New style bike test - scrapped

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

I judge people on far more minor things than whether they're queuing in traffic or not. For example if you have a fringe that covers one of your eyes I will instantly judge you to be a turd countersinking emu and have a small urge to remove your limbs with a bread knife. Anyway, filtering is dead easy, it's just like riding a bike except you go round the cars

Hardest thing as a new rider is judging cornering speeds and such, filtering is easy. I was filtering pretty much every opportunity same day I got my CBT.


If test is so easy, what's the point of it?

dam yorkie!!!!

ok the test is easy once you have been trained, there is nothing in it that anybody who has half decent control over a bike should not be able to complete. i would actually make it harder. i think there should be a section on filtering and stuff in it.
filtering is the one thing i have found abit daunting since passing. i have done it and do it most of the time if i get caught in traffic but for example my commute takes me on the m25 which is always slow. filtering on there i find hard, the white lines between lines make the bike feel abit unstable. i think the fact i have been a car driver for 10 years before getting on a bike has made me see just how dangerous it can be. things like that come with confidence and for somebody who is very new to riding that can take time to come. its not the people sitting in traffic you should worry about, its the muppets filtering at 80mph on motorways or just in general dangerous riding (there are many many dangerous bike riders out there) least the guy sitting in traffic will get home to see his wife and kids ah!

[MisterTommyH]

Would be good for some kind of filtering to be included in the test, or at least training. I'm rubbish at it, and I don't know why.

Suppose I should just grow a set.

I was taught to filter by my instructor, the same instructor had me going down the bypass at over 90mph he just kept saying go faster. He did a great job of building confidence but this was a while ago I assume teaching methods have been changed.

Originally Posted by irons

and btw doing a figure of 8 and u-turn on a 125 is alot easier than on a big bike (for a new rider) watch people do their cbt and almost everyone will do it with no problems, watch them do it on a 500cc in mod 1 and loads will fail

going round in circles abit, at the end of the day the mod 1 is a piece of ****, if you cant do it then you cant control and balance on a bike well enough to be on the roads (my view)

Im pretty sure you've noticed that i'm not the only one that thinks larger bikes are much more stable platforms. It's not an issue regarding the size of the rider either - i weigh <60kg, and my sv is far easier to keep afloat than my 125 ever was - slow or fast.

When i'm in slow moving traffic, i prefer to have my left foot ready to stop, and perhaps for security.

Also, i failed my first mod 1 because i dropped the bike during the manual handling procedure - asking someone to carry a bike 4 times heavier than you, almost as wide as your arm span and not much shorter than you without allowing you to have the side stand down as a precaution is ridiculous. When i did pass, that part of the test took me a good few minutes!

It was hilarious when i dropped it by the way! But one good opportunity arose, i learnt how to pick a bike up correctly.

Originally Posted by Tommy H

Would be good for some kind of filtering to be included in the test, or at least training. I'm rubbish at it, and I don't know why.

Suppose I should just grow a set.

Its all about confidence, if you get nervous, you will waver, and struggle to handle the bike. Try it in stationary traffic when space is ample; go slow and with a left foot off the peg ready.

Is it just me that feels a left foot at the ready can help relax you? I dont do it often, nor do i put it down; its just comforting at times.

You can't argue about 125 vs 500. It has nothing to do with the size of the engine and everything to do with the weight of the bike vs the weight of the rider, and how high the combined centre of gravity is. A heavy rider will find a Suzuki VanVan a lot more stable than a CG125, it's heavier and you sit lower down on the bike. A light rider may not notice a difference between a 125 and a 500, and may find any 125 with less weight easier if he is prone to letting the bike drop.

I suppose the tyre profile must play a significant role aswell

i have an sv to and yes i find it more stable and easier to ride. Dont really think i was getting across what i meant. im only talking from my own experience. i had no experience on bikes at all. done my cbt on a 125 and found it very easy. 2 weeks later did my training for mod 1 and got on a 500 for the first time. now compared to the 125 this thing felt like a car. every mistake i made you could feel the weight of the bike and as soon as you feel that weight and your new to riding your head tells you to put your foot on the floor just incase. i knew if that went to go i was not going to be able to keep it up so the foot goes down.
agree with bike and rider weight comment tho, and mcgrimes your not suppose to carry the bike, just roll it

Originally Posted by irons

agree with bike and rider weight comment tho, and mcgrimes your not suppose to carry the bike, just roll it

Haha, if anything, when i breeze came along the bike pushed me around in a circle.

Good job that bike had crash rails; although a few weeks later, someone did 50mph in the swerve test, binned it and sent the bike doing flips apparently. That poor 500 did not have a good last few weeks.

It did live to about 50 years of age though lol.

Originally Posted by andrewsmith

Live and learn.

Stig you may be able to clarify this (off topic slightly).
Does the Cat1 etc... have a limit to how many times you can sit the test before your not allowed a licence?

Nope sorry, I passed my test first time and also many many years ago.

The reason putting a foot down on the U turn is a fail is because it is deemed as an unsafe manoeuvre which could result in loosing control.

I never do a U turn with my feet on the pegs although I must have completed the manoeuvre hundreds and hundreds of times when I was teaching. People who do do it ARE willy waving. Whether it be to themselves or others.

Personally if I need to turn the bike round I'll be more likely to swivel the bike round on the side stand. So much easier and far less hassle.