Hi All,
Here's a rundown on my experience with getting my P's and passing the MOST riders test. I googled quite abit so heres my collection of the stuff i found useful and just some things i learnt. I apologise in advance, as you may find this quite tedious but ive tried to explain everything in detail.
A little about me
I find the whole riding experience quite traumatising and i guess i still do. I got my learner license in October of 2011 rode around the block a few times and to my mothers house which was only two suburbs away. Put the bike in the garage and let it collect dust for a good 8 months. As the time rolled around, i found myself in a do or die situation. Either I get my Ps or re-sit the learners course. Which mind you.. i was more than happy to do.
After quite a substantial amount of procrastinating, I booked my Ps test (and swore at the computer when i realised it was going to cost me $180) with 4 weeks grace. The first two weeks flew by, I tried U turns in my street a few times and failed miserably.. oh .. and dropped the bike once.
How I passed on a 2011 Honda CBR125R
1. Get yourself a copy of the MOST riders test
Here is the link to the MOST: http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/licensing/tests/most/index.html
Arm yourself with the right information to better your chances of passing.
Heres the link from the tasmanian gov. With the measurements etc. Quite useful:
http://www.transport.tas.gov.au/pdf/licence_information/alternate_most.pdf
2. Practice riding slow and I mean walking pace slow
a) From stationary position, rev to 4000 - 5000 RPMs. I personally sometimes hit 5000-6000
b) Back brack should NOT be engaged (yet)
c) Slowly release the clutch. Find friction point, where your bike is moving forward (slowly) but you havent completely released the clutch
d) Hold this point - So hold the clutch where it is. Hold the throttle where it is. You should just be slowly moving forward.
e) Engage your back brake and release a little and engage again, release a little and engage. You'll notice that you will still be upright, but braking will make you move even more slowly.
Continue to practice the above. Essentially what you're doing is controlling the speed with the back brake. Not the clutch or the throttle. I found this method for speed control was alot easier then trying to balance the clutch/throttle. This is especially important in the U-Turn.
Note: Get use to the fact that you're revving quite high and get over the squealing noise it makes! Until i got use to it, i kept accidently releasing the clutch or dropping the throttle. You need to maintain friction point and you need to continuosly keep your revs high.
2. Draw out the course
Armed with a massive chalk, I drew out the test i knew i hated the most. Cone weaves and U-turn. So lets start with that:
Cone weaves
a) Mark a line on the road. This is your starting point
b) From the centre of your line, walk 4m from the starting point. Step left 30cms and mark with an X. This is the first cone.
c) Step back in the centre, walk another 4ms then step right 30cms. Mark with an X and this becomes your second cone. And so on. You should continue this until you have 5 cones in total.
1. Head Check! Look straight ahead and not at the markings on the road
2. Rev high and ride slow as described in point 2.
3. Practice practice practice!
Note: I did this in 1st gear
U Turn
1. Head check!
2. You need to look around to where you want to end up (through your U-turn). So dont look down at the ground.
3. Ride slow as described in point 2. Turn you head and turn the bike.
4. Dont worry about trying to get within the 6.1m box for now. Just concentrate on riding slow and turning the bike at the same time. Go wide, and practice until you can make it within the box.
Notes: Keep your revs high. I often found that when i was finishing up my u turn i dropped my revs and came to a stop. Ooops.
I noticed I was putting my foot down when:
* I was going too slow or had stopped completely. Rev high and control your speed with the back brake. If your going to slow, release the back brake a little more so you have continuous forward motion
* Turned the steering too soon. Got abit excited and turned the steering too soon, which made me feel unbalanced on the bike.
* I turned my head too quickly. I noticed in my u turns, if i focused on different points throughout the turn i was better at doing it rather then whipping my head all way round.
Emergency Stop
This was quite fun. First few times i did this, i stalled.
So, once again mark the course on the road.
Notes:
* Where you need to stop depends on the speed at which you travel through the line
* Refer to transport tas gov link above for line markings
* At 20Klms you need to stop within 2.8m, I managed to stop within 2.8ms going at 22-23klms.
* Do this in 1st gear, no need to go to second. If i did this in second, i knew that once i stopped, i would probably forget to gear down to 1st before taking off, thereby losing a point for stalling!
1. Speed up to 20klms. Hold that speed
2. Once your front tire passes the line, pull in the clutch/front and back brake and come to a stop.
You're not suppose to move once you've come to an emergency stop
Left Hand Turn and Obstacle Turn
* No need to mention anything here. Again, done in first gear. Pretty straight forward.
So thats it from me, I hope this helps you. Im no expert, just thought id share my experience. I managed to pass, 0 points!
Safe riding
