Anger over motorbike 'swerve test'

I am going to throw a spanner in the works here, you say the ability to swerve comes with experience, and yes i agree, however compare it to learning to drive a car, people take months and months learning to drive, people (including myself) take to a bike for the first time on a Monday and have a licence by Friday that same week. 1 week of experience compared to many months with a car?

Ive never understood that, and yes ill happily admit that after passing my test i was a very bad rider but would like to say im alot better in the few months i ahve been riding.

Ok so im not really sure where im going with this, but do you see where im coming from, how can you expect anyone to develop the skill required to safely ride a motorbike within 1 week, surely it should be spread out much more to build up a certain level of confidence before being unleashed on the road?

Hope that made sense!

[21QUEST]

Originally Posted by arcdef

I am going to throw a spanner in the works here, you say the ability to swerve comes with experience, and yes i agree, however compare it to learning to drive a car, people take months and months learning to drive, people (including myself) take to a bike for the first time on a Monday and have a licence by Friday that same week. 1 week of experience compared to many months with a car?

Ive never understood that, and yes ill happily admit that after passing my test i was a very bad rider but would like to say im alot better in the few months i ahve been riding.

Ok so im not really sure where im going with this, but do you see where im coming from, how can you expect anyone to develop the skill required to safely ride a motorbike within 1 week, surely it should be spread out much more to build up a certain level of confidence before being unleashed on the road?

Hope that made sense!

That is a different can of beans you have opened now...folks would complain of increased costs


Ben

[Spiderman]

I'm with Sinbad on this. If all these learners are not learining the right skills to handle this maneouvre then far better for them to fall off in the safety of a test centre than in the road where the following bus or lorry wouldn't be able to stop. Who are they gonna sue then?

This attitude of "suing" the DSA is just madness tbh, after all they are learning a new skill, one which they know has its associated dangers. Its like learning an extreme sport, you go into it knowing that you will learn from experience and any expecrience you can gain in a safe and controlled environment is better than stuff you learn by filling your pants with brown stuff at the same time.

And ive never heard of car tests being cacelled for "bad weather" in my life, not unless its snowing so hard the road system closes down that is. Otherwise why cancel the tests? In a big box with heaters and wipers, what more could you need in bad weather?

CBT could do what you want if you enforced a minimum length of time you had to be on L-plates. I took over a year between doing the CBT and finally taking the test and I learnt so much more that way, plus I had all my newbie crashes (mainly grabbing the front brake) on a cheapo CBR125 rather than on a bike I actually cared about.

Still wouldn't do anything about the mid-life crisis muppets who buy a gixxer/R1/fireblade and think they're ****-hot after a week's training.

Lots of my friends had car tests cancelled due to heavy rain, wind and fog etc aswell as snow!

Stupid if you ask me, how can they expect you to drive freely no matter the weather if you cant do a test in it?

[Viney]

Originally Posted by arcdef

I am going to throw a spanner in the works here, you say the ability to swerve comes with experience, and yes i agree, however compare it to learning to drive a car, people take months and months learning to drive, people (including myself) take to a bike for the first time on a Monday and have a licence by Friday that same week. 1 week of experience compared to many months with a car?

Ive never understood that, and yes ill happily admit that after passing my test i was a very bad rider but would like to say im alot better in the few months i ahve been riding.

Ok so im not really sure where im going with this, but do you see where im coming from, how can you expect anyone to develop the skill required to safely ride a motorbike within 1 week, surely it should be spread out much more to build up a certain level of confidence before being unleashed on the road?

Hope that made sense!

Agreed in this stement, hwoever put it into hours and you get around the same hourly experience rate as you do on a weeks DAS. Say the average person takes 25 lessons beofre thier test, thats 25 Hours. On my Das i was on the road/bike for 5 hours a day that would equate to 25 hours, so the same in riding experience. I know that you may do extra in a car with firneds.family, but its essentaily the same.

No one has noticed that they require you to accelerate to 50kph! When did we go metric in britan then? At 31.5 mph you would be breaking the speed limit on a urban road! Its typical european bol**. Remember this when you vote next week folks!

Originally Posted by Spiderman

This attitude of "suing" the DSA is just madness tbh, after all they are learning a new skill, one which they know has its associated dangers. Its like learing an extreme sport, you go into it knowing that you will learn from experience and any expecrience you can gain in a safe and controlled environment is better than stuff yourn by filling your pants with brown stuff at the same time.

I think it's reasonable to sue the DSA if you've broken a bone or two while crashing during the off-road portion of the test. Surely the examiner has a duty to assess if the conditions are safe for the test to proceed and should call it off if it's too wet, which seems to be what caused that rider to break her leg.

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by Spiderman

IAnd ive never heard of car tests being cacelled for "bad weather" in my life, not unless its snowing so hard the road system closes down that is.

My brothers got cancelled, mind you it was really thick freezing fog and you couldnt see more than a few metres in front of you.

I agree with Sinbad to, its not the fault of the test its the fault of the people doing the instructing.

One instructor said all his pupils bar one had passed and the ones that he had seen falling off were pulling on the front brake whilst in the middle of the swerve procedure.

We all know what happens if you grab a massive handful of front brake whilst turning on a wet road. These people who are falling arent being taught properly or simply arent ready to take their test.

yeah same amount of hours, but you have no time to reflect on what you have learnt in a week, at least with it split up more you can get home and think hmmm yeah next time i wont do this or il try that and you will improve.

The idea about having a cbt for a set amount of time before the test is a good one.

Originally Posted by arcdef

yeah same amount of hours, but you have no time to reflect on what you have learnt in a week, at least with it split up more you can get home and think hmmm yeah next time i wont do this or il try that and you will improve.

The idea about having a cbt for a set amount of time before the test is a good one.

You could also do it the Finnish way where there's more than one test and they're also spread out over a period of time. My girlfriend said she had to do a skid test on a road that was hosed down before she got her licence!