retaking Class 2B after 26 years

[eclipse1]

sharing what I learnt after having to retake my Class 2B

gotten my 2B in Jan1995, 2A in Dec1996, 2 in Mar1998, 3 in Nov2002. Those were the days when 16yo can ride!!
all my bike licenses was settled at SSDC at AMK.
CL3 at CDC, private instructor.

Having to lost them all in 2015 was a bad day. Bloody Jaywalkers!!!
But Time passes fast. when I am able to retake them again. I saved up and went for it.

retook my CL 3 in 2018, passed 1st time, SSDC

retook my 2B during Covid19 period. passed 1st time too. SSDC
started in Jul 2020, Passed in Feb 2021. the pain of waiting for available slots!!!

The numbers of lessons have double, if I dont remember wrongly.
It used to be 4-5 lessons in the 90s. Now its 12/13 lessons + 3 simulators.
Number of theories classes have also increased too.

 

Why 1 say 12/13 lessons when center only states 7 lessons.??
there is now a lesson O!! bike and school Orientation!! Good for those who's new to the building/bike,waste of time/money for those who ain't.
lesson 1 is split into 2-3 lessons, Lesson 3 is broken in part 1, part2. There is a Compulsory highway familiarization.

Lesson O, 1(1)-Newbie only, 1(2), 1(3), 2, 3(1), 3(2), 4, 5, 6, 7, TP, Expressway familiarization.

Been an old boy 40+, in the class of young riders.

Woah!! So much difference!! must wear knee/elbow guards now. A good improvement, I would say!!!
Gloves/PSB approved helmets/Long pants/covered shoes, these are basic standards of riding.

the new Hondas at SSDC seems to be more biker friendly compare to the old bikes i used to learnt with. 

now at the classes with the mask on, its really hard to hear what the instructors are saying.
lessons instructions are briefed before hand as usage, the 1st-timer for the class and the repeaters are noted by the instructor.

For a rider whom had a license before, you tend to do all the old habits, feet hanging outwards, knees not gripping tank closely, bad riding posture, checking back lesser..
these mistakes gets amplify as the instructor gets to look at your as your ride around the circuit. had to buck up to progress through the lessons faster.

Lesson1(1) - gear 1/2 small loop, 1 try. I did informed instructor i had my licenses revoked. Easier to breeze thru classes, but knowing that they will catch on the bad postures and bad habits.
Lesson1(2) - gear 3/4 outer loop, 1 try. Instructor asked me to be last man after a few rounds seeing that I can ride with ease.
Lesson2 - 1 try. behind able to get thru the Fig8 and Crank with ease, instructor asked to take note more on the safety, check back, blind spot, road hazards from small roads,etc.
lesson3(1) - 1 try.
lesson3(2) - 1 try.
lesson4, - 1 try.
lesson5 - 2 try. 1st being not knowing where to position the bike on the return to the school. 2nd try, instructor asked at the start if I was revoked before. Says that seldom got new biker so little lessons in the circuit. ask me to note all the critical immediate failure point if I want to get to lesson 6 next round. Did as told and went thru.
lesson6 - 1 try.   Getting the route correct with the 2 stops are critical. no needs to argue much with the instructor on this and that. safety is critical when outside the school as the other motorists wont bother much for learners, they just zoom pass as normal. few of the class mates, which repeated but still cannot get hold of the safety aspect from what I observed. the instructors can do a little by holding back traffic, but not by much..  
lesson7, mock test. Did well and was under 10points.  booked TP and the extra self revision lessons.
road revision and circuit revision, 1 day before TP. 2 lessons in a day was tiring when they are 4hrs apart, booked morning for road revision as wanted to see the road condition as close to test timing as possible. Traffic was heavy at the industrial area, the group was small but it took at least 5mins for the 3 riders infront of me to clear the 1st right turn outside of the school. definitely not easy for the weak hearted one. 1 of them got scolded by the instructor by not going off when its cleared to do so..  for me, just wack only when the coast is clear on both sides.  Did 3 or 4 rounds on the test route and was asked to do circuit revisions till lesson is up.  was thinking to cancel the afternoon circuit revision after the few rounds of circuits revision..  but decided against it... and still went for the afternoon classes.  Glad I did as i did a few trials on the narrow plank to try and save the bike from dropping off the plank. only 1 out of 4 times work..  so just wack the plank tomorrow and not go so slow. Did a 10sec plank on 1 of the tries.  instructor asked me why stay so long, drop out of it, is also fail.
TP day. early early reach center. took breakfast and prep for the warmup. made all the mistakes, I can do before the actual test.   Being 1 of the older riders, we got called up 1st, its arranged by NRIC. was no.3, :D..  finished all well and got 18pts..  managed to get my license back!!!!!

