Club Kawasaki Magazine - Rocking the CBT with Leona Graham

Roc ki n g Th e C BT

Absolute Radio DJ and mother Leona Graham has a love affair with motorcycles dating back to her University days. Her love of riding spread through the corridors of Absolute Radio, around the Bauer family and eventually to MCN. Even a stolen bike didn’t stop her from joining the Bike Society, tagging along in a sidecar and making a great group of friends in the process.

Find out more at www.learntoridewithkawasaki.co.uk 42

In 2003, she reignited her love of biking by taking her CBT but life got in the way and she found herself bike-less and with almost no time to continue her training, Leona’s CBT sadly expired. But the excitement never faded and in 2018 Kawasaki Rider Training Services (KRTS) invited her to take her CBT once again (third time lucky!) and help Leona realise her riding dreams.

Leona was determined ahead of her first day of training at the Phoenix Crystal Palace training centre, “I’m really excited to be doing my CBT again, and especially with such a well-known brand like Kawasaki. Nothing else would get me leaping out of bed on a freezing February Saturday morning at 6:30am! I’m not so nervous, just really keen to get started.”

The training started with a classroom session to talk about motorcycles and safety, outlining where to look when you’re riding and what you can do in certain situations. The small group of students soaked everything in and then got themselves ready to ride.

“I would 100% recommend doing the CBT,” said an elated Leona. “It’s not scary at all as the team at KRTS and Phoenix Crystal Palace are so helpful and you’re given all the advice and time you need.

You’re not rushed out on to the road. There are a lot of slow speed control exercises, riding between cones, U-Turns, which are really important – it’s harder to go slow than fast!”

With the cones conquered and confidence building all the time, Leona and her fellow students took to the road to apply what they had learned. Every mile covered only increased Leona’s love of riding, the biking-bug had well and truly taken over.

“If you can drive a car, learning to ride a bike is even easier, the clutch and accelerator are just operated by your hands instead of your feet. In all honesty the Theory Test was harder and more stressful! When you do get out on the road it’s really exciting, a huge adrenaline rush, you feel connected to the road and everything around you,” she said after coming back to the training centre.

CBT in hand, Leona is well and truly on the path to earning her full licence and is closer than she has ever been before. “My plan is to ride to work at Absolute Radio everyday so I can beat the traffic a little more easily and enjoy the commute more.

Of course, the weekends are when I’m really looking forward to having a bike, the plan is to ride as much as possible and enjoy everything from a different perspective,” Leona beamed after her training. “I want to pass the main tests ASAP and get riding whenever I can.”

Leona has her full licence training and test booked so look out for further updates on her progress.

KRTS schools are all MCIA accredited and offer everything from motorcycle taster sessions and CBT to full licence and post-test training, start your journey at: www.learntoridewithkawasaki.co.uk.

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