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The new test is almost with us

The changes to the motorcycle test are almost with us. It's going to be the biggest alteration to affect licensing in decades.
We all know about the power and age restrictions and how it will hit riders under 24 years old BUT what about shorter riders?

With the new power and weight limits seat highest will preclude anyone under about 5feet 3inches tall EVER riding a big bike.

Now I know some out there are under this hight and ride big bikes, but your not on test. If you come against a bad camber you can take a different route - on test you can't

So is it too late to make changes? The chance is very slim but let's all try one last time - everyone get on to your MP, local and national news radio and TV, in short make as much fuss as you can.

If any changes do happen I will let you all know

Ride safe
Dave

Back to old-fashioned biking!

I’m used to riding a Honda ST1100 most days both teaching and for pleasure riding on the odd occasion I get time off. The Honda is a fantastic bike; it can potter along at 20mph with a moped CBT, or press on at well over 100mph through Germany on the autobahn.

I’ve always wanted a “classic” bike, when I was a kid my dad had an Ariel 350cc Red Hunter with a sidecar and two separate seats on the bike. I can remember long trips out in it with me and my brother on the sidecar, dad driving and mum on the back of the bike. As a kid it felt like we were flying along, but we must have only been doing 40mph at most.

I keep looking for a bike like that but when I see one its way over the price I can afford. Then along came the chance to get my hands on a Royal Enfield 350cc Bullet with a single seat Watsonian Squire sidecar bolted on to it. It needed a bit of sorting, but nothing that was going to take a fortune to do.

The bike wasn’t a true British bike, it was a modern'ish Indian bike bought in India by a fella who worked out there and ridden around as transport. When he came back to England he brought the bike with him, it was then bought by another bloke who bolted the ‘chair to it for his wedding, and then it came to me! 

It looks a bit basic, no electric start, drum brake at the back, a single disk at the front and lights that have about the same light output as a candle in a jam jar. But it looks fantastic and the grin riding it is bigger than the front of the helmet I have on. A service, a good clean and some polish and it was ready for the road.

The starting is a bit of a knack – ignition off, petrol tap on, choke on, pull out the kick-start, press the decompress lever and slowly swing the kick start about 9 times to draw some fuel into the cylinder. Bring the kick lever so that resistance is about halfway down let the decompresser out, ignition switch on, then press the kick-start all the way down. Splut, splut then you hear the put, put as she lives. Leave her to warm up while getting the helmet on and you’re ready for some good old bike fun. No speed but wow its fun.

The Royal Enfield Bullet holds the distinction of being the world's longest running production motorcycle. Bullets were built in 250, 350 and 500cc capacities between 1933 and 1939 and were aimed at the sporting rider. The post-war Bullets, built with telescopic front forks and swinging-arm rear suspension, were first seen in trials competition use in 1948. The 350cc model was made available to the public in early 1949.    

Royal Enfield India opened their Madras factory in 1955. Production was first based on the assembly of kits imported from Britain. The bike proved so ideal for use in India that the factory thrived. By the time Royal Enfield folded in Redditch in 1967, the Indian plant was producing all but a handful of components for their Bullets.       

In 2005, Royal Enfield India celebrated 50 years in production. Although some variants use modern-day technology, including an electric starter, coil ignition and improved brakes, the Bullet is essentially the same bike the company started with in 1955.

The bike we run produces around 18bhp, by today’s standards low powered, but still well able to plod along at a gentle pace - it’s not the “getting there”; it’s the grin on your face along the way that matters!

CBT - Ho why, Ho why

When CBT was first conceived it was to reduce accidents.

The fundamental part to riding or driving on the road is knowing the highway code. Even a very basic knowledge is better than nothing.

If you play sports, let's say football, how do you know the offside rule? The simple answer is you look in the rule book.

The highway code is the rule book for the road. It gives all the information you need to stay alive. So, if you don't know the rules of the road, how can you drive or ride correctly?

It never fails to amaze me when doing a CBT how many don't know even the basics of it.

Now a 16 yearold on the road for the first time I can forgive for not knowing. BUT - when a car driver can't even tell you what a give way or stop sign or line is, now it's scary.

And it gets better, some who do know it, choose to ignore it, saying that you only have to conform IF 'plod is about!

Parents who have spent 16 years of hard earned cash and emotional time on their kids say "why do they need to know it? - it's only a 50cc moped"!

The road and traffic don't care if you're on a moped, sport bike, car or lorry it still hurts when it goes wrong.

I don't know if anyone reads this but if they do, pass on the jist of it, read the rules n stick to them.

It's for ALL our safety.

Is driving getting more aggressive?

Has anyone noticed a change in the attitude of drivers over the last year?

When I’m on the bike doing lessons, whether it’s a CBT or a rider going for test, I’ve noticed that drivers will arras us by getting very close to the back of us, or pull out in front of the lead rider.

The other day I was on the road ride of a CBT with two 16 year old riders on mopeds. It was their first time on the road, and as you can imagine they were both a bit nervous.  

About an hour into the ride we came across a bus stopped at a bus stop on our side of the road.  I talked them through checking to see if it was clear to move out, they took the correct observations, moved position to pass it, all in all a good bit of riding.

We were all three wearing Hi-Vis jackets, marked up with the training school name on them. I could see the bus driver looking in his off-side mirror, he let the two lads pass him, then pulled out in front of me, THEN put his signal on. WHY?

This left the lads alone in front of the bus, the road was straight and no other traffic was following us. When I moved out to get a view passed the bus, and try to pass him, guess what? He closed the gap on the lads, he was about 15 to 20 feet from them. The posted limit was 40 mph, we were travelling at 30mph the max speed of the mopeds.

