New Years day

Tomorrow, my OH and I are planning going for a New Year's run on the Pan. Yes, the overnight temperature's to be -3 and the maximum tomorrow 2. Hey, it's all about layering. Besides, the roads will be dead, after all this is Scotland and he and I will be about the only people without a hangover!!!

Garden Ornament

That's what my motorbike seems like at the moment. I was out for a short run last Sunday and that was it's first trip for 3 or 4 weeks. Now it's not going anywhere as, to be frank, have you seen the snow?!

Battery Issues

The other day, I was heading out to a meeting. While I was getting into my bike kit, my OH said he'd get my bike ready (cover off, unlocked, turned over). I'd just come downstairs and he told me to scrap my plans - the bike wouldn't turn over. The battery was so dead that the reallies wouldn't even switch on...not a good sign. I changed again and took the car.

While I was out my OH (he's a total star) took the battery out of my bike and placed it on charge. That didn't help. On my return, we took the battery off charge and placed a voltmeter across to test it. During testing (about 30 seconds) we saw the voltage drop. The battery was bereft of life; dead.

The following day my OH phoned a local motorbike dealer/repair shop to check they had batteries for a Honda Hornet in stock. Yes - 10 in stock and £33. Prefect.

Just to be sure, I took note of the battery code for the battery which had been removed from my bike. That's when it all became interesting...

As a little aside, other than slightly larger wheels (17" up from 16") and a slight frame change to take that into account in 1999 (1 year after the initial launch of the Hornet), there had been no major change of the Hornet until the new Hornet was launched last year. With that logic, I would have thought all hornets would have the same battery.

I went into the bike dealers and asked for the battery by code - YTZ 7S. The salesperson didn't recognise the code, so asked what kind of bike it was for - 2002 Honda Hornet. She said that she'd never heard of the Hornet having that battery, but checked the parts book to be sure (I may have written down the wrong code). No, the code I'd given her was correct. Bizarrely, the only Hornet model year which took that battery was the 2002 model. The ones before and after take a YTX 7LBS, which apparently is in half the motorbikes in the UK!

The salesperson was totally confused. Why would only that model year have YTZ 7S, when all others had YTX 7LBS? She checked the dimensions of the two batteries, and their ampage. If they were the same, I'd buy the battery that fits all other Hornets. Unfortunately, the height of the common battery is 27mm taller than the one which came out of my bike. It looked as though it wouldn't fit.

Given what I know about the Hornet, I thought this really odd. Why would it have been necessary to change the size of the battery box for 2002 only? I decided to go home and check the dimensions of the battery and battery box.

The battery's dimensions were correct with those quoted in the parts book. Right, looked as though I'd have to order the same battery as had been removed from the bike. That was until I inspected the battery box. For some bizarre reason, known only to the people in the Hornet factory, there was a piece of rubberised foam (about 1" thick).

My OH popped back to the bike dealer for the YTX 7LBS battery. The rubberised foam was removed and the new battery fitted. What a palaver.

Money burning a whole in my pocket

I've lost a fair amount of inches lately. As a result, I need a new bike jacket, as my current one is falling off me.

I went to visit my favourite bike accessory shop, Forth Gear, just over a week ago. They were closed to upgrade their stock computer. Then, the next weekend, they were on holiday (I did check their website before travelling that time!). How dare they!!! Especially when I have money to spend...

I'll just have to go when they get back from holiday.

Nearly gave up

On Sunday my OH and I were out on our bikes. We stopped off for lunch at a burger van and as I was leaving the car park, I dropped my bike.

I was so annoyed with myself. The previous Sunday, I really felt my riding was starting to come together and I was getting used to the bike etc. Dropping my bike made me think perhaps I'd got it all wrong - I shouldn't be riding a motorbike.

I also couldn't pick my bike up as I'd never been shown the technique and was so upset. I think that only made my opinion of my riding even worse.

My OH helped me right my bike and I told him all my frustrations with riding. Feeling I hold him back when we're out together; some days everything comes together really well and others (like Sunday) where it all goes wrong; feeling really uncomfortable moving off at slow speed, especially when a tight maneuver is necessary. The list went on a bit more than that, but that's the main things. I was all for selling the bike and being done with it.

My OH told me how good I was getting and that I wasn't holding him back. Also, I'd been through more than that (cracked ribs; 5 failed tests) and got back on the bike. He had a good point, but what if I dropped my bike and he wasn't there to help me and no-one else would?

Once I'd calmed down a bit, my OH moved our 2 bikes so he could give mine a going over to check there was nothing broken with it. Visually, it was fine, except a small scuff to the off-side crash bung (it did it's job, then!). It started okay and my OH got on it to move it off and stop it in a very short gap (5 metres or so) to check the throttle, clutch and brakes all worked okay.

That's when he discovered what was causing some of my problems with slow speed control. Once the revs are set and the clutch starts to be released to get the engine to the bite, the revs drop by about 1000rpm. The times I'd had an issue I had thought more like a car driver pulling away, where the bite can develop as you move off (think about it, when was the last time, other than a hill-start you got to the bite with the hand brake on at a junction?). Also, I wasn't using enough revs. More revs before engaging the clutch would mean even when the revs dropped, there would still be sufficient revs for me to move off safely.

The drop in revs seemed a bit strange, but I've now discovered this is a "feature" of a restricted bike. Here was my OH and I thinking it just affected top end speed. A bike salesman had mentioned something about it a while back, but we hadn't totally twigged what he meant.

Discovering this made me feel so much better about my riding (can you tell my riding school was top notch?!). Now, everything that as causing me an issue finally made sense. I tried moving off and stopping with this "new" way of finding the bite with higher revs. I instantly felt in control. Up 'till now, I often felt the bike was riding me (especially at slow speed and tight maneuvers) than me riding it.

We rode to an industrial estate so I could try the new technique. Wow, that felt so much better. I even managed to move off from behind a parked car safely, starting from the bike being about 1/2 a car length away from the car and parallel to the road. Before Sunday, I would have moved the bike to be at an angle before moving off. I had been able to do this with the EN, but it was a much smaller bike.

My OH also found a path with grass either side of it. He rode the Pan onto the path and horizontally parked it (intentionally), turned round and said "right, pick it up". I now know I can lift a Pan European and my Hornet. It's all about technique. That makes me more comfortable. Strangely, I think if I'm less worried about picking my bike up when I drop it, I'm less likely to drop it in the first place!

As we rode home, I felt so much more comfortable. My OH noticed I looked more in control of my bike and more comfortable. I just wish I'd know all of this before Sunday. Well, we learn by our mistakes, don't we?

