Mark's Blog

Woooo , I am now the holder of a category A (officially A2 as I will be restricted to 33bhp for two years) license according to the DVLA .

After two days of training it all came down to the 45 minutes with the DSA examiner, what a nerve wracking time that was; I’m not sure that I’ve been so nervous before a test. This was compounded by the fact that, as I explained earlier, there was only one shot at this before the reorganisation of the motorcycle test.

Regardless, with that in my mind I set out and was reasonably happy with my riding. I was even happier when told that I’d passed with only three minors . Much thanks to the examiner who was understanding about the fact that I was riding a oil tanker and so asked me to attempt the U turn on a road that is suitable for a bike of that size.

Of course, this also means that the L plates are well and truly in the bin (for bikes anyway) and that I can now enter the weird and wonderful world of motorway riding. I’ll have to try that next time I’m on “the mainland” .

Finally, much thanks to John et al. at Ryderight who were superb in the training that I recieved over the two days. Highly recommended if any of you happen to be on the island and are looking for a motorcycle training school.

Another grand leap forward in my motorcycling career today; I’ve passed the theory portion of the “Category A” motorcycle license. Yay!

Of course, this all means that the most daunting practical ride awaits on April 9th. I’ll be squeezing in a couple of training days to ensure there aren’t any glaring issues with my riding style in time for the test. Hopefully the examiner will be reasonably kind and give me a fair road to attempt the U turn on; the old girl doesn’t like turning in anything less than a quarter mile semi-circle.

There really is only one real shot at this, with attempting to try and get in before the test changes on April 27th there isn’t a great deal of time to play with. So, practice it is!

For most of you today is a normal Wednesday like any other. However, for me and a few others around the world I’m sure it’s birthday celebration time.

Another year has passed and I’m now the grand old tiresome age of 2⁴ + 1. How exciting . It does mean, however, that I can now legally ride the phantasmagoria of nuts and bolts that is the Honda VT125C Shadow .

As an aside, if there is anybody out there that is interested in purchasing a Peugeot “mobility scooter” V-Clic do let me know . Despite my constant ribbing about its speed it is a very nice runner and would suit somebody who wants a little runabout to learn on. One careful owner, never been dropped , so reasonable offers (ie. not 10p or multiples thereof ) please . Delivery also may be possible for a certain surcharge, contact me for more details.

…Snow on the Isle of Wight. Amazing.

The cold never usually gets down far enough here (a geography field trip for you all; the Isle of Wight is at the bottom of the UK) for us to ever see snow but it has happened for the first time in five or six years I’d say.

Another quick aside; I’m quite aware of the problems that have plagued this site with regards to availability recently. I do apologise, it was due to a server move that went slightly broken™. I’m working on getting things fixed up, however, so please do bear with me while this happens. I’ll save the itty bitty details for when I have more time to write them up and post ‘em out .

I also had a chance to get up to the MCN London Motorcycle Show on Saturday, the resultant photos of which you can experience on everyones’ favourite photo sharing site Flickr. It was a good day out for all concerned and reminded me that it’s less than a month before I head out on the joyous VT125C.

Saturday also saw our beloved Burnley finally win a league game against Charlton in the last minute. Talk about keeping the fans hanging…

Apologies for the mish-mash of content topics but there has been a lot happening recently . Until next time, stay safe out there .

The search was long, the waiting was epic, however finally I’ve got my hands on the keys of my new bike (from February 25th at least, silly age restrictions… ) the Honda VT125C Shadow.

It really does look to be an utterly brilliant bike with very favourable reviews, a cruiser style which actually looks a lot larger than the 125cc it is. At over double the size of my existing Peugeot “mobility scooter” V-Clic it should keep up with traffic flow as well. It’s also amusing to think that I’ve had the V-Clic for almost a year now, how time flies!

Pictures will be available when I can take them during daylight hours .