JR has been very well looked after since new and he has never seen salt and only been wet 3 time in the rain.

New tyres and battery.  MOT August.

Full Yamaha service history and over £1000 extras included.

Just £4450. 

Bike is near Stoke on Trent.

To view, please call 0845 224 1940 and ask for John.

NO TEST PILOTS!

It does happen.

And when it occurs it is very unfair.

I am talking about training and/or test slots being cancelled or abandoned due to bad weather.

Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do apart from sit tight and hope things improve.

Snow, ice and high winds can all cause us to cancel planned events.

Please bear with us.  If you have been caught up in a cancelled test or training slot, rest easy knowing that we

are working behind the scenes to get you another slot asap.

Tonight expected temperatures are once again down to -8C so this will cause the roads to be icy and too dangerous tomorrow.

Hopefully the weather will soon warm up a bit and everything will be back to normal.

Fingers crossed.

Stay in touch on our Facebook page.

Thanks,

John

Where as we at CBT are happy to report we are finding the same increase in all small engined bikes, the conclusions to the reoprt are a little misguided.  Never the less, have a read….

“ 

3 February 2012 Last updated at 11:58

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The rush to the scooter

Comments (321)

By Mark Coyle BBC News

Continue reading the main story

In today’s Magazine

• Quiz of the week’s news
• When was the real baby boom?
• Meet the galanthophiles
• The Monitor

Scooters are becoming increasingly popular as people look to cut costs and stretch their budgets, but could the boom spark safety problems?

Scooters were once seen as the preserve of the Mod generation, but today the market is very different to that dominated by Lambrettas and Vespas in the 60s and 70s.

Today there is a complete spectrum with 50cc models at one end and, at the other, powerful beasts in the 600-700cc range. They are scooters on steroids.

The scooter’s star is in the ascendancy with new registrations up nearly 12% in 2011. The January 2012 statistics due out soon are expected to continue the trend.

It’s easy to speculate on why scooter sales are strong. With the price of fuel remaining stubbornly high and public transport costs rising faster than inflation, the scooter is a very tempting way to get from A-B, particularly in cities where parking is at a premium.

“Some scooters will do more than 100 miles on £5 of petrol so that’s a whole week of commuting,” says Glen McMahon, from Honda.

Continue reading the main story

New registrations, year to Dec 2011

• Scooters: 32,326 +11.7%
• Adventure Sport: 10,570 +13.6%
• Sport Tourers: 5,083 -32.4%
• Supersport: 12,851 -9.9%
• Total mopeds, motorcycles (excl. scooters): 61,523 -8.1%

Source: Motorcycle Industry Association

Company director Roy Green, 52, from south London, has never ridden a motorcycle of any kind. He’s considering buying a scooter to cover the 10 miles between home and office.

“I travel around the UK and overseas and I would also use it to get to and from central London railway stations and the airports,” he says while perusing a range of scooters at the Motorcycle Show in London.

“Parking is free and there’s no congestion charge.”

He’s typical of many people switching to scooters – they’re not necessarily captivated by the idea of speed or freedom or lifestyle that drives many other motorcyclists. And it’s easy to get on a scooter.

Motorcycle licence requirements are complex but all that’s required to get on a moped (up to 50cc) or a scooter/motorcycle of up to 125cc is the successful completion of a one-day course called Compulsory Basic Training, better known as the CBT.

Anyone who passed their driving test before 1 February 2001 can ride a moped without L-plates. The CBT is recommended but not required.

Green, who sometimes cycles in London, intends to take his CBT but go no further. Concerns over safety will not stop him.

“Some of my friends have scooters and they’ve had a tumble at one point or another but nothing serious.”

Hardened motorcyclists spend years learning to ride “defensively”. They develop a comprehensive awareness of all the potential dangers. Veterans might be concerned that new scooter riders will take a while to develop the same mindset.

Emma Petitt, 41, a sales manager from Brighton, is already riding a 125cc scooter, but is considering a new, bigger model. She is well aware of the dangers faced on city roads.

“When I ride around in Brighton, it terrifies me. Car drivers just don’t look.”

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

Scooter riders tend to ride a bit madly around London in my opinion but their speeds are relatively low”

End Quote Sgt Mick Cheeseman Met Police BikeSafe

There is great emphasis at the moment on safety for pedal cyclists, with the Times newspaper launching a major campaign this week.

But look on any motorcycle forums and you can see the fraught relationship between other road users played out daily. For those on two petrol-driven wheels, the facts are grim.

