Class 2B Riding Syllabus - Part 1: The Preps and Prerequisites

Nabeh, this is the fourth time I'm typing this. Firefox kept crashing on me. And I thought blogger has this autosave function? $@%^@$%^%$@%^

Cool down...Breathe in...breathe out...breathe in....breathe out.... Let's start again.

 Hello!!!!!!!!!!

As I wrote I realized this post was getting longer than I thought it would be so I decided to break it up into smaller parts so you won't die of indigestion, or fall asleep reading my blog (my god that absolutely CANNOT happen!)


More and more girls are considering 2B and joining me in the league of Biker Chicks, so I thought I should put this up to help them get over the confusion and anxiety of what to expect. I myself am a BBDC graduate, having taken my Class 3 licence in 2003 (man I feel old...) and my Class 2B just barely 3 months back, so I will blog according to the BBDC syllabus. (I have added some info from SSDC and CDC as well, just because I'm nice.) Though I'm SURE all the centres cover the same courses, just how specifically they do so. The circuits and the bikes they use are all the same, to be fair to the trainees.

 The Honda Megapro. 

These are the bikes you will be getting for your test. If find the normal ones too tall for you, please request for a low-cut bike. These bikes have the seat cushions modified lower so you don't have to tip-toe so much...

Now that I have my own super chio R15 ride, I find that the curly-wurly ears (the side mirrors) on this bike look utterly ridiculous...

The Sonic Gear Bikes.

If you are really vertically-challenged and find that even the low-cut is too high for you, this one's your saviour. You need to tell your instructors you need this though, or they won't know. And PLEASE note that this is while stocks last. There are like less than 5 of these bikes in the whole driving centre. Gone? Means gone. And you'll have to Swan-Lake yourself through the entire lesson. Note that extreme tip-toeing does little to help you if you need to brake. I've fallen countless times simply because I don't have my full feet flat on the floor to support the weight of the bike, in the event that you're leaning too much on one side.

Oh yes, if you require this bike for your TP test, you will need to write in to the Chief tester, so they can make arangements for you to have this bike on the day of the test. Because if not, all test bikes are the standard Megapro, so very best of greatest good-est luck to you....

 The mini circuit.
This is where the fun begins. Your very first few lessons will be conducted in the safety of this mini circuits where the cars can't reach you. Where you learn the very basics of a motorbike, and how to move it without manually pushing the bike. This is where some would mount the bike for the very first time. And where you would go round and round and round and round and round and round and round.
This mini circuit has seen many excited and eager faces.

Including mine.

Now, I don't believe any one centre is better than the rest. A lot depends on you. Your learning ability and how much effort you are willing to put in to get that licence. Think about it. If all the stupid people or the kukus or blurcocks or all those who want the 'easier way out' all go to one driving centre simply because they supposedly have the "highest passing rate" for 2009, do you think that centre will still have the highest passing rate in 2010? Of course not! How fast you learn, and how dedicated you are to taking that licence is a major deciding factor.

And the distance. It can make or break your whole process. If you stay in East Coast, do you really think you will travel to Bukit Batok to take your classes? If you do, how often? Once a fortnight? Once a week? Once a month? As compared to if you stay in Bukit Batok, how often do you think you will go? Daily, maybe? Every day after school or after work, since it's near your place, go take a 100-minute session, then head home. Or a few times a week. That doesn't sound too hard. Sounds more practical right? To be honest, if SSDC had moved to Woodlands earlier, I would have taken my Class 2B licence here. Come on man, it's like 10 minutes away. Why would I want to take a 10-minute shuttle bus to Woodlands Interchange, wait for 10 minutes for bus 187, and then take a 30-minute bus ride to BBDC??? Then it's another 50 minutes on the way home. Even if I very free also damn leh cheh lor. And that's Woodlands to BBDC. Imagine Woodlands to CDC. -.-"

So pick a centre you're comfortable with, which is not too much of a hassle for you to get there.

Right, let's get to the requirements of a rider.

There IS an official list of the requirements you have to satisfy, and I have taken the effort to google it for you. The following is an excerpt taken from the SSDC website for enrollment of the Class 2B Riding Course -

Declaration

• I am 18 years old as of today.
• I am presently not under any suspension or disqualification from driving and I have not accumulated more than 12 demerit points for any class(es) of Qualified Driving Licence that is held by me.
• If my driving licence has been revoked before, it must be more than one year from the date of revocation.
• I do not suffer from epilepsy, mental disorder, sudden attacks of giddiness, fainting, inability to read at a distance of 25 metres (with the aid of glasses, if worn) and not suffering from any physical disabilities which will likely to cause driving of a motor vehicle to be a source of danger to the public.
• I am not colour blind.

