Mod 2 retake coming up...

[quickquack]

OK, after crying into my beer and dusting myself off following my Mod 2 fail in early December I've gotten back on the 'horse' (well...bike) and had a lesson from a different riding school/instructor.

Was a bit confusing as he pointed out things he thought were wrong which I didn't have a problem with before (or the examiner picked up on) but he DID make some very good comments about my road positioning which have definitely helped.  I'm now coming round to thinking that my previous instructor failed to notice a couple of fundamental errors in my riding which is annoying!!  Different bike (very old Suzuki 500 vs the shiny new XJ6 with my previous school  ) but otherwise feel about as ready as I'll ever be.  So going for retake next Wednesday!!

Feeling much, much more nervous going into this one than before as I feel it's all so arbitary and anything stupid thing could happen to make it go belly up again.  But will try to hold a positive attitude and just enjoy the ride.

Spending every single turn/roundabout I do in my car going through the mental drill of observations and signalling!

QQ

[Wynne G Oldman]

Good luck. 

[james.t]

just stay calm (if you can) good luck
j

[ulster exile]

Aww hope it goes ok this time.  Let us know how you get on (though I'm sure it'll be good news)

[quickquack]

Thanks all!!

Had a little trip over to the local Kawasaki dealership to check out the bikes.  They had a 2010 ER-Gf which had only done 300 miles (owner bought it, died soon after, and son then owned it, kept it and evetually part-ex'd it against a ZX10-R).  It has a GIVI rack with Top Box, Monokey Panniers, R&G crash bungs and a Thatcham Cat 1 alarm.  Very tidy looking bike in metallic lime green (good colour for a biking GP....!!).  They want £5,500 for it which I think is a little much given I can get a 2011 model brand new for the same price.  I appreciate the mods are expensive but you never recoup the cost of such things and the 2 year warranty will soon be up.  If all goes well on wednesday might see if I can get the price down!!

QQ

[djkitchen]

Good luck, try to relax

[sidewinder]

Very best of luck.but i doubt  you,ll need it.seems quite common to pass on 2nd attempt.

[quickquack]

Cheers Sidewinder!

Certainly the stats suggest that!  Otherwise I'll feel cursed!!

[sidewinder]

I passed 2nd time.forgot to cancel  my indicators on the first.helpfull hint there is to double tap the switch

[madmic]

Hey matey - good luck with your mod2 just stay cool and ride. The dude on the bike behind you is only sat-nav in your ears

The er6 is an awesome bike for ppl who've just passed (in my opinion!) when you've passed if you wanted to hook up for a ride out I'm only a few miles away and I'd welcome the company, we've got some nice roads around here, and some nice biker cafes too. Red Baron is arranging a 'southerners' ride out in the spring time, come alone, it's going to be cool.

Check your pm matey...

[bonio]

Hey Richard. All the best with it.
Geoff

[Wynne G Oldman]

The most important thing to remember is just relax. Treat it as a bit of fun. I know it's easy to say, and hard to do, but if you can, just chill, and you'll pass. 

[quickquack]

Cheers Madmic!  Yes, once I've got a set of wheels we'll hook up and you can show me the best routes locally!!

Cheers Geoff!!  Can't wait to take a ride out with you!!

Thanks Wynne.  Yes, 'need to chill...need to chill...need to chill....' (and stop thinking that the DSA is out to get me...)

[GaryJM]

Good luck with the mod 2. Hope you get the price of the bike down as well

[shonajoy]

Good luck!

[mikiboy]

Buy a cheap bike to start.  You will have just passed your test.  You learn to ride from that day forward.

[jonathon]

good luck sure you will be fine

[SnapDragon]

 have fun, stay cool, you'll be fine, sounds like your new trainer has their head screwed on right.
kwak 6 sounds like a good p'lan, loved my 500 kwak, did everything I asked of it

[quickquack]

Cheers all.  Yes, just checking out combinations of bike age, type, running costs, insurance, life span, flexibility etc...  The great thing about the Kwak 6f I saw is it has Givi panniers and R&G crash bungs.  If it goes down there's a fair amount of protection to both sides.

[shonajoy]

The bike sounds great but well overpriced.

[quickquack]

Yes, Shona.  I agree.  It's not sold for at least 8 months.  Nice package but silly price given what you can get for new....

Will see if I can get him sub 5K for cash...!

[SOUP]

Good luck for Weds doc.   

Lots of deep breaths and I can do this,  before you start out, then treat as an enjoyable ride with some numpty telling you where to go. 

[quickquack]

Good luck for Weds doc.   

Lots of deep breaths and I can do this,  before you start out, then treat as an enjoyable ride with some numpty telling you where to go. 

Cheers Soup!

Yes, deep down I KNOW I can do it.  I just need to believe....

I've changed test centre from Kettering to Bedford (the course I initially did was with CAM Rider and testing in Kettering, but I live in the Bedford area and the riding school I'm with test out of Bedford).  I had a chance to check out the Bedford test centre....it's certainly more 'built up' than the kettering site!!  Busier local roads in Bedford but I driven the Bedford roads for 12 odd years all over as a GP there so have a much better 'feel' for the road layouts than I did at Kettering.  In fact on my last Mod 2 I think the majority of the roads I was on I hadn't got a clue about!!

[shonajoy]

You CAN do it. I'm a great believer in pretending it's not a test- somehow that's how I passed mine. Just relax and ride as normal good luck!

[mikiboy]

Helps if you know the route.  Good luck

[martin79]

Good luck with the test.

[Skunkmonk]

good  luck  with  the  test as  others  have  said  relax treat  it  as  just another  training session and  i  know  this  sounds  dumb  but enjoy  it  after  all  your  on a  bike 
in  regards  to  the  bike  you  have  seen you  dont  learn  to  ride  till  after  you  have  past  your  test  buy  something  cheaper  now ( praps  a divvy) or a gpz  500 the  money  you  have  saved  put towards  the  best clothing  boots  ect  you  can afford also  extra  training
seriously  if  you  drop a 5  k  bike  its  gonna  hurt if  only  your wallet also  your  insurance  will  be  higher as well buy something  cheaper  now  gain  the  expierence  then  later say  in a  year  or  2 you  can  upgrade.
A 5k  bike  sat  in the  garage  is an  expensive  ornament a 1.5  k bike  on  the  road  is joy and  your  learning  valuable  expierience also in a  year  or  2  those  5  k  bikes  will  come  down  in  price  and  if  you  still want  one  much  easier to afford and  any problems  will  have  been  highlighted if  i  had  the  money  i  wouldnt  buy a brand  new bike  just a slightly  newer  one

[NickH]

Best of luck for tomorrow!

[quickquack]

Thanks guys for the well wishes and advice!

I know the roads around Bedford well but managed to find some info re: 9-10 'likely' routes and ran through them in my mind and using Googlemap Street view, esp. for tricky roundabouts/junctions.

There's been a slight complication.  I rang my instructor last night to confirm all was still ok for today and he just happened to 'mention' that he had another test candidate going earlier and so I needed to be at the bike school earlier at 8am.  As I have the school run to do there was no chance of getting there that early and the missus said I'd have to cancel my test!!!  Rang the instructor back and the flan is that I will meet him at the test centre and will have to go out on the test 'cold'.  I realise that this isn't ideal but cancellation at this late stage would loose me my test fee so I'm better off trying and 'chancing it' than not trying at all.

I'm not too impressed with this last minute change of plans but here's hoping....

Test booked in for 10:24 so should know by 11:15am.

QQ