Vlad, am I right in thinking that you couldn't have taken the test on the SS 50 (a moped), and that's why you borrowed the Kawa? A previous post on this thread has puzzled me.
so true stuie and baffels made a superb difference lol. I kind of stuck with the yam stuff for a while moving to the rd the lc and so on until my dad gave me his old 400/4 then I moved up yet again to the kwak z1000 which ended up triked by chopper club for me but my first bike riding was done from quite young on a bultaco on hillsides etc always liked boys toys never wanted dolls lol
I started riding bikes in 1962/3 Rode my mates 500 Matchless. It wasn't strictly legal, although at that time you could ride any size bike on a provisional licence. That included side cars and three wheelers (as in Reliant and Bond).
I ended up buying a Honda 50 step through for commuting from Kent to London each day. That was hard work. I then went to a 250cc Royal Enfield continental GT. I loved that bike. Took my test on it and failed on a couple of stupid things. I never bothered to do a test again until about 4 years ago, although i had been riding bikes for most of that time. Unfortunately it was down to 125 in the UK, but when I was abroad, I would hire the biggest bike I could get my hands on. That was before licences were standardised in Europe. Up until then in Greece for instance, the uk licence didn't mean a thing to them and rarely did they ask to see it. I decided to prove that you are never too old to pass a test. I eventually passed the test in 2010 ish. I kicked myself for years for not taking it sooner, but now I just look forward. Actually the training made me realise that I had picked up some bad habits with my car and van driving. So it was useful going through the procedure. On wards and upwards as they say.
I think that just posting “Suzuki 250” or “Honda 125” and leaving at that is a little, well,lacking in detail. So perhaps you could inform us of why you chose that particular model, or how reliable it was, or the year you passed, or how much trade-in you received for your “L”-plater when you part-exchanged it for a Van Veen Wankel… little items which may be of interest to the readership of this site. Marks will be deducted for inacurate speeling. CBF125 at end of May two years ago so I've just got its big sister, my CBF600, de-restricted this year. I still have the 125 in my garage if anyone's in the market? Cracking wee bike.
I chose the CBF on advice from the friend I'd started pillion riding with. When I passed my CBT I wasn't interested in DAS and only getting out when I'd paid for a lesson, I wanted to be out straight away and learning to survive out there. Unfortunately my pal dragged his heels over finding the time to go with me to look at possible purchases from the trade listings so when I found one listed as "100 miles away" I knew I'd have an adventurous first ride home. When I called and spoke to the seller I realised I'd also have a flight and a ferry crossing - it was in Antrim, Northern Ireland. That was my first solo ride, and I've not looked back (apart from lifesavers - obviously!!).
I chose the Leader because it was cheap,and it came along at the right time £25, bearing in mind I had just bought a racing push bike for £40. It saw me through the test in Feb 1963.But it was, shall we say slightly smokey,hence my ref to the Ozone layer:) Other than that it cornered like it was on a rail. Despite the old type Bakelite Tyres. But I just couldn't stand the exhaust.It was not the wrong mix I was using it was just worn out.Traded it in against a BSA A7 for £35.
Sorry about the Ozone layer everyone. My fault. :)
izzyhill, I kept it short and sweet because I type with one finger and still have to look at the keyboard, it probably takes as much time to type this as it does you to write big ones. I would use the chat rooms but have changed conversation by the time I finish a sentence....Sorry
TBH cj, I hadn't read all the replies and wasn't having a pop about brevity - all in favour of short 'n sweet! - but seen a few threads go off-subject and thought Valencia had posted an interesting topic worth reiterating. Pop in chat at quiet times during the day if you can, there's often a few peeps around, more over lunch time. Use a keyboard instead of a phone if at all possible too and you'll soon pick up on keeping up with it.
Err, did I just hijack the thread? Sorry, back to first bikes ........
I chose the bike I did cos it was the only one I had access to at the time and funny enough the place I actually took my test was miles away from where I lived and now I actually live right on the test path that used to be as its been built upon now, I remember my tester wearing a brown suit and then kind of making a false move as if he was gonna step in front of me but was then wearing a yellow cagool thingy and I swore lots that was our emergency stop part of the test im assuming lol many years ago , we didn't have to ride round cones and stuff like todays tests id never pass one of todays tests and that shameful I guess
Valencia's thread and rules JP, but we all know rules are made to be broken.
Back on test subject, my examiner was being check-tested so was in a car and got left behind me once and separated later by a van - which meant he couldn't see me fluff a gear change in the town centre. Yay.
I passed on my Honda MTX 125cc. As I recall, it rained for the duration of the test and I had no waterproofs and as soon as I got back to the test centre the rain stopped!. I still passed though :) that was 20yrs ago :o
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