will be back in SSDC in Feb 2022 for my 2A!

Edited April 19, 2021 by eclipse1

[Pisces44]

Hi, care to share what happened with the jaywalkers ?

 

[SBF]

@eclipse1 Counting down for you.. 6 more months! Btw did you get a bike after passing your 2B?

[kaiq]

Learning to ride again... the learning phase seems fun, but the tests are... haiz...

[eclipse1]

On 7/5/2021 at 10:42 PM, SBF said:

@eclipse1 Counting down for you.. 6 more months! Btw did you get a bike after passing your 2B?

Yes, Gotten a simple 125 bike to ride around.

It's mainly a simple runabout for me.

however, the riding attire is still on for all days.
as long as I'm on my bike, I will don the whole set..
looking weird for a 125 rider with P plate with more gears then some of the class 2 riders. 

I know what the gears can do when you ever fall.

class 2A in a few weeks time..!!  Yeah!!

Edited January 21, 2022 by eclipse1

[eclipse1]

On 7/6/2021 at 10:18 AM, kaiq said:

Learning to ride again... the learning phase seems fun, but the tests are... haiz...

Yes, VERY VERY big difference from the older days.

even the lesson are...

 

[adesmond2]

48 minutes ago, eclipse1 said:

Yes, Gotten a simple 125 bike to ride around.

It's mainly a simple runabout for me.

however, the riding attire is still on for all days.
as long as I'm on my bike, I will don the whole set..
looking weird for a 125 rider with P plate with more gears then some of the class 2 riders. 

I know what the gears can do when you ever fall.

class 2A in a few weeks time..!!  Yeah!!

 Dress for the fall and not for the destination.

But I can't do it..  

37 minutes ago, eclipse1 said:

Yes, VERY VERY big difference from the older days.

even the lesson are...

 

indeed.. I heard it will be even more different and difficult after 5-10 years later (electric system that deduct your fault)

[Siphon]

On 1/21/2022 at 2:36 PM, adesmond2 said:

 Dress for the fall and not for the destination.

But I can't do it..  

indeed.. I heard it will be even more different and difficult after 5-10 years later (electric system that deduct your fault)

Wear a mesh jacket and gloves at least . Singapore way too hot to wear leather jackets much less those full suit... die of heat stroke more likely

On 1/21/2022 at 11:56 AM, eclipse1 said:

Yes, Gotten a simple 125 bike to ride around.

It's mainly a simple runabout for me.

however, the riding attire is still on for all days.
as long as I'm on my bike, I will don the whole set..
looking weird for a 125 rider with P plate with more gears then some of the class 2 riders. 

I know what the gears can do when you ever fall.

class 2A in a few weeks time..!!  Yeah!!

I used to ride a phantom 200 with full face helmet, mesh jacket and leather gloves... I get looks from ah peks like... ah di ah what you doing.... but every time I see an accident. I think it’s worth the effort. It’s all about your personal safety.  

 

glad you got back all your license too. Must have been a hard time without it. 

[adesmond2]

On 2/26/2022 at 10:01 AM, Siphon said:

Wear a mesh jacket and gloves at least . Singapore way too hot to wear leather jackets much less those full suit... die of heat stroke more likely

I used to ride a phantom 200 with full face helmet, mesh jacket and leather gloves... I get looks from ah peks like... ah di ah what you doing.... but every time I see an accident. I think it’s worth the effort. It’s all about your personal safety.  

