Labels: Adrian Flux, bike, bike insurance, bikesure, cheaper motorcycle insurance, chinese scooter, compulsory basic training, quad, quad bike, quad insurance, sportsbikes, young rider insurance

link | posted by Bikesure Grant at Friday, September 05, 2008
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4-2 no these are not the Football Scores

What is going on!!!!.

Motorcycles = less congestion on the road, lower pollution/CO2 emissions, cheaper to run/maintain and being loads more fun but to get your bike licence as of October 2008 you will have to take 4, Yes 4 tests, Test 1, CBT, Test 2, Theory, Test 3, NEW OFF ROAD TEST, Test 4, Finally on road test, BUT you must pass the new off road test before being able to proceed to the on road test.

Yet at the age of 17 you take 2 tests to receive your full car licence, Test 1, theory, Test 2, On road test, and once you have passed you will be able to jump in to any car that is in production.

How about a bit of common sense here, how about making CBTs compulsory on ALL tests after all we all know the first thing a car driver says at the scene of any accident is SMIDSY, If the CBT was mandatory at least they would have some idea what the perils faced by bikers are on a day to day basis and hopefully be a bit more aware of bikes.

Lets put things into comparison at the moment at the age of 17 once you have passed your full bike test you are able to ride ANY BIKE RESTRICTED TO 33bhp for 2 years. After 2 years you are able to ride any bike you can afford to buy & insure.
At the age of 17 once you have passed your car test you are able to drive ANY car that is on the road (so if you have a rich daddy you can theoretically jump into his Porsche 911 turbo).

Now how much more sensible would it be if new drivers were restricted to cars not exceeding say 1200cc for at least 2 years, especially as 17 year olds have 25% more car claims than motorcycles/mopeds.

If by some chance you have not heard about or seen the new proposed off road test a copy is shown below, To accommodate this new test, new SUPER TEST CENTRES are being built, if your instructors do not have access to a suitable area to train you for this they can hire the test course subject to no tests being taken at time and also availability and subject to price, (HMMM more expense) or am I being to cynical?



The New Test Content

Motorcycle Manoeuvring - Left Circuit

1. On and off the stand
2. Wheel the machine
3. Slalom
4. Figure of eight
5. 30 kph circuit ride
6. 50 kph avoidance
7. Controlled stop
8. U-turn
9. Slow ride
10. 30 kph circuit ride
11. 50 kph emergency brake

Any way that’s about all for now,

Stay Safe,
Oneleggedfreak

Labels: advanced riding, bike insurance, cbt, compulsory basic training, learner bikes, learner legal, learning to ride, motorbike test, motorcycle instruction, motorcycle test, teenage rider insurance

link | posted by Dave Wilson at Tuesday, July 17, 2007
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Another biking virgin gets a taste of two wheels, courtesy of Bikesure. Well, we think that as a bike insurer, all our staff should understand how bikes are different from cars, and, crucially, get some experience in the saddle, so we pay for their CBT training. Here's Grant's experience, in his own words:

Now i was a little nervous going into it in the first place as the only time I have ever been on a bike was on the back of a Yamaha WR250 on a field doing 90mph ( all legal of course ) about 7 years ago, so my bike experience was about as relevant as Pat Sharp's Mullet!

I pulled up to the CBT place in my car and saw the mean machine of a Suzuki GS125 that i would soon mount. We went through the pre-match run of safety and laws and so on. Stuck a helmet on and one of those ear pieces that makes me look like a bouncer, yea all 5'9" of me and a protective jacket.

Now i always had assumed that we spend the first part of the test in a playground or car park getting to know that bike and how it handles...did we....did we bugger!

Right follow me says the instructor. I'm sorry!? Follow you? What...on the road??? "How does this bloody thing work?" I asked myself, but before I knew it we were off. It was brilliant, I felt awesome, I thought I was going so fast, wind blowing, engine screaming... all that at 30mph.

Then comes our first set of traffic lights. They go red... i wait... they go green... I STALL!!

"S**t!" I said, I'm turning the keys, pressing the horn, phoning the police - everything - and then my ear piece suddenly perks up and I hear "Just press the electric start." Oh yeah.

"Right!!" I said, "I'm not stalling this time." By now, the masses of cars are behind and then a bus pulls alongside and everyone is looking. I couldn't really hide with fluorescent yellow jacket. So now I had a crowd all waiting to watch me pull off with ease (ed: To watch you what?!) So the lights go green, I rev up and dump the clutch, I swear the front wheel was about 2cm off the ground. Oh yeah! My first wheelie and the crowd in the bus went wild!!!

