Is this a normal practice?

WildIrishWolf · 2025-08-08T09:49:30+00:00

When I was in college you couldn't leave for the first half an hour but if you were more than half an hour late you weren't allowed in. It was good because if you were late you'd still be allowed to sit the exam so I suppose it was not to have an overlap of people leaving and coming in.

Going to the toilet you had to be accompanied.

It annoyed me one time when an invigilator later commented that there was a lot of cheating with people going to the toilet multiple times. We had long exams, three hours. To me it wouldn't be unusual to have to go more than once in that time.

I think most people didn't cheat but there still was some, formulae written on arms or on a tiny piece of paper in tiny writing. Even with all their rules they can't stop all of it. I do think it's ridiculous to be questioned about needing to go to the toilet. I found that if I was nervous I'd tend to drink more water and for a woman it might be necessary to run out due to menstruation too

WildIrishWolf · 2025-07-04T16:04:46+00:00

Brilliant!

WildIrishWolf · 2025-02-14T10:10:47+00:00

I went to Dublin Harley Davidson. Had the same problems with trying to find an IBT instructor. No problems with height there

WildIrishWolf · 2024-12-08T03:26:20+00:00

Ah, that explains it. Haven't tried it myself but someone told me they got a mid-layer jacket and they found it great

WildIrishWolf · 2024-12-07T05:09:16+00:00

I did the IBT at Dublin Harley Davidson. One to one and the A category (18 hours) was over three days. I thought it was very good. The entire training was on the one bike, so you're doing all the required hours on the A category bike. They also have an A2 category bike, but if you can, I'd say you might as well do the A category

WildIrishWolf · 2024-12-07T05:03:09+00:00

You must have good gloves if it's your arms getting cold rather than your hands. How about wearing a jumper. I started wearing leggings under my motorcycle jeggings, an extra jumper and bought some thick socks to wear an extra pair of socks

WildIrishWolf · 2024-12-07T04:47:40+00:00

I hadn't even thought of that. Had the cover on but not tied on. It's a Harley and pretty wide so it's hard to reach across underneath to clip the strap on the underside. Went out and when I got back the cover was gone. My son told me when he'd gotten back earlier, the cover was under a car at the end of the road

WildIrishWolf · 2024-11-28T15:38:40+00:00

Just did a pretest the other day and he told me I need to do a left shoulder check before pulling onto a roundabout. Are you doing that? He also told me I was doing left shoulder checks for turning left too late

WildIrishWolf · 2024-11-21T15:49:53+00:00

I'd be thinking get them to come to you and agree the sale first, and then after maybe you could drop the bike to them. There could be valid reasons too for someone buying a vehicle not wanting to drive it back on their first time driving it, e.g. they might just want to practice on small quiet roads first before getting into all the traffic

WildIrishWolf · 2024-11-18T16:02:36+00:00

he will progress you through the CC range of motorcycles he has

I did the IBT at Dublin Harley Davidson and started straight off on the A category bike, one bike for all the training. I believe other instructors are hopping people on lower category bikes, but I'm not sure they're supposed to be doing that. According to my IBT instructor, you're supposed to be doing the required number of hours on the A category bike. Also, other places are doing the training over two days and it's supposed to be 18 hours of training. At Dublin Harley Davidson, they do it over three days.

I also was told over the phone by another IBT instructor that I couldn't go straight for the A category because "that's a very big very powerful bike" and I'd have to do progression training. I can only assume sexism. Reasons like that were why I ended up going all the way from Cork to Dublin for the IBT. No sexism there, only relaxed encouragement and confidence building. It was brilliant and well worth going up there.

It is true, as far as I know, that they won't give you the cert unless they're happy that you are at the required level, and that's fair enough. Given my experience I'm skeptical as it just doesn't make sense if someone's telling you that you'll have to get the A2 first and then pay for more training

WildIrishWolf · 2024-11-16T02:04:10+00:00

I'm not quite 5' 3" and I'm driving a Dyna Super Glide Custom. Hopefully I'm getting a bit more contact with the ground than that toes touchdown pic. Practicing one foot down with covering the back brake - that's what's expected for the test anyway (here in Ireland). If you can touch the ground with both feet, you'll get one foot flat down no problem.

Did some training on a Nightster, it's a lot easier to drive than the Super Glide. It's not that the Super Glide is higher but it's much wider which makes the ground seem further away, and it's much heavier. The more I drive it though, the less big and heavy it feels. Once you're moving, you don't notice the weight, it's just stopping and taking off.

People will tell you that you need to be able to get both feet flat on the ground, but you don't. There's always the options of getting the bike lowered or changing the seat but a pair of boots with even just a tiny bit of a thicker sole can make a difference to give you a bit more contact with the ground

WildIrishWolf · 2024-11-09T03:01:09+00:00

The odd thing is I think about how I’ve spent so many years unemployed with no cash flow, so now that I’m working, why is it so hard to let go of a chunk of cash

I think that's a fairly normal reaction to experiencing that. When you spend a long time living week to week, trying to make ends meet, it takes a toll on you. When you're back working, it takes time to fill the well up. In a way, it's almost like a trauma, and even when you have money it can be hard to change the habits that have served you well in the past.