 

glad you got back all your license too. Must have been a hard time without it. 

I wish... but at home not wearing much also so hot already... on the road.. LOLOLOL... 

anyway, up to individual.. and I do recommend others to wear jackets as well..  

[eclipse1]

to me, for Gear wise, I rather SWEAT then BLEED...

Having gone down, and dragged at least 30-40m from 60-70kmh:

I would say, my leather jacket and gloves saved me from lots of "Bak kwa" or Abrasions..

the shoes are torn, jeans torn, and I still broke my left Ankle and right knee, less from not wearing my boots on that unfortunate day

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


 

Re-Started my 2A journey on the 25Feb..  did the theory online and Simulator lesson 1, 2 and 3...

waiting for practical 1..  the practical lessons are so hard to book !!!

hoping to finish up the 2A License ASAP.

Edited March 8, 2022 by eclipse1

[adesmond2]

On 3/8/2022 at 6:37 PM, eclipse1 said:

to me, for Gear wise, I rather SWEAT then BLEED...

Having gone down, and dragged at least 30-40m from 60-70kmh:

I would say, my leather jacket and gloves saved me from lots of "Bak kwa" or Abrasions..

the shoes are torn, jeans torn, and I still broke my left Ankle and right knee, less from not wearing my boots on that unfortunate day

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


 

Re-Started my 2A journey on the 25Feb..  did the theory online and Simulator lesson 1, 2 and 3...

waiting for practical 1..  the practical lessons are so hard to book !!!

hoping to finish up the 2A License ASAP.

agreed.. I went down on NSH at the speed of 120km/h.. full mesh amour jacket and pants and riding boots and full face..  other then jacket and pant tear and abrasion from tear, helmet and boots has scratches.. the rest is good.. just that have nightmares for weeks.. 

 

very fast one la.. I got my 2A license within 2 months.. just go weekly chop chop..

 

[Pisces44]

On 3/14/2022 at 7:04 AM, adesmond2 said:

agreed.. I went down on NSH at the speed of 120km/h.. full mesh amour jacket and pants and riding boots and full face..  other then jacket and pant tear and abrasion from tear, helmet and boots has scratches.. the rest is good.. just that have nightmares for weeks.. 

 

very fast one la.. I got my 2A license within 2 months.. just go weekly chop chop..

 

Why u never go for Class 2 ?

[eclipse1]

Passed Prac 1 on 1st try!  

it seems that there is alot of changes within the training school for rules over the last years and also within last year there are already some changes.  now many rules are simplified. Action needs to be more pronounced.  Seems to be for the better, I believe.

 

[pinksheep]

It's nice to hear about safety culture and gearing up, sometimes I cringe at all the slippers especially when I meet veteran 2A / 2 riders

I find when going out at highway speeds I 'must' wear jacket because its more aerodynamic and less buffeting and I don't like the feeling of clothes blown away. Furthermore when younger I used to be amused seeing all the J-plate motorcycles with rider's T shirt become balloon or flying in the wind...

Gloves not so much now that I installed scrambler-like handguards (on scooter wtf) but they protect against sunburn effectively. 

Ps. I took a 10 year break from riding due to 'work' and now 70kph feels very fast ah.

Edited March 16, 2022 by pinksheep

[adesmond2]

On 3/15/2022 at 3:49 PM, Pisces44 said:

Why u never go for Class 2 ?

my friend asked me to flip a coin.. and once the coin is in the air.. what you wish for will be known while the coin is in the air.. I didn't really flip it..

but I always has this concept.. since I have CL2B, why not own one?

Since I got CL3, why not own one? (attempted to but failed due to the high cost it required)

2B bike - I got it within 3 days of my license.

2A - I got it within 2 months of my license

CL3 - I rented it for 2 weeks monthly and I realised it's draining into my savings and stop before any irreparable damage

 

8 hours ago, pinksheep said:

It's nice to hear about safety culture and gearing up, sometimes I cringe at all the slippers especially when I meet veteran 2A / 2 riders

I find when going out at highway speeds I 'must' wear jacket because its more aerodynamic and less buffeting and I don't like the feeling of clothes blown away. Furthermore when younger I used to be amused seeing all the J-plate motorcycles with rider's T shirt become balloon or flying in the wind...

