Two wheels good.

Talk about your cars etc here. Keep it sort of sensible and on topic please.
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Re: Two wheels good.

Post by DodgeRover »

That sounds like a proper oh shit moment, a testament to you being able to hit his kill switch at that speed though
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Re: Two wheels good.

Post by Yellowperil »

Hitting killswitches is best done to your Mate just as the traffic lights change to green. 🙂
I wouldn't like to have to aim for one at 125mph.
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Re: Two wheels good.

Post by Warren t claim »

Yellowperil wrote: Fri Jun 11, 2021 8:11 pm Hitting killswitches is best done to your Mate just as the traffic lights change to green. 🙂
I wouldn't like to have to aim for one at 125mph.
The thing that I didn't mention was that I was only confident enough to pull that stunt off was because I was on the Fireblade meaning I was pretty sure the killswitch would be in the same position so I could find it by touch.
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Re: Two wheels good.

Post by Warren t claim »

Anyway, I'll continue.

Just because someone can shine on compound work doesn't mean that they'll breeze the road element.

Early on in my "career" we had a couple of lads who worked at the nearby Vauxhall factory in Ellesmere Port (factory is still there at the time of writing in June 2021). They were a couple of switched on lads who turned up in a Vectra C 3.0 V6 diesel with the boot packed full of brand new bike gear. They'd both paid for the full Direct Access course so how we handled CBTs in those circumstances wasn't quite what you'd expect. If they aced the basics on the Lifan 125s we had back then I would bung them both on ER5s within half an hour and repeat the basics of what they did on the 125s plus the rest of the compound work.

This isn't quite as crazy as it sounds. The idea was to get them used to the bike they'd be taking their tests on and rather like my statement that it's actually easier to reverse an HGV with a full size trailer than a £199 halfords Indespension jobby, if you're average sized or over, the 500cc Kawasaki is a lot more stable and forgiving than a 125.

On the compound, they were both fucking great! Both were confidently managing feet up U Turns without the slightest wobble! I used to set the cones out for slalom and U Turns at the end of the compound work that was far beyond what was required to pass the DSA test, so tight that it was pretty much at the limits of both the bike and myself! Fucking hell, these lads were as good as me at slow speed control!

Now, this day was one of those complicated days in the diary that required everything to fall into place. At the time I was only Down Trained for CBTs which meant I was allowed to do the compound work with the lads riding 500s but I wasn't qualified to finish the course by taking them out on the road on the big bikes, that had to be done by the other instructor. We'd booked two lads in for their DAS lessons at the same time as I was doing the CBT on the compound meaning that the DAS lesson would finish at the same time as I was done with the CBT. Are you following me here? This period in time was also when the school was suffering a slight shortage of rolling stock.

We had three ER5s, two for instruction and a perfect one for tests, two 125s and one 50cc Honda Vision scooter. For my CBT I needed both 125s and the two instruction ER5s leaving us short of a big bike for the simultaneous DAS lesson. The senior instructor didn't have a bike of his own, he saw it as a perk to smoke around on the test bike when he felt like it, fair enough. To solve the problem I let one DAS pupil use my "company bike", a GT550 that the other instructor hated riding, on his lesson. This left us only one bike short. Fortunately, Danny Six Tests, who I'm sure I've mentioned earlier, had trusted us to store his 535 Virago at the school and didn't mind us exercising it now and again so that was pressed into service as a steed for the senior instructor to ride.

When the DAS lesson was over I bid my pupils farewell and sent them on their way whilst my next CBT pupils arrived, a scooter and 125 pupils IIRC, and start my script again.

I should point out that this was a busy Saturday, not as busy as the owner of the school thought it was as my second CBT wasn't written in the diary as both myself and the senior instructor were planning to trouser the cash between us.

Fucking hell, this is a long post! I'll type out Part 2 (no pun intended) shortly.
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Re: Two wheels good.

Post by Hooli »

Lube tube fitted to the Strumpet tonight.

It wouldn't work this morning as the sides of the tube were stuck together so you couldn't fill it. I got what oil I could in it & hung it up with the hope the weight of the oil would start things along. It worked just enough to give me a bit I could pinch on each side & peal apart. I did this with it hung from a luggage net on the wall, as there's no valve on the outlet so it leaks as soon as you turn it over or squeeze it.

It's now run down the side of the underseat storage, I suspect it'll be mucky to fill as there isn't much room or much pipe length to do it. But it's the neatest way it could fit so I'll live with it. Lets see how long it lasts till empty, filled at approx 32,500miles. The box reckons 2-3,000miles but then they box says the basic Scottoiler does 5-600miles & I've always got double that, turn it up as far as they say & it flings everywhere along with dripping off the chain.

Pic to prove it looks as dodgy as it's name sounds.

IMG_20210613_183344_458.jpg
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Re: Two wheels good.

Post by Warren t claim »

Warren t claim wrote: Fri Jun 11, 2021 9:26 pm Anyway, I'll continue.

Just because someone can shine on compound work doesn't mean that they'll breeze the road element.

