Dealing with nerves - mod 1 test and on the road

Hi

I'm wondering how to deal with my nerves. I did my CBT a few weeks ago and went from there to a direct access course. I had a session on a 500cc then two sessions on a 600cc. I have my mod 1 test booked for Wed this week. I'm a short girl, 158cm and 8st.

On the Mod 1 practice I found it very difficult to manually handle the motorcycle. Now I'm feeling sick about doing the mod 1 test as I used so much energy just moving the motorcycle. Any tips?

In general, I find the 765mm seat height a bit high and so this makes me already feel nervous all the time, as any off camber road surface and I'm struggling to keep the motorcycle stable. 765mm is the lowest seat height all the schools in my area have.

I also find listening to instruction from the coach distracting, in that my focus is making sure I hear him and it's making me less observant. He said my observations skills are lacking and that I need a few more lessons before the mod 2 test.

What can I do to stop my nerves taking me down!

Practice, practice.....and a bit more practice is all I can suggest....

Try not to overthink it....try to relax....easier said than done when you're new to biking, but it will come when you gain more confidence....

Yep!

Also if you find yourself fighting the weight of the bike, rethink what you're doing.

Once a bike is moving its weight shouldnt be a factor. Use the engine to make it go forwards and if you need to go backwards use gravity and the camber of the road to roll it backwards.

As the others have said, relax and take your time. We all know it's about making progress but you being in control is what you need to keep in your mind, it's a bike and when it's moving the balance is in your hands so you can control it with the throttle and brakes, and again keep relaxed with practise you will get your comfort zone sorted

keep calm and relax!

sorry (I hate those mugs!)

if you panic or over think things, you will tense. if you tense, you're working against your muscles. that's what makes you sweat and tire. if you're nice and loose and relaxed, the bike will turn in the direction you look. that's pretty much the short of it.

I am a guy but around your weight and short legged too. For the manual handling of the bike section my instructor gave me a very good tip. Hold both grips on the bars with the front brake on, lean back so your weight is pulling on the bars and then slowly release the brake and it will start rolling, then just keep pulling backwards. He also told me to do it like a three point turn instead of a half circle into the next bay and this did make it easier for me too. Remember to keep the bike as upright as you can and go slowly it isn't a race. Also don't forget your shoulder checks before moving the bike. HTH.

Warning - Another wall of text from me. (You should know it wouldn't take me long to stumble across this thread!)

Heya, I can completely understand exactly where you are coming from.

I passed my DAS 2 months ago I found the mod 1 particularly stressful. I am only 5ft 2 myself and pretty feeble. I did the same thing as you, CBT and 3 days training - although mine were all on a 600 (XJ6N - Lowered) I could flatfoot one side and ball of foot the other.

I was quite nervous about not being able to completely flatfoot as I felt unstable on uneven roads. I dropped the bike straight away when I first got on it. I tried it for size and then my instructor said to ride it around the training area for a bit to get used to it. I had that funny feeling something was going to go wrong as soon as he told me to do this. I didn't trust myself. He told me to just ride it forward (on gravel) and stop. I just sat there.. Frozen. He kept waving me to ride to him but I still didn't move. He came over to see what was up and I told him I'm nervous I feel like I'm going to drop it when I stop. He rode it off the gravel for me and down to the tarmac area. I got on it again and as there was more space I started riding it around... and around... and around... I knew I needed to stop at some point! So I rode it one more time around and then looped back to the instructor who was stood with another instructor just having a chat. Pull up nice and smoothly in front of them... panic.. right foot out, left foot out... wheeeeee... tips straight over haha. What a twit I felt!

The more I rode the more I just got used to it though and became more confident.

I found it particularly frustrating moving the bike around. There I was in the schools training area. Other guys do the maneuvering.. straight round in the arc shape, no problem, no sweat, 30 second job. There's me - side stand up, hold on to the bike for dear life, big heave to get it rolling backwards. Stop. Deep breaths. round again in a forwards arc till in line which the box. Stop. Deep Breaths. Roll it backwards again with a final heave. Stop in box, try and knock side stand with foot without tipping the bike too much. Job done. Totally knackered. bout 2-3 mins at a guess lol.

I was taught to do it this 3 point turn way as this is easier - more moves but less likely to drop it. I would be absolutely knackered by just the end of that maneuver + the fact that as I was maneuvering it my shins kept knocking the huge-ass engine bars on the bike and my leg resulted in having the most massive bruises.

I used one hand on the bar to steer and I used my other hand to push on the seat as I felt the grab rail was too far for me to stretch to, making me feel unstable with it.

On each of my 4 mod 1 attempts I did the maneuvering fine (1 time was very close to the right cone) but I still managed it. Each stop I did for the 3-point turn I took about 30 seconds rest and a few deep breathes, shoulder checks each time before moving again. I found the more I did it the more used to the weight of the bike I got (Aswell as building up some muscle too probably! lol) So I would advise If you are worried about it try and do it quite a few times to practice.

It was very kind of my instructors to pull me backwards when parking up, or tell me to get off and they'd push it back for me as I couldn't get enough footing and power to push it back myself in most cases. However, sometimes I wish I could have just got off and done it myself for that extra maneuvering practice. I guess I should've not been so shy and just said to them I wanted to hehe.

I booked in an extra day's lesson after a few of my mod 1 fails and for some reason it was the best riding I'd done - I think it was because I was so much more relaxed that day due to not having to worry about a test, just calm riding around town and a bit of practice at the test centre again in the afternoon for the maneuvers.

I wish you the best of luck and if you feel you need more training then go for it, it all helps. Hopefully you'll just breeze through it though and wonder what all the fuss was about And as one of my instructors kept saying "Winners never quit and Quitters never win!"

Not sure if any of this will be helpful but I know for me, what helped me a little with calming my nerves was reading other peoples experiences and knowing that I wasn't the only one

Ride safe

MissBex

-x-

For manual Handling in Mod 1 I would reccomend the three point turn much easier to control the bike, plus it takes longer giving you a bit more time to calm down!

For the bike though it may be worth looking further afield to find a training school with a lower bike I am using a XJ6 fully lowered and can manage that flat footed at 160cm but I am in Bournemouth with Let's Ride, there are options out there but they are hard to find!

Also look at your boots, some have a platform sole that might just boost you a little to make it feel safer.

What bike are you going to get once you have passed?

Warning - Another wall of text from me. (You should know it wouldn't take me long to stumble across this thread!)

I was taught to do it this 3 point turn way as this is easier - more moves but less likely to drop it. I would be absolutely knackered by just the end of that maneuver + the fact that as I was maneuvering it my shins kept knocking the huge-ass engine bars on the bike and my leg resulted in having the most massive bruises.

I used one hand on the bar to steer and I used my other hand to push on the seat as I felt the grab rail was too far for me to stretch to, making me feel unstable with it.

I am 6' 4" so don't normally have a problem pushing the bike around but I was told that the choice is yours on how you do the manual handling in one sweeping motion or the 3 point turn, I chose the 3 point turn as well as MissBex its a lot easier although make sure you do the over exaggerated shoulder checks they want to see .

Good Luck and don't put your feet down on the U-turn

I hadn't practiced that part before i took the test. Kinda wish I had! The instructor simply said "you're a big lad, figure it out!"