Class 2B Traffic Police (TP) test

Today is finally the day, I tried my best to sleep at 1030pm the night before (LOL) so I can get ample rest for my Class 2B Traffic Police test on this very day. I woke up at 2am and 4am, prolly cos I was so nervous and then at 5:45am. At this point my heart was beating so fast, the feeling was so much more nerve-wrecking than taking my university exams hahaha. Prepared and got changed quickly, very thankful my mommy agreed to send me to BBDC so I don't need to wait for the bus and all.

Reached BBDC at 7:15am, scanned my IC at the kiosk and got my slip of paper. Went to the motorcycle office, checked this long list of attendance for my number tag, which was 29.

Incase you don't know during TP, the number tags are arranged from number 1 all the way to the last number by the order of: Foreigners, Singaporeans aged the oldest all the way to the youngest. Today there were 46 of us taking our TP test!

We were given this clear plastic holder to put our IC/passport + PDL, which had to be given to the TP testers after.

Then we went for our warmup session, which was about 30-40 mins? I couldn't rmb cos I wasn't wearing a watch. My warmup session was terrible!! Went for narrow plank and pylon slalom course first, and you know what... I dropped off the plank hahaha that's an immediate failure lah! I've made some horrible mistakes, such as dropping of right foot, ebrake exceeded red line and such.. Not only me, I saw some of my fellow testee right footed, drop plank etc. Nerves got to most of us I guess hahaha. Went back to park our bikes and took a short 5 mins break. Then at 0900, we had a briefing by the instructor on what to look out for, when to start our courses and the circuit and public test route.

At around 0930, we went out and gathered accordingly to our row numbers, where the TP personnels will check our IC and ask us to recite our IC number hahahha idk why but the scene was damn funny.

Since I was number 29, I had some time to kill. Occasionally I'll glance out the window and see the earlier number tags from 1 to 20 going for their courses or coming down the slope etc. At this point I wasn't as nervous already! Maybe cause I told myself, "leave it to fate".

Then my row was gathered outside, took our bikes and we got ready at the starting point. Only 1 bike will be at the starting point, then the second bike will be behind the cones (around 1 car length away from the first bike). So only 3 bikes can wait before the first bike at the starting line! Whenever the bike at the starting line moves off, the second bike will move forward etc. The tester will normally signal for the bike to move off around 2-2.5 minutes interval to avoid having to wait at circuit courses.

The very first tester was sitting on a high chair on my left, I looked at him and he gave me the sign to move off. But there was an oncoming vehicle on my right so I waited.. After that I moved off. I was damn unlucky lah.. Cause we had to lane change to the right after the very first bend and there were 2 bloody cars, one on the left and one on the right, moving at the same speed SIDE BY SIDE WTF. I couldn't overtake and shit... So I remained in gear 2/3 all the way on the left lane.. Upon reaching the bend, suddenly the car infront of me on the left lane went to hazard light, (OMFG YOU KIDDING ME)?!?! The car on the right went much slower before the bend... I was so freaking afraid of not being able to lane change in time to the right. Then the left lane car went faster and I lane changed after the bloody slow car on the right lane *PHEW*there were alot of colourful words in my head already that time hahahah.

Turned right in, lane changed to the left and turned left to head to the slope. When moving up the slope after releasing my clutch and brake, I think I wobbled cos ganchiong or what damnnnnn.. Engine brake down the slope, braked and clutched in. Turned left and headed straight for my Figure 8 "S" and crank courses. The TP tester gave me the sign to go and I went! Did my "S" course, stopped and then proceeded to the crank course. Upon exiting the crank course, the traffic light was green so I immediately rev my throttle, junction check and here comes the right turn.

No cars in sight, great! Moved out, lane changed to the left and went into the bus bay. Here comes the narrow plank and pylon slalom course. TP tester signalled for me to go, blindspot and up my bike went onto the plank! Tried my very best to kiap my fuel tank really tightly, looked super far ahead and clutch+rear brake when I felt I was going too fast. Before I went onto the narrow plank, all that was in my head was.. "DON'T FALL OFF THE PLANK!!!". Pylon slalom next, thank goodness I didn't strike any cones haha. Ebrake course was last...

Rev throttle from gear 1, kicked up gear to 2, then 3.. Maintained at 30-31km/hr then ebraked! Luckily I didn't pass the red line like what I did during my warmup session harharhar.... Moved out of the ebrake station and went straight, signalled left to go out to the public test route... Silly me had forgotten to check my left blindspot before my left turn to head out to BBDC SIGHHHH. When I realized that, I was like 1/4 into my left turn then I checked my blindspot. So silly... In my head I knew confirm 4 points gone already :(

Very unlucky, there were 2 cars infront of me heading out to BBDC as well. My low speed control is not excellent, so I have a higher chance of wobble and all. Stopped at stop line, saw another TP tester RIGHT INFRONT OF ME!! Tried my very best to not look at him...

Reached the left filter lane, thank goodness the oncoming traffic on the right stopped cos it just turned red light, quickly moved out of the filter lane, accidentally saw another TP tester sitting at the filter lane area and tried my best to not look at him. Lane changed to the right, reached traffic light junction, signalled right and went for uturn. There wasn't any bike so I stopped at the stop line, accidentally turned my handlebar way too early so my bike's position was in quite a "sharp turning" position. Lotsa oncoming vehicles, waited for awhile and at the same time, took lotsa deep breaths... Because to me uturning is the scariest out of everything! Traffic was clear, and I did my uturn in such a way I was damn proud of myself HAHAH, so smooth, no wobble no wide turning oh my gosh!! After my uturn, I felt so stress-free and even smiled to myself LOL crazy, I hope the tester didn't see my smiley face hahaha.

Right turned at the traffic light junction, went straight and rode passed the hometeam ns golf ranch and there were pedestrians crossing at the zebra-crossing so I stopped, saw another TP tester sitting near the hometeam ns bus stop. Wanted to turn left after passing hometeam, but there was a lorry infront of me LOL. Thankfully I rmbed to stop behind the stop line incase I cannot make the left turn in time, but luckily the lorry went off fast while green light and I turned left.

Rode back to BBDC happily knowing my TP test is coming to an end, turned left into BBDC, turned left again and after the mechanics shop, turned left into the end point, switched my bike's engine off and pushed the bike through the circuit to park it. The whole test took me about 25 mins or so! Since the results will only be out at 1130am, I went for a short break with 2 of my friends. Headed to level 3, classroom 3 for results.

At 1145am, a bike instructor walked into the classroom, holding some papers and shut the door behind him. Suddenly the classroom was so silent. He told us that whoever's number tags that were being called to go to another classroom.

If your number is being called, means you failed!!!