Got stung

At the moment, as a result of fitting heated grips to the Hornet, I don't have bar ends. This doesn't affect the handling, but looks odd. My OH thought bar ends from a Pan would fit, as they are designed to have heated grips. He removed one from his bike and they fitted well. In particular, the throttle didn't foul.

I found a used set on ebay. The seller stated they were undamaged, so I bidded and won them. Bar ends are keyed on the inside, so they wont turn as a result of the vibration from the bike. When the set I bought via ebay arrived, 1 of them had obviously been cut at this key point with a hacksaw. I contacted the seller who, in effect, stated "you got them cheap, tough".

I'll just have to chalk that one down to experience. I've bought and sold on ebay a reasonable bit and haven't had any issues that the seller wasn't willing to help solve, so it won't put me off. I did leave them negative feedback, though!

I did find aftermarket bar ends for the Pan at Busters, so I shall be ordering a set from there. The question now - what colour?

Driving like an angel

The Hornet doesn't have a very big tank. 12 litres before reserve on the original bike (the latest model has a couple of litres extra). Consequently, it's not a high mileage between fill-ups.

Having had a look around various forums discussing the tank range of the Hornet, I must drive like an angel. Many people are stating they get about 100 miles before reserve (around 40 mpg). I have now discovered I'll get around 135 miles before reserve (about 51 mpg).

I must be driving like an angel! At least at my rate of fuel consumption, taking my bike, when on my own is more efficient than taking the car, which gives around 42 mpg. In these times of £1.12ish per litre petrol, every little helps!

Coffee Morning update

Today's coffee morning went really well. In total, we made about £200; not bad for a couple of hours work.

Back in June the Young church sent off a cheque to Riders for a sum equivalent to the cost of providing a motorbike to a health care worker. Given the original target for the project was to raise that sum in a year, the project has gone really well. Now, the additional money is forming the "spanner fund". With this we hope to fund a tool kit which contains all the tools a mechanic will need to keep the motorbikes running well. I think this is about £800 worth of kit, which also covers some of the costs of training the mechanic. As the mechanics are local, Riders is also providing local jobs and security.

As a result of the queue going off to Riders, the young church received a lovely letter from Riders. This had the stories from a health care worker and a mechanic. It's really amazing how these fairly simple things are making such a great difference.

The health care worker is the sole health service for an area around the size of Fife, where the roads are dirt tracks. Before the motorbike, she was barely able to visit 2 villages per month and could never get to a person at the outskirts of her district quickly if they needed urgent medical attention. Now she can visit her whole district in a month and can do more than treat the current needs, but also give health care advice, prevention being better than cure. All this because the motorbike gives her a reliable mode of transport.

The mechanic was locally trained by Riders and is now training other locals to be mechanics. She also trains the health care workers in the routine maintenance of the motorbikes, increasing their reliability. So, not only is Riders helping people get access to health care, it's also providing jobs and training to local people.

It's a bit like that saying. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a day. Give a man the means to catch the fish, feed him for life. That seems exactly what Riders is doing and it's great.

More Fundraising for Riders

The young church is having a coffee morning on Saturday 27th September as part of their fundraising for Riders for Health. There will be cake and candy aplenty.

Pop in if your in the area. It's at Linktown Church, Nicol Street, Kirkcaldy.

See you there.

Fitting Heated Grips

I'm not a dry warm weather only biker. Given this summers weather, that is probably a good thing. Last year, with the EN, although I would have like heated grips, the bike did not have enough extra capacity in the alternator for them to run. As the Hornet has a larger alternator (with it being a larger bike), there is enough power, so this morning I (with a little assistance from my OH) finished fitted heated grips to the Hornet.

Heated grips do exactly what they say on the tin. They are replacement grips (the black rubber bits on the handle bars) with a heating element which warm the fingers. A temperature controller gets fitted to the handlebars, allowing control over the amount of heat that's generated. The advantages of heated grips is I can wait later in the year until I need to wear my thicker gloves (thicker gloves make it harder for feel the controls) and I can ride my bike more comfortably in colder weather.

The grips I was recommended to buy were made by a company called Oxford. My OH had fitted then to other bikes he had owned (the Pan came with heated grips fitted). Also, Oxford make a lot of aftermarket motorbike accessories and have a good reputation. During my research (to ensure their quality was still as high as it had been and to get the best price), I came across a brand caller Roxter. Their heated grips seemed identical to the Oxford Hot grips, but about half the price. I searched various advice forums and talked to my brother-in-law (who is also a biker) and they looked identical as they are identical. Roxter are made by Oxford. As you can imagine, for 50% of the cost for the same thing, I bought the cheaper version.

To start, I removed the bar ends, cut off the original grips and polished up the bar to remove the excess glue. I then test fitted the new grips to get them in a position I could reach all my controls and they aren't fouling anything (i.e. brake and clutch levers). The best positions I found were as shown in the following pictures:




It's clearer on the photo of the offside (right hand) bar. The bit that sticks up at the end of the grips is the wiring. With it in this position on the offside bar, it would not foul on the front brake and the throttle would also operate correctly (motorbikes' throttles are operated by twisting the offside grip. The nearside grip was fitted with the wiring under the bar. On top wouldn't allow me to operate my full-beam switch properly.

To secure the grips, the instructions stated to use grip glue and some was supplied. My OH had not used this in the past, as it dries very quickly (or can) and them final positioning of the grips would not be possible. He had used Impact adhesive in the past, as he has friends who used to race bikes and apparently this is the best thing. Usually when using impact adhesive, the glue is applied to both surfaces and allowed to dry before both surfaces are impacted on one-another. With the grips, about 2/3rds of the bar was glued and the grips slid straight on, without waiting on it to dry. We were particularly careful when fitting the offside grip as if glue had got into the throttle mechanism, I would have issues!

At this point, before the wiring was inaccessible, we plugged the grips into the controller (there are, quite literally little plugs). There's also a wire that goes directly onto the battery to supply the power. This was attached to the battery via the optimate cable I've fitted to the bike (and another one of those plugs). We plugged the power supply into the controller unit, started the bike and...


nothing

no, absolutely nothing happened.


There's LEDs on the controller and these light up to show the grips are on and to indicate how high the temperate is, They weren't lighting up. We checked the instructions. No, we didn't appear to be missing anything. We checked the power supply, battery and alternator using a volt meter to ensure the bike was delivering sufficient power. It was. We checked the grips for resistance. This was fine. Blast, the controller is goosed. So we e-mailed the supplier to ask for another controller.

