Motorcycle driver's test

I rode a lot when younger, then quit for 30 years, and started back a couple years ago on an '08 T100.

I took the class here, and the bike is provided.

The course consists of an evening class first, the a weekend of riding eight hours per day, followed by lunch and a couple hours of class each day.

The second day's riding includes a riding test, and that days class is a written test.

I rode a Yamaha dirt bike both days, as it was about all they had that didn't have forward foot controls.

No way I would have wanted to put my Bonnie through the panic stops, running over stuff and other rough on the bike exercises.

I enjoyed the course, and was glad the wear wasn't on my bike.

Rick
 
You couldn't do the test on a Rocket in Canberra even if it came under the very lax LAMS requirements (power:weight with no size limit) - it simply will not do a U turn in the space allowed. Even pushing it round slowly on full lock it runs over the side lines by more than a meter. The cone weave is tight too with only about an inch to spare by the end.
 
In NZ back in the day you could get your car & bike license at 15 then heavy truck at 18............... so in '75' got car licence on my birthday and the bike a week later on a TS100 Suzuki
 
When I rung them to book in to get my liscence I'm pretty sure they didn't believe what I had said other the phone .when I turned onto there property they came out with a green vest with a big L for learner on the back.i had to wear that for the duration of the day. And when it came to do all the circuits and emergency braking and the ride I had to go last so I would not intimidate the other riders .i do think the course was worth while doing ,as 40years ago I initially just rode around a car park once and that was good enough
 
I rode from 1971 to 1973 without a license of any kind. With the helmet law the cops couldn't tell I was under age. Summer 1973 I got my Motorcycle license only. Maryland used to let you get only the motorcycle license without the car license back then. Didn't get my car License until 1974. Took the motorcycle test on a special motorcycle test range inside a cement walled off area. It was designed to test your balance and agility. Very tight course. Had to do cones, circles, figure 8, run through 3 gears, stop and go a few times, all staying on a painted line and not touching the ground. (Except when stopping.) They deducted points if you took your foot off the pegs and failed you if you touched the ground while doing maneuvers. I took that test at 16 the in summer 1973 on a '72 Honda CL 350. Passed on the first try.
 
Richard I forgot when it came to do all the slow manouvers through the cones it was just a matter of applying the rear brake and allowing the torque of the motor to pull me through the circuit and it was the same for U turns. I can assure you they were looking rather intensely ,as at the end of the day they had nothing but favorable comments
 
Due to an unexpected hospital visit that summer, I had to wait about two months after getting the Bonnie to get the training.

I got a 96 on the riding test and a 100 on the written.

I think to do the figure eight on a Rocket, you'd have to be able to lean it pretty good at a dead slow speed.

Rick
 
That test is very similar to the test they do here now. The balance test was a test where as you had to stay on a line about 20 metres apart and if you went from one end to the other end to quickly you failed and the instructor would not tell you how long i had to balance for .that was the most stressfull part of the test
 
Rick I could have used one of there bikes but I had already told them that I thought that I had enough experience and I was not going to back away from the r3 .initially going out on the course I was nervous but when I started after watching everybody else the r3 behaved perfectly and I think that was one of the few times I would have been wearing that ridiculous grin some of us talk about
 
Well i can tell you the only way a Rocket could do the U turn here in the space allowed for the license test would be if you smoked the rear and had it turn around the front wheel. The bike is physically too big for the course no matter how much you lean it over. Trust me, I tried when Amanda was practicing for hers. She could just get round on the America but it was bloody tight so she did the actual test on a GS500 in the end; perfect bike for that.
 
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