My heart was beating like crazy at this point. Furthermore, he said the numbers that were being called will be jumbled up, added more stress! Everytime he said "twenty..." I got damn ganchiong lah since I was tag number 29. There were lotsa females' tags being called consecutively at one point, gosh.. After this girl was called, the instructor waited for her to shut the door and he said, "Those who are still in this classroom, you have passed your TP" hahahah!!! I WAS OVER THE MOON! People started cheering, giving each other high fives, handshakes etc.

There were 46 people taking TP today, of which 27 people passed (4 females, including me, made it. YAY!!) Its a rough estimation lah, I counted how many people passed cause the Expressway Familiarization Ride (EFR) course had limited slots so I counted to see if there are enough slots anot hahahah.

Watched a video on road accidents for riders, how to safeguard our motorcycles etc. We took a Riders' Pledge as well. I couldn't remember the entire pledge but the last paragraph goes something like this..

"We pledge as riders to ride safely and to stay alive."

Took our results back and I BARELY MADE IT THROUGH!! I got 18 demerit points hahahah. Half of my 18 points came from wobble lah... The rest was abrupt lane changing and blindspot. Anyway I was so excited. This is very first attempt for my Class 2B TP and I DID IT!!!!  
I FREAKING DID IT!!!

After 1230 (that's when the EFR course is open), went to the computer terminal at level 1 to book our compulsory (& FOC!) Expressway Familiarization Ride (EFR) course at 1320 before I can officially be a qualified rider!

Izhardi and Vincent took our group of 6 people out for ERF! We rode to KJE, discovery centre, SAFTI, Qian Hu area and some other places I don't remember. The feeling of riding on the expressway was so exhilarating!! I loved every minute of it really. Best day ever!!

After my EFR at about 3pm, I went to the TP office to get another row added to my license!! The wait was terribly long lah... Waited for 1 hour 30 mins until it was my turn hahahha. Since I already have a class 3 license, the whole sticker pasting process was really quick. By the time I was done with everything, it was already close to 5pm. So I spent almost 10 hours at BBDC today hahaha madness, since 7:15am-5pm.

WHOOPPPP NEW ROW ADDED TO MY EXISTING CLASS 3 LICENSE!

I've enrolled in Class 2B on 15th Sept 2014,
Started my very first practical lesson on 23rd Sept 2014,
Ended my last practical lesson on 22nd Dec 2014

And now...

Passed my first attempt of Class 2B on 17th Feb 2015!

Took me 5 months to clear everything! I worked really hard for my 2B license... Went for pracs 2 times a week diligently during my initial orientation stages, when I reached stage 3 onwards I still go for pracs once a week and weekly practices during my wait to TP. Being a female rider, people tend to doubt my abilities to ride since male riders are always more superior. Although I didn't suffer from any major falls during my learning journey, I did drop my bike, mount kerb on crank course 2x and once in the "S" course HAHAHA.

Even though I barely made it through my TP with 18 points, I'm so overjoyed and grateful for this experience. I definitely will not forget this 5 months of learning 2B! Extremely thankful for all the help, tips and guidance given by the friendly motorcycle instructors at BBDC.

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Anyway this is the overall breakdown of my Class 2B practical lessons I took over the span of 5 months at BBDC!


1.01: 1x (START: 23/09/14)
1.02: 1x (passed with 2nd attempt of 1.01)
1.03: 2x
2.01: 2x
2.02: 3x
3.01: 1x
3.02: 2x
4.01: 1x
4.02: 1x
5.01: 1x
5.02: 1x
6.01: 1x
7.01: 2x
8.01: 1x (END: 22/12/14)

Total paid practical lessons: 20

RC: 6x
SP: 7x
RR: 3x

TP: 1x

Total amount spent: SGD $1,192.30

They consist of..

- Practical lessons: $990.82

- Theory (basic + riding theory lessons, riding theory practice + evaluation, defensive theory lessons): $143.38

- BTT: Exempted since I took it during my class 3 days back in 2010!

- RTT: $6

- TP: $52.10

Since I passed my 8.01 final evaluation quite early, I went for many practices weekly throughout the wait to my TP!


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Time to start looking for bikes lo!! Although I already know what bike I want to get. Can't wait to start riding a motorcycle with my sister and maybe.. Just maybe we might go and take our Class 2A one year later? :D Would love to try the Super Four at BBDC heehee. A really happy Chinese New Year indeed!!

Do drop me a comment or ask me anything on askfm if you guys have any doubts on the 2b course! I'll try my best to answer them. To those learning 2B now, have fun with it and ride safe! :)

SP #6 and RR #2

2 pracs for yesterday and today!

SP #6 - 8/2/15
RR #2 - 9/2/15

My second road revision (RR) today! How was it? It was really bad, but not as bad as my first RR last wednesday. Took my 2nd RR with 5 other guys, of which 4 of them are having their TP test tmr gosh. Only 1 of the guys and I are gonna take our TP next week....

First we went for warmup of 2 rounds around the circuit test route. For the first round, I entered the "S" course in neutral gear wtf. Guess I didn't kick it high enough or the gear just dropped to neutral on its own zzzzz. For my second round at my ebrake when I wanna stop, I didn't turn my handlebar to the centre and thus.... My right foot drop wtf. My instructor was standing infront and he gave me that "orh hor that's an immediate failure" look hahahhaa. Then we went out to the road.. When queuing up to exit bbdc, we had to do low speed control to slowly move up whenever vehicles exit bbdc and.... My right foot drop again wtf is wrong with me?!?! My instructor told me, "wah this stage already still right foot drop ah." Listen already I also feel stress.

Did 4 rounds today for our public test route and this time my uturning wasn't as bad as my 1st RR. But I guess nerves got the best of me, when I wanna move to the stop line at the uturn... I dropped my right foot for 2 rounds (out of 4) lah. *SHAKE MY  HEAD* fail liao lor really, well done joyce well done.

Before returning our bikes, we went to do 1 round of narrow plank, pylon slalom and ebrake. I think I went too fast for ebrake and step too much on my rear brake and guess what happened... My rear wheel kena locked, I ALMOST SKIDDED.. ALMOST!!!!!! My handlebar was moving left and right already and I immediately released my brakes and braked again.. Of cos I exceeded the stop line by ALOT.

I guess the toughest circuit courses for me will be the  S course, whether I'll hit the required timing and I still try my best to not exit the course so fast and Ebrake, sometimes my posture is wrong or I still do clutch in early. Practice practice practice!!!

RR #1

RR #1 (Road Revision) - 4/2/15

Its been 6 weeks since I last rode on the public road, cos 6 weeks ago when I was riding on the public road was because I was taking my prac 8.01 final evaluation! So yeah since my TP is nearing I decided to go for a session of RR. Anyway first of all I wanna say , I DID HORRIBLE. Really really horrible!!!

