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  • Recent motorcycle test takers?
  • fervouredimage
    Free Member

    My wife wants to get her motorcycle licence. I passed my test in 2001 and I’m aware that not so long ago the test was given a bit of an overhaul. Any recent test takers have any thoughts to share on the new test?

    Fairly straight forward or not?

    PeterPoddy
    Free Member

    AFAIK the acutal test isn’t that different to what you and I took. She will have to do a theory though.

    There’s not much more you can do on a bike after a U-turn and emergency stop, is there? 🙂
    (Unless there’s a slow riding bit off the road somewhere these days?)

    My own view is to do your CBT then get a cheap 125 and ride that for 6 months to a year until bored then go and do the full test. 🙂

    PeterPoddy
    Free Member

    Ahh, as I suspected, there’s an off road part now:

    http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/LearnerAndNewDrivers/PracticalTest/DG_178328


    Module one: off-road manoeuvres

    Motorcycle test video Opens new window Module one is the off-road module. It generally takes around 20 minutes to complete.

    Module one includes the following manoeuvres:

    wheeling the moped or motorcycle and using the stand
    doing a slalom and figure of eight
    a slow ride
    U-turn
    cornering and controlled stop
    cornering and the emergency stop
    cornering and hazard avoidance
    There is a minimum speed requirement of around 32 miles per hour (50 kilometres per hour) for the hazard avoidance and emergency stop exercises. There is no minimum speed requirement for the first cornering and controlled stop exercise.

    Motorcycle manoeuvring area
    Module one takes place in a safe off-road area called a motorcycle manoeuvring area. The layout of the area will vary depending on where you take your test. You can download diagrams that show the different layouts from the links below.

    At the end of module one, the examiner will give you the result and feedback. If you pass, you’ll get your module one pass certificate.

    Module two: on-road riding
    Module two is the on-road module and typically takes around 40 minutes.

    You must bring your module one pass certificate to module two, along with all the documents you had to bring to the module one test.

    Reporting for your practical test Rules for mopeds and motorcycles used for riding tests Bring your documents
    If you don’t bring the right documents:

    your test may not go ahead
    you may lose your fee
    What happens during module two
    This module includes the:

    eyesight test
    safety and balance questions
    road riding element
    independent riding section

    Vehicle safety and balance questions

    You’ll ride in a variety of road and traffic conditions. You’ll be asked to carry out:

    normal stops
    an angle start (pulling out from behind a parked vehicle)
    a hill start (where possible)
    The examiner will give you directions using a radio. They will normally follow you on a motorcycle.

    Independent riding section of the riding test
    Your riding test will include around ten minutes of independent riding. This is designed to assess your ability to ride safely while making decisions independently.

    Independent driving and riding section of the practical test At the end of module two
    At the end of module two, the examiner will give you the result and feedback. If you pass, the examiner will explain to you how to change your provisional licence into a full licence.

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    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    Theory test – same as usual, load of questions followed by hazard perception.

    Mod 1 – car park stuff

    1) push the bike into a garrage/parking space made of cones, reverse out, and reverse into the other parking space a few meters away. All without bumping the cones or droppig the bike or not looking where you’re going, apparenlty a big source of failiures is people just doing the test rather than treating it like a busy car park, so lots of looking over shoulders before moving etc.
    2) slalom, then at the last 2 cones straight into……..
    3) figure of 8 untill the examiner says stop (i.e. he/she’s satisfied your doing them properly and not wobbling too much.
    4) ride behind the examiner at walking pace and stop when he does.
    5) U-turn
    6) accelerate round the corner and stop in line with the examiner.
    7) accelerate round the corner and emergency stop when he puts his hand up.
    8) ‘Swerve’ as above, but theres 3 gates of cones to swerve through (the second is offset to one side and angled in so you have to turn out then come back in, then straighten up and stop.

    5 and 6 have a minimum speed of 32mph, doesn’t sound much but its quite a tight space.