In the decade to 2010, motorcycles made up just one per cent of road traffic, but their riders accounted for 21% of all fatalities. It is something that lurks in the mind of many bikers.

New riders are making a conscious choice to get on a scooter or motorcycle but safety training is critical, says Peter Baker, deputy editor of Motorcycle News.

“If you want to be safe on a motorcycle, the best armour you could possibly put on yourself is the stuff between your ears. It’s to make you road and traffic aware and stop you having an accident in the first place.”

The motorcycle industry runs a scheme called Get On, which offers complete novices a free, one-hour taster session at a local training school. Beyond that, police forces around the UK run BikeSafe courses and in London, the Metropolitan Police also runs ScooterSafe days.

London is the UK’s scooter capital and is now said to be home to 160,000 motorcycle riders. Since last month, they have been given permanent access to bus lanes on red routes – a blessing to bikers, a curse to some other road users.

“I don’t think we quite appreciate the impression we’re giving when we’re nipping through the traffic, certainly in London, when we’re virtually banging wing mirrors with car drivers,” observes Sgt Mick Cheeseman, who runs safety courses.

“But on the flip side, drivers are now cocooned in a car that’s sold with great safety features and I think that gives everybody a false sense of security.”

Scooters can be very fuel-efficient

A low-speed collision can mean nothing more than scratched paintwork to that cocooned car driver but a serious danger to the unprotected motorcyclist.

And speed is a pivotal factor in the chances of having an accident, notes Cheeseman.

“Being in the right doesn’t hurt any less, but if you’re going more than 30mph, the chances of your accident being more serious is greatly increased.

“A lot of fatal accidents are around 30-40mph involving motorcyclists when they come off the bike, hit something solid and stopped and of course all the organs are still travelling. It does a lot of damage internally.

“Scooter riders tend to ride a bit madly around London in my opinion but their speeds are relatively low.”

Of course, some modern scooters can be powerful beasts. BMW manufactures larger, 600/650cc “Maxi-scooters”, which are aimed at longer, motorway commutes and can be used for touring.

But although the newer models are more muscle-bound, many bikers would turn their noses up at them.

“A ‘biker’doesn’t ride a scooter but that prejudice will be broken down eventually,” suggests Tony Jakeman, marketing manager of BMW Motorrad.

For riders who decide to progress to the full test, more changes are afoot next January, when a new, single-part on-road test will be phased in.

This is aimed at reversing the drop in numbers of riders taking the test, which was caused by a move in 2009 to replace local centres with a smaller number of test “super-centres” where off-road manoeuvres could also be assessed.

Craig Carey-Clinch, spokesman for the Motorcycle Industry Association (MCI), said: “People take CBTs, ride on L-plates then don’t go further because of this, creating the ‘permanent learner class’.

“It’s critical that we make the test more available for them. This would improve riding abilities and overall safety.”

 

So, if you fancy learning to ride a scooter or a geared bike, or simply just want to improve your exsisting skills, please call us.  0845 224 1940 or visit our website at www.cbt2das.co.uk

 

We are here to help…

 

John

 

03 Feb.

The new classroom looks great now the furniture has turned up.

Just got to get the video editing sorted and a tv suitable for playback and we are just about sorted.  The old container will soon go giving us a bit more room outside too.

Our new toilet block is also coming on well and hopefully no leaks in the water supply.

Going live this Saturday…

Wish Kev a bit of luck. 

Interesting to see how it all works out and if we need to re-think layouts etc.

Congratulations to our customers who have passed their tests this week.  What great weather to ride a bie in – and it is still the middle of January.

Hope the warm spell lasts for a while yet.

John

12/01/12

Further info on the proposed changes to the current test.

THIS COMES INTO EFFECT JANUARY 2013….YOU HAVE PLENTY OF TIME TO TAKE THE CURRENT TEST!

The new changes will mean an alteration to age limits, most noticably increasing the age for DAS candidates from 21 to 24 years.

There are also changes to the size of bikes, so we are looking at increasing our fleet of bikes this year to accomodate the changes.