Took my RR with 2 other girls and 1 guy, our instructors were George and Izhardi! Think we did about 5 rounds around the public test route and out of 5, I only did 1 passable uturn during my last round!!! The rest was cos I didn't turn handlebar more, threw my clutch too much or I didn't release enough rear brake so I wobbled really badly when I was uturning. I've done alot of uturn practices in the circuit during my rc and sp prior to today's rr and they were all fine!! When I got on the public road I felt damn bloody nervous!!! Like traffic was heavy and damn unpredictable lah.

Many times I chose to go out of the filter lane at the wrong time = alot of vehicles = difficult to lane change. There was once I got stuck behind this sibei huge truck doing a uturn (I had to stay on the first lane after lane changing after the filter lane), the driver positioned himself on the first lane wtf I know he needs more clearance and all but my instructor said it is illegal to do that. Also I couldn't gauge whether or not the pedestrians wanna cross the zebra crossing so I just moved off, which is an immediate failure lah I should have waited to see if they really wanna cross or not.

So many mistakes!!!! If this was a real TP I think just plainly based on my public test route performance, I would have gotten like over 30-40 demerit points with 2 immediate failures man. TP is coming up in 13 days!!!!! Seriously must go for more RR practices already. Felt extremely lethargic and my head hurt after my RR, think I used too much energy to predict road hazards, wanna move off or not or I just think too much etc LOL.

On the bright side, I made friend with this lady during my RR just now. Knowing she didn't pass her 1st try of TP just last dec, she told me how the TP will be like and stuff. And she's taking her 2nd try of TP on the same day as me! Thankful that there'll be a familiar face during my TP.

Horrible performance today no joke man. Better book 2 more RR and get my shit together hhahahaha!

-

Anyway I added a ask.fm section at my sidebar, so feel free to ask me anything you want!!!!! or you can just click on the link below :D

http://ask.fm/dearjoys

RC #4 and SP #5

Hey guys!

This week I went for 2 practice sessions:
RC #4 (Circuit Revision) - 29/1/15

SP #5 (Self Practice) - 31/1/15

Initially I only intend to go for RC this week but I have a friend who asked me if I wanna go for SP today, so I agreed. More practice, confirm will be beneficial right! Plus today my deal got cancelled so I'm not working today. Was late for prac today cos bbdc carpark got no parking lots wahlaoooooo!! Drive to bbdc so many times and this is the first time I encountered no lots. Waited awhile in the end I went to park the car opposite the centre's multistorey carpark since my friend and I were running late for our SP session already. And I found out the price is so much cheaper than parking at bbdc!!! hahahah.

Did lotsa uturn practices today during SP cause I have a Road Revision (RR) session booked for next wednesday so I wouldn't wanna fall down on the main road when uturning LOL. Extremely hot weather today, tryna tahan throughout the entire 100 mins. AND! I think I noticed that everytime during weekends, the instructors tend to be more cheery and smiley? HAHAHA that's what I feel lah. I've only been to 3 weekends prac out of 20-ish pracs and I noticed that. Prolly cos its the weekends LOL.

Both my RC and SP sessions this week were quite alright. Think I still have some mistakes to work on.. Like,

- Exiting the Figure 8 "S" course really fast = wide turning
- Stopping at neutral gear

- Incorrect posture at ebrake station

- Wobble when stopping

Awaiting my first RR session next wednesday! WHOOPPPP :D

SP #4

SP #4 (Self Practice) - 23/1/15

8 days since my last practice! Booked an early session today.. Session 3 at 11:30am because I havent been to any practicals this week yet, my weekends are meant for working, and the previous days I've been working as well so today is the only free time I got.

Anyway to summarize the performance I had today, IT WAS TERRIBLE!!! I made so many mistakes such as..

- Exiting crank course in neutral gear
- Fell off plank.. Havent even reach 1/4 of the plank then fell off LOL.
- Not stopping in gear 1 a few times
-  Not hitting 30km/hr at my ebrake station.. Unknowingly went to close throttle in the middle already
- Never change signal to left when going down the slope

And many more I don't remember. Plus! I wanted to try to do uturning at the traffic light junction since I only tried it at the mini circuit last week, it will give me a more "realistic" feel since there'll be other vehicles..

My first try was just plain HORRIBLE!!! Here's a badly drawn image below depicting my first try doing uturning at the traffic light junction on my own.....

I'm supposed to stop behind the stop line, wait for green light, move forward and turn handlebar to the right and stop again, then uturn to the 1st lane... The red arrow shows what I did for my first try HAHAHAH!!! I don't know what happened to me or maybe my bike kena possessed lah, My wide turning was srsly damn crazy bad until I almost wanted to go against the traffic or gonna mount kerb HAHAHAHA OH MY GOODNESS. I think some people saw my crazy stunt lah, damn paiseh but! I quickly turned handlebar and braked more so I didn't do any of the crazy things I said that might happen..

Exited and went one round around the circuit, then I went back to redo my uturn. Okay guys I managed to uturn without wide turning or going into some other lane or whatnot LOL. Felt so happy for awhile!

Yeah so my performance is kinda inconsistent, I have my good days and bad days during practices.. Last week I had a really productive SP session and today is just BLAH. Got so much to work on and my TP test is just 25 days away.. How ah how?!?!!?

Have already booked 2 RR, 2 RC and 1 more SP throughout this 25 days till TP. Seeing my shitty performance today makes it seem my current amount of practices are severely inadequate!

SP #3

SP #3 (Self Practice) - 15/1/15

Took my 3rd SP session in my entire 2B course today! Btw it cost like $14.98 (nonpeak) so its so much cheaper than RC and RR, or any other practical lessons. The downside is that there won't be any instructors to guide nor give comments about your performance, but the brightside is bo zeng hu, can do whatever you want (no government) HAHAHA just kidding, sometimes instructors who are stationed at certain courses will give me advices and comments about my performance too. SP is mainly for people who already know where they're weak at and can mainly focus on that course they want. For example, you can just spend the entire 100 mins doing your Figure 8 "S" and crank course, nobody can stop you. Or you can spend your 100 mins doing uturns HAHAHA!

