Government to review the new motorcycle test

[repomanbe]

This review will look at the manoeuvres carried out in both modules 1 (off-road) and 2 (on-road)

I'm presuming this just means testing on a bit of ground like a car park and not like this.......


either way, luckily it doesn't affect me,
my test was the old round the block a few times type on my Honda CB250K4,
black Belstaff Jacket, open face lid with goggles

 

[Benhur]

Retest today went without a hitch at all - no errors and all cones survived. I haven't a clue as to why I screwed up so badly on Tuesday.

Although the test is a bit of a pain, I do think the emphasis on low speed handling is a good thing and I hope it remains as part of the new revised test.

 

[Benhur]

Retest today went without a hitch at all - no errors and all cones survived. I haven't a clue as to why I screwed up so badly on Tuesday.

Although the test is a bit of a pain, I do think the emphasis on low speed handling is a good thing and I hope it remains as part of the new revised test.

 

[CrashOverride]

Excellent, glad it went smoothly today

 

[petera]

My wife recently failed her part 1 and is booked in to resit her test in February.
Problem she is having, is accelerating from the bend up to the speed trap and reaching the required speed. Most advise has been "do it on a 500" then its not a problem. Best she achieved was 51kph but only managed 47 then 49 for the swerve so she failed. No other minors or issues other than being 1 kph slow through the speed trap. Do other students on 125's have this problem. Any tips on how to get past this problem. Seems a ridiculous thing to fail on when everything was perfectly ok. I should add she thinks the test is fine in principal and you should be confident/competent with all the manouvers etc before moving onto part2 , if only her bike was a little faster or the distance between the bend and the speed trap was greater.
Picking up on anothers posters point the std of training varies enormously. All the way from "I really enjoyed that lesson and learned loads" to "I might as well give up, he thinks I'm useless ".
Fingers crossed for next time

 

[Benhur]

I did my test on a 650 so getting up to speed is not a problem - I did 52km/h for both parts.

I did do the initial training on a 125 and I agree it is a lot harder to reach the required speed, the best thing to do is to get the power on earlier in the bend. Or just do the test on a bigger bike as has been suggested!

What does her instructor say? It must be possible to pass the test on the 125's the school is using else they would be using a different bike.

I had two instructors who taught different techniques for the swerve.

Option 1: get up to 35mph at the red cones and then close the throttle before the trap.

Option 2: Get up to speed but offset the approach through the cones and the trap - makes the swerve a lot smoother and the braking much easier. I did this too much on my first test and hit a cone!

The other thing to remember is that after the swerve you don't have to immediately swerve to get back on course for the box - you can slow the bike in a straight line and then steer to the box.

To accelerate out of a bend, heading at a hazard, closing the throttle, swerving and then stopping in a box is just a totally contrived way of testing something - I am still a bit unsure of what is actually being tested. I did find that splitting the exercise down - target speed out of the bend etc. does make the jumping through the hoop a whole lot easier. But I would say that, I suppose, I have passed!

I wish her luck!

 

[Grey Beard]

German Test

I recently did the full bike test in Germany. Never previously rode a motor bike prior to taking lessons in Germany.

Lessons/training can only be done at an authorised training school, not by family friends, etc. Same with cars.

Driving test is in two parts, but done together and if you fail one module then the whole thing must be repeated. The Theoretical Test is done some time prior to the Practical test.

The practical test consists of the Manouvrability test, plus the normal road work. The Road work part of the test will include urban/city driving plus country road driving. The training MUST include a set number of hours on Motorway/Autobahn at high speed and also a set number of hours night driving.

The manouvrability test is usually carried out on a quiet section of road in a nearby Industrial Estate and you have to hope other traffic/artics, etc. is minimal. In the UK I think your test must be done in a special test centre because of the 50km/h conversion to 31.25mph makes this test illegal (exceeds the normal UK urban speed limit).

There are two swerve tests in Germany, two slalom tests, a Stop Start test, a Circle Turning test, a Walking Speed Slalom test, a Straight Line walking speed driving test and an Emergency Stop test. Six modules are tested, of which four are mandatory. The mandatory ones are the Emergency Stop, the two Swerve tests and the Walking Speed Slalom. You will usually be tested on one of the higher speed slaloms and the Start Stop, but that is the examiner's perogative.

Personally I found the Swerve Tests easy and the walking speed slalom test the most difficult. My instructor reckoned most experienced bikers would fail the walking speed slalom if asked to do it a couple of years after their
You can screw up any one of two manouvrability modules and get a second chance, but if that is failed a second time, then the test is failed and terminated.

I think the problem people have with the Swerve Test is braking/not pulling the clutch, while swerving. If the German examiner sees you doing that it would be a fail, even if you didn't fall off.

Germany has had the Swerve tests for many years apparently and there isn't a big song and dance about it. I have talked to someone in the UK who had just done their test and had no problem with the Swerve test (so long as no braking during the swerve) but also read the complaints about the test being done in a special test area where Heavy Good Vehicles were also tested and diesel may have been spilt on the road.

I have to confess that the manouvrability part of the test was the bit that filled me with most apprehension, but it wasn't a problem.

Grey Beard