Topic: Just took my road test

[dustyc]

...and I got my license. 

For all of you that are going, I'll give you the skinny.  Here's what the book says about the road test:

ON-CYCLE SKILL TEST
Basic vehicle control and crash-avoidance skills are included in on-cycle tests to determine your ability to handle normal and hazardous traffic situations.
You may be tested for your ability to:
• Know your motorcycle and your riding limits.
• Accelerate, brake, and turn safely.
• See, be seen and communicate with others.
• Adjust speed and position to the traffic situation.
• Stop, turn and swerve quickly.
• Make critical decisions and carry them out.
Examiners may score on factors related to safety such as:
• Selecting safe speeds to perform maneuvers.
• Choosing the correct path and staying within boundaries.
• Completing normal and quick stops.
• Completing normal and quick turns, or swerves.

Okay, so this doesn't tell you squat really.

Here's the layout of the course.  You start from the "T"s for the different parts.  3 basic courses, but one is used twice. 



You get your instructions and then go to the magenta(pinkish) T.  Get up to 12-18mph by the first line, then hold that speed to the end without going outside the lines.  There is a light tree set up in front of you that will let you know if you're up to speed or over speed.  I went through too fast my first time. 

Then ride through the blue corner without putting your feet down or hitting the lines.

Then go to the green T and take the curve as fast as you safely can.  Line up at the purple T and do it the other direction.

Then back to the magenta T.  The light tree will have a left yellow light, a middle Red light and a yellow right light.  You get up to speed and either swerve left(left yellow light) around the crossed line as indicated on the drawing.  Or you stop for the red light or swerve right for the right yellow light.

So hopefully that will help if you want to practice.  Sorry I don't have measurements for the layout.  Anyone who does can PM me and I'll lay it all out to scale.

Most people fail for not following directions and unsafe actions.  BTW not having your shield down is an unsafe action.  He told me that one.  You have to have it up to hear your instructions.  I almost got burned by it.

[boatsdickson]

Congrats dusty.... 

[dustyc]

Thanks. 

I'll add that I suggest doing it on the smallest bike you can get your hands on.  I couldn't imagine doing it on a Harley.  Also don't do it in new 9" boots that aren't broken in yet -that was a #$%*.

[DarkRider]

nice bit of info. Im probably gonna be takjing my MSF course here in either the spring or the summer...

[seaweb11]

There is a small parking lot on the Island here that someone painted out the BC course requirements on.
Walk into the woods, pick up a few rocks drop them on the faded paint marks and people can practice.

My wife found it one day on one of her walking expeditions. She went there quite a few times to practice.

Now if she could stop speeding through school zones, perhaps she might pass her final road test

[tramp]

congrats!!
remember your bike is smarter than you
it knows when its going to lay down

[andy750]

Congrats!

But remember that riding on the road is different than riding in a parking lot  So be careful!

Cheers
Andy

[dustyc]

Thanks y'all.  I try to be very careful.  I've got 2500 miles in since I put the bike together in June.  I ride with a leather jacket, gloves, full face helmet and boots.  Draggin jeans are next on the list.  Safety is a priority for me. I won't ride if I've had a drink and I'm always checking my surroundings.  I have a great respect for dangerous things and try not to be reckless with them.  I have alot of miles to log before I consider myself experienced.

Thanks again for the congratulations and the concern.

[andy750]

Hey Dusty with 2500 miles on your rebuild I think you are on your way to becoming experienced so keep it up and ride safe!

Have fun and again well done!

cheers
Andy

[Rushoid]

Congrats, Dusty! Feels good doesn't it?

I'm with you on the respect for dangerous things. Ride safe and have fun!

[mustangcar]

got my license today in my Honda Rebel great feeling.no more worrying about thte fuc*ing cops,now i can't wait to get my 78k on the road..Honda Rocks

[seaweb11]

I ride with my wife all the time and feel her skills are quite good.....2 years riding now.......why then has she failed her final test 4 times now???

Seem to be quite anal here at the Nanaimo test office

[burmashave]

Seem to be quite anal here at the Nanaimo test office

I think a huge benefit of doing the MSF course was that the instructor performed and graded the road tests. There were no surprises. He told us upfront exactly what he was looking for and how he would be doing the grading. We practiced on layouts similar to those on the exam.

