Preamble
The procrastination is over, at least in one small aspect of my life. For a while I have wanted to get my motorcycle licence but never got around to not putting it off. There are various reasons why it hasn’t happened up until now. The main reason being that mum didn’t like the idea of me riding a bike. What mum does?
The main impetus for getting the license now was because of my work with the Ambulance Service NSW. It became clearly evident early on that it will be difficult to park next to the station, or anywhere near the station on some days. I have been bitten twice from the parking sharks for $77 each time. With a bike / scooter I can park inside the station where all the emergency vehicles are parked, in what we call the ‘plant room’. I will still have the problem of where to put it at home though. The drum kit might have to stay in its cases for an extended period.
Pre Provisional Training
I completed the pre provisional motorcycle training course with Stay Upright. They are situated underneath the motorway at the James Ruse Drive exit. Entrance is via Wentworth Street off Parramatta Road.
I was really nervous and tense at the beginning and it showed. The good thing is that the course is designed to take you through the steps slowly and gradually add extra skills. There was a lot to learn before we even started the engine.
Eventually I got moving and was able to lift both feet off the ground and onto the foot pegs – it’s harder to get them up than you might think. Meanwhile a girl in one of the other groups had an ‘off’, but to her credit she jumped straight back on the bike and kept going.
Cornering proved difficult to begin with. Something as simple as looking into the corner by turning your head helped with this and eventually it was coming naturally. Then he threw in changing gears before you get to the corner. I was terrified of the clutch when I learnt to drive a manual car. I thought the same would occur with the bike. It started to click and I was doing circuit after circuit of the track.
I was probably the slowest in my group, and I may have been holding up others but there was no way I was going to speed up for their sake, maybe they should have been going slower as well.
There was more riding on the second day. I was feeling more confident which was good and bad. Good, in the way that I was staying upright and feeling comfortable on the bike. Bad, in the way that I was forgetting some of the simple things, such as holding up the gear leaver when switching in between 1st and 2nd gears which resulted in me stalling and holding up the other fellas for a short period.
My group seemed to be progressing better than other groups on the track. We were also told of some horror stories from the afternoon session of riders struggling with some of the basic elements such as gear changing and braking. Our teacher was at a loss of what to do with them once we had gone.
The course climaxed with a simulated road situation involving everything we had learnt. I thought I had stuffed it when I made a few mistakes but he must have seen enough in me to give me the Certificate of Competence.
Knowledge Test
After about 10 practice tests on the RTA website it should have been a forgone conclusion that I would pass, and I did. Most of the questions are common sense but I still managed to make one mistake.
Buying the Scooter
Last November I reluctantly divulged the information of my desire to buy a scooter to my Auntie. Unknown to me she had a scooter that she was trying to sell. She was very willing to sell it to me, but there was the problem of retrieving the goods from my Auntie’s residence as she lives in Wagga Wagga. To make the trip worthwhile I took mum along. She was able to spend some time with my Auntie while I was able to test ride the scooter. Once we were done we could load the goods in the Ute and drive home eagerly awaiting our next trip down to Wagga Wagga.
Riding off into the sunset
It might only be 100cc but it has plenty of go off the mark. I am able to be more relaxed as I don’t have to worry about changing gears. I opened the throttle on my test ride and it can get up to 80 km/hr but not much more. There is space for a passenger when I get fully licensed, although finding a willing participant may prove difficult.
The procrastination is over, at least in one small aspect of my life. For a while I have wanted to get my motorcycle licence but never got around to not putting it off. There are various reasons why it hasn’t happened up until now. The main reason being that mum didn’t like the idea of me riding a bike. What mum does?
The main impetus for getting the license now was because of my work with the Ambulance Service NSW. It became clearly evident early on that it will be difficult to park next to the station, or anywhere near the station on some days. I have been bitten twice from the parking sharks for $77 each time. With a bike / scooter I can park inside the station where all the emergency vehicles are parked, in what we call the ‘plant room’. I will still have the problem of where to put it at home though. The drum kit might have to stay in its cases for an extended period.
Pre Provisional Training
I completed the pre provisional motorcycle training course with Stay Upright. They are situated underneath the motorway at the James Ruse Drive exit. Entrance is via Wentworth Street off Parramatta Road.
I was really nervous and tense at the beginning and it showed. The good thing is that the course is designed to take you through the steps slowly and gradually add extra skills. There was a lot to learn before we even started the engine.
Eventually I got moving and was able to lift both feet off the ground and onto the foot pegs – it’s harder to get them up than you might think. Meanwhile a girl in one of the other groups had an ‘off’, but to her credit she jumped straight back on the bike and kept going.
Cornering proved difficult to begin with. Something as simple as looking into the corner by turning your head helped with this and eventually it was coming naturally. Then he threw in changing gears before you get to the corner. I was terrified of the clutch when I learnt to drive a manual car. I thought the same would occur with the bike. It started to click and I was doing circuit after circuit of the track.
I was probably the slowest in my group, and I may have been holding up others but there was no way I was going to speed up for their sake, maybe they should have been going slower as well.
There was more riding on the second day. I was feeling more confident which was good and bad. Good, in the way that I was staying upright and feeling comfortable on the bike. Bad, in the way that I was forgetting some of the simple things, such as holding up the gear leaver when switching in between 1st and 2nd gears which resulted in me stalling and holding up the other fellas for a short period.
My group seemed to be progressing better than other groups on the track. We were also told of some horror stories from the afternoon session of riders struggling with some of the basic elements such as gear changing and braking. Our teacher was at a loss of what to do with them once we had gone.
The course climaxed with a simulated road situation involving everything we had learnt. I thought I had stuffed it when I made a few mistakes but he must have seen enough in me to give me the Certificate of Competence.
Knowledge Test
After about 10 practice tests on the RTA website it should have been a forgone conclusion that I would pass, and I did. Most of the questions are common sense but I still managed to make one mistake.
Buying the Scooter
Last November I reluctantly divulged the information of my desire to buy a scooter to my Auntie. Unknown to me she had a scooter that she was trying to sell. She was very willing to sell it to me, but there was the problem of retrieving the goods from my Auntie’s residence as she lives in Wagga Wagga. To make the trip worthwhile I took mum along. She was able to spend some time with my Auntie while I was able to test ride the scooter. Once we were done we could load the goods in the Ute and drive home eagerly awaiting our next trip down to Wagga Wagga.
Riding off into the sunset
It might only be 100cc but it has plenty of go off the mark. I am able to be more relaxed as I don’t have to worry about changing gears. I opened the throttle on my test ride and it can get up to 80 km/hr but not much more. There is space for a passenger when I get fully licensed, although finding a willing participant may prove difficult.
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