RC #1

RC #1 (Circuit Revision) - 27/11/14

So... It was my birthday yesterday! Yet I still went riding haha, figured riding makes me happy and I should be happy on my birthday.. Yes? I turned 23 yesterday! Woohoooo :D

It was my first RC practice, because I still cannot book the next practical 6.01 yet. I have not completed my PPL defensive theory lesson (I'm left with the last one btw!) and have not applied PDL. My last defensive theory will be on saturday, and by then I'll prolly go apply for PDL on the same day as well. Hopefully I can start my 6.01 next week!

So I took my first RC with 4 other people. Did "S" and crank course first, right turn + lane changing, slope, narrow plank, pylon slalom and lastly ebrake.

And of course, I got stuck at the "S" course lah. My problem is sometimes I still keep turning off and on my throttle hence, I always fail to hit the required timing of under 11 seconds. Some of the older instructors there helped me alot and all, pillioned and showed me how to it and stuff, asked me to not worry about going faster or striking kerb. After a number of painful tries, I got the timing hahaha. Did slopes, then the S and crank courses a few more times before moving onto narrow plank and pylon slalom. Both of these courses were okay for me!! Then we moved onto ebrake...

Idk man but wtf is wrong with my ebraking skills?! My posture is shit, right leg keep dropping to the ground when stopping, eye kept looking below the line, wobbled when ebrake, used front brake too much... ZZZZZ. It doesn't help when there's a ferocious looking instructor shooting cut throat stares into me when I do my ebrake... Prolly because I accidentally cut into his class's student's lane when moving out earlier on after ebrake. I already checked my mirror and blindspot, I saw the dude was moving rather slowly and there's a gap so I moved out... I know I should give way lah but.. I apologized and all already and I'm still learning everytime I go for practs so.... Okay so moving on.


I felt like I did shitty today, particularly my ebrake and S course (still very inconsistent). Did badly whenever I wanna stop as well, damn unstable!!! Idk issit cause I haven't touch a bike for more than a week, then felt damn ganchiong and shit. Okay I think it's like a 50 50 performance?! Since it's my first RC practice, I shan't be too hard on myself. In conclusion... I still need to go for more RC practices!!

Prac 5.02 (1st attempt) - Passed

Prac 5.02 (1st attempt) - 18/11/14 (Sixteenth lesson)

HI GUYS!! Today I felt especially nervous because 5.02 is my circuit evaluation..

Objective:
- Complete circuit test route with less than 12 demerit points and no IF (Immediate Failure) in accordance with the riding assessment checklist.

A very stupid thing happened today.. Cos normally I'll fold my training details slip with my IC and put it in my jeans pocket but while I was putting my bag into the locker, I wanted to check my number tag so I dugged my jeans pocket AND.... My IC fell out (I also don't know how) and fell under the vending machine hahahaha!!! Bent down to look under the vending machine but I only found my IC wtf, my details slip was missing!!? Luckily my instructor said it was alright lah heh.. Phew.

Since my last practical was exactly a week ago, Syahir had advised us to go for RC (circuit revision) before going for 5.02 and... I didn't go for any RC ahaha I wanted to try to attempt my 5.02 first.

Took the class with 3 other people, 2 guys and the china woman whom I had 2 classes with last time! Okay so her name is called Suwan, not Suzhen ahahaha. 1 of the guy was his 2nd time while the rest of us were 1st timers. The instructor we got was this (kinda) old malay instructor, whom I didn't get his name, and he looked damn fierce and stern!! So intimidating lor, stress hahaha.

Went for like (I think) 3 rounds around the circuit test route as a practice before the actual assessment. At 4pm, we went back to park our bikes before briefing by the instructor. Then we started our assessment! We were told that the first bike should keep to one lane before each courses, and the rest of us should queue behind the first bike to avoid delaying other classes' students. Reason being, we had to wait for the instructor to clear the last man before he had to move to the next course and assess us.

AND GUESS WHAT......

I was the first bike hahahahah.

Idk what other people think about first bikes, to me it feels like a huge responsibility?! Like the rest of the people have to follow my route, see me do my courses first and all first etc.

So this happened at the slope.. There was a car on the slope so I thought the same theory applies, when 2 bikes are at the slope, 3rd bike can wait at the bottom of the slope. Yalah being the first bike, I don't what why I forgot what my 2.02 instructors said and went to the bottom of the slope to wait for the car to finish doing the slope instead of waiting at sign number 7. Saw my instructor (he was on the higher slope observing us) looked down at the assessment checklist and he wrote some stuff... Hoseh liao, thought I failed already hahaha.

And here comes my dreaded and nightmare 'S' course. Idk lah.. This Figure 8 'S' course just scares me?! If go too fast then strike or mount kerb how!? Ahahaha I tried my very best to go as fast as possible though, but felt it wasn't good enough.

Since we had time, the instructor asked us to go for a second round.. And well well well..

I WAS THE FIRST BIKE FOR THE SECOND TIME!! 