Before that I was in a bloody rush to get to bbdc! Cause my university convocation is on saturday and I had to quickly drive to school to collect my guests' invitation cards, quickly drive back home to get changed for bike SP session then quickly drive to bbdc hahaha. Yeah I'm graduating!!! Oh my gosh the one thing I hate about some Singaporean drivers is THEY DO NOT SIGNAL!! And, slow drivers hogging the first lane argh. Okay so anyway, I made it to bbdc on time hahaha. Moving on~

Did lotsa rounds about the circuit test route, but sometimes when I see certain courses that are damn crowded I'll just skip and go to the next course hahaha. Halfway through the 100 mins I went to the mini circuit to practice my uturning as well! Azad was there to give me comments on how to straighten my bike when I'm moving from the first stop line to the second stop line before doing my uturn. Even though the last time I did uturning was more than 3 weeks ago (Uturning is one of the test requirement that scares me, I have a phobia of my right leg dropping to the ground or wobbling), surprisingly I did fine!! Although there was only one time I accidentally strike the cone hahahaha, cos of wide turning. These 4 things are always on repeat whenever I do my uturns,
1) KIAP FUEL TANK SUPER TIGHTLY
2) DONT BE AFRAID TO THROTTLE
3) STEP ON FOOT BRAKE
4) LOOK FAR FAR AWAY

Although I still feel a little nervous when I was gonna uturn.. Idk how I'll fare if I do on the road but I felt pretty happy knowing I can do uturns in an "okay manner" in the mini circuit after such a long break heh.

Did all my circuit courses.. Once I entered the Figure 8 "S" course in neutral gear ahahaha omg made me wobble and almost strike kerb and once at ebrake, I didn't kick my gear high enough from 1 to 2 so I throttled alot in neutral gear, then there was a "VROOOOOOOM!!" sound ahahah luckily there weren't anybody at the ebrake course LOL.

Very productive day today, although the sun was blazing hot like mad!! My eyes were squinting when I was riding in the direction of the sunrays ahahaha. My thighs and arms were having a mini sauna party with my long sleeve top and jeans as well LOL. And to the guy I saw at the right turning stop line today, hello there!! I hope you passed your prac 4.01 today :D

Will probably go for another SP or RC session next week, see you next week bbdc!!

Countdown to 2B TP:
33 days

RC #3

RC #3 (Circuit Revision) - 7/1/15

Back to bbdc again!! It has been more than 2 weeks since my last time being on a motorcycle.. Do I miss it? YOU BET!!! I didn't go for pracs cos there were still quite some time left to my "judgement day".. Which is my TP test hahahah. Bumped into my primary school friend at the bbdc entrance, plus my secondary school friend (who was taking the same RC prac as me!). Actually they were the ones who called my name yet I need to ask who they are before knowing I actually knew them lol... So laokui ley me. It's crazy amazing how people can change so much in a span of few years!! If they still are able to recognize me, does that mean I still look like a kid?! Ok I digressed.

Took my 3rd RC in my entire 2B course, to date, with 4 other guys and the instructor we gotten was Syahir!! He's the only instructor whom I have the privilege to attend his pracs so many times!! Around maybe 4-5 times already? So today I was the only person waiting for TP, while the other 4 guys were either in their prac 5 or waiting for prac 6!

Did 2 rounds of the circuit test route as a warmup first. As I didn't attend any prac for more than 2 weeks, I felt so foreign to the motorcycle hahaha! Took me like 5 mins to get used to it... Initially I felt damn wobbly and stuff. Hence its really true, what the instructors said.. To go for pracs at least one time a week so we wouldn't lose the feel of the bike! Yes, tested and proven... At least for me lah.

Then we went back to the circuit test route board for a briefing on general riding and stuff, how to lane change properly etc.. After the briefing, we did narrow plank first, pylon slalom, ebrake, figure 8 "S" course, crank course, right turning and lastly slope!

If y'all know, I really love doing narrow plank! It gives me this sense of achievement when I can stay on it hahahaha. But for the past few sessions I had fared really horribly on narrow plank :( BUT BUT BUT! I think the narrow plank feel struck me back today, and I felt so good doing the plank! My average timing was 8.35-8.60 secs today. Plus I didn't wobble badly anymore!! Pylon slalom was alright. Moving onto ebrake!

Okay this ebrake ah... Sometimes can sometimes cannot? Initially I started to slow down even before I reached the line to close throttle and brake hahhah I was travelling at 28-29km/h (we gotta hit 30km/h) or I pressed my front brake too hard abruptly (very very dangerous!). Subsequently after corrections I got the hang of it! Then to the figure 8 "S" and crank course!

Deep down I'm still a little worried about hitting below the 11 seconds mark for "S" course! So I did my "S" course, taking a deep breath before checking left blindspot and moving off.... Surprise surprise, my instructor told me my timing was 9.60 seconds?! Wahhh freaking amazed lah, cos I'm damn noob one.. Always 10 seconds + or close to 11 seconds.

Now if only I can hit such timings for my narrow plank and "S" course during my TP test hahahah.

Did right turning and slope after, both were alright! Then we headed back to return our bikes. Today's 100 mins felt like it flew by damn quickly!! Did a debrief and I guess right now for courses I must work even harder for my ebrake hahaha. Will try to go bbdc for SP/RC/RR at least once a week so as to not lose the feel of the bike.

Countdown to 2B TP test:
41 days

Prac 8.01 (1st attempt) - Passed

Prac 8.01 (1st attempt) - 22/12/14 (Twentieth lesson)

Hi guys!! Its been a week since my last post, actually I've been to a self-practice (SP) session last thursday but I guess I won't be blogging about my SP or RC (circuit revision) sessions cos after all, they're just practice sessions so it'll be repetitive!! So anyway, I did horribly last thursday during my SP session!! My plank was shitty (posture is crazily wobbly, timing almost just pass 6 seconds) and I tried doing uturn at the traffic light junction for the first time (thankfully Chin Hwee was there to guide me!! Cos all these while I've only been doing uturning at the mini circuit and on the public road) but my uturning sucks ahahaha, right foot fell off pedal and did a wide turning. Felt so demoralized after my SP sesh cos I had my 8.01 booked the following monday! Also cos I know I'll be throwing away my $60 just like that if I fail my 8.01.

So today I took my 8.01 with 7 other people! Total there's 8 of us, 2 girls (including me) and 6 guys. Chin Hwee was incharge of our 8.01 today, and the first thing he said to me was "惨了啦!" Hahahaha cos he prolly saw how badly I did for my uturn last thursday. First half (4 of us) attempted the assessment first, and I was one of them while the other 4 people were in the second group, doing defensive riding where we'll be accompanied by 1 instructor each to ride around the circuit and outside on public road.

We did a 1 round of practice around the circuit test route before going to station our bikes at the starting line. Before that Yufang had "specially" helped correct whatever mistakes I did and I was extremely thankful! Gave me tips and stuff on how to 改 my silly habits. Felt sooooo nervous and anxious!! Our first group, number tags 13, 14, 15 and 16 had to go in order and I was number 15, hence, I'm number 3!

