Anybody else got a bike??

After wanting to for years,I've finally booked my bike training...anyone elso got a bike? Any tips???

Advice ? Yeah, enjoy it (although it's pretty hard NOT to !).

I wanted a bike for ages and ages and eventually got fed up of saving for a big bike and the obviously high insurance and got myself a Honda 125. It did about 55mph, perhaps 60 with a tail wind, and was great fun.

Then, after a year, I swapped it for a Kawasaki 600 and can't believe I waited so long before getting one .. it's amazing.

You enjoy yourself Tiff, but take it easy and ride safely.

Tiff,

Good to see you expanding into two wheeled fun as well.

I first got on the road as a teenager through biking and have never been without one since (currently have 3, but one is to get my son through his test). Great fun and very rewarding (not comparible with driving and Exx as they are different worlds).

I have always advocated that ALL drivers should have compulsory bike training/riding before driving a car to give them greater road sense/awareness. Biggest tips I can give you are: relax and try to become one with the bike, on the U-turn look where you want to go and not at the road in front of the bike and remember know the limits of you and your bike because you can't fall off a car!!

To prove a point, only today I managed to 360 my Saab 9000 on one of the Brackley Bypass roundabouts due the road being greasy from rain after a long dry spell (pushed my luck with speed and tyre confidence, probably would have lost it even earlier with my exx). No damage as the car just spun on the road and cars around me kept out of the way but I've been close to something like this on the bike (Honda ST1100) and it's a lot less relaxing experience !!!

Enjoy!!

Thanks for the replies! I did have bikes years ago,started on a Honda MBX50,then a Yamaha RD50 with a bore kit,then on to a Yamaha TZR125 with the powervalve kit. so not new to bikes,just never bothered to go for my test. I hope to get a 600 after passing my test,something like a ZZR600,but I really like big trialie bikes like the Africa Twin,and with being 6 ft odds,I hopefully would look a bit less silly on one of these....I do have a liking for BMW's too.....

That would a Bertone BMW the one with the roof :shock:

I got into biking at the age of 10, waiting at the top of the drive for my dad to come home from work on his Puch maxi (yes- the one with pedals!)

I'm 33 now and still motorcycling, which comes a close 3rd behind my family and the exxy.

I totally agree with Bruce R, ALL drivers should experience biking, if only to know how it feels when an idiot pulls out in front of you and claims "I didn't see you".

I spent 4 fantastic years selling motorcycles & scooters and training riders, all I would add to everyone's good advice is this; get as much training as possible, not just enough to pass the test (like car drivers). The Police may hold local 'ride outs' where they asses your skills and develope you, don't knock 'em, they are better for knowing and you'll learn loads. I speak from experience. The main problem is the difference between riders percieved ability and their actual ability.
In the past 10 - 15 years, bikes have advanced so much, and I saw so many riders buying bikes to fall in with the crowd. Buy what suits you and your needs. WHICH BIKE magazine lists them all, and gives a fairly honest view of them. (other motorcycles listing magazines are available).!

Last of all, get test rides, you'll be amazed by the modern bike, and enjoy it. Good luck. If you'd like any bike info I'm a fountain of knowledge- PM me.

I too am going through this phase Tiff I started my lessons a few months back unfortunetly I failed my test last week due to a silly error but an automatic fail U-turn as your man has all ready mentioned biggest failure.

I treated my self to a Yamaha Thundercat 600R and she is awesome though I have only rode it for a minute then parked her up at the mother in-laws.

No pressure to get that licence now Doh!

Oh well re-test August here if you get a bike Im only 10 mins up the road from you

Cheers

Goodluck!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good luck Tiff! - funnily enough I'm hoping to do my bike training this summer too! Although my only experience of a bike is having a rather spectacular crash on holiday in Thailand on a moped like 2 minutes after I hired it and I was so lucky to walk away with just a very bloody leg and a seriously crushed ego as I was just wearing shorts and flip-flops..... The bike came off a lot worse though as the forks were all bent and both wheels were buckled and it lost all the farings!

The Highland weekend has made me want a bike even more...just to really top it all,there was a beautiful Ducati parked in Drumnadrochit where we stopped for a bit.Have to say the bikers were the least of the problems,we saw a few MAD car drivers,usually in mundane boring diesels..

Tried a few bikes at my local bike place,GPZ 500 was too small,CB500 was perfect,but very boring,so I've decided I want a big trialie,probably a BMW 650 Funduro.Made in Italy,German quality and designed by a Scot!- Should be designed in Italy,made in Germany and crashed by a Scot...

A Thundercat,eh Tony.very nice! We'll have to get together and go for a tour sometime,supposing we both get our licences before these EU chaps make the whole lot illiegal.

And Jim, you have far too many toys already!!!!

If your asking me out on a date Tiff I would be mad to turn you down.. :oops:

But your right the man from DVLNI must say Aye!!

Speak soon,

Cheers,

Tony..

I did my bike training 12 years ago. It was hard work, but the reward (when you get your license) is being able to ride past long queues of cars when going into busy cities and park for free in most places. I agree that all car drivers should do CBT it would make them Think Bike a bit more

You talking about this Ducati Tiff?

mmmmmmmmmmmm

Well, thats my CBT done,in the pi**ing rain and gales...Now on to the theory test!!

Hi Tiff,
Riding a bike nothing better, well almost.
Points:
Serve your apprenticeship first, small cheap bike first year, thats the one you make the silly mistakes on, misjudging brake distance, not putting side stand down properly... low speed spills.
Watch out for: shiny manhole covers, auchtertools 38 (est) speed bumps (its 3/4 mile long auchtertool). crumbling roads, road surface variations, too wide tar overbanding, mud and my personal favourite Diesel, nearly forgot, carrier bags, flicked burning fag ends, mothers on school runs.
And according to the Motorcycle news, vauxhall corsa's (the car most likely to run you over!) and Thursdays (the day they are most likeley to run you over.)
But then you go out on an empty road with lots of curves, maybe the aforesaid Auchertool road or the Tyndrum to Oban and the world is rosey!
Daughter is just going for her test as well, she has a Suzuki 125 Maurader.
Best bet once you have passed your test is to go for long runs 2-3 hours
to help you settle into the bike.
Enjoy!