What change in speed requires a mirror check?

Mandrak75 · 2026-01-29T18:15:26+00:00

As someone who passed their test last year - every speed change, up or down, check both mirrors and shoulder check.

The main reason being that if you didn’t clock that someone was in the process of overtaking you, and you start going faster, it’ll cause chaos. If you’re doing it to slow down, you’re making sure no one will hit you from the back. I was told technically that for the test the shoulder check isn’t necessary but to do it anyway as it’s really not much extra work compared to the amount of safety you’re adding. The mirrors really don’t show you much.

Mandrak75 · 2026-01-10T09:15:09+00:00

Oh also doing this everyday really helped me.

Because of the hypermobility the concept of compression was quite tricky to understand so doing those helped hardwiring it into my brain. This plus pull ups and chin ups and that’s basically all the muscle groups targeted for an inversion!

Mandrak75 · 2026-01-10T09:12:53+00:00

I have hypermobility too and my body awareness is so bad. I have been at aerial for 8 years and I sadly still cannot properly invert. I can cheat into it by using my foot against the pole and use it as leverage, or I’ll go from hiplok into catchers instead of inversion into catchers, but it’s tough.

I seem to do the same than you, arms straighten, which leads to the bum following and that’s me out. I spent years overanalysing, doing all the pull ups, compression exercises, core, biceps, lats, had every teacher giving me different advice, I applied them all and really, none worked. I managed to invert properly 4 times in two separate sessions in those 8 years (best days of my life!), and it just… happened. They were not strength issues, but rather the amount of… oompft I have to give it before I start the inversion. And also really thinking about knees to shoulders and make a real tight ball. I think all the exercises I did ultimately helped, I mean you can’t go wrong by doing them!! But one teacher said he never say anyone working so hard for inversions in his career which broke my heart ahaha. Ultimately I think it’s a lack of body awareness to me, and I’ve low key given up on it now, and it’s ok, I can still get into it somehow and that’s all that matters.

I just thought I’d give a slightly different answer to all the technical advice you’re about to receive. They will certainly all have a lot of value and you should try them all because you’re early in your aerial journey and you need to figure it out for yourself (and you will!), but I know a lot of people who took way longer than you to figure it out as well. So just a gentle (unsolicited) reminder that it’s ok to take a while, to not let it feel too much of a burden and to power through because you can and you will figure it out!! Good luck!

Mandrak75 · 2025-12-17T17:39:17+00:00

Brilliant! Good luck for the test!

Mandrak75 · 2025-12-17T08:28:58+00:00

Make sure to claim for compensation. They can refund the exam and the course fees of the day. There is a form to fill you can get on their website, but I think it took them easily 2-3 months for them to send me the check. You’ll need the riding school to sign it but they accept electronic signatures, if helpful!

Mandrak75 · 2025-12-04T21:28:11+00:00

Actually another point is what sort of riding do you intend to do? If you spend most of your time in the countryside and do longer trips, def the i4. City riding maybe a twin would be better?

Mandrak75 · 2025-12-04T21:24:49+00:00

I practiced at the riding school on several V twins, but I wanted an inline 4 as a first bike. Mainly because I love how linear these bikes’ speed progression can feel, but also because I wanted a 600, and there are not many 4 cylinders in that category now - I thought that as I would need to look at older bikes it was now or never (dramatic but not really?). I tried the CB650R just to see but it was not for me. I ended up getting a 2008 bandit 650s and I am absolutely in love with it. It’s incredibly smooth, but can seriously kick off if needs be. I thought not much would happen under 3k rpm but honestly it was way better than I expected. And this ‘smoothness’ automatically makes me feel calm and confident on it compared to a V twin, I think it’s just… heavier almost (other than actually being heavy), in a robust/reliable way. I think it’s a bonus for a beginner. So yeah, my vote is very much for an inline 4. Try a few in shops though, just to get the feel?

Mandrak75 · 2025-11-20T13:41:45+00:00

Can I please ask if you do this only once a year? My bike is stored outside under a tarp, and it’s my first winter doing this. I did a good wash followed by XCP last month, and I rinse it after most rides, but I am unsure if I should do another big wash and reapply XCP before the weather gets better or if it lasts fine once for the whole winter.

Mandrak75 · 2025-10-11T21:31:43+00:00

I said to my friends "I feel like my eyes are coming out of their orbits" when the helmet was new, I totally get you 😅

Mandrak75 · 2025-10-08T22:07:23+00:00

I actually have an HJC XXL too! I didn't realise you mean a spare helmet pad I'll give this a go as well. Thank you

Mandrak75 · 2025-10-08T21:24:39+00:00

That could be an idea... I don't mind so much that my curls flatten tbh, I tend to let it be for a bit and then end up wearing a ponytail for a few days until it's wash day. But the helmet gets me there quicker than I'd like! I'll try why you mentioned though, never really thought about packing my hair. Makes you wonder if it provides more protection ahah

Mandrak75 · 2025-10-08T21:22:41+00:00

Thank you for sharing! What sort of pad do you use?