 I won't go through points 2 and 3, but I WILL add on some of my points. The stuff they don't tell you. Duh you come to my blog to read MY writing, didn't you? If not you can just google BBDC or SSDC or CDC, they have the (boring) official info you will need. Bye~



















Still reading? Yes la, I know you love me.



First things first, you have to be 18. Sorry if you're 17 years and 8 months old. Come back 4 months later. 18. Period. Before you can register. Go quick before they decide to raise the age limit to 21 or something...(though they've been saying that since when I was learning how to drive 7 years ago -.-")

Make sure you are fit. And not allergic to the sun. And that you have 2 perfectly-working arms and the same number of legs. If you belong to the handicapped category, you CAN still learn how to ride. There is a special 3-wheel auto bike licence for handicapped riders. I've tried googling it but I couldn't find anything, so for more information on this one, please approach the nice customer services ladies, because I really have no idea how it works.

Mental disorder, epilepsy, sudden fainting spells, spasms, conditions which will cause you to lose control of the bike, basically. If you suffer from them, you know you WILL get someone killed. Or handicapped for life. I'm sure if you're adult enough to be blog-reading, you're adult enough to think for yourself what medical conditions will deem you unsafe for the roads. So that point explains itself.

Make sure you are not a blur-cock. I doubt there is really a formal medical condition which can coin this, but being a blur-cock is a no-no. I'm serious. You're not doing the bike instructors any favors. And we don't want a road hazard on the roads. Don't, because you're damn blur or reaction damn slow, cause someone to langa into you or you into someone or something. Don't risk anyone's life. Especially yours. Riding a motorbike on the road is not like riding a bicycle on the East Coast Park bicycle track. You're going at 70-80km/hr.  Okay let's just say 50km/hr. I've fallen when the bike was going at what, 5km/hr? And fuck man, it was really really really really REALLY painful, cos I fell on my calf. You have any idea how fast 50km/hr is and how that speed can kill a motorcyclist if you're not a focussed rider? Watch this:

WARNING: Do not eat or drink anything. And do not watch the following if you have a weak heart.


Though I'm sure you will click on "play".....

Special notes to 0:23 and 0:45. The guy at 0:45 was watching the vehicle that the stationary bus had crashed into, and because he was so kaypo-busy looking at the other accident vehicle, he didn't notice the bus in front of him. He definitely wasn't going very fast since he slowed down to kaypo. But look what happened.

 Blur cocks, please steer clear.

And if you're an impatient person, please, try not to ride. If you really want to, please don't squeeze between vehicles? (note: 0:36) Or at least not between huge vehicles? Because you are so small most of them can't see you.

(Best is if you DON'T squeeze at all la. 不要。 Jangan. Don't.)

Convinced that if you're not a focussed or patient person, you should never ride? Being on a bike is not like being in a car, when you can look here, look there, anyhow slow down, come to a stop suddenly...(trust me, you don't want to be on a bike AND behind a car which jams its brakes all too often...you'll die of a heart attack before you crash into anything.)

Okay, no one really mentioned this, but if you're REALLY REALLY REALLY short, you can't ride. I mean, you could probably get the 3-wheel handicapped bikes, but you can't take the normal 2B licence. AT LEAST satisfy 1.5m. And you'll REALLY have to tiptoe, though some short people have long legs....

Eyesight. You cannot be colour-blind. For obvious traffic light reaons. If you cannot distinguish the red light from the green, you are a road hazard. Because unlike pedestrian traffic lights, there is no walking green man or standing-still red man for ROAD traffic lights. And make sure you can see things 25m away from you, with corrected vision (glasses/lenses). You want to be able to see if that black thing on the road is a drain cover or a run-over dog, aka roadkill. The latter, should your motorbike wheels run over (again, poor things), you will become an addition to the roadkill palette.

18? Not blur? Not too short? Perfectly healthy? No weird disorder? Not half-blind or colour-blind? Good. Go to your preferred centre, and register. Allow a couple of hours okay? If not, at least one hour.  In case of long queues. JUST in case. Because you never know if a big group of Banglas are going to come together and register as well. I've seen swarms of them come in and register together. Or if it's one of those days when the whole world decides to go take their licence. And if these people are here before you, good luck, or come another day.

(This paragraph is for BBDC registrants.) Okay, for registration, go to the information counter. Don't wander upstairs and go to the TP (Traffic Police) office or anywhere else. After which, the pretty customer services officer will guide you as to what to do. You will get a bag of stuff after you're done registering. You can read my previous post on my enrollment to see what you will get.

Please remember to bring your ATM card for enrollment. And make sure there is at least $150 in your bank account. During enrollment, you will need to set up a debit account for booking of lessons / tests. This will be done at the self-help Top-Up Kiosks located just to the right of the entrance to the lobby. The enrollment fees will also be deducted from this account. ($47.08 for BBDC) Why I suggest $150 is because after enrollment, you will still have money in the account for booking of lessons online at home. If there is no money in the account, you will have to do down to BBDC to use the Top-Up kiosks to top-up. Which I'm sure you don't want to. The subsequent times you go there will be to attend classes, not do stupid things like top up money.

