Me test

Ginger

Well i failed it..

Bit of a disaster of a day yesterday..

1st thing was i didnt know my test was on until thursday last week so i had a lot of stuff to get organised quickly.

Arrived at the testing centre with 20 mins to spare and the tester tells me that there are no bike tests scheduled for today. I say well i was told and i give him my licence and he says its on in the other testing centre on the other side of limerick. So i make it across in time barely (hailstones and gusts of wind not helping the situation)

Do the questions and basic bike stuff quickly and then head out on the road. Its a part of town I am not familiar with and there is a lot of surface water on the road. Also a major amount of wind too.

So i do fine until i need to do the slow control and i am doing it up a road where there is a junction to my left. As i pass the junction there is a fierce amount of wind and i had a few wobbles because it. (Guess what he failed me on!)

Also took 4 left turns wide because of the amount of water on the road and me not knowing the area...

All a bit of an annoyance anyways.. especially after waiting just under a year to do it.

So time to reapply and hopefully get it this time

Idleater

Hard Luck!

The weather is not the best out there all right, and I know what you mean about driving in unfamilliar territory.

My only advice (in heinsight) is to practice more driving on unfamilliar roads. Realistically, the tester is there to examine how you drive under exam conditions at a specified date and time. If you can't drive "well" on unfamilliar roads, what use is a full licence.

What marks were written down on the sheet you got back? That will give you a better impression of where you went wrong, rather than presuming it was because of a puddle or a gust of wind.

L.

Ginger

Well he said my right turns were perfect and my left turns on 4 occassions were wide (I said it was to avoid the water as i didnt know what was under it) and he said well unfortunately they still count as wide which is fair enough.. I was still inside the white line and outside the lakes..

He gave me a grade 3 for the slow test because of the wobble and i asked what about the cross wind and he said well he was in the car and didnt notice it.. Not much i can do there.

There was no other fails on it .. only those and he explained why.

Everything else was fine... only the left turns and the wobble. Sure them is the breaks.. Repplying and hope for a better day..

Idleater

Fair enough.

I agree with you on that then - the guy was an idiot for the gust of wind thing.

Unfortunately the test is a joke and a Cager testing a biker is just applying cage rules to the bike so you are not to blame for that.

He has a point on the puddles though. I think you (under test conditions) are not supposed to alter your course except in emergency. So you are supposed to go through rather than around obstacles that are in your way.

Stupid rule again because it is based on Cage tests and not the manouverable bikes.

Sorry that you have to do it again, but practice away and you will pass next time I am sure.

L.

Gurgle

nereid wrote:

He has a point on the puddles though. I think you (under test conditions) are not supposed to alter your course except in emergency. So you are supposed to go through rather than around obstacles that are in your way.

Yep, you should adjust your speed and keep your course.

Niall06

Sorry to hear your bad news.
Also did the bike test yesterday and it was very windy and had a shower of hail stones, which don't help.
Tester was sound ( he rides a bike at the weekends ) and I passed.
Better luck next time.

Ginger

I know under test conditions.. but sure them is the breaks...

Gonna reapply for Ennis because there is a shorter waiting time, they take bikes tests in April and in November i think (according to my instructor anyways)

Odysseus

Just in relation to waiting times, a letter from work on headed paper stating you need a full licence gets you a much quicker test date, mine dropped from 12 months to 3. We often do letters for friends and family who don't even work with us, as once it is on headed paper it isn't checked.

delop

Odysseus wrote:

Just in relation to waiting times, a letter from work on headed paper stating you need a full licence gets you a much quicker test date, mine dropped from 12 months to 3. We often do letters for friends and family who don't even work with us, as once it is on headed paper it isn't checked.

Does that work for Bikes? Thought a letter for Bikes would look a bit silly, Unless you deliver stuff with bikes ...

Idleater

delop wrote:

Does that work for Bikes? Thought a letter for Bikes would look a bit silly, Unless you deliver stuff with bikes ...

You mean like couriers?

L.

Wossack

'My employee needs his bike for work because: without it he'd be late / no adequate public transport in area / he does house calls / deliveries'

Odysseus

delop wrote:

Does that work for Bikes? Thought a letter for Bikes would look a bit silly, Unless you deliver stuff with bikes ...

It worked for me. I have never heard of the letters being checked up on, however, for example I have to work in different locations during my working day. I could be in my base in the morning and out in the community in the afternoon. So all you have to say is you move around locations as part of your employment.