Next we were taken to a car park and asked to do a figure of 8. I thought I was going to fall off, but managed OK and even did an emergency stop! I thought I was the bo^*ox right now!

Anyway, 2 stalls later, we were doing 50mph down country roads I was loving it, though I did get told off for leaning into bends with my shoulder. "Lean with your hips," I was told over the airwaves, little sinister laugh!

We did a lot of town riding and kept getting cut up by taxis. Those guys!!!! That started to get annoying but our instructor was already one step ahead. I finally realised one of the best things about bikes was the ability to overtake taxis in a traffic jam. It was the best feeling ever - sad I know - but just sailing past the cars kicked ass!!

So we pulled back into the CBT place and it was over. I loved it. I really wouldnt mind getting a bike - I mean £15 for tax and a much cheaper alternative to short little trips in a car. I only have to convince "the wife" that its a good idea, but it's opened my mind a little more to the world of bikers and I liked it.

So next time you see a learner stalling at traffic lights, when you have finished laughing, spare a thought!

Be Good

Grant "ring me for a quote", "cheese on toast" Varnham

Labels: bike insurance, biker, cbt, compulsory basic training, gs125, learner bikes, learner legal, learning to ride, suzuki, wr250, yamaha

link | posted by Dave Wilson at Monday, July 16, 2007
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Unlike many bike insurance companies, many of our staff are enthusiastic bikers, who like nothing more than a good ride out and are far happier on two wheels than four. So when we hire staff who aren't already bikers, we feel we have to do our bit and help them get bitten by the biking bug, too.

So, as well as their exhaustive insurance and underwriting training, which lasts several months, we round up all the trainee staff who aren't already into bikes, and send them off to do their Compulsory Basic Training (CBT).

As you can imagine, letting a bunch of novices loose on a bike often has hilarious consequences, so we got the latest batch of victims recruits to record their experiences for posterity. Here is Richard's diary, we'll have more in due course:

CBT: Richard Rowsell

The day was 14th June 2007 when I took my CBT...

The phrase that I repeated most during this experience would be "oh cock", let me explain.

On the morning of the 14th I called M.I.C.K.S (Riding School - apparently it's supposed to stand for Motorcycle Instruction Course Keep Safe, but since it's run by a guy called Mick, we're guessing he was a C.Hi.P.S. fan) to see if there are any spaces, I found that there was an opening later that day at 13:15.

13:05 - Arrived at M.I.C.K.S

13:20 - Given brief about what we will be doing and reassured that all will be ok and have fun

13:40 - Taken to the off road area to try out the bikes, completed the moving off and stopping section. We were allowed to go down a track and back that I did several times at high speed with no problems. Here comes the first "oh cock"... I went down a part with loose stones and turned around, I moved off and changed up the gears but missed a gear change and massively over revved causing me to think "oh cock, this isn’t good" so I grabbed the front brake and due to the big stones we were on, buried the bike into the floor. I continued forward but luckily kept upright, leaving the bike in a cloud of dust.

// Damage Report - Electrics OK - Foot peg Bent - Gear Lever is now at new Snazzy Angle - Front Left Indicator is Hanging Off - Front Light at Funny Angle \\

14:30 - Taken back to base where lots of Gaffer Tape was the order of the day... followed by several minutes of bending the gear lever into a less interesting position

14:50 - Said to Julie (An instructor) "I may have dropped the bike" Got told, "you're not a biker as you have to crash 3 times to earn the title of biker"

Sulked for 20 minutes…

15:10 – Taken out on road on recently repaired (if Gaffer tape counts) bike, although the gear lever is still at a funny angle

15:15 – First junction, buggered up clutch and pulled a mini wheelie!

15:40 – 60mph side road, getting overtaken by massive lorries. This is scary as hell, as my mirrors don’t even show anything behind me, as they are rubbish {we are going at 35mph}

15:55 – Radio contact is lost!

16:00 – Car overtakes me and cuts me off from the group so I cannot see the instructor and he cannot see me

16:46 – Other pupil in front of me stalls the bike on a big junction, the instructor is the other side of the road

17:25 – QE Hospital roundabout – Instructor goes straight on, other pupil goes round the whole roundabout! "oh cock" I know to go straight on but follow to keep her company just in case she panicked.

17:40 – CBT COMPLETED

Thanks goes to Rob “the Bossman” Balls for the opportunity to do this.

Labels: cbt, chinese scooter, compulsory basic training, learner bikes, learner legal, learning to ride, moped, motorcycle instruction, teenage rider insurance, young rider insurance

link | posted by Dave Wilson at Monday, June 18, 2007
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