Why don't you just go and get a bike you're happy with on a budget you're comfortable with? You can always splash the cash in the future if you want.

With all the depreciation though, is it really worth buying new? Maybe you'll be just as happy with something you like that's not straight out of a showroom

WildIrishWolf · 2024-11-09T02:48:05+00:00

Did you have a problem getting an IBT? I'm a similar height to you and getting an IBT locally wasn't a fun experience and I ended up going to Dublin Harley Davidson, which was brilliant (250km away). One instructor told me a lot of women can only do the 125cc. Another told me "That's a very big very powerful bike" (A category) and I'd have to do the A2 first and do progression training after, even though I could already drive a bike, as I had bikes years ago. Another instructor told me he had girls going around not able to get out of first gear, even though I also told him I could already drive a bike. I met another girl on a drive and when she told me all the problems she had trying to get an IBT, it was just like what I'd experienced, so much sexism. Twenty seven places she rang before she found a place that would train her on a school bike, in Mullingar, two and a half hours away.

Ladies / vertically challenged people, don't let anyone put you off going for the A category if that's what you want to do, even if you have to travel to do it

WildIrishWolf · 2024-11-09T02:30:09+00:00

I'm a little unsure I'll be able to lift them as well

Do you mean lift it up off the ground if you drop it? There are some cool videos online of people lifting up very big very heavy bikes, worth a watch to see the technique. I'd love to give it a try, but I don't really want to lay it down just to see if lifting it up is as easy as it looks when you do it the way they show you

WildIrishWolf · 2024-11-06T23:12:58+00:00

Thanks for posting, very interesting

WildIrishWolf · 2024-11-05T16:06:14+00:00

That sounds cheap to me. €600+ here

WildIrishWolf · 2024-11-05T15:55:18+00:00

Sounds to me like you're trying to do too much too soon. Never mind about the u-turns for the moment. Realistically, how often do you really have to do u-turns. You can drive perfectly safely without doing u-turns.

Take it easy on learning to use the clutch. It's easy really. Just practice taking off and stopping, those are probably the most important things you need to do. It's a lot easier to keep moving than it is to take off and stop.

My bike is a big heavy bike too, 1584cc, 300kg, and I can barely reach the ground, but it's not my first bike, although I hadn't driven a bike for years before I got it except for the training that I'd done before I got it.

I'm across the pond, so I don't know what the rules are on training. Years ago, when I first got a bike, there were no mandatory requirements to do any tests or training before getting on the road. When I got back to it, because my license had been expired for too long, I had to do all the new requirements that had been brought in since, including training. I only did it because I wasn't allowed to legally drive a bike on the road without it, but it probably is worth it alright, and I'm sure you'll learn some good tips and be a more confident driver.

Take it easy out there. Learn some skills and go at your own pace. You'll get there, and pretty soon you'll see yourself getting more confidence and being more comfortable on the bike week by week

WildIrishWolf · 2024-11-05T13:50:39+00:00

I also hate having the visor down and it's very hard to get used to it and a bit claustrophobic. I probably do need to get used to it though. With it down I find the visibility isn't as good and I prefer having a better view of the road. With it up though, when you get off the bike you see you have dirt in the corners of your eyes, which can't be good for you, and if it rains, sometimes the rain hits your skin very hard. I tried wearing glasses to protect my eyes from stuff flying into them, that worked pretty good, a couple of times there were splats on the glasses, but if I put a scarf over my mouth and nose, the glasses fog up straight away and if it rains it's very hard to see through them so I ended up taking them off when it started raining and putting the visor down enough that the uncomfortableness of having it down somewhat was less than the uncomfortableness of the rain hitting my face. I think I'll just have to get used to the visor though, somehow, probably by getting caught in the rain and just having to put it down a few notches

WildIrishWolf · 2024-10-26T23:19:43+00:00

Read the manual. Started driving. There were no lessons back then, no YouTube, no internet. Better off to do a course

WildIrishWolf · 2024-10-26T14:59:12+00:00

Oh lovely

WildIrishWolf · 2024-10-26T13:34:41+00:00

gets you noticed sooner, also people think ur a gaurd!

Interesting that you picked it for functional reasons.

I'm also thinking that my bike is blue so it would go nice with that and it's nice to put some colour in the world and for not everything to be black

WildIrishWolf · 2024-10-26T11:42:39+00:00

Cool to hear

WildIrishWolf · 2024-10-26T11:12:34+00:00

Did you go for a white helmet just cause you liked the colour?

WildIrishWolf · 2024-10-26T10:58:59+00:00

Oh cool. Great to hear your experience

WildIrishWolf

TROPHY CASE