Hoop Jumping

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 bike (Cat A) licence. Bennets were different: I simply declared I was a provisional licence holder (sorted through the full car licence)and had not done CBT. So, when I had parted with my dosh, and the paperwork arrived, I was given just 1-month to submit a CBT Certificate - and the letter arrived a week after the insurance started.

I don't mean to whinge, but this is crap. I can't ride the bike even with the CBT without a qualified Instructor and radio gear. None of you biker freaks in my assosciation have that up your pipes, do you!

CBT

So, I drop into Paragon Motorcyle Training in Gosport on Saturday 10 May 2008 at about 4.45pm and catch Phil who says he can't do ouwt for my booking DAS but, and here's a star in my eyes, I could popp over on Sunday and do the CBT.

Bonus. I said yes. As soon as I got home I chased through the websites again and booked my Theory Test for a couple of weeks' time.

More on this lot later.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Picking up Sherbert

Image
To recap, we'd been awake and travelling to Offenburg, Germany since 2:30 am. Bikemoto's offer of a free coffee felt overwhelmingly generous while we waited for Sherbert's paperwork to be readied. There was a hire agreement to cover our ride back to Ireland, the ownership documentation, Certificate of Compliance, manuals, sales agreements, and more. It all took time. All the time I was taking stock of the enormity of the day and second-guessing the plan. Self doubt I'd not ridden for nearly 5 years since fixing Arod's speedometer sensor and finding his fork seals were leaking. COVID 19 and working from home were little motivation to set things right. Now I am about to ride a new-to-me model of bike I've not ridden before. Sherbert is heavier than an ST1300, a weightier insurance liability, and has a dual clutch transmission (DCT). He's extra expensive to buy and more-so to fix. I'm riding on the right side of the road in Europe and with my wife rid
Read more

28 February - Jammed Screen Blues

Head Trauma The LHS winder for the screen is jammed. I’ve had the screen at a medium-high stetting for the cold and rain but this really gives some buffeting in some conditions – especially at speed on the M-ways. It was so bad on the way to Stoke I had to stop and hand-force the screen all the way down for some relief. It needs either another overhaul (gave it a good oiling when symptoms first appeared) or replacement, which is just so expensive. Even a knackered one from a ‘brakers seems to command an inflated £100+ tag. Daft greedy b’stards. Anyway – the jobs waiting for a quieter moment. Too much going on to rip the plastics off Shadowfax just now. We both have a job to do.
Read more

To Offenburg from beyond

Image
Offenburg is a couple of hours south of Frankfurt.  Initial plans were to fly to Frankfurt, catch a train to Offenburg, and then a taxi to the bike shop. Unfortunately, RyanAir fly to Frankfurt Hahn airport and don't hint at the fact Hahn is two hours west of Frankfurt. We discovered that gem after booking the flights. No plan survives first contact, right? So we adapted and hired a car to drive the 3 hours to Offenburg. Adapt or fail We learned that RyanAir will only allow helmets on spare seats–one helmet per seat by the read of it. Otherwise your life-saving equipment needs to go in the hold to be crushed, battered, and invisibly compromised by damage. Our new Shuberth C5s had arrived only a couple of days ahead of the flight in two smart boxes within a single purpose sized box. Mrs G called RyanAir and confirmed a 'suitcase' can be a box and what the maximum dimensions can be.  The box fitted the bill. Into Hahn Typically, the Friday flight out was at around 6am and w
Read more