He replied very quickly and said try pressing the on switch of the controller for around 5 seconds. That sounds dubious, but it worked. Wouldn't it be nice if they said that in the instructions. It's a useful safety measure, as the switch can't be knocked to accidentally switch the grips on.
The controller is attached to a small bracket with the 2 screws and the bracket is attached to the handlebar via the assembly that holds on the clutch lever (see photo). Supplied with the grips are 2 pairs of bolts to replace the bolts which hold the clutch assembly. I needed to use the longer pair. As you can see, to looks very neat.

The power supply cable was threaded under the tank, in the gap the other bike wiring is in. This was accessed by lifting the tank at the back of the tank (that is, the end of the tank furthest away from the front of the bike. To lift it, switch the fuel tank off (that's the middle position; before reserve). Remove the seat and the 2 grey side panels at the rider's knees position. Under the back of the tank is a bolt that holds the tank to the frame. Remove this and now the tank can be tilted. This is best done just before the tank needs filled!

I have a Haynes Manual, so it made working out where the wiring runs and how to lift the tank easier to work out. Probably the best £20 I've spent on the bike. It's already paid for itself and I've only had it for 4 months.

That's the grips fitted. I could do with a couple more cable ties to tidy everything up, but I used it today and everything seems fine. Only one small problem. I could get the nearside bar end back on, but not the offside one, as once it was on, the throttle wouldn't turn. Not a major problem, it just looks a little odd. The new grips are a little longer than the original ones. I'll just need to get a new set of bar ends. I had been thinking about it, as the ones I have are a little scuffed.

Now, I'm ready for winter.

Indicator issues

On Thursday, I was going to a meeting. While I was getting changed into my biking kit, my OH was getting my bike ready. He was just about to start her up when he noticed one of my indicators hanging off. Talk about me being all dressed-up with nowhere to go! I had to run back into the house and get changed again. I took the car.

There's a rubber bush that the stalk of the indicator goes into and this had perished. The bike's 6 years old and the indicator that was affected is under the exhaust, so gets quite hot. My OH fixed if with some modeling epoxy - that indicator isn't going anywhere now. It's great, as I'm back on the road.

Broken Spring

Last week, my OH was doing someone in his office a favour by going to Mothercare to get gift vouchers for a colleague's new baby. On the way back, there was an awful rattle from the car as it coughed up part of the front nearside spring. This must have been the car's way of celebrating getting 100,000 miles on the clock.

Fortunately, it was only a small part of the spring, resulting in the car sagging at the front nearside corner by 5-6mm. There was a little difference in the handling, but nothing major. That said, we didn't want to use the car too much and the spring needed replaces.

So, this is the third day we've commuted to work on the Pan. The mechanic we take the car to didn't have any space until Tuesday (they're always very busy). We thought we might get the car back yesterday, but the spring wasn't going to arrive until today. No great shake, as we have the 2 bikes.

The commute has been not too bad, though I still wet myself when my OH is filtering is a relatively narrow gap. Though this morning, it was fairly windy and we have to cross an exposed bridge. That was quite hairy in parts and I wasn't even driving it!!!

The good news for the commute home tonight is the wind should have died down. The bad news is it should be raining. We both "prefer" rain. Wind is too destabilising.

Just hope the car's ready to be picked up tonight. Although neither of us mind commuting on the Pan, we'd rather be in the car. There's a radio, heating and shelter from the elements. Okay, you can't filter, but that's the choice we make.

My gammy knee

As planned, we took our bikes to church today and left them parked outside for both the normal service and the afternoon one, with the Moderator. It makes a statement and the Moderator's wife (who we'd met before) recognise the Pan.

I wasn't able to ride my bike home. I have a bit of a gammy knee. It's behaved itself quite well for the last few years, but is aggravated with damp weather. This year has been rather moist.

During the service, I was doing one of the readings and was "aware" of my knee; no worse than normal when it becomes "present". As I was helping to clear up the church after the Moderator's service, I turned and felt a pain like my knee being stabbed. Not pleasant, but not always lasting. This time it was. A couple of times after that I was standing, but my knee stated not supporting me. I sat down.

Although it's my right knee, I didn't want to risk riding my bike home. I'd hate for the stabbing pain to recur during one the country road stretches. The initial logistics were my OH would ride my bike home, drive the car to the church and I'd drive home (driving's okay; no weight). A friend took pity on me and gave me a lift home and my OH a lift back to the church. My OH still rode my bike home. I hope it gets better, I'm loathed to go to the doctors. Doctor's are for ill people. An occasionally sore knee isn't an illness. Somehow, I think I'm going to get "advice" from people on what I should do...maybe I'll take it.

Normally, this only lasts a couple of days, so I'll worry about it when it really starts to get in the way of me doing things.

The mad dash.

On Sunday, despite the recent miserable weather, the forecast was wrong - it was a beautiful day. Ordinarily, when it's dry, we like to take the bike(s) to church. We get a run and, even taking both bikes, it still uses less petrol than our car (a 1.4 litre polo).

Being a trainee biker, I can't get from our house to church as quickly as my OH. Also, I was on the readings, so should have got there sharp to check the bible was bookmarked at the correct points. We live 15 minutes drive away (not including unlocking, getting kit on and locking bikes when we get there time). Given the time we had to get to church (we'd slightly slept in), I decided we should go two-up on the Pan - we left at just after 10:40; the service starts at 11am.

We arrived in time and I did have time to check everything was bookmarked. The other advantage with travelling two-up is I will wear just jeans (with the waterproofs in the pannier, just in case). Much better when it's really warm. Before you wonder, yes I would wear my bike trousers in church. I have on numerous occasions. At least once, when doing readings. There are some who don't approve (they don't approve of my OH and I wearing jeans to church, either), but they are in the minority. If I was bothered what I wore to church, I wouldn't be going for the right reasons. (Small rant over).

I'm hoping for dry weather on Sunday. The Moderator of the Church of Scotland is visiting Kirkcaldy presbytery. He's the yearly "head" of the Church of Scotland. My church building is being used for a special service in the afternoon and as my OH is on projector duties in the morning, he's offered to run the projector in at the Moderator's service. It will be interesting to see the members of other congregations faces when they see the bikes. They'll either love them or loath them. As for the Moderator - I've met him and he's pretty cool. I'm sure he'll not mind. If he doesn't, tough.

I've only gone and done it!

I needed a new helmet. The old one wasn't too bad, but was uncomfortable when worn for long periods of time. Well, when I say uncomfortable, that's possibly a little strong, but I did notice I was getting a sore neck. Although my old helmet was not heavy, a few grams makes a difference, especially with the additional weight of the mic and headphones for the Autocom.

