Riding without a licence
 

Under what circumstances could I ride an SV on the road before I did my Direct Access?

If I have the theory and CBT does that qualify me to ride with L plates or something?

not in any circumstances unless you are riding it as part of a riding school course (in other words if you're riding an SV on your DAS course!)

Re: Riding without a licence
 

Only and I mean ONLY if you are accompanied by a qualified motorcycle driving instructor.

Thought as much

Just seen a nice shiny K5 for sale but can't get to do my DA til next month :(

So on the DA courses when they offer a discount for using your own bike that means you'd have to roll up to the centre with it on a trailer then?

I wouldn't fancy doing it on my own bike incase I dropped it! I wouldn't fancy doing a u-turn on my bike either!

Probably a wise move, much better to total their machine.

That's the spirit! :lol:

Take their bike as there is always a good chance that you will drop it when doing the U turns. They usaly always use nakids due to the tight turning circle they give. I got a cool SLR650 when i did DA in the summer and u turns were done on sixpence.

SVS dont have the best turning circles anyway, if that was what you are thinking of getting.

best bike fer u-turns is the Er5!

has to be a SLR650, single cyl engine just plods around.

If you can afford it, get the SV and just polish it until you pass your test! Call it motivation.

I would strongly recommend using the school bikes. Apart from the tighter turning circle which you really really need for u-turns, it doesn't matter if you drop the bike and/or damage it. If you dropped your lovely SV you would possibly cry.

*cough* I did quite a lot of damage to the school bike on my DAS :oops: (dented tank, twisted forks and I lost count of the levers I went through) so I was very glad I had left my SV at home.

i got my sv bout a month b4 my test was so fustrating, luckley i live in the country side so i could have a lil burn about had bin riding a 125 for 3 years b4 that tho, so i knew wot i was doing, endend up breaking 3 bikes on my das, the first 1 the instructor put desil in it n it went up in a ball off white smoke, then i got on the back of his bk to the test centre and his speedo broke as i got on and the last sb i tryed jus dident start, there bikes must go though a battering!

What the hell, is that supposed to be english?

Anyway. Yes, dont even think about riding the SV. Break the schools bike instead 8)

its early morning english also quick typing, not trying to get caught on websites wen supposed to be working sorry il try harder next time :oops:

Speaking as someone who managed to avoid damaging the school's bike through the whole of DAS, but then managed to drop it when trying to put it on the side stand back at the riding school after riding home from the test (passed), I'd say use their bikes.

Aside from damaging it and the afformentioned U-turn, I'd far rather learn clutch control on their bike, rather than cook my own.

nope the little 125 i did my test on is :wink:

Do it on the schools bike! But be prepared to pay for damages (clutch lever) or at least an excess if you do drop the bike in a big way. Most schools now have a disclaimer. ANd why not, afterall if someone dropped my bikes I'd want to be recompensed for damages. Unless it's one of the big schools you might not be required to pay (I was lucky enough not to and I broke a clutch lever).

Yep, deffinately an advocat of using the schools bikes, I was lucky I didn't drop the bike doing my DAS, but the other learner did. Instrutor pulls to a stop in the sloped car park (that one behind the pub off chorley new road in Bolton) I pull in behind, and put the stand down, the other lad pulls in next to me (further down slope) and proceeds to put his right foot down onto slope. Him and bike (bandit) went rolling down the hill, I still smile, everytime he tried to stand up he just pitched over again. I wandered into the shop in tears and left them to it.

Ste

Definitely use the school's bikes. On my DAS, first time on an ER5, me and the other trainee were going round the car park getting used to the bike before the road, when SMASH I look round and the other guy was on the floor and the bike smashed against a fence post. Wrote off the bike!

If you still want the shiny K5, most dealers should be able to arrange delivery - when I bought my 125 before doing my DAS the dealer delivered it 60 miles round M25 (& even over Dartford toll crossing) for free.

I bought my '55 SV S in early February, and did my test last Friday. Having the bike in the garage really gave me an incentive to pass. :D

I also managed to drop the DAS bike - the day before my test whilst doing a U turn. Typically, I did it in a residential street in front of a bunch of builders who cheered as I went over! :oops:

Since Friday, I have also managed to drop the SV twice. Thank goodness for crash bungs... No damage aside 1 indy and a scratched bar end. Each time I've felt it going over and laid it down very gently... Still gutting when you do it. It's taught me one thing - now I don't have to manoeuvre with my feet up, I won't. Nor will I ever do another U turn. :lol:

Words of wisdom.

I dropped the riding school's GS500 bike once: the engine stalled
and I was so surprised that I lost balance. However, the bike
dropped on my fat leg so no damage to the bike.

Would never go on DAS with my own bike. Even if you don't drop it, the
endless practice of clutch control is surely not good for the bike.

my wife bought hers before her test..but i had to insure it..doubt a leaner could get insurance for a sv650 :D

..
 

The CB500s & ER5s the schools use are alot more 'learner friendly' for the test definately.

If you get itchy and can't wait a whole month some schools do individual days when you can go out for an hour or so. Not all though.

Good luck mate, don't risk taking a jaunt out before, sod's law the rozzers will just happen by and that'l be the end of that :wink:

Glad it's not just me; I dropped the school's bike during my DAS putting it on the centre stand the day before my test :oops:

It spent a little while on the floor as both myself and the instructor were laughing too hard to pick it up, very glad it was someone elses bike!

cheers

Jamie

The 500cc parallels are just plain easier to ride, no point in making it harder for yourself... Even leaving aside the risk of binning it.

Plus, using your own bike is a logistical nightmare if it goes wrong. Get it delivered to the school, do the riding about, fail, and it either has to sit there till you can resit, or you need to get it moved back to the shop or to your home. Then, you need to move it back to the school if you want to use it next time. I had an absolute mare doing CBT on my own bike for exactly that reason.

Piece of **** doing a U turn (although I didn't think so at the time)

Oddly enough, ten minutes in a local trading estate last night taught me that the SV's actually a hell of a lot easier to U turn than I'd thought, although the turning circle's not brilliant :shock:

A mate manaed to fail his second test before leaving the car park. He botched taking it off the centre stand and managed to drop it, coming within inches of hitting the instructor and also just missed hitting his bike by a tiny amount.

Before picking it up, he said, "Have I failed?". "Yep" was the reply. Even before he picked it up and saw the indicator was smashed so even had the instructor been feeling generous and pretended he'd not seen it, he'd not have been able to do the test anyway.

He gave up trying to get a road licence after that and stuck to dirt biking. :)

Lesson to be learnt : If you've got a bike with a centre stand and a side stand, only ever use the side stand when you park up, if you're being assessed in any way:!: