The bad news is Wasi (my scooter) is gone now, I decided to traded in on my dad’s new bike in return for a discount on buying his old one from him.

The first three days were spent on 125cc motorcycles. I was used to riding Wasi and took to most of the riding easily. I had a bit of trouble with U-turns, emergency stops and observations when changing road positions. Day three it was very rainy, we went on the A38 and the weather was so bad that we were slowed to 40mph. I was completely soaked, the rain had gone through four layers of clothing on my legs and five on my upper body (yes it was that wet).

On the fourth day I rode a 500cc bike for the first time (it took a bit of getting used to). There was a student called Richard riding in my group, he had his test that afternoon but had a bad case of nerves in the middle of it and had to stop.

At lunchtime on the fourth day the instructor suggested that I take the A2 (taken on a 125cc bike) instead of the Direct Access because I was looking dodgy on the bigger bike but I insisted that I wanted to do the Direct Access. That afternoon I worked hard at getting used to a big bike and relaxing more when I was riding, it helped when I sat up straighter because then I was able to do better observations. The instructor was still not confident on my ability to pass the Direct Access and (as an incentive for me to take the A2) took away the guaranteed pass that students get if they follow the instructors reccommendations i.e. they’ll pay to re-train you for your test if you fail it.

N.B. The difference between the two tests is that the A2 has a probationary period of 2 years in which you are only allowed to ride a motorbike restricted to 33bhp after that it is the same as the Direct Access, you can ride any size bike.

After lunch we went to work on dual-carriageway riding. At first I was a bit hesitant and then I forgot to look at my speedo and ended up going way too fast (too used to my bike not being able to break the speed limit of a dual-carriageway), my instructor told me off because a policeman saw me, thankfully the policeman was didn’t make an issue of it because I quickly slowed down.

On the fifth day I knew I had to work really hard to get up to scratch for my test. I mostly had the instructor to myself because another student who was supposed to show for a refresher session was late. In the meantime The instructor and I went for a short road ride around Langage/Sparkwell area. I worked a lot on my U-turns and emergency stops.

Before the test I was most worried about my speed, observations and my U-turn. I went into the test not expecting to pass.

I didn’t just pass, I pwned. I got 5 minor marks. My instructor said that the average number of minor marks on a pass was 11. Oddly they were all for things that I thought I’d be OK on. There was one that I knew I got completely accidentally when my indicator didn’t come on as I was pulling in.

A big thank you to the following:

• the people at Surepass (obviously) – very patient bunch of folks
• my duct tape – to hold the legs of my jeans in so they wouldn’t catch on the pegs
• my dentist – because everytime I got nervous I thought of how nervous my dentist makes me and it seemed insignificant in comparison

I got 34/35 (Pass is >=30) on the multiple-choice questions and 57/75 (pass is >=45) for the hazard perception.

There are two basic rules for hazards when you are riding a motorcycle: 1) If it moves it’s a hazard 2) If it doesn’t move it’s a hazard.

My younger sister said that she knew I would pass because I always do. I wish I had the same confidence in my abilities that other people have in them.

I was worried that I’d end up getting all the stupid questions though, particularly ones about stopping distances. I hate stopping distance questions, perhaps it is because I have already been driving a car for almost 6 years that I no longer think of these figures as useful. Let’s face it if you’re braking in an emergency you are unlikely to be thinking “OMG the stopping distance at 70mph is 96m and I only have 94m! Oh Noes!”.

I now have 2 years to take my motorcycle practical test.

“Supertrams or Light Rapid Transit systems (LRT) are environmentally friendly because?
A) They use diesel power
B) They use electric power
C) They use quieter roads
D) They do not operate during rush hour”

This question in no way tests my knowledge of the highway code, safety procedures or anything else that might be useful if I was riding a motorcycle. If it was used in an actual theory test the only reason I can think of it being there is to catch out people who would otherwise be borderline passes.

Work has been sparse recently, not much to do. So I’ve been spending my days out on Dartmoor enjoying the lovely sunshine and getting used to riding The Yellow Peril. I took it out on a tour of Dartmoor the other day, over 70 miles of travel. Since the beginning of this month it’s done over 300 miles, not bad for a vehicle that’s 21 years old.