Naturally, I visited my favourite bike shop - Forth Gear in South Queensferry. After trying a couple of models, I found the Shoei Raid II fitted best and was most comfortable. Sold. I had a choice of colours and designs, but plumped for plain black - so much easier to accessorise!!!

A few days later, my OH and I went for a ride two-up on his bike. Only then did I realise what I'd done - we now appear to have his and her helmets!!! My excuse is his is a different model. Not that you'd know unless really close...perhaps I should have got the slightly satanish design - that definitely would have made a statement arriving at church!

P.S Hi Jo.

Giving my Other Half an Earful!

If you've been following this blog, you'll remember last year my OH bought a Starcom rider to pillion communication system and the various issues we has with it, which resulted in him taking it back for a refund.

For a variety of reasons, he hadn't acquired another system and it was starting to get boring and dangerous for me on the back, especially on long runs. So, at the start of the month he bit the bullet and bought an Autocom system.

Our initial impressions of this system were really positive. The microphone is on a boom, so it can be positioned close to the mouth. On the Starcom system, the microphone is stuck to the front of the helmet. Also, the cables to connect the parts in the helmet to the brains of the system under the bike seat are much more substantial than the Starcom ones. They also have raised "bars" on each end of the connectors, making it easy to connect to the system, even with gloves on.

The setting-up of Autocom (in terms of volume, vox sensitivity etc) seemed much easier than
with Starcom. I've no idea of the technicalities of it, when we went out for a set up run my OH only had to pull over once to make adjustments. I think we pulled over 4 times in 3 miles setting up Starcom...

We've now used Autocom during a few runs and it works really well. There's little is no wind interference (when we've experienced it, its been windy) and we can hear each other
clearly.

It seems Autocom is really well designed, by bikers, for bikers. The bit that impressed me was in the instructions for "in-house" basis setting up was to run the system with a hoover on in the room to replicate wind noise. Great attention to detail, as far as I'm concerned.

Now that I've experienced both of the main rider to pillion communication systems, I can safely say Autocom outshines Starcom by a mile.

Scottoiler Fitted

Over last weekend I fitted a Scottoiler to the Hornet. This is a handy little device which constantly oils the chain, while the engine's running. Although I cost me just over £60 and took about 3 hours to fit, it will more than pay for itself as the chain and sprocket will last longer.

I've really impressed with the Scottoiler as a product and business. They supply the parts which will allow fitting to most bikes. As for bikes that require more specialist parts, they will supply them free of charge (now that is virtually unheard of these days). Also, their website has very good instructions of fitting the Scottoiler for virtually every make of bike out there.

For more information about Scottoiler see:

www.scottoiler.com

Additions to my bike

I've now had the Hornet for 7 weeks and am really getting into it and enjoying using it. It's all getting a lot more natural for me.

I've added a couple of accessories to the bike. They, in my humble opinion, make it look better and make maintenance easier. I've added a fender extender to the front mudguard, which helps stop too much road dirt getting into the front of the engine. I've also added a hugger to the rear wheel. This looks really good and, more importantly, stops the road dirt, salt and grime being thrown up from my back wheel into the rear suspension.

I've also bought a Scotoiler. This continuously oils the chain, so the chain and sprockets will last longer. That hasn't been fitted yet. My OH and I were going to do it yesterday, after we'd bled the brakes in the Pan and he'd changed the air filter. Changing the air filter took longer than he expected (it was supposed to be a "5 minute job"...), as 2 of the retaining screws were rusted in place and weren't for budging even with the application of penetrating oil to loosen them. The joys of "quick" jobs. The Scotoiler will be fitted one evening this week, with a but of luck.

Kirkcaldy Farmers' Market

Last week the young church held a stall at the local farmers' market, to promote the project and raise some money. It was a beautiful day (very hot in bike gear!), which meant the market was very busy; all the better for us.

There was a lot of interest, particularly among small children. They got to sit on either my or my OH's bike (or both), that got the parent talking and the message of Riders' work passed on. All in, on the day we raised just under £180, which we were more than pleased with. The following link has a photo of the young church (with help from some older church!) and a write-up from Riders:

http://www.riders.org/n_details.aspx?nwId=161

The young church's project is going so well that they have already reached the original target of raising enough money to buy a motorbike for a health care worker - £1450. The project has until the end of the year to run, so the young church has decided to spend the rest of the year raising money for a Spanner Fund. Thus, they will have paid for the transport and maintenance of the bike. That's what Riders is all about.

The National Gathering - One Word - Fantastic

That's what everyone thought of the National Gathering. There was an amazing atmosphere, with everyone being very friendly and welcoming. I really have been to nothing like it.

This is the tent all set up. I wish we'd taken the photo when the event was open, as there were loads of people around. The bike did draw a lot of attention (the stereotypes of Christians and bikers don't usually mix, but perhaps they should). There were a few times when I was going around the other parts of the event I heard people asking their friends if they'd been to the tent with the motorbike (fame, at last).

So, the main aim of taking the bike had been achieved; the hook to get people interested and promote the work of the church and exchange ideas. We also showcased the work of Riders as outwith the motorcycling community, very few people have heard of them. Everyone was really interested and impressed with their work. Some people even donated money towards the young church project, which was very generous.

Church Without Walls

The Church in Scotland are holding a huge event over the May holiday weekend at Ingliston (next to Edinburgh airport). As part of this event, individual parish churches throughout the country are being able to showcase their work in a tented village.

My church has purchased one of these tents (which after the event will be packed up for use in emergency relief work). My OH and I have "volunteered" to be involved in the setting up of what goes in the tent. Naturally, we're going to promote the Young Church's project, Riders for Health. Prior to my acquisition of the Hornet, I was going to take my EN to the event, as it is similar to the bikes that Riders supply to health care workers. That plan's now scuppered, but never fear, the Pan European is going instead! We're going to park it outside the tent and bedeck it with information about Riders. I thought the organisers wouldn't be impressed, but we asked permission and they said yes. How cool is that! I will report how the event went after the weekend.

EN125 owners manual

For those of you who own a Suzuki EN125 and are looking for an owners manual (for general maintenance etc), the Suzuki GS125 Haynes manual is very useful. The engine, frame and suspension are identical. There's usually plenty of used manuals on eBay. The GS125 didn't change from 1982 until Suzuki stopped production in 2002, so the date of the Haynes manual for use on an EN isn't critical.