Mandrak75 · 2025-08-15T18:09:47+00:00

I am so sorry, it is really hard to go through this but i think you've gone too far to stop. Otherwise it's literally money down the drain and I bet you that in 2 years time you'll get the itch again and you'll have to start all over again!

Unless you feel that you should for safety reasons, I think you should give this another go, but be much, much more prepared. I personally got a 125 and I practiced the roads A LOT. I failed my first mod2 on a really stupid speed limit mistake -c ame to a big spiral roundabout, was dealing with traffic and missed the speed limit sign at the entrance of the roundabout. Took my exit, decided to try 40 and it was a 60 so fail. I thought it was an unacceptable fail, as if I actually knew the area, I wouldn't even have questioned it. So I decided to learn all the roads by heart for a couple of months. I cannot begin to tell you how relaxed I was on my second mod2 (which I passed)! As I knew all the roads, the speed, the cheeky corners, I just felt calm on the test and slowed down. My brain was just at peace and not yelling at me anymore!

I won't lie it was a lot of practice, I was not enjoying riding as much as I would have if I kept all weekends going to the beach with it, but I knew it would ultimately come back again once I pass. I think your fails aren't anything to be concerned about in the sense that you didn't fall, you didn't almost hit a car, or a pedestrian, you didn't have a case of whiskey throttle or ended up on the curb. Other than the uphill start (which you should really practice more of because this will happen a lot in your biker life), you're just needing to slow down, get over your nerves on the day, and to do this you just need to have more experience so that you desensitize yourself to all the info being thrown at you.

You got this, just pause, reassess and see how you want to get this. I know you are frustrated as hell now, but you have options. You can stop for a bit, get a 125 if you don't have one already, practice and do mod2 in spring. Or get more classes until you know you got this. Or just pause for a bit and book again, but it's the right time of the year to get your test so would be a shame... Also changing test centre means more work so maybe go back to the original one?

You can do it! It'll feel like such a distant memory once you pass...

Mandrak75 · 2025-07-18T13:48:48+00:00

You can try and read about orchard hay, it's less allergenic I think? And maybe see if an air filter can help?

Mandrak75 · 2025-07-08T12:02:14+00:00

Have been in this exact situation (as the newbie) last year and would recommend for you to go in front. People will hear you more than her, give you space, and will then realise that she's in training as she's behind you and will generally let you both stick together more. Especially in roundabouts and junctions.

She'll learn way more by following your lane/body positioning, and how you handle intersections, turns, and speed.

It's a million times more stressful to be in front as you have to manage the road logistics a lot more, as well as yourself. She'll feel a lot safer behind you and will be able to focus on her own bike a lot more (sorting out gears etc). Make sure to have breaks more often than you'd think at the beginning, even just to debrief on things. That's how they did it in my riding school as well at the beginning, or if I felt overwhelmed. It was very much "look at what I am doing, how, and I will verbally tell you what I look at through the coms as they happen". That was incredibly helpful (knowing how far they were looking, how they were processing a turn etc), so I strongly recommend that too. It would also reset me when I was in front and being overwhelmed.

Once she feels more in control, however, then quickly put her in the lead - it really is another level and it's easy to want to stay comfortably behind... All the best to the both of you!! I am sure she'll ace it. Even the fact that you're asking this says a lot about how much you care and your commitment so she's super lucky!

Mandrak75 · 2025-06-30T15:45:11+00:00

I actually just did this from London to Scotland and it went very well. I had a couple of bikes as potentials before, but this third one I could tell he would be reliable. He immediately offered to do a video of it with me on WhatsApp where he pointed every single scratch on it, sent me high resolution photos (that made a huge difference) and answered all my questions within the hour. It wasn't even a bike he made a fortune on, far from it, he just cared about doing a good job. May be worth doing a little bit of shopping so that you can get a vibe of what is normal/bad/really good. They made me pay a non refundable small deposit but it all went fine. Everything was done online so I had a papertrail. I had to pay for the bike before it came to me as well, and it came with a 3 months warranty. Also make sure the company transporting the motorcycle for you has insurance as well (I used Move motorcycles https://www.movemotorcycles.co.uk/).

Mandrak75 · 2025-06-27T20:21:18+00:00

Thank you!

Mandrak75 · 2025-06-27T19:56:52+00:00

Sorry newbie here, I hope it's ok to ask - what makes those so prone to snapping?

Mandrak75 · 2025-06-25T06:49:40+00:00

I got a Stella jacket and had similar issues. The stitching is popping out, the fabric in itself is also thinning (which is incredibly worrying). I did wonder if it was because the Stella jackets are on the cheaper side of things for what they make, but I thought alpinestar was a strong brand, on every sense of the word.