Did our circuit test route as per normal, but my heart was beating like crazy inside hahahaha. Slope was alright. During the "S" course, in my head I was repeating "FASTER FASTER FASTER!!" cos my "S" course isn't very stable in terms of hitting the required timing. Crank course was alright. Then here comes the narrow plank.. Recently I've been performing real badly at plank?! So anyway I did my plank and tried my hardest to prevent wobbling and I felt like I went too fast!! Then Chin Hwee told me, "Wah lucky lah you, timing is 6.38seconds." (We have to stay on the plank for more than 6 seconds). Then my ebrake.... Oh gosh my ebrake sucked so bad!! Did my ebrake then I saw the instructor writing something on his paper.. Die liao lor! Then Chin Hwee was a little further from the ebrake station and he told me, "You know you got marked for posture anot? That's 4 points! You could just tiptoe if you cant reach the ground so your handlebar won't be slanted."

Then we moved out to the public road! Went on left filter lane, lane change... And I saw the dude infront of me didn't cancel his signal all the way!! We have to cancel signal after lane changing from 3rd to the 1st lane and then turn it back on after the traffic light junction. But he was lucky lah first time it won't be marked as 4 points for failing to cancel signal. And.... Here comes the frightening uturn!!! My nightmare happened.. When doing my uturn I didn't throttle enough hence, I wobbled!!! My right foot slid off the brake pedal but I didn't drop my right foot on the ground. Then I did my uturn.. Luckily no wide turning. In my head I was thinking, shit man I'm gonna have an immediate failure.. Cause I know dropping of right foot is an immediate failure. So I was quite sian when going back to bbdc. Saw Vincent and he asked how I did, I told him about my uturning incident and he told me, "That doesn't necessarily mean its an immediate failure! Probably will mark you as wobble."

Then we went for our defensive riding, where each of us will be paired with an instructor and we went to ride around the public road test route 2x + 1 round in the circuit. Very angry with myself, for 2 rounds when I did my uturn at the public road, I did it with no wobbling and no wide turning!! Why is it when I took my assessment my right foot had to slid off?!?!! :(

Went to park our bikes and wait for our results. Chin Hwee then came and told us that out of 8 of us, 5 passed while 3 failed. I already had a feeling I won't make it. Then he gave us all our score sheets one by one and..... I passed!!!! Unbelievable. Thought I was gonna get immediate failure for uturn but I was marked as wobble.

This is my riding assessment checklist for 8.01 final evaluation!

I got marked for incorrect posture and clutching in too early (incorrect technique) = 6 points in total for ebrake. Sharp turning when turning at junctions, not checking blind spot (when I was just gonna start my final evaluation hahahaha shit) and not looking for traffic at side roads.

So thankful I don't need to go through 8.01 again, cos its so expensive! hahahha but I definitely will keep going for self practice (SP, circuit revision (RC) and road revision (RR) throughout my wait to my TP to hone my riding skills. Imagine how nervous I felt during my 8.01, it'll be 10 times worse during my actual TP!! Happy riding to you guys if you are taking up 2B practicals now!! :) I'll prolly blog as and when if I take any SP/RC/RR. Merry Christmas in advance! :)


Countdown to my 2B TP: 57 days

Prac 7.01 (2nd attempt) - Passed

Prac 7.01 (2nd attempt) - 15/12/14 (Nineteenth lesson)

Went for a night session today, at 7:20pm! Already got a feeling there'll be heavy traffic everywhere but figured if I could do it at night, I can do it in the daylight as well? hahaha.

Took my 2nd attempt of 7.01 with 4 other ppl, 2 guys and 2 girls. They're all 1st timers while I'm taking the 7.01 for the 2nd time. Instructors we got were this tall tanned uncle, only got his surname called Lim and another guy we got was Yufang, he was this bike team leader! Really nice instructor, initially I was really intimidated by him riding a class 2 bike + fierce face when I saw him during my 2nd attempt of 2.02 (cos he was there to help my instructor observe us) but now we did talk and all and I found he's really helpful! Gave me comments on how to improve my riding whenever I'm on the circuit.

Did uturning practices in the mini circuit and then my instructors told me to be the first bike LOL. First bike!!!! It makes me nervous lah cos people will follow me and stuff. Before that we went for a briefing on the public road test route then off to the road we go! I find that the key to doing a good uturn is..

GRIP THE FUEL TANK AND NEVER LET GO!!

Hahahaha its true... Plus just twist the throttle!!! It helped me so much and I never fall from the bike anymore. Except once in the mini circuit just now, I accidentally closed throttle, fell and dropped the bike LOL. Other than that I didn't fall off anymore nor did I do wide turning.

Did 4 rounds around the public road test route today, since I was the first bike I had to wait before the bus stop everytime I finished my right turning. I waited for quite a long time for the 4 remaining bikes to arrive cos you know, it's a peak hour session so there definitely will be more cars.

More cars = More waiting at the uturn!

It was so exhilarating when I went to throttle like mad after doing my left filter lane and had to do a lane change from 3rd lane to the 1st. I love the feeling! After that we went back to BBDC to return our bikes.

So I passed my 7.01 yayyyy!!! I can now go ahead and book my 8.01 final evaluation (where we have to do our circuit courses + public test route without getting more than 18 demerit points according to the TP checklist). Say if I pass my 8.01, then I'll only be waiting to take my TP!!! Will prolly have to go for more RC and SP before going for my 8.01 cos 8.01 cost like almost $60/session!! (non-peak). A normal SP or RC session is around $16 and $26 respectively (nonpeak).

And by the way, I have booked my TP test date already! It'll be on 17th Feb 2015.. Anybody reading this taking the same TP date as me? Drop me a comment!! :D

RTP, RTT and SP = 5 hours at BBDC

Alas! My long awaited 13th dec saturday is here. I've been waiting so long to take my RTT so I can book my TP! Because I've been passing my prac 1x a week so I kinda regret not taking my RTE earlier hahaha.

Woke up at 7-ish in the morning to prepare to head out. I had booked 2 riding theory practice from 0825 all the way till 1005, followed by my riding theory test at 1030-1120 and then a self-practice (SP) practical session at 1130-1310! Yeah its like almost 5 hours at BBDC hahahah, specially opted not to work today (cos I work normally work on the weekends) just for riding.

