I had a year left - and that was cos I stayed on to do my A-levels. (Obviously A-levels were in black and white in those days and the summers were better)
The quill came after I'd left - we were still using slates! Mind you they did have a nice wooden frame (I actually did use a slate with a wooden frame when I started school in 1964). Jeez!
I did my RAC ACU back in 1976 on a Tiger 100 at Shrewsbury cattle market (now a Tesco!) is that the same thing as direct access?
Blimey! You is proper old. Do you remember a lad in your class called Jesus? He had long hair & a beard, his Dad was called Joseph, a carpenter by trade i believe & his mother was called Mary, she reckoned she was a virgin.... Yeah right, fuck off?
I was just really saying there was just one test but I'm not sure now you've mentioned the RAC ACU thing - was that different from just going to the local test centre?
No - it's from 1979 - either before we had paedophiles, or when we were rife with them, depending upon your viewpoint.
Yeah, it was available through our School - we were taught to ride around the tarmac playground and football pitch - and shown basic maintenance. The course ran after school and once they thought you were ok you were put forward for your test which was at that time on the cattle market (which was huge). It was a really good intro before you were let loose on the roads. My actual road test was a joke, I could have been pulling wheelies for most of the test and they would have had no idea! (bit tricky on a 250 Dream though!) I could see the examiner from way off before he stepped out from behind a parked car to do the emergency stop - I had time to come down through the box and stop at his toes! No slow riding either....
Sounds very, very familiar. Mind you there wasn't as much difference between a late '70s 250 and 750/1,000 than there is between today's restricted 125s and something like a blade...
Afternoon all - the "Back to biking" course on Sunday was epic. Missed out the 125 and went straight to the 600. Instructor was current Met bike cop with all the tickets and seriously knew his stuff! Just me and one other guy made it a perfect spin out in the sun. Learnt a huge amount in 6 hrs riding including counter steering etc etc. Really liked the fact that instructor could provide advice via radio ear piece especially when he said " were avin those two cars when we come off the roundabout - gun it boys" huge grin! Big take from the day was "smooth is fast" well the way he did it it was! not sure about me :smile: Cant say I warmed to the XJ600 - allowing for the fact that its probably had a tough life so far as a training bike, there was a huge amount of chain snatch, the throttle was very unforgiving and the riding position could seriously harm your manhood! On the plus side the engine was willing if a little buzzy for me, was constantly looking for another gear that wasn't there! Fully expecting the test ride on the Street R this Sunday coming to be an entirely different affair. For anyone interested I contacted Akrapovic via thier Facebook page to see if they intend to release a slipon or full system for the 2013 R. The answer, "watch this space for something coming very soon" I'll post if I see/hear anything
MerlinPV-12 i have just bought a street r from north city triumph in romford who have been taken over by Jack Lilley and had a very relaxed simple purchase from a young man called Ken from that experience alone i would suggest giving them a call, they couldn't do enough, tried a couple of bikes but in reality i'd already made the decision for the street rgds
Cheers - I was on the phone to Hughenden M40 when your reply came through, he was more helpful than bloke at Metropolis. I'll give North City a call too, thanks for the heads up and enjoy your bike, I hear they are awesome!
I'm going to start this by saying "its not you, it's me" I return to the forum somewhat embarrassed, after taking the Street out for a test drive, I couldn't get comfortable, loved the engine (very addictive!) but just couldn't find the right riding position. So, spent the next few weeks testing a number of different bikes, the last one being a Ducati 1100 Evo, it was love at first blip, have no idea what I've let myself in for but I pick it up on Saturday! Having just returned from visiting family on the IOM have also made one of those Steam Packet "provisional" bookings for TT 2014. So if anyone is going (and they don't mind being seen with a Ducati rider) would be great to say hi on the Island. Thanks again for making an impostor welcome - safe riding all.
Shame you could not get on with the Street Triple but good luck with your Ducati. I had 17 Months with a Ducati Multistrada 1200S before buying the Triumph but I will not bore (or worry) you with the reasons I moved on. There is a very good and active sister site to this for Ducati owners; if you scroll to the top left of this forum page, click on the TheTriumphForum.co.uk and you will see the Ducati site on the drop down menu I am still on there under the same name. You can always stay here; no need to ride a Triumph to be a member.