ANYWAY, you will need to spend more than $150 on the entire course, so might as well have more money in the account. How much you will spend on the entire course depends on how quickly you take to pass each course, and how often you decide to go for revision upon completion of the course and while waiting for the TP test date to arrive.

Sometimes you may get stuck in a certain course, like say, the Emergency Brake, and you will be asked to repeat the course again. They will only pass you when they feel you have grasped the techniques well. Don't think that they want to earn more money by purposely failing you and asking you to come back. The instructors don't get commission from your lessons. And trust me, you failing a subject each time would mean to them that they have not taught you well. No teacher wants to feel like a failure this way. Granted, if you feel that they've passed you too easily on a subject, but you still don't feel confident, don't be shy to ask for a repeat session. Ultimately, your own confidence on the bike is what matters on the TP test and on the road.

I spent about S$1000 on my licence. And that is because I go VERY often. I went for Circuit Revisions before each assessment (there will be 2 main assessments before you can pass the course - circuit assessment, and full mock-TP assessment). Even after I've completed my course, I went for plenty of Circuit Revisions (RC) and Road Revisions (RR). For my TP, I passed on my first attempt. I registered on 27Nov'09 and got my 2B licence on the 15Mar'10. I could've gotten it sooner had I not been so kuku and started on my Practicals first. Then I'd probably have spent $800 or something. More on that in the later posts.

After enrollment do leave some time for a short briefing that will be conducted in the Briefing Room. That's the room beside the self-help Top-Up Kiosks, just opposite the internet booking terminals. The briefing will let you know anticipate your 2B course better. It's highly recommended that you go for this so you can have a better understanding of what you need to do. This is where you throw questions and clear your doubts, should you have any.

FYI: Please note that there is no ATM inside BBDC. The nearest one is at the ESSO Mobil petrol kiosk beside BBDC, inside Cheers. There is also an AXS machine at the petrol kiosk should you need to pay your fines/bills/whatever.



Last point, do remember to bring the following items for your enrollment, or you'll have made a wasted trip:

• NRIC / Valid Passport
• Glasses, or wear your contact lenses. The eyesight test will be based on your fully-corrected eyesight. (In layman terms, means with your glasses or lenses on~ )
• Valid Qualified or Provisional Driving Licence, or Theory Test Certificate, if you have any.
• For foreigners: valid passport and valid work-permit / student pass / employment pass / dependant's pass / PR pass. 
• If you're registering at SSDC or CDC, bring along a recent passport-sized photo. If you're registering at BBDC, make sure your hair don't look like cock on the day of enrollment. Girls, you might want to put on some make-up. Cos they will ask you to take a picture on the spot for the BBDC Membership Card. Unless of course, you don't mind looking like crap.
• ATM CARD!!!!!!! With at least $150 inside.This is what they didn't include, but is a must-have item.

My chio card. I wish my IC photo is as chio as this...but heck...IC photos usually look damn salah.

I've kindly included the course fee links for BBDC, SSDC, and CDC here. I'm so nice hor? Can't believe myself...


Thank me by voting for me on SBA okay? I'll be grateful. So will Alton...he stays awake at 4am just to keep me company while I blog. And he's never failed to accompany Mummy through her writing frenzies.. Not even once...

Alton: I love you Mummy!!!

Me: Even so, that...bleaauh....is so...bleauh...gross~~~ Eeuuuuuu~~~

Dogs.... *shakes head*

Anyway~
Here's another video, why you should NEVER be kaypo when riding....




OhhhhhhYessssstoBikerChicks,
That Silver Girl






 Behind the scenes:

 "Come take picture with Mummy"

"Simi daiji....."

 "Smile~"

"Not in the mood la mummy......"

 "Mummy obviously just wants to take her stupid picture and doesn't care that I want to sleep. Like. Now..."

 "看camera leh~"

*看* “妈咪讲看而已嘛，不是看咯”

Then he attacks -

 Lick..lick...lick.... 

"Ahaa~~~ Now I'm happy~~~~"

它的表情是几爽到~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"One more time Alton. Smile~~~~"

"............"

Okay, it's 5am now, and not just Alton, but I need to sleeeeeeep...This entry took me 3 nights to finish. Would have been 4, if I hadn't decided I MUST finish it tonight, despite me having filming earlier in the day and then followed by Grandma's birthday dinner, before I could continue with the post. And Firefox crashed on me 14 times tonight.......

How not to love me, hor?

zzZZzzzZZzzZZzzZZZZ~~~~~~~~