Initially I asked the other guy to go first but he said, "Nono you go first". Wahlao what is this, the pressure is just... :\

Redid our entire circuit test route and at the crank course, my instructor told me, "wah now second try then you all never do all the silly mistakes". LOL so I think all our first try were damn bad?! Went to return our bikes and the instructor asked us, "So you all want to take your first or second assessment results?" I said anything so one of the guys said to take the first assessment result instead.. I mean it's only fair right? Results of course must use 1st one hahaha. Besides, the instructor said our 1st and 2nd results didn't have much difference anyway. Waited at the bench at the circuit test route board for our instructor to finish keying in our results..

So he came back after awhile and handed this green slip of paper to the first guy.. Then the second guy.... I was thinking.. Wah die lah confirm cannot make it!! And.... My instructor gave me the green slip of paper!! Unfortunately my china friend, Suwan didn't make it.

I scored 10 demerit points for my circuit evaluation assessment!
We need less than 12 points to pass this lesson.

Okay so my nightmare 'S' course caused me 4 demerit points wahlao.. I really need to work much harder for this course ley.

Don't be afraid to throttle more Joyce!!!!

Wobbled when changing lane/negotiating bend/turning.. 4 demerit points! Idk which mistake I made but I'm guessing it's the turning part?

And this... Incorrect positioning = 2 demerit points!! Yes this mistake was due to me waiting at the bottom of the slope when there's a car on the slope ahahha silly mistake lah, could have avoided it.

So this slip of paper is to show I have completed my circuit training programme!! :')

Ahahahha, so 感人.. Exactly 8 weeks ago, I started on my very first motorbike practical 1.01. I still can clearly remember my very first practical lesson, so excited, so anxious to finally get the chance to ride on a real motorbike (instead of the arcade ones ahahahah).

Now I'm left with defensive theory lessons before I can head on out to the road for road lessons!! I actually already attended 1 defensive theory lesson (PPL 1.01) so I still need to clear PPL 1.02 and 1.03, 6.01 and 7.01 road lessons before my final evaluation of 8.01 and lastly.. TP!


My progress up till now:
23/09/14: First lesson
1.01 - failed

25/09/14: Second lesson
1.01 and 1.02 passed together

30/09/14: Third lesson
1.03 - failed

2/10/14: Fourth lesson
1.03 - passed

7/10/14: Fifth lesson
2.01 - failed

9/10/14: Sixth lesson
2.01 - passed

10/10/14: Seventh lesson
2.02 - failed

14/10/14: Eighth lesson
2.02 - failed

15/10/14: Ninth lesson
2.02 - passed

20/10/14: Tenth lesson
3.01 - passed

23/10/14: Eleventh lesson
3.02 - failed

26/10/14: Twelfth lesson
3.02 - passed

28/10/14: Thirteenth lesson
4.01 - passed

4/11/14: Fourteen lesson
4.02 - passed

11/11/14: Fifteen lesson
5.01 - passed

18/11/14: Sixteenth lesson
5.02 - passed

Prac 5.01 (1st attempt) - Passed

Prac 5.01 (1st attempt) - 11/11/14 (Fifteen lesson)

After a week, I went for my first attempt of 5.01! 5.01 consist of; introduction to circuit test route, pillion riding and u-turn. When I reached the bike waiting room, I was surprised to see the china lady!! She was damn happy to see me hahaha. I got to know her during my first attempt of 4.01, S and Crank courses. I think her name is Suzhen, I'll just call her Suzhen LOL. And other guy who took the same class with us was Soe, we got to know each other during my 3rd attempt of 2.02. So 3 of us were first timers for today's class, and I was friends with both of them so I felt comfortable.

And the instructor we gotten was... Syahir!! Yes, it was him again hahaha, he took my 1st attempt of 1.03, 3rd attempt of 2.02 and first attempt of 4.01. Funny thing was.. When I got to know Suzhen and Soe during my 4.01 and 2.02 respectively, the instructor we gotten was Syahir as well. Hahahha coincidence? I think not :D

So we did U-turn first at the mini circuit. We had to go straight then stop at the 2nd set of cones, before doing a u-turn. As you can tell.... I was damn clumsy?! HAHAH. Below is a badly drawn diagram of what I did initially... The black arrows and black lines were the intended path.

Yep I didn't dare to turn my handlebar more to the right and felt damnnnn ganchiong, in the end I went past the 3rd set of cones and went out of the route hahahah, I was the red arrow... I think ppl confirm were laughing at me lah. BUT!! Subsequently I did it. With the help of both Syahir and Shaiful! Although I still think u-turn is damn scary hahaha. 

Next, we parked our bikes and went to the bench + circuit test route board for a briefing by Syahir, on where to check blindspots, signal and basically which route to take. After that when we were about to head out to do our courses... 

IT STARTED RAINING! 

-_-


Oh my goodness srsly. Had to go and put on raincoat and pants... This was my 2nd time riding in the rain!! Though riding in the rain is fun but still I rather choose not to hehhhhh.