At 30mph according to the Highway Code, it takes an alert driver 30 feet to react BEFORE he would get to his brakes, never mind stop. What is the rider lost control and fell off? The bus driver would not even get to the brake peddle.

In this case nothing happened, the bus pulled off after about half a mile and the lads handled it well.

I rang the bus company and told them what had happened and go the usual of they would have a word with the driver etc etc.

So what’s the answer?

Well its so simple, back off, slow down a bit and relax. With a full face helmet on you don’t knows who’s riding, It could be your kid, husband, wife, brother or sister on the bike. 

New motorcycle module 1 test

The Module 1 motorcycle became safer when the test was altered. Since its introduction to comply with new EU rules in April 2009, there have been hundreds of injuries with riders crashing on the Module 1 high speed avoidance manoeuvre.
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The EU directive on licences insisted on a set of low speed handling, and two high speed manoeuvres being added to the existing bike test. Because the emergency stop and avoidance parts had to be taken at 32mph, they could not be done on road as it would be over the 30mph urban speed limit. This meant that the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) had to build special test centres with massive off road test areas. There was also no leeway given for wet weather when the proper advice is to slow down.

Although Top Run haven’t had any riders crashing on test, riders had to get to a minimum of 50kph then swerve off line between 2 cones before bringing the bike to a stop with the front wheel in a box only a few inches bigger than the wheel itself. With limited experience and training, new riders were braking as they swerved; they then lost control and crashed.

Since the introduction of the test, pressure from both public and the motorcycle industry has been brought to bear on the DSA to alter the test and reduce the risk to riders. With the change in government Mike Penning MP, Parliamentary under Secretary of State for Transport, called for an enquiry in to the reason injuries were happening and why millions of pounds had been spent on purpose built test centres with off road manoeuvring areas. 

The DSA are still considering ways the test could be further changed so all the elements could be done on road and the test delivered from all the old test centres. The changes that come into effect on Monday are intended to address the safety aspect of the test. With the splitting of the avoidance and controlled braking element along with a reduction in the speed it is a big step forward in safety. 

The day a bloke in a suit turned up

Sat talking the other day with some mates, the conversation came round to what it was like when we were kids. Now I grew up in Bruntcliffe, a little village just outside Morley in West Yorkshire. It was a typical northern place, woollen mill, dye mill, 2 pubs, a workingman’s club, terrace houses, post office on the corner, a bakers and even a cobblers shop ho and a farm with slaughter house down the road.

Our house was a 2-up 1-down with outside lavvy, not what everyone thinks of as being ok today, but as kids we knew nothing else, and we had a fantastic time. Some of the things me and my brother got up to make me cringe now.

My grandma and granddad lived in the same village; granddad rented a piece of land and had a few chickens and a pig on it. We used to play on there; all was well with the world.

Now my granddad, dad, and Uncle Jim liked to have a bit of a, well how can I say it, a ‘thing going on. Nothing dodgy you understand, they never ripped anyone off, but would bend the law a bit if needed.

One day we were in the “piece” mucking about as usual, my dad, granddad and uncle Jim were waiting to do some work on a car for a bloke who lived in the village when up the path came a man in a really nice black suite, not something you see everyday in a field, so I could see it all over their faces that ‘summat was up!

This was back in about 1964, then if you had a garage you paid rates on it, so, they didn’t have a garage, they had a hen hut, no rates on hen-huts you see. Well this fella said they had been tipped off that they had a garage and weren’t paying rates. You guessed it, granddad said “ho no, it's a hen-hut.” When he opened the door, sure enough there were about four dozen chickens walking about on a straw covered floor. You should have seen the look on this blokes face, it was a picture, talk about back peddling, he was all apologetic and couldn’t wait to get away. If only he had known.

Granddad gave him a guided tour or it all, the chickens in the hut, then down the field to the pig sty, nicely avoiding the set of ramps made from old railway sleepers hidden in the long grass.  The sty was brick built and had a mash boiler in one corner. We collected ‘tatie peelings and verge cuttings from around the village, then they were boiled up to make a mash for the pig to eat. Well like most things in that “piece” it wasn’t quite what it first looked like. The mash tub could be lifted out and a set of bellows at the back turned it into a forge for heating bits of mettle, ready to be bashed straight.

While they were looking round up pulls the car for its service, now what? As the driver got out of the car, dad went over and asked was he going to the club? and to get a round in, they would be there in a bit. I think he guessed something was up; most folk in Bruntcliffe were a bit 'suss of anyone in a suit, and said he would but not to be long.

So off went the suit back down the path to his car, I bet he hadn’t got half a mile down the road when the big doors on the “hen hut” were opened, floor swept and boards lifted to reveal a pit complete with lights and lifting jack. At the back on the hut an old welsh dresser was moved, at the back of it was the work bench with pillar drill and lathe. It was better kitted out than most high street car repair shops.

ahrrr, they were good days, the car had its service, dad, granddad and uncle Jim split the dosh, can’t remember if we got anything from it, but you can bet if we did it would be a bottle of pop and bag a’ crisps at the local club. (Does anyone remember the orange fizzy pop that was in a round bottle that looked a bit like and orange? If you can remember what it was called let me know).

So was it a hen-hut or a garage? Well cars got mended and we ate eggs from the chickens in there. It could have been a garage with chickens, or a hen-hut big enough to get a car inside, so I suppose it was a bit of both, and they weren’t lying and shouldn’t have to pay rates.

There were loads more days like that, ‘happen I will write some of them at some point.

Stay safe and ride free

Dave.