An Update to the New Hobby

So it has been a while since I gave an up date on this. To be honest it has been long overdue as a lot has happened since.

So I left you with the news that I had passed my Theory Test and that I was booked onto a DAS Course. As you may or may not know DAS is the ‘Direct Access Scheme’ designed for those over the age of 24 to go straight in for your A License. The usual ‘Ladder’ approach through age changes being:

• A1 being Age 17+, Max 125cc, Max 15bhp
• A2 being Age 19+, Max 46.6 bhp
• A being Age 21+ if held A2 for 2 years or Age 24 Through DAS, Any cc, Any bhp

Any way…. you want to know how I got on.

Well MOD 1 day come along… bit of last minute training in the morning before a ride to Lincoln for the Test. The nervous wait while the other person went first and set the bar high with a PASS!!

So, my turn, remembering the test starts with getting on the bike in the car park and riding it into the test area. Following the training and managing to complete the U-Turn I got out with only a minor for being 1kph under the speed for the avoidance maneuver. But who cares I PASSED!!!!!

So… Step one completed now the painful 3 week wait for MOD2.

During all this time I was still out and about on rides with the group and also still using the 125 to get to work and back while the weather was nice. It was in the weeks between the tests that I found out that the riding school was actually selling some of their older bikes. I say older, they were only 3 years old and just having their first MOT.

But anyway, one of them was the bike that I did my MOD1 on. I really enjoyed riding that bike, liked the look of it and the colour. So I had to start thinking, as I didn’t want to pass my MOD2 and then not have a bigger bike to ride.

Being new to biking I still wasn’t too sure on what was good and what was bad. I know a lot would transfer over from car buying, service history, does it look looked after etc. but the smaller details I’m still to learn. So I came up with a theory, the reason I ended up buying the 125 that I did was because It was from someone I knew, who also had knowledge in maintaining and running bikes so I felt safe that it wouldn’t break within miles of buying it.

So the devised theory in my head was that, I now knew the riding school people and how they operated, with them being a riding school the bikes must be kept to a high standard and also would not of been thrashed by the previous owner. The only down side is that the milage would be a lot higher but for modern machines and engines I don’t believe this to be too much of an issue.

So I made a deal, I was buying the bike I did my MOD 1 on. Then if I passed my MOD2, I would ride it away on the day. This meant there was a lot riding on, pardon the pun, me passing my MOD2 otherwise I would need to transport it home.

So the big day came, I got a lift to the riding school from the dearest other half, waking her up at half 7 to get there for 8 and having the parent on standby in case I needed a taxi home at the end of the day.

We headed out on the road again. This time just getting in the miles and practicing. Making sure we were getting all our Life Savers correct and learning some of the routes that we may be taken on. Checking I knew how the spiral roundabouts of Lincoln worked and also what to do if we found ourselves on the red lane roundabout.

We couldn’t avoid it any longer it was time to head to the test center and do the waiting game again. As before I agreed to keep the same order as last time with the other guy going first. While he was out on test I elected to just chill at the test center. We had done enough practice that morning.

So My time soon came, I got com’ed up and got on the bike, again remembering the test started as soon as you’re instructed to get on the bike. Off I went for my 30ish minute test following instructions and also the ‘self ride’ section which for me consisted of following a chain of directions given to me in one go with a mile or two between each junction, with a few ‘follow signs to’ instructions thrown in for good measure.

Time flys when under pressure as we soon got back to the test center where I awaited the news of whether I had passed. A few un-expected questions were asked but some good answers got me the answer to the ultimate question……. I HAD PASSED!!!!!!!!!

With that the weight was taken off my shoulders. The relief that it was all done first time was amazing and I couldn’t wait to get back to ride my, NEW TO ME, KAWASAKI Z650 back home.

Unbeknown to be to me, My biking buddies had been making a plan for the last few weeks to make a surprise visit to the riding school in time for my arrival back after my test. Obviously me being too focused on my riding and also spotting my bike parked outside ready to go, failed to notice them hiding round the corner. I even saw one of their bikes parked there and thought to myself “that looks familiar” but it still didn’t click until I tuned around. There they were cameras out filming me giving them the response of “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!!” It was a great surprise and I still thank them for coming. Not only did it mean my ride back was not on my own but it also meant that at least one of us would know where we were going.

Since then..

So since passing I have been out on a number of occasions mainly using the bike to get back and forth to work but also on many ride outs with the group.

A lot of these rides can be see sort of documented on my TikTok account.

@themcbain92

So over the whole year from starting on the 125 till when I hung up the helmet due to the freezing weather of winter I have been recording my routes seeing how many roads we could cover. You can see the majority of random rides were on the 125 as they all stayed my side of the city as getting across the busy bypass to the other side was not the funniest of activities.

Some Modifications

So… obviously it being an ex learner bike it was very standard apart from the addition of some heated grips, which are a godsend in the colder weather ill tell you now!! But anyway, the first thing you have to do, for safety reasons of course, is to get yourself heard so them tunnel vision car drivers know you are there.

The common way of doing this is of course to change the exhaust, so that’s what I did.

After searching the internet, reading reviews and watching demo YouTube videos I ordered an exhaust and spent an evening changing it out.

This obviously may be an issue using the bike for work. Leaving at 5am and returning at 11pm. The 125’s exhaust was not standard but i never got a reading of its ‘loudness’ so maybe this will be the same as the standard exhaust was very quiet in comparison.

Also I had to do something with that rear end… a tail tidy was absolutely necessary as with it.. it looks hideous compared to the rest of the bike which looks great.

Waiting for the Warmer Weather

Now is just the waiting game of when will the warmer weather return. Hopefully it wont be long but in the mean time its time for some winter maintenance. New tires and a good clean will keep it going nicely.