So the Test is becoming harder

The potential for things to go very wrong is way too great to teach it in the standard test. Especially considering they are students and so are likely to make more mistakes/ errors of judgement. It could get very messy! As part of an advanced training though I would say it's a great idea.

Anyone know what the changes are? and when they come into force?

[Shellywoozle]

I believe the changes are to come into force in 2008, don't know exactly when.

The maneouveres are to be done on a car park type area and there is going to be a control swerve as well, the emergency stop is at 30mph min I believe.

Don't know if they are adding anything else.

There's a bit about it on the DSA site: -

DSA Link

The link does not mention what is in the test, it will take the form of 2 parts the first being an off the road section taking in slow riding ie cones and the such like, pushing the bike into a parking bay back wards and brake and swerve at about 31mph the second part will be the road ride only if you pass the first section,

there is more to it but i expect you all get the idea

when i took mine it was piece of pi$$, worrying really to think i could have had a blade as my first bike.

Right can i clear something up please, the DAS test IS NOT (to my knowledge) changing, its ONLY the CBT that is going to be affected.
How do i know? i WORK at a local training school.
I'll get a copy of what the new cbt will be like and post it up.

Originally Posted by Paws

Right can i clear something up please, the DAS test IS NOT (to my knowledge) changing, its ONLY the CBT that is going to be affected.
How do i know? i WORK at a local training school.
I'll get a copy of what the new cbt will be like and post it up.

Disagree with you there. Both the full bike test and the CBT are changing in the next couple of years.

As had been said, I too would like to see filtering made more prominent in the DAS courses. It's amazing how many bikes (esp. bigger engined ones) in London being ridden like they have riders fresh out of training school!

Personally, I was taught approximately 2 minutes of filtering as it were, and iirc, I think that was on the 5 minute journey back to the training school after passing my test! It's a big part of riding through inner city traffic, and I think many more riders would benefit from more specialised training.

Also, following on from a couple of threads recently about picking up dropped bikes, I don't think that teaching 'proper' techniques of picking up fallen bikes would go amiss.........

I am doing my DAS test next Tuesday. So far it must have cost me £600+ and that is just for my lessons. Then there is £120 for the test which includes 2 hours of my instructor’s time too. So to fail it would mean another £120 + lessons and that is an issue. It is not like I don’t have the money but comparing to anything else it seems a wee bit more expensive than I would like it to be. But then I am obliged to say that aren’t I? I hate tests so I will be pretty nervous anyway. I practise U-turns regularly and 8 times out of 10 I will perform a good one. However the other 2 attempts I mess up, usually for trying to go too slow and touch the floor with my foot. So God knows what I will be like doing the test with all the nerves kicking in. I am really stressed about it. Otherwise I feel comfortable on the bike and even after those few hours on the bike I feel that my driving (car) has improved a lot. I tend to look out for bikes bit more than before and my observation skills improved too. Another point that stresses me out is that I am not sure what they mean by “making progress on the road”? I have been told by my instructor to speed things up on the road to build up my speed to the limit quickly so do 60 if you can. So next time I did and he slowed me down for doing 60 as he said the road was bending and I should always ride only so fast that I can stop in emergency. WTF then, what do I do? I will either be done for hesitating to progress quickly enough or for going to fast, won’t I? Also changing lanes seems to be a very subjective manoeuvre. Whilst I feel I can safely change lanes the examiner may think it was too small a gap for me to do so or it could be the other way around. The trouble is he is the examiner and he will always be right. So it will be a minor or possibly even major error bending on my examiner mood. Well, reading it so far I have complained about more or less everything so far. Perhaps it’s the nerves kicking in already. Wish me luck and I will keep you posted. I am sure I will have something to say after my test.