Failed motorcycle road test today

[mully95]

I took it on and old Honda CB 500 and barely passed, the circle within the circle at 5 miles per hr was the killer.
I recommend to anyone that ever asks, to take the test on a smaller bike.

Don't be to hard on yourself, that test is a *****

I'm trying not to be so hard on myself.... but it aint easy.

I have a 2009 Rebel in my collection of bikes, ride down here leave your Roadster and take the Rebel for the test, give yourself plenty of time as it will take about 72hours to get back up to SC.

You sir are a great friend indeed! Thanks.
I will keep you in mind about the Honda.

When I went to get my license many years ago when I got into riding again the guy looked at my bike and said nice bike and that I rode it there he past me without a road test

I wished I was that lucky!

 

[rainman]

I'm trying not to be so hard on myself.... but it aint easy.



You sir are a great friend indeed! Thanks.
I will keep you in mind about the Honda.




I wished I was that lucky!

I was riding without a license and no permit

 

[idk]

Do the MSF course. You will get good training, and will learn things that you didn't know, and will get your licence. I had been riding for many years but I did the course to get my licence in the USA. It is probably the best investment of time that I have ever made as far as driving and riding goes.

 

[1BigDog]

I took my MC test in NYC in 1974 on a 1973 Yamaha 250 2 stroke. Made easy work of it.

 

[HansO]

You might check out some of the Ride Like a Pro videos. Very instructive on slow riding and maneuvering. The secret seems to be using the rear brake, a small bit of throttle and slipping the clutch. Also keeping your eyes up and focusing on where you want to go and not focused down in front of the bike. I've tried his methods and its quite surprising what you can do on a very large bike.

When I started the local branch of "The Ulysses Club" here in the Eurobodalla (the shire I live in on South Coast NSW) 12 years ago, I noticed that there were a few late in life starters and some that had returned to riding after a very long break and that some of them were just short of Dangerous on two wheels, The Ulysses Club offers its members a rebate on safe riding courses so I got in touch with H.A.R.T (Honda Australia Rider Training) and got as many as possible to participate, It was a Huge Success I was amazed that they taught the body langue method using the rear brake, clutch and touch of throttle whilst keeping the body upright or opposite to direction of leaning bike into turn and act as counter balance which is something I learnt years ago when trials riding, It allows you to turn on almost full lock at a snails pace, this teaches new a whole new level of balance and control even on a Darkside tyre, I know as I tried it after switching to the DS

 

[DJ]

License, Don't need no stinking license!

 

[cr0ft]

Bottom line is that just because you can go straight down the road with decent skill at that doesn't mean you know how to maneuver a bike at near standstill. That takes completely different skills and a serious focus on balance, and the weight of the Rocket - while beautifully balanced - makes that balancing act more difficult because any errors you introduce will get magnified. Also, the torque means it's harder to get just a little power to the back wheel compared to a little bike that only can do a little power. I think quite a lot of riders simply don't practice their slow speed maneuvering nearly enough - me included.

Switching to a small bike can help - but you need saddle time on the small bike too to get used to how it balances. I'd rather take the bike I know and learn to ride that right and then go do the test.

You should be able to do garage turns in both directions with no problem to really be good at riding slow (ie, get the bars fully over against the stops and hold them there when you do a 180). For most riders, one of the directions is going to be much easier, usually turning left.

 

[cusso ken]

When I started the local branch of "The Ulysses Club" here in the Eurobodalla (the shire I live in on South Coast NSW) 12 years ago, I noticed that there were a few late in life starters and some that had returned to riding after a very long break and that some of them were just short of Dangerous on two wheels, The Ulysses Club offers its members a rebate on safe riding courses so I got in touch with H.A.R.T (Honda Australia Rider Training) and got as many as possible to participate, It was a Huge Success I was amazed that they taught the body langue method using the rear brake, clutch and touch of throttle whilst keeping the body upright or opposite to direction of leaning bike into turn and act as counter balance which is something I learnt years ago when trials riding, It allows you to turn on almost full lock at a snails pace, this teaches new a whole new level of balance and control even on a Darkside tyre, I know as I tried it after switching to the DS

Until you are up to enough speed to create sufficient centrifugal force to keep the bike upright you must use balance to keep the bike from falling over ,by transferring weight to counter balance the bikes tendency to fall over
a small bike is easier as only minimal weight transfer is required ,a mate of mine who weighs around 22 stone(154Kg) can do slow U turns on his Harley road king in less space than a smaller bike as he only has to counter lean his weight and the bike just turns beautifully, with a little rear brake and clutch work.

 

[cr0ft]

Inspiration:

 

[peter k]

I actually redid my liscence several years ago on the r3 and the slow manouvers weren't to bad around the circuit ,it was just the matter of having the bike in first or second gear then apply the throttle and ,apply the back brake and allow the torque to drag your ass around the circuit .seriously I had a smile from ear to ear . The only thing was I had to go last at everything so as not to intimidate the other riders.