Did a quick run through on the 5 riding theory booklets and quickly made use of every minute hahahah. I felt so nervous when I walked down from the 3rd to the 2nd floor for my RTT.. Because all I could think of was, "What if I fail?!?! I'll have to wait like 2 more months before I can retake my RTT and then book my TP.." Went to the test room and the TP person gave me a slip of paper with my PIN and seat number. Sat at my seat, waiting for more people to arrive. Saw this dude sitting beside me started googling on stuff like, "how to control a skidding motorbike". Hahahah!! Did my test.. It consist of 50 qus, must get 45 and above correct answers to pass my RTT! I actually finished it in like 5-10 mins BUT! Being the cautious person I am, I went to review all my 50 answers again.. Actually I got confused with 2 qus but yeah. Submitted my answers and went to view my results...

I got 48/50!

Bet my 2 incorrect answers were the ones I got confused at hahahaha. Went to grab some food before heading to the motorcycle office to wait for my SP session! Yesyesyes this is my first ever self-practice practical so I was a little lost hehhhh. I was ready to grab my bike when Vincent said, "Why you never wear elbow and knee guard!" hahahahah I told him "oopsssss sorry I didnt know! It is my first time taking SP hahaha." Wanted to practice my uturns first so I told the instructors there if I could use the mini circuit for uturns, they were really nice and helped lay out the cones for me.

There were 2 instructors there, presumbly taking 1.03 prac, I know they are quite the "old bird" there, like the chief instructors kind.. They helped correct my posture and stuff, what to do and all. Of course I felt the pressure and stress to perform well since they're very experienced and I was afraid of doing it wrong. Subsequently I could do it (I think)! I went round and round the mini circuit several times wahahahha bloody retarded but then I prolly only had kena 2/3 times went off course/my right leg slipped. I was still very wobbly lah but I guess I have to slowly work on my uturns. Then I went off to the main circuit to practice my courses!

It was damn fun doing any courses I want?! Of cos SP will be cheaper cos there won't be any instructors guiding you. But sometimes at certain courses, some helpful instructors will give me pointers on how to improve my courses or help me to clock timing for plank or "S" course. I prolly went like 4-5 times around the circuit test route before heading back to return bike. The 100 mins really passed by damn quickly!!

Haven't decide whether to book another SP or to go for my 7.01 first but I'll prolly do either 1 next week. Good luck to me!!! :D

Prac 7.01 (1st attempt) - Failed

Prac 7.01 (1st attempt) - 9/12/14 (Eighteen lesson)

So in the end, nobody wanna buy my slot hahaha so I had to go for my 7.01 even though I don't even feel confident AT ALL!! :( So 7.01 is about: Independent riding in light and medium density traffic, with uturn, overtaking, defensive riding, risk forecast and reacting to hazards.

Took my first attempt of 7.01 with 2 guys and 1 girl, including me it'll be 4 of us! Instructors we got were Harry and Shaiful (he took my first attempt of 1.01 and first attempt of 2.02 previously). We were all first timers as well.. First we got our bikes, parked it in the middle of the mini circuit, briefing on how to do a uturn before heading out to the public road! Then we did our uturn practices.... And.... I fared horribly HAHAHA!! But not as bad as yesterday's uturn practice during my RC #2. Subsequently I can do my uturn but sometimes I went off course (wide turning) or my right leg will fall off the rear brake pedal :(

Took a break and got a briefing on the public road test route, where and when to lane change, check blindspot and basically where to go! Think overall we did like 4 rounds about the public road test route, I can't remember :|

There's a part where we have to lane change to the first lane after filter lane > merging lane. Everytime I'll forget to off signal?!!? Cos we have to off signal, pass by traffic light junction then signal right again to do our uturn. Anyway my uturn was bad!! Think 2/4 times I did a wide turning, instead of turning to the first lane I turned to the second and quickly lane change to the right my gosh :(

Just by doing a right turn after uturn requires 5 safety checks!!! Check left right for pedestrians, right blindspot, oncoming traffic, left filter lane and another time on the left before merging.The instructor said if we missed out anyone we will fail the class, when I heard it I felt damn scared hahahha I kept repeating the 5 safety checks in my head.

Anyway my last round before heading back to bbdc was horrible!!! Misjudged the speed of oncoming vehicles while doing my uturn and I immediately turned out hahahha best thing was I turned into the second lane wtf wide turning!!!! Then I already knew I'm gonna fail today's practical lesson already. Went back to return our bikes before a debriefing by Shaiful. In the end only 1 guy passed out of the 4 of us.

In conclusion, I must must MUST go for more practices on uturn before booking my 2nd attempt of 7.01!! Will be overseas from tmr till friday, and saturday is my RTT!! Hopefully I can pass my RTT and proceed with my booking of TP. Have also booked a SP session after my RTT, would wanna practice my uturning and "S" course. Don't think I'll book my 7.01 until I feel I'm ready hahaha. Good luck to me!!!!

RC #2

RC #2 (Circuit Revision) - 8/12/14

Went for my second RC session today! My previous RC was on 27th Nov, so it was a good (almost) 2 weeks since I last touched circuit courses. Sky was pretty dark when I was on my way to bbdc so yeah... "Gonna be riding in the rain today" was the first thing I thought of and deep down I was hoping it wouldn't rain heheh.

Took my RC with 4 other people today and the instructor we got was Izhardi! He took my first attempt of 3.01 previously. Looked out the window and saw it raining cats and dogs ugggghhhhh... Went to put on raincoat and pants after getting our ICs checked. This is the 3rd time I'm encountering the rain!!!!

Did a few rounds of narrow plank and pylon slalom first, omgzzz my favourite plank hahaha!! My average timing today was 8 seconds plus.. There was once I went super slow on the plank until I hit 10 seconds+ and Izhardi said "Faster leh, don't need so long!!!" LOL hahaha I didn't even realize it. Then we moved onto ebrake.. Today I did alot better than my previous RC #1 ebrake station. One time I stepped on the rear brake too hard and I heard some knocking sound.. Luckily my rear tyre didn't lock and skid!!!! My only problem is that I keep looking down at the line hahahah wahlao my eyes need to maintain.

Went back to return raincoat and pants cos it stopped raining, and moved onto "S" and crank courses!! If you guys have read my previous entries, the "S" course really is a nightmare for me!! Initially my timing was between 11-11.6 seconds subsequently I tried to throttle more and.... I got 10.3 seconds+ woohoo :D Crank course was okay for me. Next we did right turn, lane changing and slope. These 3 components were ok for me as well!

Moved onto uturn at the mini circuit.... I WAS IN A MESS!!! When doing my uturn I don't know if I braked too hard or never maintain clutch or throttle keep turning off and on and... I dropped my bike wtf. Right leg kept falling off as well, I cannot stay in my lane and shit...

I CANNOT DO A PROPER UTURN AT ALL!!!! 

Best of all... My practical 7.01 is tomorrow.. Public road riding with UTURN.

