revtothelimit - motorbike forum

Nordboy wrote: Sat Jul 18, 2026 11:55 am
We used to use a camber far less than that, and it caused no end of difficulties for some. Admittedly, it was a camber that dropped both sides of the centre.

The newer Mod 1 is easier than the previous on-road U because of this.

On a road, the camber will switch twice: uphill, flat, then downhill. And that final third gives the feeling of running wide.

Re-sit tomorrow - Had some more training yesterday, ran the Mod 1 3 times with no real issues, must have done about 30 u-turns. Woke up at 3am this morning bricking it re-running u-turns in my head and had to chill out in front of the TV for an hour

Good luck!

When it's time, take a deep breath in, slowly out.
Check for tension in your shoulders. Any? If yes, over-tense then relax (you can't just 'relax').

You can practice it at home - sit (dining room chair, for example) and think your way through what you need to do. Then again with 'actions' - set revs, clutch biting point, observations / lifesaver, head turn, etc., as you've been taught.

Then, on test, talk yourself through it all.

Next week?

Horse wrote: Sat Jul 18, 2026 10:28 pm Big Yin said that they'd seen a shift from scooters (CBT, tax, insurance, etc) to e-bikes.l*

I'd guess that toughening of CBT etc (which I agree with) would increase that shit.

* Potentially illegal

East London seems to be a mix of both - scooters still popular for food delivery.

darthpunk wrote: Mon Jul 20, 2026 10:20 am Re-sit tomorrow - Had some more training yesterday, ran the Mod 1 3 times with no real issues, must have done about 30 u-turns. Woke up at 3am this morning bricking it re-running u-turns in my head and had to chill out in front of the TV for an hour

This may sound daft, but bear with me. Kind of depend if you use something like yoga breathing to calm (as well as TV!)

So, practice deep, calm breathing before the test (and today, to get used to it). I generally count the time to breathe in and do a similar time to breathe out - find a timing to work for your breathing. I pause after inhaling and exhaling too. Keep it slow

The other reason to suggest this is something I use(d) on track, although I do actually use it on hairpins here.

Before the U-turn, take a good breath in (not uncomfortably deep!) and then as you make the manoeuvre, let the breath out calmly and slowly. This has two advantages - it helps keep a balance of mind etc, but also (for me) it keeps your upper body, specifically arms, looser. You're concentrating on the breath and the turn but the breathing will reduce the tension in your arms/upper body.

Might be a bit late, but maybe try the breathing today and see how it makes you feel??


Should have written this yesterday, but I tend to be a bit wary of yoghurt-weavy posts


Equally, you've loads of practice and you can rock this !! Go get it tomorrow

Noggin wrote: Mon Jul 20, 2026 3:23 pm
This may sound daft, but bear with me. Kind of depend if you use something like yoga breathing to calm (as well as TV!)

So, practice deep, calm breathing before the test (and today, to get used to it). I generally count the time to breathe in and do a similar time to breathe out - find a timing to work for your breathing. I pause after inhaling and exhaling too. Keep it slow

Before the U-turn, take a good breath in (not uncomfortably deep!) and then as you make the manoeuvre, let the breath out calmly and slowly. This has two advantages - it helps keep a balance of mind etc, but also (for me) it keeps your upper body, specifically arms, looser. You're concentrating on the breath and the turn but the breathing will reduce the tension in your arms/upper body.

Not at all daft. They used to do relaxation exercises at the start of bike training sessions at the Ring.

And ...

Horse wrote: Mon Jul 20, 2026 11:35 am When it's time, take a deep breath in, slowly out.
Check for tension in your shoulders. Any? If yes, over-tense then relax (you can't just 'relax').

FWIW I try to remember to slow down and breath when on ambulance calls, rather than rush in.

... Must get around to sticking a reminder note on the steering wheel

Horse wrote: Mon Jul 20, 2026 4:45 pm

Noggin wrote: Mon Jul 20, 2026 3:23 pm
This may sound daft, but bear with me. Kind of depend if you use something like yoga breathing to calm (as well as TV!)

So, practice deep, calm breathing before the test (and today, to get used to it). I generally count the time to breathe in and do a similar time to breathe out - find a timing to work for your breathing. I pause after inhaling and exhaling too. Keep it slow

Before the U-turn, take a good breath in (not uncomfortably deep!) and then as you make the manoeuvre, let the breath out calmly and slowly. This has two advantages - it helps keep a balance of mind etc, but also (for me) it keeps your upper body, specifically arms, looser. You're concentrating on the breath and the turn but the breathing will reduce the tension in your arms/upper body.

