View Full Version : How do you work this out?
As a member of CSMA i get the magazine and always read the bikers world. Though this time I think ourharriet Ridley has lost the plot.
"learners are taught to dominate by staying three quaters out from the left curb"
I wasn't taught this has anybody else been taught this. We all probably do it now but taught it I'm not sure.
Best bikes for beginners - naked bike means they crash well(her exact words)
so look at the honda hornet 600 but don't look at the insurance!! SV is there
Though the best bit - "if you're forced to ride around on a restricted bike....big capacity bikes even 600's are not a good idea as power output will be limited to a meagre 12bhp :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:
This women is meant to know what shes' talking about!! 12bhp is that not a scooter?? ANd she didn't mention a single 250/400
Discuss and opinonate
fizzwheel
04-07-06, 08:54 PM
I got taught to ride in the middle of the road. I got complained at during my DAS as I had been riding a 125 for about 6 months and had got used to riding in the right hand wheel tracks of cars.
You can ride anything up to 12bhp restricted on your CBT. I think though that at 16 you are stuck on a 50 or a scotter. The 12bhp thing only comes into effect when you are 17 or over and thats all you can ride. Anything bigger means taking a full test or if you are 17 a 33bhp restricted test. I doubt very much you'd be able to restrict a Hornet or the such like to 12bhp. I think....
As for Harriet, when she worked for T.W.O. she talked / wrote total rubbish then as well IMHO. I used to ignore her article's.
Three quarters out from the kerb and someone will under take you I did a bike safe and the policeman that followed me said to dominate your lane by riding down the centre, As for 12hp that's the max output for a 125. She doesn't know what she is talking about and should do some more research be for submitting her articles!!!!
I've decide to complain as Biker's only get two pages and this time is two pages of s***. If the letter get printed I'll post it :D
You can ride anything up to 12bhp restricted on your CBT.
I think though that at 16 you are stuck on a 50 or a scotter. The 12bhp thing only comes into effect when you are 17 or over and thats all you can ride. Anything bigger means taking a full test or if you are 17 a 33bhp restricted test. I doubt very much you'd be able to restrict a Hornet or the such like to 12bhp. I think....
CBT allows you up to a 125cc with no power specified. You can not ride anything bigger than a 125 and restrict it on a CBT.
If youre 17 and take your test on a 125 you can either go for the A1 or the A.
The A1 is no more than a 125cc bike [similar to CBT] and restricted to 14.6bhp.
The A is any bike restricted to 33 bhp. Normally you would only get an A1 if you sat the test on anything less than 120cc. Note btw theres also a power/weight restriction to 0.16 kw/Kg on the restricted license A bikes too.
From: http://www.dvla.gov.uk/drivers/rdmcycle.htm#2.%20Compulsory%20Basic%20Training
Don't ride 3/4 do two thirds instead — it'll give you a better view of the road ahead and doesn't normally allow enough room for a car to creep up on the inside (but as you always use your mirrors and know what's behind you that's not a problem, right? :wink: ).
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Just did my training and test... was told stick to the middle of the road.
1/2, 3/4s, hah!
Dominate your lane by using all of it. Change your position if required for each hazard as it presents itself.
Very rarely is any road so straight and completely free of potential hazards as to allow you to sit in one spot - unless there's noone else on the road, in which case the only thing you are dominating is yourself. Whatever floats your boat! :wink:
From those quotes you've posted Quedos, I'd have thought it was written by a regular cager rather thlan someone who is supposed to have a meager amount of knowledge of motorbikes. :roll: Damn right you should complain.
Dominate your lane by using all of it. Change your position if required for each hazard as it presents itself.
:thumbsup:
DanAbnormal
05-07-06, 08:46 AM
Learners can ride upto a 125cc machine with a power output of no more than 14.6bhp.
What the hell is that woman on. And she used to work for a bike mag?!! Jeez.
As for the lane position thing I was taught to ride 2 thirds in the lane from the kerb. But once I passed and did advanced that all changed, now my riding position varies depending on the road. I.e for a left hand bend I will move out to the white line to get a better view of what is round the bend, for a right hand bend I will move in towards the kerb. It's funny, you get taught all this stuff that you 'have' to do on your test and as soon as you do advanced riding you get taught somethign totally different (overtaking on roundabouts and apexing come to mind).
This centre of the lane IMHO is some of the most dangerous advice I hear.
K is correct you need to control the whole of the lane and the best way to do that is to use it.
Avoid using the centre of the lane, in urban areas during and just after rain, and never pull up at traffic lights in that position. The centre is known as the Greasy Strip for a reason.
Dominate your lane by using all of it. Change your position if required for each hazard as it presents itself.
I was gonna say that ! :wink:
What's the CSMA ?
21QUEST
05-07-06, 11:09 AM
Make use of the Grey Matter. That's all :wink:
Cheers
Ben
Make use of the Grey Matter. That's all :wink:
Top advice. And my point about 2/3 positioning was aimed purely at long straight stretches of road where other factors are more or less constant (or at least appear so). Naturally all of the road should be used (you pay to use it, so why limit yourself to only part of it?) when it's required to give you a better vantage point.
Riding in the dead centre of a lane seems to me to be possibly the most disadvantageous position going.
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northwind
05-07-06, 11:38 AM
You can't use your grey matter on positioning when you first start, you're too busy looking at your reflection in shop windows and thinking about how cool you are.
Oh, are you only supposed to do that when you first start? :lol:
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I ride down the right hand tyre track of cars.
I avoid the middle as it encourages people to overtake you and I figure you get oil and debris in that part of the road.
Flamin_Squirrel
05-07-06, 12:02 PM
I avoid the middle as it encourages people to overtake you...
How slow are you riding? :shock:
What's the CSMA ?
Civil Service Motoring Association :thumbsup:
I avoid the middle as it encourages people to overtake you...
How slow are you riding? :shock:
I have had a 1.2 Corsa overtake me whilst travelling at 40 in 40 if I remember correctly. I couldn't go any faster as I was following another car. This bloke (20 ish) with his missus in the passenger seat overtook me and squeezed into the gap between me and the other car - I was travelling slightly closer to the car in front than I should have so he barely had any room to get in.
I have also had a couple of BMW's overtaking me when I have been at 60 on national speed limit roads.
I stopped wearing my high vis vest after all those incidents as I felt that encouraged it by giving me the learner look. In all those instances I wasn't expecting an overtake so my guard had dropped a bit and I had moved more into the middle of my lane.
The incident with the Corsa was truly bizarre and defies any kind of logical explanation for his actions. Oh and by the way there was a speed camera about 400 metres from where he passed me.
I stopped wearing my high vis vest after all those incidents as I felt that encouraged it by giving me the learner look.
That's an interesting point and certainly has some credence to it I think, but definitely worthy of discussion.
The incident with the Corsa was truly bizarre and defies any kind of logical explanation for his actions.
Not really, he was a total nob — there's certainly no shortage of them about.
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I try to avoid the centre of the lane too, way too much oil/coolant/nails/brick ends etc. especially at junctions or traffic lights.
The tyre tracks are likely to be the cleanest, but positioning is largely for vision purposes first, other things second.
andyaikido
05-07-06, 07:09 PM
[quote="Flamin_Squirrel"][quote=Toypop]I stopped wearing my high vis vest after all those incidents as I felt that encouraged it by giving me the learner look. In all those instances I wasn't expecting an overtake so my guard had dropped a bit and I had moved more into the middle of my lane.
Wear a white lid with your hi-vis and see if they still overtake.
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