Born again biker

[SlimRick]

I lived in the US for a few years, and while there I had a few bikes and more importantly a bike license.
I moved back to the UK about 10 years ago and had a ZZR600 for a few months until the validity of my US license expired (12 months).

Fast forward to a month ago and I fancied another bike - the only problem being that DAS courses were booked up until September / October. The solution? Buy a bike and worry about that later

This arrived at 7am one day courtesy of Shiply - I'd neglected to tell my wife that this was coming, I thought she'd be out when it arrived, buying me some time to think of a reason for its appearance - it was an "interesting" conversation!



The next step was the license so I could actually ride it. As I said, everywhere doing courses were booked up but you could see the test cancellations on the DVSA site, and with the help of lots of YouTube videos I managed to do:

Theory Test on the Tuesday in Frome (10 miles away)
CBT on Thursday in Exeter (90 miles away)
Mod1 on the GS the following Tuesday in Bristol (30 miles away)
Mod 2 on the GS on Thursday in Gloucester (40 miles away)

So - from no bike and no license, to R1200GS and full license within 2 weeks!

[KTMsm]

Congratulations !

That seems a lot of dedication








To ride a GS

My older friends tell me they are good bikes

[J__Wood]

Jesus you must be my long lost twin -
"This arrived at 7am one day... I'd neglected to tell my wife that this was coming, I thought she'd be out when it arrived, buying me some time to think of a reason for its appearance - it was an "interesting" conversation!"
- I'm pretty close to buying a new bike after 10 years away, the only sticking point is explaining it to the wife after I rock up on it.

[SlimRick]

KTMsm said:

older

I think I fall into that category.

[SlimRick]

J__Wood said:

Jesus you must be my long lost twin -
"This arrived at 7am one day... I'd neglected to tell my wife that this was coming, I thought she'd be out when it arrived, buying me some time to think of a reason for its appearance - it was an "interesting" conversation!"
- I'm pretty close to buying a new bike after 10 years away, the only sticking point is explaining it to the wife after I rock up on it.

Do it - the worst that can happen is that she brings it up most evenings and drops lots of hints about spending the equivalent amount of money on her

[Drawweight]

Interesting about the test.

A mate of mine’s son is struggling to get a theory test just now.

However I don’t think they know the shortcuts as you did. I think it’s a case of if it’s not staring you in the face it can’t happen.

[outnumbered]

Well done. Presumably you had to van/trailer the GS to the Test centre? I’ve been looking for a way for my wife to take Mod1 on a non-school bike, and it seems complicated as you can’t get insurance without a test pass for example.

[SlimRick]

outnumbered said:

Well done. Presumably you had to van/trailer the GS to the Test centre?

Errr....yes, of course...that's exactly what I did.

[SlimRick]

Drawweight said:

Interesting about the test.

A mate of mine’s son is struggling to get a theory test just now.

However I don’t think they know the shortcuts as you did. I think it’s a case of if it’s not staring you in the face it can’t happen.

I checked the theory test availability in the evening and managed to get one for the following day. When people cancel it seems to update their system quite quickly.

[black-k1]

Congratulations on the bike and good luck with the test.

[Jules Sunley]

SlimRick said:

outnumbered said:

Well done. Presumably you had to van/trailer the GS to the Test centre?

Errr....yes, of course...that's exactly what I did.

Wondered the same thing. Not cool, shame you didn't get nicked. No excuse for that.

[LFB531]

Good work OP.

As a late returner, I also did my theory in Frome, felt a proper old git in a room with a handful of youngsters playing on PC's (pre-Covid).

FWIW, I also didn't tell my wife what I was up to and had a bike tucked away in store. She got over it....eventually

[outnumbered]

SlimRick said:

Errr....yes, of course...that's exactly what I did.

Hmmm OK,not a solution that will work for the mrs.