not just cheap to purchase, either – there will be insurance, road tax, consumables and spares to think about. Best to pick something with a bit of weight and stability, a fairing or screen for weather protection, enough power to be interesting but not so much as to make it a real handful. Reliable electrics and cold-weather fuelling are a must - again, it will be called upon to perform in unpleasant conditions – and a simple, unburstable engine configuration is highly desirable.

In short, leave out the more exotic manufacturer experiments and pick any middleweight or above nineties Japanese motorcycle. It'll do the job.

That said, I've spent more winters without a second bike than with. That's probably because the vast majority of the bikes I've owned have actually been middleweight or above nineties Japanese motorcycles already out of the first flush of their youth. Generally, they haven't been unique or valuable enough to justify owning a spare and most of them have come through the grim months uncrashed and without too much environmental damage. Which does at least provide evidence for the theory that they are ideal bad-weather bikes.

For a change, though, I started the 2008 off-season with a new and still-shiny GSXR600 and wanted to keep it that way. An ideal opportunity to pick up a hack bike arose when a friend decided to sell his weatherbeaten and misfiring TDM850 at a knockdown price. A new coil, a couple of weekends in the garage tidying up and fettling and the TDM was good to go: fully otr for less than a grand. I'm not usually a big fan of twins – although my previous favourite hack was a similarly parallel twin GPZ500S – but the Yamaha makes a great winter ride. Spacious, stable, adequate weather protection and good visibility from the high saddle. Currently top of my personal recommended list, although I'm sure others will have different favourites.

Having reverted to type, the GSXR went a couple of months ago, to be replaced by another nineties big-bore supertanker (Suzuki RF900R, since you ask). Having wintered on an RF some years ago, they're more than up to the task all on their own, but the TDM still gets a lot of road time at the moment. Partly that's down to the completely different feel between the twin and the multi keeping it interesting, mainly it's because I don't really mind how much abuse the Yamaha gets. Come the spring I plan to take it apart and respray it all anyway: of course, if it ends up looking any good, I may need a third bike to hack for next winter...

So, if you want to ride the year around – and, as noted before, why wouldn't you? – it's just a case of getting the right tool for the job. And if that isn't the bike already in your garage, well, there are plenty of options out there that will cost less than the annual depreciation of your sunny Sunday hyperbike and give you an extra three months or more a year in the saddle rather than stuck in a small tin box inching slowly towards the grey horizon.

Go on, you know it makes sense...


Cold, wet and grey...Yamaha weather again