Shadowfax-ST Blog

Ooops #01 Warnford, A32 South, junction for Winchester. Speed restricted to 40mph, bike travelling at 35mph. Big-Boy-Bike following: feeling pressure to impress with my superb road positioning. Surface dry with some residue damp. Track right to avoid known bumps the Alpha doesn't get on with but slip front wheel ito rut between tarmac repairs and get thrown into the path of an oncomming car on opposite side of double white lines. Don't panic : Highway Code recommends not to cross these lines; car approaching at speed drils this idea home quickly - don't brake (sensible at the time) gentle acceleration and pull wheel back onto correct side of lines. Compose, and return to looking ultra cool wearing yellow jerkin and sitting astride a Sanya 125 confessed to being my own. (I'm not sure which bit was more difficult: composure or coolness on the Sanya). This isn't the spot (this is the A68, in fact, nicked off the Web) but it is a double white line and it illustrat...

Dilbert's Wait Before I go on about this bloody Sanya thing, I must answer the question of what has happened to the star of this show, young Dilbert. As you can see, Dilbert is being entertained by the kids and other occaisional muckers that come round to kick his tyres, rattle his fairing, and turn the old dear over. At night, cats wee on him. I can't wait to get him out on the road - not least because running the Sanya in has been, and remains, a chore. 40mph on dual carriageways with British car, van, and (f%&$!ing dust-cart) drivers is dangerous.

Picking one's self up So, bitter and twisted I escape the demure bitch behind the test centre's bonnet. I'm dejected by failure; through my resentment and feeling of having being cheated the main fact is that I cannot progression to the DAS (but I CAN drive my car with "poor" hazard perception? - Wankers, DSA). So, I look at 125cc bikes on offer, because, even with poor hazard perception, and the ill-evidenced DSA suggestion the Hazard Perception Test saves lives, I can still ride a 125cc restricted motorcycle on the Highway legally, and as dangerously as I like before a Rozzer picks me up. But, what's available? Biker Hell Every Honda, Yamaha, Suzi, MZ, Kwakki, etc. is over £1500 to buy brand new; some are up to £3K! What's worse is that second-hand values are high and to pick up a 125cc bike for less than my Deauville cost looks impossible. Motorcycle News, Autotrader (bikes), local press, local leads: all turn sour because I can't justify a big spla...

My Theory Test Boner, I failed. I answered questions from a number of HMSO books and DVDs I haven't bothered to buy and got them all right. I got two questions wrong, which I can live with. The crux came from the Hazard Perception videos. All about perception I sat patiently and reacted in good time to avert disaster as soon as I recognised I was to need to deviate from my course, change speed, or otherwise react to a recognised hazard: Two horses lead from a gate in a rural village 250m on a blind left bend, coming right to left. Leaders were not watching the road; horse stride was at full walk. Horse stopping distance would be insufficient before they were in the road. Closing, 200m. Time to slow down. BUTTON! Horse start to cross the road oblivious to traffic, we start to slow at 50m - horses already in a dangerous position. FAIL. Too early. Transit mini-bus slows and pulls to the left curb 300m to our front. School-uniformed kids alight and move against the van's near side ...

CBT It's not a test; it's an assessment. Yep, the Compulsory Bike Training was certainly no test, but that's not to say it wasn't testing. I just wish I'd received this level of training as a young biker - it might have made the difference between coming late to biking or having continued as a biker. Paragon Training, Gosport Thanks to the guys at Paragon I don't feel too bitter about my parting with £120 for a day out. I can think of the day as being one of those experience days, although my first - and last of these, gliding, is far from as pleasant an experience. (The glider pilot was an old prick and crash landed us off the runway just out side of York.) I'll not diary the whole day, but we went through the usual starter-steps of, "this is a bike", and progressed to some limited time running around the roads. I did okay, but confess to a heart-stopping moment on a right turn off a blind left corner in Rowner, just by the Spitfire pub, I think. ...

Geting up and running - legislation, etc. According to the Highway Code and the Government Online website, I knew as a full-licence holder for a car I can do a Direct Access Course and ride away on a 6,000,000cc bike. What I did not take account of was that: a. Rules are changing October 2008 to a new test structure b. I am a full-licence holder and can ride a moped without "L" plates c. That I needed a Compulsory Bike Training (CBT) certificate to make Dilbert's Insurance stick. Insurance I got a fair handful of quotes online for me to ride Dilbert; anything from £96 to £280 but settled for a Bennetts quote through NIG, which was twice as dear through Tesco, RAC, and others with half the excess. Bonus. Finally, an nsurance group that does exactly what it says on the tin. Unfortunately, throughout the process I stumbled on a problem of my owning a 650cc bike but being unable to insure it for TPFT (mainly concerned about Theft) because I don't have a full bi...

Why Dilbert? 3-years ago, on announcing that I was going to ditch the "tin box" (NEVER call my Alpha that; it's a superior piece of automotive architecture) many of my colleagues and mates turned out to be seasoned bikers; rockers, hell-raisers, ponces, and tourers: each recommending the best machine with which I should acquaint myself as a middle-aged commuter. Conflicting Advice “You want...speed...lightweight...low seating...good cornering...fast as fcuk...big luggage...no luggage...plodder...tricycle...Japanese...British...Italian...Chinese (but NEVER American)”, you get the picture. Everyone’s an expert and no one knows anything. Most seemed to want to see me killed or to live out their own experience. Bad Driving I can take advice but for this purpose I knew I needed some independent thought. Driving the Alpha 50-miles each way each day was taking me back to Road-Rage. The National speed limit on a single carriageway is 60mph so why the fcuk can’t the “train” of car...

Meeting Dilbert Dilbert didn't arrive; we went to get him. We drove down the A338 and laughed as Karen navigated us away from Barclays Motorcycles in Bournemouth back toward Portsmouth. Once the map was sorted and we approached the store from the North I saw Dilbert. He was alone, parked arse to curb behind a non-descript vehicle looking rather falorn and lost in the busy afternoon traffic skimming just centimeters from his front wheel. "That's him!" I exclaimed to Karen and immediately drove across the traffic flow to park at his side. We buzzed round him on foot; prodding his front disk and stroking his top box. Then we went in to Barclays. "Corr, petrol!" Snorted Karen. A lovely mechanical mix of tyre rubber and fuel mixed with hint of leather greeted us inside just seconds before Colin's Mrs welcomed us and went to fetch Colin for him to show us around Dilbert. Karen stayed to talk girlie stuff as Colin and I went to business. I sat astride Di...