Leatherat

Well I'm in! and as I've just spent 9.8 million pounds, the buggers better do well!

Have you had any formal Mod 2 training? If you have, I would have thought that the instructors would breif you on the ways the DSA like things done, and if they haven't then you may have some recourse to the school for derilction of duty, but it sounds to me as if you're tackling this on your own.......if that's the case my best advice is to get some training asap, it's expensive for what it is, but so are test fees and the dissapointment of one fail is bad enough. Riding schools aren't there to teach you how to ride, just how to pass the test. Good luck for march.

Sorry to hear that chap, but chin up, you'll get it next time.

Well, it's quarter past three and no news..........does that mean he's still out there doing it, or he's failed and in the pub comiserating, or hopefully he's passed and is off for a blast with his new licence? The suspense is killing me!

Many happy returns for your 18th! Here's wishing you are well and getting better. I hope the pain killers won't restrict your alcohol intake this evening. Best wishes

Hi Ben, I'm just up the road, near Weston, if you ever need a hand or want a cuppa, drop me a PM.

Chris, try to make te best use of this enforced lack of things to do, it's very rare for an adult to have time on their hands these days, be a real shame to waste it.

Not quite true, or at all true really. The NHS is only free at point of use. You care has been paid for many times over by all of us (including you) who pay tax and NI contributions. Personally, I have paid tax and NI since leaving school in 1981, that's 30 years for the numerically challenged, and I have always understood that NI contributions are used to pay towards the health service. I currently contribute £166.00 per month in NI and my employrer pays a similar amount on top as an Employers contribution, but just taking my payments into account......... if you times £166.00 by 12, I pay £1992.00 per year for the health service, technically as a health insurance policy. I have never been in hospital, or used the NHS for anything other than routine doctors appointments and the like, so my NHS insurance policy is very expensive for what amounts to a very budget, albeit very comprehensive, service. If the UK were to adopt a system similar to the one in the states, I wonder whether my £1992.00 would buy me a better quailty of service, through a private insurance plan, on the few occasions that I might require it? I'm sure that a civilised society such as the USA have some sort of 'social healthcare' in place and don't just leave people dying on the streets, and those who can afford to, pay. Question for Johnsnownw......How much money per month would an average private healthcare insurance plan run to in the US? At todays rate of exchange, my National insurance contributions of £166.00 per month equates to $263.00 US dollars. I'm just an average Joe, I drive a truck for a UK subsiduary of Walmart so I'm not on a massive income. Would that be enough for a decent insurance plan?

These guys will help you out All the very best wishes for a speedy and complete recovery, screw the B'stards for everything you can get, that'll go someway to making sure they look the next time.

Hi Keiran, good luck with the Direct Access course,it should be between £500 & £600 for a 3 -4 day course, including bike and equipment hire and all test fees. Is it difficult?........No it's not difficult, can you ride a bike already? Might sound like a stupid question but some people can't and just dive right in. listen to what your told and stick to that, ride how you want once you've got the ticket. The theory test is £31.00 and you have to book that yourself, mostly common sense, read the Highway code (Cars & Motorcycle parts especially, don't worry too much about the pedestrians and cyclists although as Tesco says every little helps) Get yourself a DVD with interactive Hazard Perception, so that you can practice and re practice the clicking, its what catches most people out, but it can be learnt, most of the clips on the DVD will not be official but don't worry about that, it's the recognition of the developing hazard your after. Once you've got your pass certificate you can think about the MOD 1 test. MOD 1 Test tips: The test starts from the moment you get on the bike, so don't forget observations even before your on the testing ground. Remeber Neutral/Ignition/Stand when getting off the bike. Enter the first available box to complete the manual handling exercise, push it back out as if you're leaving a parking space at Tesco, use observation techniques constantly, keep going backwards in a U shape so that once you've backed into and come to a stop in the second box you'll be ready to ride out for the slalom/ figure 8. When you've finished manually manouvering your bike, stay close to it, even inadvertantly kicking a cone with your foot is a fail. Don't count the figutre 8's only stop when he calls you over(it has been known for some people to only complete 1.5 circuits) Pull off and round the bend, accelerate pretty hard out of the bend and only back off once your through the speed trap, flick the bike through the avoidance and front wheel stop into the box. The next bit is where alot of people fail, the U-Turn. Observations before you pull off, THEN AGAIN BEFORE you make the turn, don't look down! find a point in the distance towards where you want the bike to go and look at that. Slow ride keeping up with the examiner (they don't dawdle, so you shouldn't have any problems there) Then back around the bend and through the speed trap again (Same as before) but this time it's an emergency stop. Leave the gears alone and leave the clutch until the very last seconds, stalling is OK (better if you don't) but losing control (without regaining it) is not. Remeber the test is not over until the bike is back in the parking space you started from so don't forget observations even once your off the playground. Park and get off! The test is now over. Make sure your insurance, MOT and Tax disc are all up to date, this should be up to the school to check but there was a story in MCN recently of a girl who is being prosecuted for no insurance on a school bike. MOD 2 Test tips: Even riders who think they're good, probably aren't. The DSA like things done their way, learn to do it their way and you'll pass the test, after all that's what your paying to learn ........ how to pass the test, not ride a motorcycle. They will ask you to ride a course set by them over the radio head set you'll be wearing (you'll be used to this arfter 3 -4 days of listening to your instructor jabbering at you for hours on end), they will also ask you to direct yourself to a destination (harder than it sounds when you've everything else to think about at the same time) They will ask you to perform a hill start and pull away at an angle from behind a parked vehicle, you've already demonstrated the U turn and emergency stop in the Mod 1 test. Test dates are rare and getting rarer, don't balls it up, or you might have a long wait. As for the Yamaha R6, well if that's the bike you want, go get one. It's a pretty quick machine, 108bhp and only 189kg. Probably not the sensible option, but if that's what you want why waste time and money buying something slower when you could be getting used to your dream bike, just be aware that it will be more bike than you can handle (I've been riding for 30 years and my XJ900 Diversion with only 98bhp and weighing in at the same as a block of flats is more bike than I can handle at times) and corners come up very fast on a bike like the R6 (as do penalty points for speeding offences). All the very best of luck with the test and remember to let us know how you get on.