Oh the horror!!!! Seeing how badly I did for uturn today, I immediately went to put my 7.01 practical for tmr on try-sell. Its been a few hours now and still nobody wanna buy my slot :( Hoping some person will buy my slot so I can go for more uturn practices first. Because I know I confirm will fail my 7.01 tmr and waste more $$ (cos road pracs are more expensive hahaha) if I attend the practical. We shall see... *fingers crossed*

Prac 6.01 (1st attempt) - Passed

Prac 6.01 (1st attempt) - 3/12/14 (Seventeen lesson)

Hi guys, I'm finally back to taking my practical lessons!! The defensive theory lessons (PPL) really took up most of my time, plus PPLs had to be cleared in order. Anyway, 6.01 is - Independent riding in light and medium density traffic. In other words... RIDING ON THE PUBLIC ROAD!!! I was really reallllllllly excited today. 

Booked session 7, latest I ever booked till date, cos 6.01 had to be taken either in session 7 or 8 in the night time. Figured I don't wanna take session 8 cos it'll be from 9:10pm to 10:50pm, by then I think I'll be sleepy and stuff hahaha so I took session 7.

Took my first attempt of 6.01 with 4 other people, including me it'll be 5. Instructors we gotten were Vincent and Chin Hwee (he took my first attempt of 2.01 and first attempt of 3.02 previously). First we went to choose bikes and Chin Hwee briefed us on what to check for, like fuel tank, signal lights working or not and how to tie raincoat and pants on the back seat to make sure it was secured. Then we went to the bench where we were being shown the public road board and got briefed on our positioning, to be in a staggered position on a straight road, to give way to bikes when turning left or right and stuff. Deep down I was really excited to get started, all I wanted was to hop onto my bike and go but I can't lah hahahaha must listen to instructions first.

After being briefed, we went to practice our staggered positioning around the bbdc circuit before moving out via the bbdc carpark. Vincent had to take the lead and we all followed, Chin Hwee was the one doing the "sweeping" of the last bike, which was me cos I was the last bike hahaha. The feeling was damn exhilarating?! I rev and just whack throttle hahahaha. I prolly went 60-70km/hr omg, rather than in circuit I can only go up to 20-30km/hr only?!

Went around bukit batok area, I don't remember where but we did lotsa left turns, major to minor road and stuff. Stopped at the kerbside to have a small briefing on what were our mistakes. Majority of us were okay on the road, just that we didn't do our safety checks properly. We had to really exaggerate and turn our heads to check for, example: any pedestrians crossing the zebra crossing. We can't turn our eyeballs to see, must literally turn our heads and stuff.

After a small break, Vincent asked for the second last bike and the last bike (which was me) to move up hence, I became the second bike. Did more right turns during our 2nd half of the practical class before heading back.

Whilst heading back to bbdc.... This happened. Here's a badly drawn diagram depicting the incident!!

This bloody silver car just literally swerved between the instructor and first bike into the ESSO petrol kiosk station wtf?!?!?! So the first bike guy and myself immediately braked hard. Imagine if the car went even slower, I guess either myself or the first bike guy will crash into the car. Luckily we weren't going especially fast lah so we could slow down in time. Reckless driver is impatient pffttttt. The instructors even asked us during our debrief whether we rmbed the car plate number hahahah all 5 of us didn't but the instructors did?! It was SJP something something and ends with a P.

Went back to bbdc via the carpark and Vincent went in the opposite direction of the carpark?! We all just followed.. Turns out he "tricked" us to see if we can ride independently hahahaha!! Anyway during debriefing, Chin Hwee and Vincent brought up the carpark thing and said, "You all know what you all did wrong just now lah, so you all need to come back.."

All of us were thinking.. Wah need to come back to retake 6.01 already.. Suddenly they added on..

"Come back for your 7.01!!"

LOL, they got us all for a second there. So in the end we all passed our 6.01!! Next will be our last road lesson, 7.01 - independent riding in light and medium density traffic which includes, uturn, overtaking, defensive riding and public toad test route. So excited to get started! We were advised to go for a RC to brush up on our uturns since we'll be doing uturns in 7.01.

Will be overseas from 10th-12th, so I can't attend any bike pracs! Plus I've got my RTT on the 13th so I can book my TP date after :D Still haven't decide whether to book RC or SP next week to practice my uturn, but I've booked my 7.01 on the following week's Monday. Hopefully everything will work out hahahah. Wish me luck!! :D

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

Prac 4.01 (1st attempt) - Passed

Prac 4.01 (1st attempt) - 28/10/14 (Thirteenth lesson)

Recently I've been chionging through practicals because one, I don't have that many workslots this month cos its a nonpeak period and two, next month onwards, through nov and dec, it'll be the school holidays and corporate bookings will increase like mad! So it's better to clear most of my practicals now incase there are no more time till TP hahaha.

Today's practical 4.01 is all about 'S' and crank courses.
Objective:
- 'S' course: Clear in less than 11 seconds
- Crank course: Clear in less than 6 seconds

I remember hating crank course so much during my Class 3 days, more than 4 years back, I was so scared of mounting the kerb! Took my 4.01 with 1 guy and 1 lady, we were all first timers. Instructor we've gotten today was Syahir! He took my 1st attempt of 1.03 and my 3rd attempt of 2.02 previously. I was quite happy to get him because I know he's a really good instructor.

Went for a warmup round before heading to the 'S' and crank courses! This is what it looks like as seen below... Grabbed this pic off the net, I know it's damn pixelated hahahah.

We had to queue up, signal left, left blindspot, go through the 'S' course, stop if there are vehicles, turn left, queue outside the crank course, signal right, right blindspot, go through the crank course, wait outside if there are any vehicles, stop at traffic light junction, signal left, left blindspot then redo everything again!

First, Syahir told us to get a "feel" of the courses by going in gear 1. I was in a clumsy mess when trying the 'S' course!! After which I couldn't stop laughing at myself cause I can definitely tell I looked like a bloody retard. Including crank course as well ahahah. Nervous like hell!!!!!

So Syahir told us what to do for these courses.. I guess initally I had a huge problem with my speed!! I did not maintain my throttle and keep turning it on and off, making me wobble + didn't use my footbrake. In the end Syahir had to pillion me to show me what to do.. Initially he went slow, taught me how to maintain my throttle, where to look, where to speed up and use foot brake at. Subsequently he went medium speed and then he went really fast!!! Or that's what I felt lah. My heart was beating like crazyyyyyyy, felt sooooo nervous! He turned quite low at bends and I was really scared of falling LOL. Laughed at times, and at one point during the 'S' course, he leaned so low to the ground when going round the bend I was saying, "OH MY GOD DON'T!!!!" hahahaaha.

