Bonneville America Forums Forums Rider Safety Forums Riding Technique Bike Licence

So, a little under two weeks before i take my 5 day Direct Access (which of course makes me eminently qualified to ride a bike in Birmingham...not).

Not particulaly nervous about it, but any advise from those of you who actually have bike licences or have passed em recently?

I'm doing the DAS with the misssus, so when they unleash the Wolves all i need to remember is to kick the leg from underneath her and run faster.

I think training bikes are usually something like a Bandit or something so it'll be interesting to see how training on that and then riding on the BA will fare.

Anthony

The only advice I can give is use your mirrors all the time, and make sure you use the glance over the shoulder, when exiting off a roundabout or starting off from stationery. Always make sure you have turned your indicators off and one final word... DONT SPEED..

Try to switch off an imagine you are ona lesson dont think of it as a test. Thinking to much about what you are going to do can cause you to make more mistakes.

One old timer examiner told me that folk should take an asprin to thin the blood as stress levels get extremely high causing blood pressure to rise. The asprin thins the blood and eases the tension.
he also told me that this could also bee a placebo effect making folk think that the asprin whilst not doing any harm it wont really do any good either.

You should try and eat something as well due to adrenilin dpleting energy reserves if you have some food you wont suffer the same from fatigue as it wears off.

U- Turn dont put your foot down and keep the revs up an old tip dont touch the front brake and remember the examiner cannot see your right foot (back brake) as you make the turn.

Speed limit move quickly up to the limit and stay there.

And finally dont swear at the examiner they tend not to forget things like that and be careful if you joke with them...dont ask how I know this just take my word for it.

best of luck see you on the road soon.

Keep a cool head and you'll sail through it. My first bike was a bandit and they are an excellent, well balanced bike.

Like Ray says, use plenty of observation (Lifesaver), don't be afraid to overtake & pull out into traffic safely (the instructor will want to see you confident with the power), kill your turn signals in a timely manner. Always put your left foot down first so that you can cover the foot brake. The rest is just usual road awareness.

I did my DAS 3 years ago now, and I can sometimes still hear my instructor yelling down my ear...

Just listen to what they say and if you don't understand ask. Take it steady, and always keep looking over your shoulder. Whne you do the turn in the road they'll say look at where you want to go...it works. Just look and the bike will follow. And clutch control. If you feel the bike stalling, pull the clutch in.

And I failed my first test for not turning my indicators off....

Anthony, I took my DAS 6 months ago. First test, I failed cuz i put my foot down on the u turn. I definately put that down to nerves and the examiner was like a drill sargent! But it made me appreciate passing even more the second time round. All the above advice is great,. only thing I can think thats missing, is the obvious dont make anyone break unneccarily. Test bike was a 500 Honda, then jumped straight on the America, no problems adjusting. Good luck.

Ben

On my second day of the DAS, did the CBT yesterday and my first day on the bigger bike.

happy enough on the roads (though i kept on signalling and _then_ doing a life saver rather than the other way around) and did my first stint up to 80mph (in which my jacket felt more like a parachute).

U turns are still a killer, barely getting them right half the time. Still have two more days of practise before the test on tuesday though so i reckon i'll have nailed it by then (fingers crossed).

out of curiosity, whats the turning circle like on the TBA? i know it'll be nothing like the little kawasaki's we're practising on.

hopefully pass tuesday, sort insurance (finally!) and then a couple of weeks later (with a bit of practise on my bike first) up to the old stomping grounds (Lancaster).

Just an update.

Anthony

And as you'll be passing Warrington, give me a shout.

Just so you know guys, the results are in and i passed!

...just

despite pulling off any number of perfect u turns in practise streets and around and about i almost fluffed my actual examination one

my emergency stop was also apparently too much rear break (which was again my own dumb fault as every other time it was fine).

got a couple of minor faults but most of it was down to nerves being shot after 5 days

examiner was the most aggressive bloke i've met for a while (both before and after the test).

unfortunately my other half didn't do as well, same examinor had a massive go at her before doing U turn and she fluffed it (hit the curb). Again she's done loads of U turns before and done them fine (in fact i'd say on average she's actually better than me - 10 years more road experience i expect).

on the way back into the test centre there was a fair amount of aggressive traffic and she dropped the bike (not on the road, by the side area - car park). Not only didn't he help her get it up (she recently shattered both bones in her forarm, damaged her wrist - tendon replacement and elblow - elbow replacement) but he had a go at her saying if she couldn't pick it up then she shouldn't have anything bigger than a 125.

real aggressive bloke.

so it's kinda a 'yay!' for me and a 'oh dear' for her. I'm hoping she does her re-test but her confidence is fairly shot.

now i've just gotta get some practise on the 'America. Any advice for me on making the transition? (from bog standard 'big bike' to cruiser style.

and when i do the Lancaster run i'll definately let you know!

Ant

Congrats on passing. Tell the missus to get back on the bike, have a couple more lessons and go for the test again. I know a lass who dropped a bike on her test and failed but a month later she passed

Baz