Introduction

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to my motorbike blog! I'm starting down the road of motorbike ownership and this blog is where I'll record my adventures, experiences and anything else of note related to my ownership of a two wheeler.

About me

At the time of writing, I have just passed my 31st birthday. I live in Staffordshire in the UK. Until roughly five years ago I'd never considered owning a motorbike. Although something of a petrolhead, I was more interested in cars, and for four years I had an old Porsche 928 which I spent a lot of time driving, and almost as much time with it off the road, tweaking, rebuilding the engine and respraying over the time I owned it.

My first interest in bikes came when I read a review in the Independent newspaper of the then newly released BMW R1200RT. I thought it looked amazing, it confounded my (then very uninformed) expectations of what a motorbike should be. I spent a couple of weeks reading what I could on the internet, but my attention drifted to something else and I left it.

Then, about two years ago, I began to look at it again, and more seriously. The Porker had been gone a while at that point and I was missing going out for drives for fun. As I was now working freelance and overlong distances, it wasn't really practical for me to start tinkering with my E30 BMW. I looked into bikes again, and much more seriously, buying a couple of issues of Ride magazine, heading over to my local riding school to get prices for training, doing online insurance quotes and generally pricing up how much it would cost. All this came abruptly to an end when the E30 finally expired, and I used all my spare cash to replace it with a newer BMW E36.

Again, the idea lay dormant until July this year. While working in Barcelona at the time of the European Athletics Championships, I by chance got to ride pillion on one of the BMW K1200GTs that would be following the marathon runners with camaramen in the pillion position. Believe it or not, this was the first time I had ever ridden on a motorbike! I really enjoyed it, and vowed when I returned I would go to do my CBT (Compulsory Basic Training).


If you are wondering whether riding a bike is for you, then I can't recommend enough that you go and do a CBT. For just £125 I got some really useful time with an experienced instructor who told me all about bike clothing, choosing a helmet, boots and gloves. To someone who seems to have gone all through their life without a riding friend or family member this was very good! I was then taken out onto the yard to actually try and ride the bike - initially I couldn't get used to the controls, but after a while I managed it. I practiced manouvers and riding up to a junction, and then had 2 hours out on the road. I was delighted to pass, and at that point I was hooked!

In the UK, once the CBT has been passed, a rider can use a 125cc bike on the road, provided L plates are put on the front and back of the bike. I initially intended to do this, and got within £75 of buying a 800 miler Honda CBF 125. But being honest with myself, there weren't any 125cc's I could get excited about. I decided the best route was to just do my Direct Access course - once this is passed I will be able to ride any bike. And since most of the interesting stuff has a higher capacity than 125cc, this I definitely what I want to do.

Theory Test

Before taking a Direct Access course, a learner driver must pass the Theory test. I took my driving theory test back in 1997, so I knew to a degree what to expect. I got a theory test app for my iPhone and got almost perfect marks every time. So I felt pretty confident going into the test...

One part I'd heard a little about but not really looked at was the Hazard Perception Test (HPT). Having been a driver for 12 years, how hard could this be? Answer: VERY hard. I sat twice through the video explanation and was not really any the wiser what to do. I fluffed my way through the 14 or so clips, and when the test was over I went to collect my results the news was not good. 49/50 on the multiple choice questions, but 42 out of 75 for the HPT - the pass mark was 44.

I was furious, because I didn't think that what to do had been explained properly, and I didn't think the staged clips were an accurate representation of the hazards one faces on the roads. Go online and you will find plenty of people aggreived with the HPT - I did! But I'm essentially a pragmatist in these situations. The system's not gonna change - want to ride a bike? Then you've got to pass the HPT. I re-booked my test straight away, and ordered a DVD from Amazon that would help me practice the clips. I practiced for hours and hours, treating it essentially as I game. I re-sat my test, got 49/50 again for multiple choice and 47 for the HPT. I had passed! But only just. I think the HPT needs to be looked at, it seems a very arbitary way to judge a learner's hazard perception - quantification of quality if you will. Yes, I passed it, but I don't think the whole charade made me any more safer on the roads than, say, my abilty to jump on platforms, navigate spiky pits and squish robotic creatured was accurately assessed by completing the first three Sonic The Hedgehog games.

Still, the way ahead now clear, I was free to book my Direct Access Course and begin looking at what bike I'd like.