    Mod 2 is the same old practical test but without the manouvers appart from the obvious stuff like getting the bike out of it’s parking space (tip: reverse it in before the test and ride straight into it after the test) and a hill start. I had to do another pull in/start as well but I think that’s becasue I got stuck behind a HGV on a town center road and he wanted me to actualy get upto the speed limits rather than follow the HGV. Other than that he was in a car so at the first roundabout I left him a long way behind and mistakes he can’t see can’t affect the score 🙂

    I think they’re talking about scrapping the Mod1 and going back to the old test, depending on whether you want more (possibly useless) skills/practice of doing the MOD 1 it might be worth waiting untill the new test starts? But then you’ve got things like potholes, traffic, parked cars and road camber etc to deal with when doing U-turns etc. At least in the car park you just have to pretend to be looking for traffic.

    EDIT: what PP posted but I took too long writing.

    br
    Free Member

    The ‘U’ turn is always lost on me, never done a feet-up one in 30 years of biking – its one of those manoeuvres that is just dangerous, whether on bike or in a car, but esp. on a bike due to low speed instability and lack of vision.

    Easier in my day, the instructor just stood at the side of the road and watched you.

    PeterPoddy
    Free Member

    The ‘U’ turn is always lost on me, never done a feet-up one in 30 years of biking – its one of those manoeuvres that is just dangerous, whether on bike or in a car, but esp. on a bike due to low speed instability and lack

    I do em all the time! Not unsafe at all, not sure where you get that idea from…
    How else do you turn a fully loaded sports tourer with pillion? Ask her to get off and shuffle it round by hand? I don’t think I could push it up the camber on the road!! Nahh. Just a quick u turn….. If you have the skill, that is…. 🙂

    EDIT
    Just re read you post – “never done a FEET UP…”
    You can’t actually do em, can you? 🙂

    turin
    Free Member

    I recently passed my motorcycle test and also had passed under the previous system.

    🙄 i never sent the bit paper off to give me a full licence 😳 dont ask! – i know im a tit

    Anyways,

    I think that the new test is much better for the new motorcyclist, for a few reasons. It means that the rider is carrying out the mod 1 in a controlled environment and you dont have to make zillions of observations before carrying them out on the road.

    Also the mod 2 bit now (in teh case of me and the people I did teh lessons with) concentrates on the type of roads that motorcycles are more likely to go on. (not only obvioulsy) that being Dual carriages, A and B roads and the dont have to faff around doing the excercises in mod 1. The examiner and instructors all seemed to think that this produced a better rider.

    I think after doing the test twice Im a far more competent rider and definitely safer.

    The instructors were mentioning something about the future test and they were saying that there is another mod but this was for the direct access if you were under 25.

    of course being cynical i t could also be that the government now get three test fees from every person?!?!

    The ‘U’ turn is always lost on me, never done a feet-up one in 30 years of biking – its one of those manoeuvres that is just dangerous, whether on bike or in a car, but esp. on a bike due to low speed instability and lack of vision.

    I asked my instructors the same thing, they said that it was just so that teh bike could be turned if required? and that even none of them had ever performed the manoeuvre. I was led to believe that “technically” a u turn in a car is an illegal manoeuvre. could be bollax tho

    nedrapier
    Full Member

    just bloody failed my bloody mod 2. Tuesday. Massive waste of a morning!

    Up at 5:30, drove form Finsbury Park to Wembley, ride with instructor (Direct access, school bike) to Erith, Woolwich, failed the test within 3 minutes of the test centre when a truck pulled out on me on a roundabout and I passed dangerously close behind it, apparently. Can’t really argue, he had a better view than me. Too much bicyle commuting! Rode the rest of the test, waited for the other guy to take (pass) his test, rode back to Wembley, drove back to F Park, cycled into work.

    Great day! Waiting for another cancellation…

    Not much to add to the above, mostly easy, don’t do somehting silly on your test!

    rp16v
    Free Member

    i passed my re-take mod one last month i failed on puting my foot down on the figure 8 went into the cones far to close and to tight really just wasent concentrating.
    have my mod 2 tomorrow morning hopefully itl be raining so will be able to go at lower speeds and leave bigger gaps without being pienalised(sp) also lets face it no examiner wants to be out in the rain for longer than they have to 😆

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