EN125 Review

Under the various motorbike photos at the right of this blog is a Site meter icon. This monitors activity on the blog. Don’t worry, it just shows me how many hits, page view and country of origin the readers are from. It also allows me to see how the reader got to my blog (i.e. the referral page). Where this is a Google-type search, it will tell me the search term. Through this I have noticed one of the most popular searches is for a review of the Suzuki EN125. Although I've made various comments about the EN, I haven't written a proper review of the bike, so here goes.

The Suzuki EN125 is a learner legal motorbike, which comes in 2 versions - totally naked or with a small screen and belly pan (the EN125-2A and EN125-2 respectively). Although it is manufactured under licence in China, it is not to be confused by many of the poor quality Chinese bikes flooding the market, as it is made to full Suzuki specification using all Japanese manufactured Suzuki parts.

The EN is a grey import (to the UK); it is made for the Mexican market, so the headlight points in the wrong direction (as Mexico drives on the right). This is easily corrected using the screws at the back of the headlight. I only discovered this hadn't been done when I came to trade in my EN. Given I had bought the bike from a local dealer, I assumed this would have been corrected (not best pleased at Scott Murray Motorcycles for that one!). Also, the original speedo and odometer reads in kilometres. A special adaptor has to be fitted to change these to miles, to comply with British legislation. Mine was fitted with one when I got it.

I found the EN an easy bike to ride, with smooth handling, decent enough brakes and controls which were easy to find with gloves on. Full-comprehensive insurance was pretty cheap, at just under £130 for the year (helped with me being an early 30s, female with 7 years no-claims discount on my car insurance - many motorbike insurers will take this into account where you have no no-claims discount). It has a gear indicator and fuel gauge, both of which proved very useful. The fuel gauge seemed pretty accurate, but I still re-set the trip counter when I topped her up, just in case. In terms of fuel economy, it was a very efficient machine - I got 200 miles between top-ups and never had to put the bike onto reserve. That works out at about 20 miles per litre or around 100 miles per gallon.

Buying a grey import can cause problems when getting parts, however as the EN is made by Suzuki, the parts can be obtained reasonably easily, if you know what to look for and were to get it. The obvious place, I thought, was where I bought the EN from, but when I needed to get new mirrors and a brake lever following my accident, Scott Murray Motorcycles didn't have any spares in stock, didn’t know how long it would take to get them in and didn't know how much they would cost (made me wonder what they did know!). That led me to seek alternatives…

Ebay is an obvious choice, with a reasonable number of EN specific spares (at a good price) available. Also, the EN is effectively an evolution of the GS125, the equivalent GS part could be suitable. I found all the items I would have needed for basic servicing were also GS parts (up to an including the chain and sprocket). The replacement brake lever I got for the EN was for the Suzuki RV125 (also known as the van van). The new mirrors were generic motorbike mirrors from ebay, as the screw holes are a standard 10mm thread.

The EN benefited from both centre and side stands. This is very unusual with 125 bikes, but I found the side stand useful for getting on an off the bike (it's a confidence thing) and the centre stand great for maintenance, especially great for oiling the chain. The disadvantage with the side stand is it is not switched. On most British spec bikes, the bike cannot be put into gear with the side stand down; when you attempt to put the bike into gear with the side stand down, the bike will kill the engine. The lack of a switch lead to me to fail one of my tests, as I didn't kick the side stand out of the way prior to carrying out my u-turn - oops. I didn't do that again!!!

The other feature I liked about the EN was the luggage rack at the rear. It wasn't designed for carrying anything too heavy (3kgs was the weight limit, if I recall correctly), but it allowed me to fit a top box to the bike, in which I could carry a change of trousers etc. With bungee cords I would have been able to carry a spare helmet or tied down a bag (if I didn’t want to carry a rucksack on my back).

There's a small amount of storage space under the seat, which I used for storing my disk lock during travel. I could have probably fitted a thin pair of waterproof trousers under the seat, if I didn’t ride in waterproof bike trousers anyway.

After 8 months of riding in almost all weathers, but always stored under a bike cover, the exhaust was starting to show slight signs of rust, where the chrome had been damaged either with the Suzuki stamp or where it was attached to the frame. It was only slight spotting and I was to deal with it, but traded it in instead. Other than that, there were no apparent problems with the bike.

The main thing that lets this bike down is lack of power. Even as a learner I found this frustrating, as it didn’t really like going above 50mph; not great for heading along a dual carriageway. Although I could get it up to 70mph (downhill, with a following wind), that was on the rev limiter. Also, when going up-hill in country roads, I would have to drop the gears to second and rev the nuts off the engine to get 30mph.

Personally, I think the EN is a great learner bike and would also be ideal for city commuting too, if you didn’t want a scooter. It's reliable; cheap to insure and run; and parts are reasonably easy to get, once you know where to look. Also, I think if Suzuki started making this bike for the European market too, it would make a killing. Maybe with the new motorbike test being introduced in October, the market for 125 motorbikes will increase and, with that, a greater range of 125s from the Japanese manufacturers.

My New Toy

They say that boys don't grow up, their toys just get bigger. Well, I don't believe that bigger toys should just be for them...

This is my new bike; a 2002 Honda Hornet. I picked it up from Cupar motorcycles last Friday. It was quite scary to begin with, being both the biggest and most powerful (despite the restriction) bike I've ridden. The nerves weren't helped by my OH and I parking our bikes in horizontal formation just outside the dealership - oops!

After we got our bikes vertical again, I really thought I had made a HUGE mistake. If I couldn't get it away from the dealer, how would I manage. Once I got over my fright (as that was all that I'd given myself, along with a very bruised pride!), my OH drove the hornet to a quiet residential street, so I could get used to the clutch etc. I wish we'd thought of that earlier. Never mind.

I rode it home safely, which is about 30 miles. On the way home, we headed to my Mum's to show it off. She had a seat and loved it! I told her she'd just have to get a bike licence. (As you may have gathered, my Mum's quite cool).

Since picking the bike up I've covered approx 200 miles, replaced the clutch lever (which was bent following my horizontal parking incident), added an optimate plug to the battery and fitted crash bungs. I fitted R&G crash bungs as these were recommend. They are a little more expensive than others I could have got for the Hornet, but R&G make them specifically for the bike model and test them at race days. Also, they look pretty good too.

Roll on the good weather and good riding.

Tales of the Unexpected

Most types of shopping fill me with a stoical, yet reticent attitude - "I don't like this, but as I need X, I'll have to just get on with it". The other thing I find about shopping is when I am on a mission to buy something, I can never find what I want, but when I'm not really looking, the ideal product jumps into view. This happened following my first proper run since passing my test.

