“L” Plates 21^st – 22^nd June 2010

Barb	Honda CB250	Karl	Honda CB250
Craig	Honda CB250	Ian	Honda CB250
Cathy	Honda CB250	Margaret	Scooter
Ricco	Instructor Day 1	Ross	Instructor Day 2

* To all you licensed riders reading this, you may not want to read any further; it might be a bit boring for you. So go and have a cuppa and pass the magazine to your wife/husband, son/daughter, brother/sister or anyone who might want to get their bike learners/ licence in the near future. J

“So there I was riding along on one of Cliffy’s old bikes. It was late afternoon and I was on my way to our local shop. I knew I shouldn’t be riding (cause I didn't have a motorbike licence) so I was on the lookout for cops all the way there and back home to the farm. I pulled into our driveway and had to get off to shut the front gate. And the bike fell over...”

Suddenly I woke up. Thank goodness it was only a dream. For years I have dreamt of taking Cliffy’s bikes for rides. In fact, way back when I was only a youngster (mid 30’s) I went and got my “Learners”. Unfortunately, at that time our income took a drastic dive to just about zero and we couldn’t afford to get a motorbike for me. So I didn't get to go for my bike licence. Over the years I have watched Cliffy go off on his bike and wished I could too.

At last year’s Christmas camp Katrina and I talked about how we would love to get our licences so we could go riding. We made a pact that once back home we would get them and at the next Christmas camp we would go riding together. A few months later Katrina phoned to say she had got her “L’s” and it was about time I got mine. So off I went and booked in.

I was very nervous when I phoned “Stay Upright” but Sharon put me at ease and was very encouraging. She told me about when she went for her learners and how she didn't get it the first time. The next available days were Monday and Tuesday (June 21^st and 22^nd). So I said. “Book me in!” I told her that the 21^st was my husband’s 51^st birthday. J She laughed and said, “Well, don’t tell him, just surprise him afterwards!” Yeah right, like Cliffy wouldn’t know J

I read and read and re-read the learner’s handbook. I did all the questions in pencil and rubbed them out and did them again. The day finally arrived and I woke very early at 5am. I just couldn't sleep. When the sun started to rise I looked outside and all I could see was fog. Brrrrr.

At about 7.45am I grabbed my lunch and headed to the “Stay Upright” training facility. The closer I got the more nervous I got. When I arrived there were a few bikes and one scooter out on the tarmac. Three people were in the building, Ricco, Craig and Cathy. We all got a nice hot cup of coffee and stood around talking till the others arrived.

Ricco introduced himself and gave us a short talk on his experiences with motorbikes. He has numerous motorbikes and cars in his garage back home in Yea. He asked us to talk about why we wanted to get our licences. Karl was first. He was an American now living here and he said he fixed motorbikes and cars and wanted to know what it was like to actually ride one. Craig said that he used to ride when he was a teenager and now wanted to do it legally. Margaret was next. Her story was that her husband had secretly restored an old Vesper and given it to her for her birthday and to ride it she had to have a licence. Cathy told us that she was off to Bali in August and wanted to ride scooters over there and wanted to find out what it was like to ride a motorbike. Ian, like me, had always dreamt of getting his licence.

By this time, the large room we were in had warmed up and it was time to get the written test done. We all passed (I got 4 questions wrong); no one got every question right. You could get up to seven wrong and still pass; get eight wrong and you fail.

We watched a DVD while completing the paperwork including having my photo taken and an eye test. Then we selected a helmet and gloves. We had to wear hair nets! (Oh, how fashionableJ) Then it was outside into the freezing cold to practise riding.

Because none of us had ridden in a long time, if ever, we had to start from scratch. So we began by learning how to get on a bike. As we were walking to the bikes I thought to myself, oh my giddy aunt, they are big... I didn't think I could touch the ground once seated on it. But I had plenty of leg left over.

Next we learnt where all the controls were i.e. blinkers, horn etc. And we had to find each one without looking. The side stand had to be put down and up without looking. Then we had to get off, put the side stand up (!) and walk the bike around, balancing the bike. I have seen a few experienced riders drop their bike whilst moving it, so I was very nervous. (Luckily the bikes had crash bars on them.) No-one dropped their bike.

Next Ricco asked me to get on my bike and then he pushed me to the other end of the tarmac. I had to show him that I could balance the bike. Then all the others pushed each other (whilst I stood watching. He wouldn’t let me push anyone probably because I was the eldest student. The youngest was 43. Everyone, except the scooter rider, managed to balance their bikes. Ricco told us that it was very hard to balance scooters because there is no tank for the rider to grip with his/her legs.