Gloves not so much now that I installed scrambler-like handguards (on scooter wtf) but they protect against sunburn effectively. 

Ps. I took a 10 year break from riding due to 'work' and now 70kph feels very fast ah.

haha.. it's all down with personal preferences..

I do see alot with "gym" attire (irregardless of CL2B-CL2) the same goes with full gears on diff bikes.. hahaha.. hand guards are fairly common among all types of bikes.. naked/scooters and etc.. all to prevent damages if anything happen..

soon 70 = just nice.. haha...

 

13 hours ago, eclipse1 said:

Passed Prac 1 on 1st try!  

it seems that there is alot of changes within the training school for rules over the last years and also within last year there are already some changes.  now many rules are simplified. Action needs to be more pronounced.  Seems to be for the better, I believe.

 

indeed.. there's alot of differences in school.. I heard the next up coming major changes = no instructors required.. even more strict with cameras pointing out your mistakes.

[Pisces44]

5 hours ago, adesmond2 said:

my friend asked me to flip a coin.. and once the coin is in the air.. what you wish for will be known while the coin is in the air.. I didn't really flip it..

but I always has this concept.. since I have CL2B, why not own one?

Since I got CL3, why not own one? (attempted to but failed due to the high cost it required)

2B bike - I got it within 3 days of my license.

2A - I got it within 2 months of my license

CL3 - I rented it for 2 weeks monthly and I realised it's draining into my savings and stop before any irreparable damage

I see .... so u r saying u did not go for 2 in order not to buy upon getting the license ?

Actually there's nothing to worry....cos the current COE will stop u....I just got my 2A recently & this is the case....

Edited March 17, 2022 by Pisces44

[adesmond2]

51 minutes ago, Pisces44 said:

I see .... so u r saying u did not go for 2 in order not to buy upon getting the license ?

Actually there's nothing to worry....cos the current COE will stop u....I just got my 2A recently & this is the case....

Indeed.. and if I'm not getting a CL2 bike, what's the point of having one?

you wun know how "older uncles" will do to get what they want.. hahaha... but even if I really want.. have to wait till my COE ends, which is 5 years later.. by then.. I'll most likely go take the license if I decided to upgrade to CL2.. hahahaha..

I'm someone who wun throw or sell away my old stuff.. I've kept most of my older phones till date.. so you can imagine how many phones I have up to now.. my first bike KR150, outer frame is still at my service yard hanging there..

[eclipse1]

Pract 2, 1st try gotten to repeat as was too fast thru the whole course.

Missing out on the safety checks on the Big cross junction. 1 of the lead instructor asked, where I learn to blip the throttle on downshift...

Pract 2, 2nd try. Went thru slower, no funny actions, just back to being a Learner can be hard!!!
Passed!!!

booked Pract 3 a week later..

 

 

[pinksheep]

Sounds like fun, good going  

[adesmond2]

23 hours ago, eclipse1 said:

Pract 2, 1st try gotten to repeat as was too fast thru the whole course.

Missing out on the safety checks on the Big cross junction. 1 of the lead instructor asked, where I learn to blip the throttle on downshift...

Pract 2, 2nd try. Went thru slower, no funny actions, just back to being a Learner can be hard!!!
Passed!!!

booked Pract 3 a week later..

 

 

easy de la.. just rethink again.. TP are instructors.. and you confirm guai guai ride already... hahaha..

6 minutes ago, pinksheep said:

Sounds like fun, good going  

you going for 2A?

[eclipse1]

booked Prac3 for a 6pm session, didnt realised 6pm was peak period session..  until paid

then a day after booking, decide to take an earlier RC (Circuit revision). 1 session before the Pract 3.

Prac3 day, took leave and went for the RC then Prac3.