Sunday was all planned; my OH and I would go to church in the morning on our respective bikes and head out on a small run on reasonably familiar roads. As I something to return to Cupar motorcycles (the Suzuki dealer in Cupar), we planned the route on the basis of passing that way. I had already decided I would like to get a slightly bigger bike as the EN 125 is a great little bike, but show it a hill, even in town, and it'll be bouncing off the rev limiter in second gear. Great for a learner, but if I kept pushing it the engine was probably going to die. Okay, so I needed a bit more power, but what would fit; not just a novice biker, but a short one too. The best way to find out what I would be comfortable on was to sit on a few bikes.

The previous day, we had been in Glasgow. There's a Honda dealer there, so we went for a browse. The dealer didn’t have anything second hand bikes that were suitable, as they were too tall or not suitable for restriction to 33bhp. The guy at the dealer was really helpful. He explained which bikes were suitable for restriction. Apparently restricting a bike to 33bhp doesn't make a huge difference to how the machine drives and handles, but the top speed it reduced to 70-80mph (no autobahns for me at the moment!). The main issue when restricting a bike is how much torque the engine generates - the more torque, the better. My OH's line about this is "You buy horsepower, but drive torque". When a bike's restricted, it makes little or no difference to the torque.

Okay, so that cleared out that restricting a bike to 33bhp wasn't as big an issue as I thought it would be - there are kits for a large range of bikes and they are easy to fit. The next problem was what could I (excuse the phrase) "get my leg over". Again, the guy at the dealer was great. He showed me a couple of the bikes Honda make which are (as he put it) primarily aimed at the new biker, as they are easy to ride, confidence inspiring and can easily be restricted, if necessary. He encouraged me to have a seat. I tried out the CBF500, CBF600 and CB600F (no typo, they are different bikes). Although the 600 bikes have a larger engine (usually with bikes, the numbers indicate the size of the engine), they felt lighter. It's all down to how the engine's laid out and the frame etc. Anyway, they all felt very comfortable, but were brand new. I, as a general rule, don't buy brand new vehicles; I prefer someone else to take the hit on the depreciation of the vehicle. Also, it was only 4 weeks since I'd passed my test and I was only starting to look at the market…

Cupar motorcycles have an excellent reputation. The have been Ride magazine's recommended dealer, in Scotland, for 6 of the last 10 years (I think). Ride magazine is a motorbike magazine (as you may have guessed) with high standards. Also, my OH had bought his Suzuki Bandit from there and they were excellent with that. Besides, I had the item to return. Once that was dealt with, we had a browse of the bikes. The only machine below 33bhp, which wasn't a 125 was a Honda CBF250. I had thought about getting one. It wouldn’t be too big (in terms of weight and height) and I wouldn’t have to worry about getting it restricted. However, after the information I have gleaned on Saturday, my plans had changed - why not sit on a few bikes and see how to get the one I really liked restricted. Apparently one of the most popular bikes to be restricted is a Suzuki SV650. Cupar had a couple of them second hand and my OH pinned down a salesman, so I could have seat and see what I thought. I also told the salesman I am on a restricted license and enquired how much it would be to get a bike restricted (I didn't explain the height - it's quite obvious!). Shockingly, the restrictor kits cost £300ish pounds - significantly more than I had expected (I didn't expect them to be cheap, but still…). However, Suzuki is currently doing an offer where they will pay for the restrictor kits on a range of their brand new bikes. Looking at the cost of second hand unrestricted and then putting a restrictor kit in was looking less appealing, when compared to brand new with the restrictor kit fitted for free.

This led me to sit on several other Suzukis, which are part of this offer. A few of them were a little too high or the riding position wasn't comfortable. Things didn’t look great, but I was only having a look at the market and at this point had only sat on 4 bikes. Then the salesman happened to mention they had a second hand Honda Hornet (aka CB600F), which had a restrictor kit and was ready for the showroom - would I like to see it. Nothing ventured I thought.

The minute I sat on the bike, it felt a very comfortable riding position. The bike is low mileage, has a full service history and was a great price for what it was. I totally loved the feel of it, but would buying it be a rash decision. This called for a "bottle of juice" moment. This entails telling a salesman (any will do - we've done this to car, computer and camera ones) we need to have a think and go for a bottle of juice. We usually do get a bottle of juice to drink while we discuss the product.

My OH has a 3G phone, so while I went to purchase the said bottles, he did some surfing of the net. It looked like Hornet was the "perfect" machine in terms of cost, reliability etc. A quick check of our finances showed we could afford for me to trade up, so long as Cupar was willing to take the EN as a trade-in. Although the EN is a great bike for learning and pottering about in town, I was aware as a grey import, selling it privately may not be easy.

Cupar were happy to take the EN (subject to a workshop check) for a reasonable price, all things considered. So I bought the Hornet. I'm leaving early from work to pick it up today. I have to admit I'm a little nervous about riding it. It much bigger than anything I've ever ridden and is an unfamiliar machine. I just need to take it canny and I'm sure I'll be fine.

My First Run

Today, I finally went out on my bike, without my L plates!!! Okay, so it was just down to my Mother-in-law's, but it's a start. The weather wasn't too bad. Dry and bright when I left, though there were a couple of hail showers when I was out; fortunately I wasn't caught in them. They'd hurt.

It was weird, though. I would have thought that given it's the same bike that I've been ridding since the end of July last year that ridding once I've passed my test would be the same, but it's not. It's something I can't put my finger on, but I think it's partly knowing I can ride a bike and also I feel more relax as it doesn't feel though I'm constantly being watched, due to the lack of L plates.

Let's hope I can get plenty of miles and experience under my belt over the next few months. Then I think I'll be in a position to start looking for a slightly bigger bike; probably a 250. In the meantime, I intend to have fun on my current machine!

Not fair...

But, it most certainty is wet and windy. It's now 3 weeks since I passed my test and I haven't ridden my bike since. The weather has been foul. I can handle some rain, so long as it's not throwing it down, but wind; it's awful.

Roll on the better weather. Hopefully this summer is drier than last year...

Legal at Last

My new driving licence, with the motorcycle entitlement, arrived yesterday. At last, I'm legal. Roll on some good weather, so I can get out and ride!!!

Got there eventually

Today, I sat my bike test for the sixth time and, finally, passed. It wasn't so much of euphoria I felt, but relief that I had finally been able to show the examiner that I was capable of riding a motorbike.

My OH commented that I might need to change the name of this blog - I still think I'm a trainee biker. For a start, I am on a restricted licence, so I can't ride a bike with a power output above 33bhp. I am old enough to have done direct access, but lets face it, it took 6 attempts to pass on a 125. I'd have never got there on a big bike.

