I did the mod 1 yesterday in Uxbridge. It was lightly raining, and had been raining in the morning so the ground was wet, which got me all upset at first, but it wasn’t the end of the world. I only had one minor fault, which was for wobbling during the slalom - simply put, I was nervous, and almost put a foot down, but I somehow held it together. Speeds were 54kph through the emergency stop and 53kph through the avoidance exercise - and I wasn’t really “going for it” due to the wet on the ground. Both the examiner and an instructor who was sitting there said it was a very well ridden mod-1 . Not bad for three weeks riding experience!
After the mod 1, I got home and went to book my mod 2. And…they had one available for today in Erith, South-East London. So, I signed up for it, went down there for 10:55 this morning. I left home (near Wembley) at 7:30am, but I did the whole ride down to Erith as if I was doing the test (sticking rigidly to the speed limits, turning sequences of mirrors and shoulder checks, etc) and I got to Erith around 10:30. And…
I passed!
I had six minor faults, mostly through nerves. One fault was excessive use of front brake (he explained it but I don’t get that one - not sure what I did, I mainly use the rear brake which triggers the front a little due to C-ABS), one for not signalling correctly (I forgot to signal coming off a small roundabout, but it was minor because there were no other cars around), one for coming too close to a lorry (I guess I made this one obvious because I felt too close, so I did a shoulder check and backed up!), two for undue hesitation (both times while turning right I wasn’t certain as to whether or not I could see something coming from the left due to parked cars, so I did it very slowly - too slowly as it turns out) and one for a lack of awareness/planning (I had to break quite sharply because I didn’t slow down enough when something pulled out from behind a big lorry that was parked). All in all he said he was happy with my standard of riding and recommended that I now go on a BikeSafe course (he smiled when I told him I’d been on one last week!).
So, I passed my full (auto) license with no lessons or training apart from that gleaned from my CBT, and in two years time I can ride a VFR1200
I can indeed :-). And I’m actually quite glad I did it on my own bike, even though I’ve only got an Automatic license. The way I figure it, if and when I want to start riding a manual bike, I’ll do another test (probably DAS if I want to do it in the next two years) - but this one cost me a total of £15.50 for mod1 and £75 for mod2, so cheaper than another CBT in two years time.
Still very happy with my S-Wing though, totally keeping it. Well, at least for riding around locally and for work - for fun, anyone know where you can get a restrictor kit for an Aprilia Mana?
Well done!!
I got a fault for undue hesitation as well, it annoyed me as I thought I’d rather go when I felt safe and not when he thought it was… anyhoo, congrats
Actually while I love the way it looks (yes I know it’s not for everyone but for me it’s like my S-Wing on steroids), the main advantage of my S-Wing is the huge under-seat storage. That new scooter from Honda has…NO under-seat storage. If I’m going to rely on top-box and panniers for storage, I may as well get me a “proper” motorcycle and not a scooter!
Congrats dude. Soz I didn’t send my congrats to you on your best mod thread… I thought you were going on about your MOD1. I can’t believe I got the right test centre from that photo lol.
Anyway Enjoy dude. You are going to love your S-wing even more. Don’t forget to tell your insurance.
I told the insurance, and the bastards charged me £32 change fee (I argued them down from £58.50!) to add Pillion insurance, despite the fact that I had specified Pillion when I bought the policy! Apparently it wasn’t added on because I couldn’t legally carry a Pillion (on a CBT), even though I told them I want it because I’ll be working towards passing my test. MCE? NEVER AGAIN.
I know its a bugger. And it hurts to know that they can do this with little if any repercussions.
Anyway Don’t worry yourself about getting something bigger for now as your options are limited.
Then when you get get an Aprilia Mana. Just a thought and comparison to the VFR.
. Not bad for three weeks riding experience!
with no "L"plates
