The Honda Owners Club

EricaVFR wrote: Got one - absolutely brilliant! Now know where all my stuff is (and Gerald's) without searching and it is so neat. A very robust construction as well - takes even our heaviest wet gear. Well done Phil!

..........You on a commission then Erica?

Another day and another opportunity to ride the bike gladly taken!

Despite the clouds and the wind (got a bit gusty on the way home) I thoroughly enjoyed my ride to work and back - sadly didn't get chance to go out later on due to diet clients and club stuff (oh yes, it isn't all play y'know!)

Hoping to get out for a nice ride tomorrow - not sure where to yet - possibly up to East Carlton Country Park - there's a Landrover / classic car thing on there.. might even be tempted to take me tent! (Nah.. not on the little bike...)

Yesterday I had a friend of mine follow me to the pub for lunch (not planned to escort but just timing) and I found it horribly off-putting knowing he was in a car right behind me! Still... that was a good little ride out too!

Am going to wash her tomorrow I think... weather permitting of course! Now... need to find a map and decide on a destination.... hmmm

Hey Jennie!..

....As you get more 'road time' just take it easy. It is an easy mistake to think that you are going OK and so must be profficient. You need to stay with friends on bikes to ride with you for some time yet....'steady as she goes' is the way to gain confidence and to gain experience...Make sure that those that ride with you give you an honest 'debrief' of your efforts. No doubt that you will be fine but best to train properly.

Hi Chris!

Sound advice, thank you . I've been asking those who ride with me to do that.. and am hoping to have my instructor come out with me soon to let me know how I'm really doing. His is the opinion I actually value most as he is the one who rides for a living and instructs others to do likewise and is putting me up for the test. That's not to say that I don't value the opinions and wealth of experience my fellow riders have, it's just different.

I know I am improving but am also aware that it's still early days and probably ages until I shall be anywhere near proficient! I would prefer to ride with others than on my own but as we all know, lifestyles and working patterns dictate otherwise so I ride on my own for the most part and enjoy it just as much too. I've got no intentions of riding in the dark on my own for a long long time yet either...

Trust me when I say this... My 'incident' back in March taught me many things... not least to keep within my capabilities and hopefully know my limits.

As for training properly., I'm not sure that all of my mates and fellow riders are necessarily qualified to train me or anyone else (we can all get into bad habits whether riding or driving I think) and you only need to listen to any rider who has been out on a run to know that they will criticise each others riding habits and styles, , but the instructor is qualified, and as you know, I was previously just 3 days shy of my test before... and have had several hours of lessons with him, so I am (and need to be) optimistic that when I go out with him next that he will pleased and will be confident that I can get through the test (with a little help and instruction) and then , when I get my licence I shall keep on practising for many happy biking years to come...

At least... that is the plan!

Thats a good one J!!...work hard and stay focussed! Oh..and enjoy!! if you get P***d off with it all, then next years summer run? get on the back of the 'mighty Triumph'...

Chris'TR' wrote:Thats a good one J!!...work hard and stay focussed! Oh..and enjoy!! if you get P***d off with it all, then next years summer run? get on the back of the 'mighty Triumph'...

hee hee anytime you want a pillion on the 'Mighty Triumph' just you let me know!

As for next years summer run.... yer on! unless of course you want me to do the driving?

Another weekend ends already! Ho hum... didn't go out on her yesterday at all but this morning I did and rode happily to Dibble's to the National Club Management meeting... I only got lost once... (not bad for me!) and the ride was very scenic with lots of thatched cottages and choccie box quintessential English countryside... got there and was mortified that as I pulled up I stalled her pulling into the parking area!! It was duly noted by a couple of the others and a certain amount of leg pulling ensued!

After the meeting one of the guys checked my tyres (he thought they looked a bit low) and told me the front one was 17.5 and the back 19.5 and they ought to be 28 and 30 respectively! One of the others asked me if I noticed the bike wobble on bends or corners? I just told him yeah, and that I just assumed that was down to me! There was much eye rolling and tut tutting... Dibble then did the honours with a trusty footpump and I set off for the ride home feeling a bit daft but safer.

Met up with one of the guys from the club and he rode part of the way back with me, the heavens opened after just 5 minutes and so we stopped briefly and I asked for some feedback and he told me that I need to remember to do my lifesavers... I must admit I am pretty rubbish at them.. so... I made a concerted effort on the rest of the ride home!

I'm hoping to go out for a gentle 'bimble' one evening with one of the ladies from my neck of the woods and maybe with my mate Fred again too... I just love riding around and even went on the A14 (touched 60 but bike didn't seem to want to do any more than that) and the A45 too... I reckon I might have to have a go at riding my 'dreaded stretch' of road this week one day... will avoid rush hour though... and won't be going fast!

Onward and upward eh... tomorrow's a whole new opportunity to get out on her all over again!

congratulations on passing your CBT, i'm really pleased for you.

I took mine after being out of the saddle for 20 odd years, It was really nervous, but like you said, after a while it all comes back to you,

all the best for future

stars wrote:congratulations on passing your CBT, i'm really pleased for you. I took mine after being out of the saddle for 20 odd years, It was really nervous, but like you said, after a while it all comes back to you,
all the best for future

Thank you for this... and well done to you too for getting back in the saddle after such a long time!!