Now, as much as I really enjoy riding the EN125, and I can get it to 70mph (on a hill, with a following tailwind, while red lining the engine), I would like to get something will a little more power. I know there are restrictor kits out there, which restrict the bike to 33bhp, but I'm still not sure I'd be happy riding a big bike. I'm only wee and didn't think I've the confidence for a big bike.

I'll just have to save my pennies and keep an eye out for a nice 250 machine. In the meantime, I'll have fun on the EN. It was a great feeling taking the L plates off this afternoon!!!

The Scottish Motorbike Show

As members of the Pan Clan, my OH and I were helping to represent the club at the Scottish Motorbike Show. This was the first time we had been for 4 years. We know it was definitely 4 years ago, as it was 1 week before we got married. Anyway, the Clan had to be on site (the show is held next to Edinburgh airport) before 8:30, as the show opens at 9am and there shouldn't be any vehicle movements once the public start coming in (for obvious reasons).

The Pan Clan, we have now established, is the only club with an outside pitch. Okay, the outside pitches for owners' clubs and charties (Rider for Health were there selling raffle tickets to win a brand new Ducati 825, but I digress) may be free. Also, the last time my OH and I were there, there the site of the Pan Clan pitch was perfect, as there was a lot of stall holder/exhibitors/demonstrations etc going on beyond where the Clan had pitched, so anyone going to see those things had to pass the Pan Clan's pitch.b But, from what we (when I speak of we or us, I mean my OH and I) saw, the Pan Clan really need to re-think their strategy, however, I'll get back to that.

On Friday, some of the Clan went to set up a mini marquee, so at least we had somewhere to retreat to, because when the rain came on, it was with a vengeance! I can safely say yesterday wasn't the best day for us to go to the bike show, as the forecast was for showers (well, that's one expression for them!), but we had already promised to help his Mum with a couple of things and we need to get my bike back on the road, so it was yesterday or not at all.

Once the Clan was set up, some of the members went to have a look around the show. We stayed, in case interested parties came along, but the heavens opened, so we were in the marquee (by the way, when I say mini marquee, I mean large tent, it's the labels on the article that described it as such, anyway, back to the story), watching the path at the front of the "tent" turn into a burn (small stream for those of you reading outwith Scotland). During this time, no-one was outside; even some of the burger van staff had headed inside.

During a "dry" spell, we went into the show and could believe what was saw. I don't known the names of the buildings, but the first one we went into had a balcony and the last time we were there it was full. This time it was totally empty. That building had the classic bikes and, if it wasn't for them, it would have pretty much been empty. The classic bikes were stunning, though. I'm always particularly impressed with any classic vehicle that's still being used for it's intended purpose, even if only on high days and holidays, and many of the classic bikes are still being ridden. I really think it's such a waste when a vehicle becomes a trailer queen. Someone's spent a lot of time, effort and money getting the machine up and running, but it goes onto the back on the trailer, it driven to a shown, placed on special carpet (I kid you know, I've seen it and, sometimes it's better stuff than I have in my house), but never used. What a same, but that's my personal opinion.

Back to the show. The other building (yes, there were only 2 building in use this year), had representation directly from the all the major manufacturers, showcasing their products, except Honda. There was a very small, corner plot representing Honda, but it was backed by two of the local dealers, not Honda itself. I know this irked some of the Clan, but I think it's partly what Honda expects their dealers to do and partly the Scottish show isn't important at all. I know that won't go down to well, but it's the truth.

From my point of view, the whole show was less about family motorbike related entertainment and more to do with selling products/services to the punters. The show cost £15 to get into (£12 is you paid in advance). Apart from 1 stunt rider outside, there was very little entertainment. Okay, so it was easier to compare bikes at something like that, as they (almost all) were in one place, but to play £15 to be sold things. If I'm interested in buying a new motorbike, say, I'll go online to research the market and have a rough idea of what I want, then go to the appropriate dealer to have a look at that bike. The same goes for helmets and any other bike related kit. But, I hear some of you say, often the stalls sell products at a discount rate. From what I saw, that may have been the case, but the saving wouldn't have covered the cost of the admission fee, parking and fuel to get to the show. Besides, the wonders of the web is you can shop around there for the best deal.

And another thing, it was appalling to see that some organisations seem to think that in the early 21st century they need brolly dollies - scantily clad women - to sell their products. Now, some of the organisations that felt this was necessary had hired women who appeared to be professional models. In some respects, I think good on them, as at least they are being paid a decent wage to be there. However, worse was the organisations which had bought their female staff very short skirts, lace stocking and the like (or even worse, hot pants and bra), to attract the punters. If your goods and/or services are that good, you shouldn't need to do that. Personally, if I worked for such an organisation, they would be told were to stick their job and I would take them to an employment tribunal for constructive dismissal. My OH was a union rep in a former life and knows that with the right evidence, in that situation I would win.

So, will I be back to the show. Not for the foreseeable future. From what I have gathered, the show was much better before Motorcycle News took it over. Also, their charges are high, so it's less worth stall holders time/hassle etc being there, so less for the paying public to see. They then don't go, so less stall holders turn up and the show just gets less and less popular. I'm just glad we didn't have to pay. It definitely wasn't worth £30. My OH commented he'd have rather spent £30 on something from Forth Gear and hung about their shop all day. Colin and Jackie are a good laugh, the shop's very well stocked and we would have had something worth £30 to show for it. Oh, well, I just hope some of you read this before the show and maybe you'll think twice about wasting your well earned cash.

What's that burning smell??!!

A couple of weeks ago, I was going to Kirkcaldy, to help with the Wednesday lunches my church serve. As it was a dry day and I only needed to transport myself, I decided to take my bike.

The church has a car park at the front, but it's gravel (there is a large majority of bikers who will avoid gravel like the plague). I managed to get the bike parked on the concrete path next to it, but my foot slipped on some gravel I hadn't noticed. The bike didn't fall so much as I realised I couldn't hold it up, so horizontally parked it.

It couldn't stay like that (obviously), but I managed to get the bike back in a vertical position with a little pushing and heaving. I have been told there's women out there who can pick up a Goldwing on their own. Well, bully for them!!! Besides, there isn't very many places on my bike that I can get a handhold to make things easy.

I digress though...

Once I'd done my bit at the lunches, I headed for home. Throughout the journey, I could have sworn I could smell something burning. I stopped about halfway along the road, but couldn't find anything (admittedly, I didn't get off the bike). I found the problem once I got home and I was changing out of my bike kit. Can you see the problem?