And I'm embarrassed to say this but.... At one point of time in my CRANK COURSE, my nightmare came true... I MOUNT KERB LOLOLOL!! I didn't look far and jengjengjeng... Mount the kerb. Some guys at the opposite of the traffic junction shouted, "OH MY GOD SHIT" hahahahha wahpiang they must be laughing really hard at me lah.

Subsequently I got the idea of how to get through these courses, maintained throttle and use footbrake! At first I clocked in an average of 11.20+ seconds so Syahir kept saying, "FASTER FASTER!!" He even ride behind the 3 of us when we did our "S" and crank courses so we will go faster ahahah. Then my average timing for the 'S' course improved to 10.30++ seconds!! There was once I clocked in 9.56secs, I couldn't believe it lah hahaha.

After that Syahir told us to finish up our last rounds for the 'S' and crank courses, and to go to the narrow plank, pylon slalom and ebrake! We went to the narrow plank station first, and I was really surprised I still got it, I did not fall off the plank!!! Then we did pylon slalom, and another narrow plank (but it was a higher one) and I went really slow this time w/o falling!! Followed by ebrake station before we headed back to return our bikes.

All 3 of us passed our 4.01!! *cheers* I was really glad to have gotten Syahir today for the 3rd time (his instructor ID is - 6463 MUHD SYAHIR). He really pushes me to perform well, I'm always a little nervous and scared inside everytime there's a new lesson but he is really professional, finding ways to help me. Plus I find he's very knowledgeable in this field! Saw him did the narrow plank when we went to try it after our 'S' and crank courses and wahlao, I was damn amazed at how long he can stay on the plank for HAHAH.

Next lesson will be 4.02: Circuit training review! Where we will be doing everything we've learnt since the start of our first lesson. Not sure when I'll be able to go for practicals now since work is getting busier, so I can't go to bbdc for practicals as frequent already.. Hopefully I can make time! Ohmy, wrote a very lengthy post today hahaha.

Prac 3.02 (2nd attempt) - Passed

Prac 3.02 (2nd attempt) - 26/10/14 (Twelfth lesson)

It's rare I'll book a weekend prac.. That's cause I'm not working today but I can foresee myself working all weekends through nov to dec since it's the school holidays so there's gonna be lots of bookings! Anyway I left house pretty late.. Drove out only at 11:23am when my practical was at 11:30am hahahah, I literally tried driving as fast as I can to bbdc, ran to grab my number tag, grab helmet and wore elbow and knee guard before finding my instructor for the day.

Took the class with 4 other guys (all 1st timers) and its my 2nd try. Got instructor Quek today, who took my 2nd attempt of 1.03 last time. Instructor Quek asked me to go practice ebraking on my own while he went to brief the rest of the 4 guys on today's lesson and stuff since I already knew what to do.

Reminded mysef to rev and throttle on in my initial speed before maintaining at 30km/hr subsequently. There's another instructor, the one I mentioned that he looks damn intimidating and fierce (during my 2nd attempt of 2.02) hahaha. He gave me really great tips, like maintaining speed, pushing myself back while I ebrake, and wait til my left thigh leaves the tank then clutch in. Had a slight problem with clutching in too early so instructor Quek told me to only clutch in when the bike feels rocky. Stalled engine prolly like 1-2 times today hahaha but stalling engine won't cause any demerit points, clutching in early causes 2 demerit points.

At some point of time, there were like 14-16 bikes queuing up to do the emergency braking station hahahaha!! Bikes from class 2b, 2a and 2 were all queuing up. I felt like I was queuing to head into jb at the checkpoint LOL. And towards the end of the session when I was waiting for my turn, I heard this "BAM" sound, looked up and saw this guy taking the same practical as me skidded, fell off his bike and rolled on the road WTFFFFF!! Afterwards I saw some of the guys taking the same practical as me dare not speed up more nor do they dare to brake hard HAHA, then the instructor said, "Why speed so slow?" "Never brake harder, see you passed the red line already." "Is it cause you saw him fell?" It was cause he braked too hard and his speed exceeded 30km/hr. Anyway it was scary to see people fall off their bikes.. And its only 30km/hr!! Imagine licenced riders fall off their bikes at prolly 80km/hr?! Gonna hurt so bad :(

So during debrief, instructor Quek didn't point out any mistakes for me. I passed my 3.02 with 1 other guy! YIPEEEEE!! And he shook all our hands after the session ahaha that was a first for me.

My next lesson will be 4.01: 'S' and crank courses! My sis said its not gonna be easy so I'm hoping I won't kanchiong or what lah hahaha. Looking forward to next tuesday :D


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

Prac 3.02 (1st attempt) - Failed

Prac 3.02 (1st attempt) - 23/10/14 (Eleventh lesson)

Today's lesson is about ebraking on a wet surface! Sounds easy? Nope. Had to wear elbow and knee guard today, prolly cause this lesson has a high probability of falling. Objective is to go up to 30km/hr then ebrake immediately!

First we tried to go up to 20km/hr, in order to grasp the feel of braking using front and rear brake.. We had to use the front brake more, incase our rear brake gets locked and skid. Initially I didn't brake hard enough and was quite near the red line after braking at 20km/hr!! Plus my left hand kept standby at the clutch or sometimes I clutch in too early.... Maybe I was scared of stalling the engine but then again my instructor said stalling the engine during TP won't cause or immediate failure or whatnot.

Then we went on to 25km/hr.. Having to check the speedometer at times. Subsequently I got better and corrected my mistakes! However idk wtf happened to me when I tried going 30km/hr... Cause we had to queue before the stop line before going to do the ebrake. So there I was, waiting for my turn cause there's another female biker doing her turn. Suddenly she skidded, went up the kerb and crashed (?) into the fence!! I was like, "OMG SHIT". Of course an instructor tended to her. I got damn worried lah that the same thing will happen to me??!

So its like this, we had to speed up quickly and change gear at the first small cone, then speed up and change gear to 3 before reaching the second small cone. My speed changing from 1 to 2 is quite close.. And I only tried to speed up upon reaching the 2nd small cone. My instructor said that's very dangerous. He went to pillion me to show me how it's done, I was damn scared lah hahahaha. He went 2 rounds to show me and I was damn motivated to do well BUT... My speed adjustment is damn cui?! I really need to speed faster at the initial stage. My instructor was saying, "WAH first time I pillion someone and they cannot do it!" LOL paiseh max.

Expected lah, I failed but the 3 other guys passed. I must be the first person in BBDC history to have failed my 3.02 HAHAHA!!

I just need to work on the speed changing properly. And to stop doubting myself and go all out!!! Booked my 2nd attempt of 3.02 for this coming Sunday.. Hopefully I'll be able to clear this stage by then :)