Did all the "stupid" things during the RC, except failing off the bike
mount kerb during Fig8, drop off plank, roll back on slope, neutral on Crank, activating ABS on E-Brakes, knock the cone at pylon course..

kenna disturb by an instructor to do a long Plank..  
tried and did a 22sec plank...  the instructor tell me after passing 2A can try apply for instructor also..  

 

Prac3 Assessment went thru smoothly... 16 points and onto TP!!!!   happy old bird...

[pinksheep]

1 hour ago, adesmond2 said:

you going for 2A?

LOL 2A I'm not even sure what bike I want, for SG riding anything 150 to 200cc enough for me. Anything larger for fun I can just demand someone bring Royal Enfield for me in India lol. Or or

Also query on the standing up go over bump portion. How does anyone practise that? Only saw off road application for such stunt. 

Edited April 12, 2022 by pinksheep

[eclipse1]

3 minutes ago, pinksheep said:

LOL 2A I'm not even sure what bike I want, for SG riding anything 150 to 200cc enough for me. Anything larger for fun I can just demand someone bring Royal Enfield for me in India lol. Or or

Also query on the standing up go over bump portion. How does anyone practise that? Only saw off road application for such stunt. 

Royal Enfield also been sold here in SG liao..

standing up is useful when need to get up from kerb side, when there are no place ...

 

[adesmond2]

2 hours ago, eclipse1 said:

booked Prac3 for a 6pm session, didnt realised 6pm was peak period session..  until paid

then a day after booking, decide to take an earlier RC (Circuit revision). 1 session before the Pract 3.

Prac3 day, took leave and went for the RC then Prac3.

Did all the "stupid" things during the RC, except failing off the bike
mount kerb during Fig8, drop off plank, roll back on slope, neutral on Crank, activating ABS on E-Brakes, knock the cone at pylon course..

kenna disturb by an instructor to do a long Plank..  
tried and did a 22sec plank...  the instructor tell me after passing 2A can try apply for instructor also..  

 

Prac3 Assessment went thru smoothly... 16 points and onto TP!!!!   happy old bird...

nice nice.. instructor sia.. LOL.. "Stupid" things on purpose ah?

 

2 hours ago, pinksheep said:

LOL 2A I'm not even sure what bike I want, for SG riding anything 150 to 200cc enough for me. Anything larger for fun I can just demand someone bring Royal Enfield for me in India lol. Or or

Also query on the standing up go over bump portion. How does anyone practise that? Only saw off road application for such stunt. 

I believe it's practise for you to go Malaysia custom bump.. LOLOLOL...

But I heard it's mainly for you to balance if there's pot holes infront.. *you rather go over a pot hole very last min then evade and risk falling side ways.... 

2 hours ago, eclipse1 said:

Royal Enfield also been sold here in SG liao..

standing up is useful when need to get up from kerb side, when there are no place ...

 

yeah.. 

LOL.. most bikes nowadays have bottom fairing.. not recommended.. else either your exhaust or fairing kanna damage...

scrambler confirm can.. hahahaha

[eclipse1]

Booked TP after 2 days passing the Prac3.

also decide to book an extra RC the night before the TP test..

 

TP test morning comes, cannot sleep the night before also..  Nervous siah  

 

as per 2B test, the 2a/2 are arrange via the age/nric.   I'm 2nd in line for 2A.  the guy in front of me taking his 3rd TP and had over 50pts in the pass 2 TPs..    didn't know now so strict!!!

practise practise practise.. do a few more of plank, pylon and fig8 then go and rest..

wait time was for test painful.....

listen to stories told by other testees...

even have 1 whom have already brought his 2A bike 1 week ago.. after failing his 1st TP...

telling the other 1st timer testees, telling us dont panic, slow and steady, go 20kmh wont fail one..  (end of day, he was the 1st 2A testee to be called out)

Test route was all okay, the guy in front of me was real slow..  I was already slowly riding but still caught up to him before the slope..  So try to find chance to get stuck at traffic light or stuck behind cars..
Then managed to create some distance...

too close to the guy infront, can cause you points easily.

end of Test and after the long wait.. 12points and Hello 2A 

 

went home a happy boy...

next year April go register CL 2...

 

Edited April 13, 2022 by eclipse1