See below:-

EU third directive
Rules for moped and motorcycles to be used on test: from 19 January 2013
Category and moped or motorcycle to beused on test
minimum age
what’s required to gain access to category

AM – Two-wheel machine with:
• cubic capacity of 50cc or less
• maximum design speed not exceeding
45km/h (28mph)

…16 CBT theory and practical test

A1 – Motorcycle without sidecar with:
• cubic capacity of at least 120cc and no
more than 125cc
• power output not exceeding 11kW
(14.6bhp)
• capable of a speed of at least 90km/h
(55mph)

…17 CBT theory and practical test

A2 – Motorcycle without sidecar with:
• cubic capacity of at least 395cc
• engine power of at least 25kW (33bhp)
not exceeding 35kW (46.6bhp)
• power to weight ratio not exceeding
0.2kW/kg not derived from a vehicle more
than double its power

…19 (Progressive Access) must have held an A1 licence for a minimum of two
years: take either a practical test or
*training option
Or must hold a valid CBT and theory
test certificate and take practical test.

A – Motorcycle without a sidecar with:
• cubic capacity of at least 595cc
• engine power of at least 40kW (53.6bhp)

…21 (Progressive Access) must have held
an A2 for a minimum of two years: take
either a practical test or *training option

A – As above

…24 (Direct Access)
Hold a valid CBT and theory test
certificate and practical test

Motorcycle candidates must always have a valid theory test certificate before taking their first practical
motorcycle test. Unless they take the progressive access route, they must have a valid theory test
certificate before taking any further practical motorcycle tests.

A three-wheeled moped or motorcycle is only suitable for test if the distance measured between the
centre of the area of contact with the road surface of the two wheels is less than 460mm (46cm). It’s
likely that these vehicles won’t be suitable for test from 19 January 2013.
*The feasibility of the training option is currently being looked into; a final decision is yet to be made.

The current test will continue until then.

We are also pleased to announce that hopefully by the end of this January, Stoke on Trent will have a Module 1 test centre – a temporary site – but this will be a great help getting students to and from a test centre.

Shrewsbury is still our preferred test centre however, as it is blessed with extra-grippy tarmac and a very friendly examiner.

We still have a few places left for weekend CBT’s this month if you fancy getting things moving?

John

11/01/12

Just had confirmation regarding changes to the motorcycle testing and licencing coming soon. 

Called the 3rd Licencing Directive, we have known this has been coming – but just had final confirmation and a start date.

We will publish full details on here soon, but just for a start, have a look at :-

“DSA confirms that the EU third directive (2006/126/EC) will be implemented on 19 January 2013.

The EU Commission has clarified the minimum specification for the powered two wheels that can be used on test from this date.

Changes from the directive include category P changing to category AM, and the age of Direct Access increasing from 21 to 24.”

The sizes of bikes suitable for test are changing as are the ages of certain tests.

If you are thinking of getting your bike licence, can we suggest you do it this year!

Regards

John 10/01/12

Welcome to my Blog. 

This Blog will keep you informed of news and other items to do with Complete Bike Training (www.cbt2das.co.uk).

Further contact can be via our Facebook page or if you prefer, please feel free to add your comments here or contact us direct from our main website.

November 2011

Another busy month despite the dark nights coming in once again.

The warm weather has helped us stay very busy throughout Autumn and we continue to take bookings into December.

Can we say congratulations to all those riders who have passed CBT and/or their main bike test this month.  It has been great fun helping you achieve something special.

During November we have also launched a new and exciting arm to our training, the Enhanced Rider Scheme.

This allows post-test riders to have an honest appraisal of their riding.  This will identify areas where a rider is good and also parts of their riding that maybe could do with some help. Our ERS assessment is based on Roadcraft -The Police Riders Handbook and is a great way to continue your training after you have passed your motorcycle test.

ERS available to any rider who has a full bike licence, and can mean lower insurance costs for you.  Have a look on our website.  This is a great introduction into advanced riding.

Kevin finally managed to get enough miles on his Rocket to send it in for a first service. 

I have also swopped my bike from the nasty Honda to a BMW 1200GS this month – just in time for the winter…. I can’t tell you what a delight it is to ride and it hides its weight and size very well indeed.  If only my legs were another 2 inches longer!

Kev and myself took the bikes up to a nice man in the North West to have them professionally covered in ACF-50 before the salt is thrown on the roads.  If you are new to this product, have a google.  Designed to protect aircraft from the ravages of salt, it works a treat on bikes.  Recommended.

I was also quite surprised how well Kev’s Rocket handles having followed him up to Wigan for the ACF-50 wash.  Mini-roundabouts are a different thing entirely!  Ha Ha.

Hope you will get some enjoyment from this blog.  Updated soon,

Cheers,

John