Early on in my "career" we had a couple of lads who worked at the nearby Vauxhall factory in Ellesmere Port (factory is still there at the time of writing in June 2021). They were a couple of switched on lads who turned up in a Vectra C 3.0 V6 diesel with the boot packed full of brand new bike gear. They'd both paid for the full Direct Access course so how we handled CBTs in those circumstances wasn't quite what you'd expect. If they aced the basics on the Lifan 125s we had back then I would bung them both on ER5s within half an hour and repeat the basics of what they did on the 125s plus the rest of the compound work.

This isn't quite as crazy as it sounds. The idea was to get them used to the bike they'd be taking their tests on and rather like my statement that it's actually easier to reverse an HGV with a full size trailer than a £199 halfords Indespension jobby, if you're average sized or over, the 500cc Kawasaki is a lot more stable and forgiving than a 125.

On the compound, they were both fucking great! Both were confidently managing feet up U Turns without the slightest wobble! I used to set the cones out for slalom and U Turns at the end of the compound work that was far beyond what was required to pass the DSA test, so tight that it was pretty much at the limits of both the bike and myself! Fucking hell, these lads were as good as me at slow speed control!

Now, this day was one of those complicated days in the diary that required everything to fall into place. At the time I was only Down Trained for CBTs which meant I was allowed to do the compound work with the lads riding 500s but I wasn't qualified to finish the course by taking them out on the road on the big bikes, that had to be done by the other instructor. We'd booked two lads in for their DAS lessons at the same time as I was doing the CBT on the compound meaning that the DAS lesson would finish at the same time as I was done with the CBT. Are you following me here? This period in time was also when the school was suffering a slight shortage of rolling stock.

We had three ER5s, two for instruction and a perfect one for tests, two 125s and one 50cc Honda Vision scooter. For my CBT I needed both 125s and the two instruction ER5s leaving us short of a big bike for the simultaneous DAS lesson. The senior instructor didn't have a bike of his own, he saw it as a perk to smoke around on the test bike when he felt like it, fair enough. To solve the problem I let one DAS pupil use my "company bike", a GT550 that the other instructor hated riding, on his lesson. This left us only one bike short. Fortunately, Danny Six Tests, who I'm sure I've mentioned earlier, had trusted us to store his 535 Virago at the school and didn't mind us exercising it now and again so that was pressed into service as a steed for the senior instructor to ride.

When the DAS lesson was over I bid my pupils farewell and sent them on their way whilst my next CBT pupils arrived, a scooter and 125 pupils IIRC, and start my script again.

I should point out that this was a busy Saturday, not as busy as the owner of the school thought it was as my second CBT wasn't written in the diary as both myself and the senior instructor were planning to trouser the cash between us.

Fucking hell, this is a long post! I'll type out Part 2 (no pun intended) shortly.
Anyway, whilst treating my next CBTs to their classroom element, R.A.P.C.E, responsibility, anticipation, patience, concentration and experience lecture, I heard the sound of a solitary ER5 arriving back at base far earlier than expected. Not a good sign! Apparently early on in the road element the second lad had fucked up turning right at a give way and wheelied straight on managing to take out his mate in front of him! After sending my Gt550 flying he managed to monowheel his ER5 into a sandstone wall opposite!

The ER5 suffered slightly bent forks, a broken off front brake lever and a twisted back brake pedal. Mt GT550 fell the other way meaning it got a snapped clutch lever and for some reason a detached gear lever assembly. For some reason, after this incident, the fuel gauge refused to work properly either.

As it was my call as to whether they were good enough to go out on the big bikes I was wondering whether this was game over for W.T.C, motorcycle instructor! I managed to keep my job because the senior instructor gave them an inspection on the compound before agreeing with my judgment.
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Re: Two wheels good.

Post by Warren t claim »

When it comes to getting a pupil through their test sometimes we got lucky. Here's a case in point.

The DSA were pretty regimented on what routes they took candidates on their test. This helped us take pupils on the test routes to get them up to speed on the sneaky one way streets and stop signs.

One lad was on his test. We weren't hopeful for a pass as his slow speed control was a bit shit and despite our best efforts, he'd only manage a perfect feet up U Turn maybe 50% of the time.

During his test the examiner took him to this DSA approved road to do his U Turn and emergency stop.
uturnrd1.PNG
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During his set piece, the local feral teenagers started throwing rocks at not just our pupil, but the examiner too!

Needless to say, this meant that the examiner shat himself and instructed our pupil to get the fuck out of Dodge ASAP and head back to the test centre. The examiner, being a decent bloke, gave our lad the benefit of the doubt and passed him!

From then on, until the DSA test changed, all U turns and emergency stops were carried out on this road instead...
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Although a pretty non descript road in a middle class area, it will be familiar to some on the beige for being the road that the fabled Wirral Yugo Sana is situated off.
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Re: Two wheels good.

Post by Warren t claim »

Isn't it funny that this thread... https://autoshite.com/topic/31888-confe ... te-thread/ ... has been shifted off to the AS open forums section! No, I wasn't asked first!
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Re: Two wheels good.

Post by paulplom »

How odd. That's never happened before.
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Re: Two wheels good.

Post by LynehamHerc »

Maybe start postings pictures of guns and lists of names on it?
That might get the move reversed but more likely the thread sent to the special access dungeons of doom.
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