So we proved that we could stay upright on a motorbike that was being pushed. Now it was time to turn them on. So without looking we had to do just that. Using the choke, we had to stand there waiting for the darn things to warm up.

After a few mins Ricco came to each person and told them to push the choke in and keep the revs up to above 1000, which we all did. Then he stood in front of us and held up his hand. If he put up four fingers we had to get and keep the revs at 4000. We were not allowed to look at the instruments after the first time. This went on for a while, up and down through the revs so we could feel and hear what the bike sounded like.

Then we had to learn how the bike sounded when we let the clutch out (without actually moving). By now the bikes were warm enough to ride without them stalling (hopefully). So we had to ride forward, letting the clutch out and stopping after a few meters, hold the clutch in and move the bike back using our legs. Then off forward again. Once competent with that we had to ride around the outside of a circle with witches’ hats and at every hat we had to stop, thereby simulating riding in heavy traffic. We did this for ages and then had a break for lunch.

Back out on the bikes. Start them, ride around the outside a few times again, stopping and starting, and then it was time to do the slow ride. In the centre of the course was a long marked out rectangle. We had to stop and wait a few metres before it and when Ricco indicated, we had to ride as slowly as we could, staying within the rectangle for 10 seconds or more, without stalling or putting our feet on the ground. Then we had to ride off faster and then stop in a small square with our front wheel in that square (without looking at the square). Then we had to do some slow cornering - very slow, without putting a foot down or stalling. Next was very tight cornering. We practised everything, over and over and over again. Then it was time to go home.

The next day I woke after a very restless night due to terrible cramps in my legs. I reckon it was from pushing the bike around the day before. So I headed off in the freezing cold, fog-filled morning to arrive at the centre just as everyone else was getting there. We went inside, got a cuppa and sat at the table waiting for our next instructor Ross to join us. He told us a bit about himself and then it was time to head out to the bikes and warm them up.

As we were walking to the bikes who do you think rode past on his pushbike? None other than Cliffy. So I gave him a wave and he waved back and one of the guys reckoned he must have been checking up on me. That got us all laughing and relaxed us a bit.

Whilst the bikes were warming, Ross explained and showed us what we were going to be practising. First we were to get the bike into second gear (egad) then ride around the outer edge of the course making sure we used our blinkers at each corner and that we kept within the white lines. We also had to practise emergency stopping.

We took off and I was second following Karl. We went round two corners and he was going around the third when he just kept going! He revved the bike and it hit the grass and down he went. We stopped and the instructor rushed over and got the bike up, checked both Karl and the bike to see if they were alright and we all started off again. Karl decided he wasn’t in the right state of mind to continue (personally I think he hurt himself) so he left us saying that he would come back another day (Three months later, when I booked in to do the license test, Ross told me that Karl had gone back and successfully got his learners, which I felt was fantastic).

So most of the morning we were following each other around and around and around (giddy yet?). Just before lunch Ross showed us “counter steering” and he had us practice that as well. It’s not a part of the Learners but is a part of the licence test. He also got us to ride the other way around the course. All this time we had been riding anti-clockwise, now we were to go the other way. We all did it okay.

At lunch we chatted amongst ourselves, but in the back of our minds was the fact that once we went back out, that was it. The riding test would begin. So Ross got up and said “Are you all ready?” We all sort of laughed and headed off to our destiny, hoping that we would all pass.

Ross got on a bike and showed us what we were to do. He made it look sooo easy. He then called the first of us up, Craig. He breezed through it. We all cheered. Then it was my turn. The others cheered after I had finished and passed. So next was Ian, he breezed it in too. We all cheered. Then it was Cathy’s turn. She got around the course, only stalled it once. Ross let her off because it was the fault of the motorbike’s gears or something. She finished the course and passed too and so we all congratulated and cheered her.

Lastly, it was Marg on the scooter. Poor woman she kept stalling it and kept putting her feet on the ground. She decided to stop the test and get some one–on–one training. We headed back into the shed and had a cuppa and a talk whilst the paperwork was completed.

Now I have to wait for three months before trying to pass the licence test. Interestingly, once you get your learners permit you only have a five point leeway on your car licence. If you lose those five points, driving either a car or bike, you will lose the Learner permit and have to go back and do it all over again. That means paying more money and doing the tests over again.

If you are considering getting your licence, go for it. The sooner the better. And good luck.

Barb Peters