How about this then........ That's my old 3.5 ton modified pulling tractor (now sold sadly) it has a 27ltr V12 Rover built Meteor engine from a Centurion tank (basically a Melin minus the supercharger)running on petrol, loads a powerrrrrrrr! Run it on Methanol and it's LOADS A POWERRRRRRR! I can't put the videos on here, but it went just like these.....................

I don't think that's quite fair, as your analogy is rather spurious. Actors playing a part never purport to be themselves, Trevor Eve was Eddie Shoestring the detective, not Trevor Eve the Detective etc, whereas Mr Jeremy 'oh my god this car only costs £25,000 it can't possibly be any good' Clarkson never claims to be anything or anybody else other than Jeremy 'king of the dickheads' Clarkson. Now of course the character portrayed by Mr Clarkson on shows such as Top Gear may differ to his usual manner, but to all veiwing, or reading (have you ever read his books, I have 3 on the bookshelf, recieved as a present. I read the first one but thought better of reading the last two as life's too short) he is the Jeremy Clarkson who is a spoilt brat from the slighty less expensive public shcool backround who has fallen on his feet, similar in lots of ways, although also diametrically opposed in as many ways to Boris Johnson, who I rather like funnily enough??!. Anyway, peolpes opinions are notoriously difficult to change, and I fear you and I will never agree on much, although it might be fun to sit down over a pint sometime and have a chat.......you're not violent are you? LOL!

I'm sure he's lovely off stage, but the persona I see is the knob on Top Gear. therefore the answer to your question is.......yes he is. His show is massively popular as it appeals to the base instincts of the lowest common denominator. I enjoy parts of Top Gear.......sometimes, the bits that Clarkson isn't in. As an aside, both of his oppos are turning that way as well. Personal opinions never change, so arguing is pointless. Oh, and as for envying his lifestyle........not likely, I'm sure his house is lovely, as are his wife and kids, yes he drives some lovely cars etc, but boy I bet he has to work for it! I'll never have anything more than I have now, without the fabled lottery win, but I'm happy A. not to be in the public eye all the time, and B. to be able to work 40hrs a week and play for the rest. Good luck to the man, I wish him everything he desires, but he's still a knob.

Ahhh, I was right then. To answer you question as to why I don't like Clarkson.......sufice to say it's nothing to do with his veiws on bikes, it's a lot to do with the fact that he's a knob, a child, an unfunny middle class ponce. No doubt he's terribly worried that I feel that way, but I'm sure I'm not alone.

What was the result????? I realise I could wait a couple of weeks and watch endless repeats of the show on Dave, but I really can't be bothered with watching Sir Jeremy Clarkson lord Knobhead of wankersville. In the real world the BMW ought to have spanked the car, but as this is Top gear, my guess is that they fixed the race for the car to just win. Am I right?

Congratulations, quite an epic jouney but obviously worth the result. It amazed me that the dealership (if the picture shows the dealer outside his shop?) sells bikes along side agricultural machnery, unless of course New Holland (a subiduary of the Ford Motor Company) have ventured into the two wheeled market in the colonies Nice picture Chistofeser, is that Dee Snider from Twisted Sister under that Helmet???????

With respect........it sounds a perfectly terible place to live. What you really need is a garage, heated or not, attached to a house in California, or Cornwall.

They all come around to my way of thinking eventually Like this??????? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-Wool-Button-Front-Underwear-WWII-style-1942-/220588947313?pt=UK_Men_s_Vintage_Clothing&hash=item335c203771 The ladies of Reading must go weak at the knees!

I have no experience of tyres like these, and have no scientific facts to base my opinions upon, but a tyre that has had a puncture, will have been run flat, even for a short distance. Tyres are not designed to be run flat, and damage can occur in the sidewall from being run flat. A repair of any type will make anything (not only tyres) substandard when considered against a fault free version. On a motorcycle you have two points of contact between you and the road surface, do you really want to have one of those points of contact being second best? The price of new tyres is reletively cheap when compared to the damage (or worse) that can be caused by a tyre fault. These tyres may serve you very well, but they may not..........willing to take the risk? My bike gets the bare minimum of attention, but always gets brand new, good quality tyres.

Unheated garages can be heated by means of one of these.......or similar http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-1500W-PORTABLE-ELECTRIC-INFRARED-SPACE-HEATER-PTC-/160534347417?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item256097be99 If you want to do something badly enough, there are always ways and means dear boy, I think this rather smacks of someone who would rather stay in the warm watching the television?!

When I grew up you were either a Mod or a Rocker. All my mates were Rockers, the Rocker chicks, bikes and music were better than the Mods equivilents, a no brainer and here we are today, still a greasy long haired leather clad tearaway, but called a Biker now instead of a Rocker.

Watching the news this morning the Brisbane weather don't look so good, stay safe!

Draggin jeans have fully lined pairs as well, although when I say draggin jeans, I use it as a coverall generic term for Kevlar jeans full stop. However, the very fact that the trade name Draggin has become shorthand for Kevlar jeans in general provides testement to the labels quality I guess. I digress, my jeans are draggin and fully kevlar lined, not cheap but do you really want your Personal Protective Equipment to be cheap?

Classy! How about some Draggin jeans.

This is my fave, and the one we cover http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PLUkQoTRb4 From a time when musicians were just that........musical. RIP