He also clued us into the mindset of the test design, which in our state puts the figure eight first. The test designers do that because it makes the rider nervous before the real test. He instructed us that in the figure eight you lose a few points if you put your foot down, and you loose a few points if you go outside the line. So, do one or the other but not both, and ace the rest of the test and you're fine. That's actually what I did.

He told us several times that it was his goal to see all of the class (legitimately) pass the exam, and all of us did (about 11 class members). He has the opposite mindset of the examiners in the Nanaimo office.

[seaweb11]

She took a MSP course.
She passed that cone test a long time ago.
 It's the 45 min road test she is having problems with. They drive behind you and directing you through an ear piece.

Apparently she does not do enough shoulder checks.

[mattcb350f]

Apparently she does not do enough shoulder checks.

They gave me the same BS here in Ontario when I did my "G" license test. The guy said he wanted to see me turn my whole head around to check blind spots. I said in the time it takes me to do that to show you (the tester guy) that I'm checking them, I've driven a hundred yards and run over a deer. I know I check my blind spots.

Rant over  GONGRATS dustyc!

That layout you drew is a lot like the test for the Ontario test, except I remember having to start out inside the green corner and make it to the end in a minimum amount of time.

 Matt.

[Gordon]

Apparently she does not do enough shoulder checks.

The State Trooper who was behind me and grading my test said the same thing back when I got my endorsement, but I guess it didn't matter much because I still passed.  But then that was Texas, and I think as long as you can stop the bike without falling over, they'll pass you. 

[burmashave]

It's the 45 min road test she is having problems with. They drive behind you and directing you through an ear piece.

Wow, that's brutal. Do you live in the land of the anti-bike, seaweb?

[andy750]

We had the same road test in Scotland where they follow you and talk through an earpiece - very hard to hear with the old systems back in 1991! Anyway same thing  - lots of shoulder checks etc...and still to this day I shoulder check all the time...saved me more than a few times. I also do it in the car. Driving with just mirrors is crazy!

I failed my road test twice before passing due to small things like position in the lane...didnt take much to fail.

Good luck to your wife Seaweb!

cheers
Andy

[dpen]

A lot different from 1973 in Wagga NSW.
  Ride to the local Police Station, the copper walks out, says "you're still alive, you can ride"
Then tells you to ride around the block whilst he's inside doing the paperwork.

[Gordon]

I find it odd that in some places it seems easier to get your initial driver's license than it is to get a motorcycle endorsement on it.  Sure, riding a motorcycle is more dangerous for the operator, but driving a car is much more dangerous for everybody else around you.

[mystic_1]

In the US there's a common perception that driving a car is a right, and getting a license should be as easy as possible.  This attitude is changing however, more and more states are passing very stringent requirements for new drivers, such as requiring a certain number of logged hours driving under the supervision of an experienced driver. 

mystic_1

[seaweb11]

Nick:
             thanks for the supportive email to Kathleen.

[tsp37]

I had maybe 3 minutes of bad experience on a friend's XL70 before I rode my new 250 Custom from a prep bay in the Honda shop and into afternoon traffic at the tender age of eighteen years.

A week later I rode to the TN Highway Patrol station to get my endorsement.  I almost flunked the written exam (absolutely no studying may have been key to my score) and walked to the parking lot for my riding exam.  The patrolman asked "How did you get here?"  I rode, of course.  Maybe he thought that I pushed the bike?  He shook his head and administered a simple test which I passed.

A month later I was on the Atlanta bypass (a mere six lanes in those distant days) heading to Jacksonville wearing a tee-short, shorts, and sandals when a Highway patrolman came from no where and started waving a clump of cars over with me at the rear of the pack.  $hit.  I pulled over with them but he waved me off.  Cool, huh?

[dustyc]

Congratulations mustangcar. 

It's really a great feeling to be running without the worry of being 100% legal.  And it's another thing you can check off your list and that feeling of accomplishment is also a reward.

Get your 750 going.  That'll be a big feeling of accomplishment.

[OldSchool_IsCool]

I'm looking for the road test layout complete with measurements and dimensions.  Does anyone have that?

I found the layout, but no measurements...

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/sos/Motorcycle_BCS_Illustrations_198748_7.pdf