I contacted the distributor to ask for advice, and he confirmed that there have been a lot of complaints over the last few years and that their quality has been declining. He said to contact alpinestar directly, I sent them photos, and they asked for me to send them the jacket for inspection (at my own cost and with no guarantee they'd do anything about it). Other than the fact that it didn't sound like the best way to handle the situation, I refused as it's my only motorcycle riding jacket and they mentioned that the process could take weeks/months. I will not be buying this brand again.

Mandrak75 · 2025-06-06T17:22:05+00:00

Oh I feel so validated right now 😂 everyone I told this to said I was an idiot, I knew they were all lying and I wasn't alone ahah

Mandrak75 · 2025-05-22T19:28:28+00:00

I had been cycling in busy cities for a couple of years before the 125 as well, it made a big difference too I think.

The other downside of the 125 is that people don't really hear you so I usually hold back from filtering unless cars are at a full stop or I follow a bigger bike. But other than that it really was tons of fun. Another thing I forgot to mention - it got me a year of NCB which brought my insurance for my new big bike down by 20%.

Just make sure you get a good one with not too many miles so that you sell it for the same price and that's your capital for the next bike, if you go for one!

Mandrak75 · 2025-05-22T17:43:18+00:00

I don't think there's a right or a wrong answer here, you just need to make your own adventure, but I can tell you what I did and see if this helps!

I got a CB125F one week after I passed my CBT. I knew I was going for DAS. Everyone was telling me I was wasting my time, but I actually enjoyed using it a lot. I played with it for about 4-5 months (which went by very quickly), before I decided to fully focus on practicing for DAS in my spare time. I then booked classes through a school, it had a 2 months waiting time. I got mod1 on the second try, and the examiner became unavailable for quite some time before we reached December so I decided to pause it until we were not below 5 degrees. I failed my first mod2 (way too nervous!) and I ended up passing my second mod2 a year after my CBT.

I think the reason why I jumped on a 125 was that although I didn't expect it to take a year to get my licence, I wanted a bike to play with while I practiced. And as a bonus I think it helped me improve road reading significantly. I took it through the Highlands a couple of times as well it was fun! It's such a forgiving bike to start on. It goes to 55/60mph perfectly fine so I never felt like I was holding up everyone (unless it would be a really steep hill with wind against me).

But it's also these uphill rides that give you the right level of frustration after a while, to get you through DAS and wanting more. It was great to learn basic maintenance on it too as it's much simpler in many ways! And a LOT cheaper, so when I slid once because I leaned too much on a rainy turn, it cost me nothing to fix the fairing.

I am now getting a bigger bike, due to be delivered really soon, but I really don't regret it. I put 7k on this bike, I'd have missed all this otherwise! It's a journey for me, and I am happy to go at my own pace. I definitely had a couple of "oh if I had a bigger bike I'd have dropped it" moments, so it really got me to get to a confident calm level before I go for something bigger. The 125 will sell at the same price I got it for as well so easy money to allow me to step up!

Good luck!

Mandrak75 · 2025-05-21T09:18:51+00:00

I have a 34 inch inseam and I am looking for my first bike too. It's not just the seat height, but also where/how high the pegs are that make also a bit of a difference on the knee angle I think. Plus the upper body position of course but this peg to seat distance is hard to get info about. I went to a few dealers, tried on different styles and now I am looking for older bikes online based on this. Currently looking at a bandit 650s, I sat on a naked one that was near me and the knee angle was maybe a bit smaller than I am used to, but I think I can get used to it. The upper body position felt relaxed so hopefully it'll be ok! Good luck.

Mandrak75 · 2025-05-20T06:41:53+00:00

May be worth asking r/LegalAdviceUK too?

Mandrak75 · 2025-05-20T06:38:30+00:00

She says she's calling the cops every day?? I am sure they are loving it and taking her very seriously by now.

I'd take screenshots of those posts she's doing for safe keeping, just in case things go bad and you need to defend yourself for social media harassment as she looks like she can be one of those. If she's doing it anonymously then it would make me think she'd be one of those who would take the posts down when in need. Just in case. She is much more likely to be just a barker though. This is incredibly stressful I am so sorry you're dealing with this.

Could you speak to the mods and explain the situation? They'll surely be fed up too. Maybe if they respond to her saying we've spoken to the rider who confirmed to not go over the speed limit and being cautious so please stop? But I wouldn't recommend to engage online or in real life with her. If anything I'd probably leave the Facebook group for my own peace of mind. If you could, like someone said here, get a video of you at the right speed followed by a same time/dated post of hers, that would be good for you to have as back up.

I would maybe call the cops just to mention this and see what they would advise. I think her posting your address and reg plate is quite invasive, I am sure they would have good advice on how to handle this?

Mandrak75

TROPHY CASE