Worrying about nothing?

[benthejam]

Ok so my px disc is nearly finished, I have my cbt booked in a couple of weeks on a twist and go scooter which is fine however I've never actually ridden a geared scooter which mine obviously is. Other than a free motorbike lesson 5 years ago I've never been on 2 wheels! I'm worried I won't get my head around the gears on my px. Is it simple???

[dannyspry]

Morning,
I had never been on a geared Vespa until a year ago. You know how a clutch works right...all you literally have to do is pull the clutch and twist the LHS grip then release clutch. It is really simple to pick up but just before you go out exploring the world, go up and down your road a few times to build some confidence. You'll be fine

[benthejam]

Cheers for that

[bignico2411]

The fact that you've never ridden a motorbike before is to your advantage as you won't have to unlearn changing gear with your foot. Do as Danny says and find somewhere quiet to have a practice, you'll get it in no time. This video may help:

[benthejam]

Nice one cheers for the help, am I right in assuming that you take your hand off the throttle the same as changing gear in a car?

[bryno]

Don't worry about it, will come to you naturally after a few mins, 14 year old Italians do just fine ;-)

[benthejam]

Well when you put it like that!

[djloone]

yeah dont take long too become 2nd nature..i swap between my vespa too a traditional gsxf foot gear change along with clutch lever too my gixer thou thats foot gearchange and no clutch (quickshifter)..within a few miles of riding (and the odd stall..we all do em in the begining)..you,ll be fine..good luck

LOON-E

[johnnymarr]

Hi.
I'm sure you will be allowed a few minutes before setting off to familiarize yourself with the gears and (remember to line up the two dots) to make sure you're fully in neutral when stopped  / pulling away.
You'll be fine, just don't panic when you start off and start to change gear/s.I was also worried about changing gears though 
when i first done it i stalled immediately on pulling away but right away went on a deliberate run where all i had was traffic lights after traffic lights with heavy traffic and queues and i never stalled again.
You'll be fine within 100 yards 

[benthejam]

Cheers for the encouragement guys, will let you know how I get on

[hully1]

hi Ben,

I may be wrong here but will you not have to do you CBT on a 125 geared bike to be able to ride a geared scooter above 50cc, just trying to think back to when my son done his I am sure that was the case. may be worth checking!

[benthejam]

Good point I will check it out

[henri]

you can do the cbt on a auto an ride a geared .its only the test that a pass on a auto only gives a auto licence .as for gears ,ive been riding 35 years ,an still stomp the floorboards looking for a gear on my scoot when swapping from my bike .an 1st attempt at brakin on my bike after scooting rattles my balls on the tank .it sorts itself out after 5mins riding ,so dont worry ,we all do it . H

[benthejam]

So can the test be done on my 125 px or does it have to be done on a bigger bike?

[johnnymarr]

I may have picked up the previous few posts wrongly Ben but i did my CBT on my px rather than a bike, was also a tenner cheaper as i wasn't using their bike
Good luck

[henri]

you can do a test on a scooter depending on test centre an rider .some wont let you try ,others will if rider can get it upto speed for the brake test ,32mph in a short distance .managements got her 1st part on thursday ,did the training last saturday an nailed the speed test easy .H

[benthejam]

Well I've got my cbt in 3 weeks and looking forward to it, I did toy with the idea of using my scoot but it's just had a full resto so it's staying in the shed till I've had a bit of experience from the cbt itself, will let you know how I get on, cheers for all the replies guys

[sime66]

I wouldn't worry about the gear changing, you'll pick it up like everyone else does. A couple of other thoughts though:

* Has anyone ridden your rebuilt scoot? If not, you learning clutch and gears when the cables will need adjusting and will stretch could be fun to start with; might be a good idea to get someone to give it a blast and sort the adjustments out before you have a go.
** The best place to learn it would surely have been supervised, off the road, under instruction, at the start of the CBT - it's Training, not a test, and it's what you're paying for - they're supposed to give you the time you need. Can't you get yours checked out and use it for CBT?

[benthejam]

Mine is nearly ready for the mot and my brother who is a mod will be testing it. If it is ready in time then yes it might be a good idea to use it for the cbt thinking about it