Have you taken your test yet?

Oh.. and big welcome to the forum too!!

Well, I'm a bag of nerves! Got a lesson in less than an hour and feel sick! I think it's because of what happened last time I went on one... so... hopefully this feeling is a one off - you know - the 'first' syndrome...

Have been riding loads.. had a lovely afternoon ride out which I'll drone on about later maybe...

Good luck jennie..

You will be fine and the weather is OK tonight!..let usknow you made it OK!!

Cheers Chris...

Well, I made it alright... because I was so nervous I left just after I posted on here... and... got to his house half an hour early... rode like a div all the way there, you know.. crap at junctions, crap at roundabouts... blah!! Then I was sat waiting and got a text from him to say he had a breakdown (presumably mechanical ) and he had to cancel!! Argh!

The ride home, however, was brilliant! Lovely weather and totally relaxed... roundabouts and junctions fine and dandy too... flippin muppet for getting nervous eh!

Oh well... I think I will try chanting or summat when we reschedule... no idea when that'll be though but I do have an afternoon of lessons booked with him for next Thursday so HOPEFULLY that WILL happen!!

And in the meantime I shall continue to ride as much as I can, although being away at the Oxford Rally this weekend will mean I miss riding for at least 2 days... (Saturday and Sunday - am aiming to ride in the morning if poss...)

hi jennie

its lyn from 3 shires. i just wanted to say thanks for posting the "well done for passing your test" thing. i'll be doing the same for you soon no doubt. i didn't know all this "other world" existed til i got your email the other day!

i haven't been out on my bike much since passing my test though. i've just been to france with b & m honda as a pillion on my hubby's bike (fab trip - i'd recommend them to anyone!)

anyhow i went out for first time yesterday and boy did i feel nervous. i felt more nervous than when i jokingly said i'd run a ride out and ended up doing the L plate lyn ride out with the 3 shires with about 7 or 8 big bikes following me! (they said that the flowers looked good. which is something they don't normally have time to look at!) i think i felt more nervous cos i felt like the "protection" of the L plates had gone and all the other road users were probably assuming that i knew what i was doing in every situation. (which as a newby you don't!) so anyway my trip to my destination felt alot worse than my trip home. i think that it was because i'd relaxed on my way back as i'd already "done it" by getting to my destination so i felt more relaxed and perhaps that is the secret. if you feel more relaxed then you can concentrate on the road and not on worrying about how you are doing!

anyway you remain as much an inspiration to me as you say i am to you! keep up the good work x

Hi Lyn, welcome to the forums!

I heard about the ride out and that you were fab! Well done you - I understand what you mean about other people's assumptions once your L plates are gone... is it an offence, I wonder, to leave them on when you have passed your test? Do you think P plates would be a good idea?

Trip to france sounds fun! So pleased you had a better 'return' journey.. I reckon every ride will just get better now and you will be far more relaxed in time.

Thanks for the encouragement too... xx

Well... I was disappointed not to have the ride out with instructor last week as you know, but, instead, I went yesterday from 5pm - 7pm. Again I rode like a muppet to begin with (for the first time EVER I flippin had a 'balance fault' at a zebra crossing which I have stopped at a bazillion times before!! ) but as the time passed it was better . I was out with a chap who was doing his CBT ride - his first time on the road on a bike and he was brilliant! Such confidence! (He was 17 and hardly a wobble or foot down!) I was embarassed at how badly I seemed to ride in comparison... instructor told me it was all down to confidence.

In the end things weren't too bad I guess.. I mean, I was nervous as this was the first time out since you-know-what happened and to be honest, I was very nervous that he would take me on what has now become affectionately termed 'Jennie's bend'... but he didn't, and I was glad. I need to ride it soon though. Then it will be on my terms and at my pace... 'firsts' are always the toughest I think....

We rode all over the place, it was good. I relaxed a bit after a while and felt better about it until we did u-turns again! Well.. there I was, up the kerb!! Man oh man!! I have done them before on the bigger bike and been ok!! I need to practice.. so.. I'm going to suss out a quiet road somewhere that is perhaps a tad narrower than standard so that if I can crack it there then doing it anywhere wider will be much easier. I also need to practice hill starts and emergency stops. He told me that it is just basically the set pieces I need to focus on and my lifesavers!

He (instructor) did say that I am riding far more confidently than before and he's sure I will be fine. So I was encouraged by that.. I know I could have ridden better though.. when I go out next with him I'm going to not rush to get ready, I'm going to give myself plenty of time so that I'm not in a flap!! Plus I think I might think of a song or something to sing as I ride... try and relax myself a bit more.. when I go to the dentist I sing hymns in my head whilst he prods and pokes and (if necessary) drills and fills! That seems to work well then.. so ... perhaps it will help....

It's been an incredibly draining and horrendously stressful couple of days in the Shellshine household and I am utterly shattered so decided not to take the lovely bike out this afternoon (despite the rare appearance of some sunshine!!)... sleep is the order of the day before the next diet client shows up. Hopefully tomorrow will be nicer weather and I can tootle off somewhere in the Northants / Beds / Leics countryside after work for a breath of fresh air and some quality practice.

Can't believe that by this time next month it will all be over with and I will either be celebrating or practising anew!! (Celebrating gets my vote!!!!)