Yip, I had managed to melt my trousers (note the £1 coin, for scale). I don't know how I managed it, but I must have knocked against the hot exhaust when I was picking up my bike. Fortunately, I was wearing my bike boots, otherwise the melted plastic fabric would have adhered to my leg. Now, I definitely would have known all about that...

I thought I might have to buy a new pair of bike trousers, as the melted bit was threatening to run, but my OH used a bit of the bag my bike cover came in to patch them. He's made such a good job that it's barely noticeable and, if anyone did notice, it looks like a bit of re-enforcement. That saved me £100ish. Just as well my OH's good with a needle and thread - a button is my only sewing prowess.

Looking back at my posts, you would think I'm either really careless or unlucky. Unlucky, I hope. I also hope my luck's turning...

Riders for Health

Let me introduce you to a great charity. Riders for Health. They provide health care workers, in Africa , with reliable transport solutions. Mainly, these take the form of motorbikes. Given the "road network" (I use that phrase in the loosest possible sense - I've walked significantly better quality footpaths), these are the most effective modes of transports. The models that riders provide are specifically designed for the African market, so are cheap and easy to maintain.

That's the key to Riders' success - maintenance of the fleet. All the health care workers are trained to ride their bikes on the harshest of these roads; shown how to do daily checks and roadside repairs. They are also supplied with the appropriate safety clothing. On top of all of this, Riders also has workshop garages, where mechanics take care of the servicing and more major repairs of the fleet (I say fleet as, in some areas, they also provide 4x4s). The mechanics are locally trained, so it helps with the economy.

One of the best items Riders provides, I personally think, is something they've called an Uhuru. this is a motorbike and sidecar combination, but the sidecar is a stretcher, effectively making the Uhuru an ambulance. It gets better, though. The Uhuru can also be fitted with a water pump, operated off the back wheel, thus providing the area the it's visiting with safe, clean water. Joined up thinking, or what?

My church is currently fundraising for Riders, with the aim of donating at least 1 motorbike. It's amazing how taken with the whole idea of the scheme people are. I even know people who I would describe as not totally anti-bike, but certainly not pro-bike, who think Riders work is amazing. If you watched Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman in "Long Way Down", you would have seen just how great Riders' work is, and just how challenging the riding is.

Well, that's my plug - for an organisation I really admire. Click on the link at the side for more information.

I hate diesels

I don't want to sound cocky, but yesterday I was riding really well. I was doing my pre-test run and it felt as though everything was falling into place...I knew I was going to pass.

But, then disaster struck - on the way to the test centre, I hit a diesel spill on a roundabout. The bike went from under me and both of us went skidding along the road. Fortunately, I had the instinct to let go of the bike, so once it was on its side, I wasn't under it!

The bike sustained a few scraps and lost a mirror. I thought I was perfectly okay to sit my test - that'll be the adrenaline then - but had to borrow one of Pro-Scot's bikes, with 5 minutes before the test...definitely not enough time to get familiar with the controls.

I failed my test, though I wasn't surprised by that in the slightest. Once the adrenaline had worn off, I didn't feel up to the ride at all, especially on an unfamiliar machine. I did get a great boost from the examiner, though. I told him what had happened just before the test and he was impressed I had went ahead with it. He also said that apart from the gross error I had, my riding was really good. I obviously get really nervous and need to try to forget the examiner is behind me. I did appreciate that.

If you're wondering, I started to move at a set of traffic lights, but they had filter lights and my direction had not been indicated to go. I couldn't believe I did that - I have never done that, not even in the car when I was learning. I know I have failed the minute I did that and also knew it was because my mind wasn't totally on the on in hand.

After the test, I phoned my OH to let him know what had happened. As you can imagine, he was only concerned with me and not the test result. I headed to Pro-Scot to drop off their bike, wait for my OH and book another test slot. Then I took my glove off...

I thought my had was a bit sore. The top of the middle finger on my right hand (yes, I am right handed) was really swollen (about twice normal size) and black! |Yes, black, so badly bruised that there was no evidence of blue there. At this point I thought I should visit Accident and Emergency to get it checked out. I have effectively a sort of clot in my finger. I'm to keep my had elevated as much as possible and take 400mg of ibuprofen ever 3 hours! If my nail goes yellow or black or my finger goes red I've to go back, as then I'll have to get a needle stuck in my finger so I can get whatever's in it drained. Sounds unpleasant!!!

When I woke up this morning I was aching all over. My knee is still really swollen - I managed to put a hole in my bike trousers (thank goodness for armour) - and I have more bruises on my right hand side than you can shake a stick at.

Today, my OH and I are going to various bike shops to get the parts my bike needs to make it legal again. No, this hasn't put me off, but I still hate diesels that leak...

Update (1st March 2008):
Yesterday I didn't feel very well at all; breathing, in particular was posing a bit of an issue. After much deliberation (given I haven't been to the GP for nearly 4 years) I gave NHS 24 a call and the nurse told me to go back to the hospital I was at the previous day. I have now been diagnosed with a cracked rib (or possibly 2). Very painful, especially when I breath, laugh or cough. Nothing out of the ordinary, then. I'm to take it easy for a couple of weeks. Still, at least the right bike clothing stopped my injuries being significantly worse!

Gutted

Today I sat my test for the fourth time - you can't knock me for giving up - and failed again. This time, I was riding really well during my pre-test ride.That came from my instructor and he's really pedantic and lets you away with nothing. So, from him, it's a big complement.

The test was going reasonably well. I'll admit I was really nervous and was being a little more cautious. But, that's not a bad thing. Then, I got to a mini roundabout and that's where it all went wrong...

I had been told to turn right. So, I was giving way to my right, as you do. The traffic was really heavy, so I knew I'd have to take the first gap I had. A corsa coming towards me was indicating left (to turn into the road I was on) and slowing down to take the bend. Right, I thought, better take the chance, or you'll be here all day. I started to go, but all of a sudden, the corsa decided to go straight on at the roundabout.

I knew I had failed immediately, but finished the test (thankfully, it was nearly over). The examiner told me I had failed and explained what for. He was really nice and I think was also disappointed he'd had to fail me.

Initially when I'd left the test centre, I was raging (that's Scottish for very, very angry) and really annoyed with myself. I felt I was never going to pass my test. I seriously was contemplating jacking the whole idea of getting my bike licence in and selling my bike. But I spoke to my instructor again (he was dropping off another trainee at the test centre). He was gutting for me and reassured me I could ride and to get myself booked on another test.

So, I'm not giving up. Hopefully, the next time I post, it'll be to let you know I've passed.