Did our lane changing, slopes, S and crank courses, right turning, narrow plank, pylon slalom and lastly, ebrake! Our first round was alright. I'm glad I survived my nightmare S course hahaha. Parked our bikes, had a short break and next, we did pillion riding! Basically we had to do pillion riding through the circuit test route. Suzhen and I pillioned each other while Soe pillioned Syahir. Suzhen pillion me first and we even chatted a little while she ride LOL. She said she pillion people before back in China, but without licence. Then it was my turn.. I felt nervous cos afterall, its my first time "pillioning" someone.. Afraid I'll drop the bike and cause us both to fall or something?! Anyway we survived, but I did dropped off the plank while doing the pillion riding. 

After that, we went for a last round around the circuit test route before returning our bikes! Did a debrief and Syahir gave us a sheet of paper containing information about the Class 2B test route and the riding assessment checklist. And YEPPPP, all 3 of us passed our 5.01!! YAYYYYY :D It was a really fun and stress-free practical for me today, since I took this class with my 2 friends made in bbdc and my favourite instructor.

Next practical will be 5.02: Circuit Evaluation.. Where the instructor will use the assessment checklist to assess us!? Wah damn nervous hahaha. My next lesson will be next tuesday, good luck to me! :D

Prac 4.02 (1st attempt) - Passed

Prac 4.02 (1st attempt) - 4/11/14 (Fourteen lesson)

Alas! Finally my work schedule allowed me to book my practical lesson. I've never gone past 5 days of not going to bbdc for bike practicals cos it's a peak period in my working place now plus there are insufficient conducting staff. Speaking of which.. Working nonstop for days with little rest has taken a toll on me. Fell sick on Sunday, with dry coughs, stuffed and runny nose plus I'm currently nursing a fever. I hate feeling like this!! After a week's break, I did feel anxious cause I was afraid I'll lose the feel of the works of a bike.

Anyway, today is my first attempt of my practical 4.02: Circuit training review. So we had to do all the circuit courses we learnt since day 1. Took my 4.02 with 3 other guys, all of us were first timers. The instructor we got was Azad, he took my previous 2nd attempt of 2.02.

1) Narrow plank and pylon slalom
I don't know about other people but narrow plank was the most fun to do out of all the courses!! I feel this sense of accomplishment whenever I can balance myself slowly on the plank. There was once I accidentally used my front brake LOLOL whoops, use only rear brake pls joyce. My average timing was like 7 seconds plus? Moving onto pylon slalom, sometimes I do feel scared to turn my handlebar more but generally I think it's okay. There was once I didn't turn my handlebar fast enough and felt I couldn't make the last turn at the cone so I forgo and went straight hahaha shitz.

2) Emergency braking on a wet surface
Ebrake!!! I still have a habit of clutching in too early arghhhhh. There were instructors helping me, Kelvin said sometimes my eyes will still look down at the line ahahaha. Damn I need to stop these habits!!! Subsequently I stopped doing it, I did cause engine to stall once though. Abit scary to do ebrake with no elbow and knee guards (cos previous lessons we wore them) incase we really skid and fall.

3) Right turning, lane changing and slopes
Redid our 2.02 route all over, right turn, lane changing and slopes!! I think I have a problem of having poor judgement, like I'll hesitate whenever I wanna do my right turn. You see, right turning has a much further distance to carry out and we have to make sure both sides are clear. Well... From what I've learnt from driving on public roads and stuff, if you are not confident of moving out, THEN WAIT!! But cannot wait too long also hahaha.

4) 'S' and crank courses
Oh the horror!! I still can remember taking my 'S' and crank courses practical exactly a week ago. The 'S' course really scares me hahahaha, must clock timing, must not mount/strike kerb, must look far etc. My first round around the 'S' course was bad, I didn't grip my fuel tank tightly, arms too stiff hence, I became quite wobbly. After given corrections by Azad, I managed to clock timing and maintained posture. Yippeeee!! Crank course was okay, thankfully I didn't mount the kerb like what I did last week hahahaha malu pls.

5) Overall circuit revision
Azad told us to try 1 round of the "real" circuit test route, where to go first and stuff. So I redid my narrow plank first, pylon slalom, ebrake, lane changing, slope, 'S' and crank courses and headed back to return our bikes.

I feel the 100 mins went by so fast?! Cause we did lotsa courses today as well. Azad said that for myself and another guy taking the same class as me, we were quite stable and okay for our courses!! I was damn thrilled to hear that lah, cos initially I didn't have high hopes of doing well and passing today's class due to my sickness and not going to practical for a week. But once I got on the bike today, everything came back to me.

Anyway I felt like I'm progresing really quickly!! It's been only 6 weeks since I first started my class 2b practical. Right now, I'm left with practicals 5.01, 5.02, 6.01, 7.01 and 8.01! Plus Defensive Riding Theory Lesson PPL 1.01, 1.02 and 1.03. Furthermore my RTT is still quite long... It's in dec omg. Kinda regret not going for RTE earlier so I can book my RTT at an earlier date!! Okay then I'll probably cut down on going practicals so often. My next lesson will be next tuesday, wish me luck! :D