Well technically I don't have them yet. I need to go to a TransportSA office and pay the fee first. You'd think that after paying the increased $317.00 fee for the Rider Safe Beginner's Course, they'd include the Learner's Permit fee. But the government is tight.. what can you do hey?
I've actually learnt a lot from the Rider Safe course, and the two instructors Dave and Marshall were quite awesome and knowledgable. For somebody like me who has had minimal experience on road bikes it was great, and the DVD we had to watch wasn't too bad either, nice short and succinct. My previous experience on two wheels only included bicycles, riding scooters around in Asia, and being on the pillion of a road bike.
Day 1 was pretty much a familiarity day where we got to learn all the controls on the bike and basic manoeuvres. Luckily the rain stayed away for the whole day. The most valuable lessons from Day 1 I learnt was how the bike stalls. It wasn't quite embarassing, but a little, since I stalled the most heh. My issues were due to not riding the clutch. I'd either let go of it completely, or not revving the bike high enough while releasing it. However, I'm pleased to say that I didn't stall it at all on Day 2.
Day 2 was colder and chillier than Day 1 but I was still pumped to be there. We started out with similar manoeuvres to Day 1, but they got a little bit more advanced as the day went on. Halfway through the 5th DVD Lecture, Dave comes in and tells us to look outside the window. It was RAINING!!
Well when we got out there, the rain never stopped. My fingers were frozen icicles, and needless to say I was absolutely drenched! It kinda sucked with the rain.. but it didn't have to be so cold too. Oh well, at least now I know what it's like to get drenched while riding with no wet weather gear. I'll make sure I get some if I ever do feel like riding in the rain. At this stage I'll probably look for clear skies.
The assessment at the end of the day wasn't too bad. Just riding from a stationary point into an oval going into 3rd gear, before downshifting to 2nd to go into the arc, then exiting the arc up to 3rd again, then downshift into 2nd again to turn back into the other arc, then up to 3rd again then stopping at where the assessor was downshifting to 1st and left foot down. Pretty simple hey? Maybe not in word format, but if you were there it's quite easy. (something like below)
Their marking system was quite technical though, and I lost 3 points for not turning my head enough into the turns, but I had over-exaggerated it (so I thought), but Marshall didn't see it. Anyway I have my L's! Now I just gotta wait another week or two before I get my baby Ninja!!!
