So of course the next thing to do is to book the CBT. To do this, I have to choose a motorbike driving school that is authorised to carry out such tests (I suspect that most if not all are so authorised). Rob recommended the school he went to, but they were based in Leckhampton south of Cheltenham. That would be a bit of a trek for me, so I hit the internet and found a school in either Pittville or another near the Tewkesbury Road stores. The website for the Pittville one wouldn’t load and the website for Toms School of Motoring in the Tewkesbury Road seemed fine, so I called them.
They seemed to say the right things. At this stage, I only needed to get the CBT from them, if I didn’t like the look of the school or the instructor at the CBT, then I could change schools, so it was a sort of ‘try before you buy’ way of seeing if you can work with that particular school. I booked the CBT for a Saturday in early July, just turn up at 09:00 at the car park of a civic centre near Hesters Way (not a terribly salubrious part of town).
It was a cloudy, cool, breezy and drizzly morning in early July (it is the UK summer after all!) that I turned up car park in question. I spotted a couple of bikes lined up outside the scout hut, so I thought that must be me. I saw a big guy walking in and out of the hut laying cones out, so bright guy that I am, I figured that must be my instructor, Keith. I parked the car up, left the kit in the boot and walked over to introduce myself. It was indeed Keith and yes, he was expecting me. I asked if I could help him, so I grabbed the remainder of the cones and helped him lay them out (courtesy costs nothing).
He did say he was expecting another student to turn up, but suggested I garb my kit and we make a start in the scout hut. I introduced myself and I am sure he figured out pretty quickly that I was one of those ‘mid-life-crisis’ guys that wanted a new toy to play with – hey, fine by me! I did say that I used to ride motorbikes, but that was 30 years ago, but like riding a bike, while you get very rusty, it isn’t something you ever forget.
So we went through the theory. First of all the kit that was mandatory and what was sensible. What was legal and what wasn’t, including a piece on the different types of helmets with pros and cons. Then he decided he would have to give up on the other guy turning up and was somewhat annoyed at this. I can understand this, they charge a fixed £100 each for the day and one guy not turning up has halved the income. It really is the height of rudeness to make an arrangement and not turn up or even leave a message. While I felt bad for Keith, it was my good fortune as I got his 100% attention.
He showed me around the 125cc the school supplied which was far more advanced than my old GP125 I rode thirty years ago. No, it was a four stroke engine, so no oil to add to the fuel and it had, GASP, an electric starter (I was used to kick starting). Other than that and a few more bits and bobs (engine kill switch etc.), it was pretty much like the bike I used to ride, mercifully the main controls were still in the same position (gears and clutch on the left and brakes on the right etc.). He talked me through the normal daily checks, which I would be expected to know for the test. He showed me how to take the bike on and off both stands and how to move the bike manually around for parking etc.
Then onto the bike and start it up. He held the bike firmly with his not inconsiderable weight and asked me to try the biting point on the clutch in first gear. I did this and easily kept it under control with tiny adjustments to the pressure on the clutch handle – it was all coming back to me. After a few attempts at this I think he was satisfied that I wouldn’t go careering off out of control in first gear with arms and legs flailing (you laugh – I’ve seen this, it isn’t pretty!) and worst of all, damage the bike!
So I tried a few gentle starts and stops in first gear. No problem. Then a couple of free rides around the car park in no more than second gear as I got used to cornering again. I probably looked ungainly on the bike, a 125cc with a 6’ 2” guy weighting 210lbs! This was all good, then onto slow speed control, especially using the clutch and keeping the engine ‘growling’, control the speed with the clutch not the revs. This was new to me as I didn’t bother playing with cones when I was riding 30 years ago, I just manoeuvred the bike to do what I wanted without thinking too much about it. This really slow speed using the clutch and manoeuvring the bike at the same time wasn’t so easy. I was really wobbly at first, but as I listened to Keith and his advice (Relax the shoulders! Move your head to look where you want to go and the bike will follow! Turn with your arms, don’t try to lean into it! etc.) it started to happen! Listen to what your instructor has to say, I guarantee he knows what he is talking about, I learned this when I did my pilot training ten years ago.
OK, I was doing the slalom now, if not with huge confidence, at least passably. Then onto the figure of eight. This took a while to come, but it did come. Then he tried me doing it from the other direction, so I didn’t become ‘one-sided’. Then I had to put it all together into a slalom, followed by figures of eight.
Then onto U-turns between two lines. This was tough to start with, but I gradually managed it. Then we put everything together. The slalom, followed by figures of eight, the into U-turns. I was getting the hang of it now. So a bit of free riding around the car park.
Keith thought I looked silly on a 125cc and knew I was going for the Direct Access test anyway and asked if I fancied trying the 500cc instead. I agreed readily and he took the 125 away and returned on the school 500cc. So we walked around that as he pointed out the slight differences. I had never been on anything as big, but like others, he said that in general, the bigger the bike, in many ways, the easier it was to ride as it was heavier and more stable.
So we repeated the process that I followed with the 125cc. This felt hugely more powerful and certainly heavier, but I quickly got used to it and was doing every bit as well on the manoeuvring as I was on the 125cc – if not better. So he decides that now we go out on the road for two hours or so. Out came the radio and Keith showed me how to fit it. I only have a receiver, so all I can do is listen to him. The plan is to go out on the road with me following him at all times. IF we get separated, I should follow where he went when it was safe to do so and not worry about it, he would wait for me.
So out we went. He stuck to some quiet residential roads at first. I knew that my gear changes and slow speed acceleration wasn’t particularly smooth, but hey, I was learning! There was a hell of a lot to think about, despite the fact that I knew how to drive a car and was quite happy with the rules of the road and had a lot of ‘road sense’ – this was a whole new world! We ranged a bit farther and found some more open roads, as I got the machine into fourth and fifth gear and reached heady speeds of 50mph (which feels a hell of a lot faster on a motorbike than it does in a car I can tell you!).
I was amazed at how quickly the time passed before we headed back to the centre. He was happy and wrote out the official CBT pass certificate while I handed over the required £100. Well this was my official licence to learn. I was happy with Keith so I promised to book a lesson with him at a weekend. He seems to do 5 hour sessions as a preference (at £25 per hour including bike hire and fuel etc.) rather than the one hour sessions typical of driving a car.
Well I certainly was rusty and my on road performance may have looked OK-ish (or at least adequate enough for a CBT) to Keith, although he saw an amazing amount on-road of my mistakes, obviously in his mirror. I know how I felt on the machine and I know how much capacity I had for ‘road sense’ (not much at all) so I know I have a lot of work and a couple more sessions before considering going for the practical tests.
But what a really good day and I enjoyed myself – I think this is for me!