Not at all daft. They used to do relaxation exercises at the start of bike training sessions at the Ring.

And ...

Horse wrote: Mon Jul 20, 2026 11:35 am When it's time, take a deep breath in, slowly out.
Check for tension in your shoulders. Any? If yes, over-tense then relax (you can't just 'relax').

FWIW I try to remember to slow down and breath when on ambulance calls, rather than rush in.

... Must get around to sticking a reminder note on the steering wheel

It helped me a ton on track (and when I restarted riding out here on the mountain road!). Did share it with some TD mates and despite the laughs and ribbing I know some of them appreciated it and some even told me it helped

Questioning now whether to continue

U turn was fine, not pretty but it did the job, got through everything, hazard avoidance and my toes must have been sticking out as I clipped the inside cone and it toppled.... Done, if I could have picked the bike up and threw it I would have

The rest was one minor for not being quite as quick as I could on the emergency stop but that was it

Not making excuses, but ADHD seems to be getting me in my own head and I just stuff it

darthpunk wrote: Tue Jul 21, 2026 10:48 am Questioning now whether to continue

U turn was fine, not pretty but it did the job, got through everything, hazard avoidance and my toes must have been sticking out as I clipped the inside cone and it toppled.... Done, if I could have picked the bike up and threw it I would have

The rest was one minor for not being quite as quick as I could on the emergency stop but that was it

Not making excuses, but ADHD seems to be getting me in my own head and I just stuff it

Don't give up now! Have a break, go again. You are within a micron of a pass.

Probably difficult at the moment, but:

- congratulate yourself on what you've achieved
- next time, focus on how you choose your position and where you look

That means, for example, if there's a 'gate' of two cones, look towards the centre of the space. When you're heading towards that point, look ahead and choose the next point.

If a single cone to ride past, choose a point - perhaps actually look for a mark on the surface! - that's far enough away from the cone.

I am trying to take some solace in the fact that I've never ridden anything other than mountain bikes in 50 years of being on this planet, this is all still a bit alien to me.

Got a resit booked and moved the Mod 2 a bit down the road, get another hour of training with the resit to keep my eye in as well, just going to drill and drill the weak points till their almost second nature

Starting to wish I'd maybe gone down the 125 route but too late now - I'll be bankrupt by the time I'm done with this

Use visualisation (thinking your way through it all). It develops 'muscle memory'.

This was written years ago, it explains how it's used by teams of formation parachutists. Then don't get much time in the air to practice!

https://www.peaksports.com/pdfs/Visuali ... diving.pdf

darthpunk wrote: Tue Jul 21, 2026 10:48 am Questioning now whether to continue

U turn was fine, not pretty but it did the job, got through everything, hazard avoidance and my toes must have been sticking out as I clipped the inside cone and it toppled.... Done, if I could have picked the bike up and threw it I would have

The rest was one minor for not being quite as quick as I could on the emergency stop but that was it

Not making excuses, but ADHD seems to be getting me in my own head and I just stuff it

Ok, don't give up !!!!

You cracked the U-turn That's freaking awesome


Honestly, it's a whole new skill set you're learning, give yourself a break!!

No excuses, just new skills. Stop beating yourself up about it all and breathe. Then practice. Then more breathing. Repeat


It will click. It just takes a bit of time. So giev yourself a pat on the back cos damn, UTurn was sorted!! Keep at it

darthpunk wrote: Tue Jul 21, 2026 10:48 am Questioning now whether to continue

U turn was fine, not pretty but it did the job, got through everything, hazard avoidance and my toes must have been sticking out as I clipped the inside cone and it toppled.... Done, if I could have picked the bike up and threw it I would have

The rest was one minor for not being quite as quick as I could on the emergency stop but that was it

Not making excuses, but ADHD seems to be getting me in my own head and I just stuff it

Not sure if it's any consolation or not, but FWIW I had to take boh tests (car and bike) 3 times before I passed. Always dumb, or small errors that were frustrating caused the fails.

The important part is to keep going, keep the practise up, never stop learning, and if it's something you want hard enough, you'll succeed, despite a few small errors.

Just relax, have a couple of beers before showing up

It's all practice and learning, plus it's an investment, time, money, life skills...you'll soon be there. Took months to get my Mod 1 took it as organic growth;)