Tips and Advice for the Irish Motorcycle Driving Test!

Zascar

I've been meaning to do this for a while... Having now passed my test I thought I should write down all the advice that others have given me and what I learned myself while preparing for it.

Here is my list - and I have also turned it into a blog post here - so please take a read through, let me know anything you think I should add or change, and I'll update it so that it can be a good reference for anyone who is doing their test soon - I hope it helps you out.

Good luck!

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General Stuff:

Lessons - Get them - no matter how good a rider you think you are, get a pre-test at least. There are lots of little things you might not think of that you can fail for easily. Definitely get a pre-test at a minimum, but do it early, weeks before your date. Practice is key - In the few days up to the test, whenever you are on your bike, ride like it was your test, do not be lazy. It’s very hard to just “Switch it on” for the test and start doing everything perfect. Sometimes you do know exactly what to do, but you can just make mistakes and forget stuff. Try talking to yourself and narrating your actions – it actually works!

Wear all your gear, boots trousers, Yellow reflective jacket with L plates -and make sure it’s not brand new looking, dirty it up a bit. Park your bike in backwards so you can drive straight out and not have to reverse. Know the road signs, especially Clearway, Bus lane, Contra flow bus lane, pedestrian zone etc. Look the part and answer questions confidentially without rambling, and you are already off to a good start.

He’s going to ask you all about your bike, how to check oil, brake pads, adjusting chain tension etc – know all this inside out. When he asks you to get on your bike, put your right hand on the bar and hold the brake before swinging your leg over.

When out on the road – be confident. Don’t drive stupidly slow and carefully – he will fail you. Drive normally but just drive as near to the speed limit as possible at all times. Driving too slow is one of the main reasons for failure. Don’t hold up traffic. If in a 50kph zone, you can get away with doing a 33/34kph a few times – just don’t do it consistently.

Don’t worry if you make a mistake – you can get away with a few and still pass- but you don’t know, he might not have even seen it! Don’t give up, give it your best at all times and relax…

Exaggerate your observations – move your head, not just your eyes - if he can’t see you looking - you did not look – so make sure he sees you. Indicate early and manoeuvre - but not too early. Look into approaching junctions early.

Check mirrors every 20 seconds or so. Don’t look at one mirror and then the other immediately, look straight ahead for a second or two in-between. Check your mirrors every time before you slow down, or even come off the throttle.

Look out for stop signs - made sure to put your foot down at/before sign - regardless if there is not traffic.

Keep elbows down especially on lifesavers - if your arms are straight when you look over your shoulder, your bike will turn slightly when you do a lifesaver – this can send a false indication to the driver behind you.

U turn: Mirror and look behind you, but keep your hands on the handlebars, do not take your hand off to look around. Don’t drive too far forward before turning, be confident. Turn your head all the way around and look back up the road, do Not look at the opposite curb. Lean into it, drag back brake, feather throttle if needed. Don’t kit the curb whatever you do, you won’t fail if you put a foot down. He may ask you to do it again. Don’t forget to mirror, indicate, lifesaver and pull in on the other side. Practice these a lot.

Obstruction Overtake Manoeuvre: Mirror, indicate, lifesaver, move to other side of road. Mirror, indicate in, lifesaver, move back in. Practice this, I actually fcuked mine up even though it’s something we all do all the time on the road.

Theory Questions:

When would you use dipped headlights?
Dusk/ dawn, built up area, traffic coming towards you, travelling behind traffic, in fog/snow, Approaching a junction with a major road.
On continuously lit roads outside built-up areas,

How/Why would you skid / loose traction?
Oil, Diesel, leaves, gravel, ice, rain, metal plates, bad tyres, improper use of Brakes or Throttle. Also because of bad tyres. Know the minimum tread depth: 1mm.

When can you overtake on the left?
When turning left or vehicle in front of you is turning right, or on dual carraigeway/motorway and traffic in the right lane is queuing

When would you use a lifesaver?
Junctions/Roundabouts/Moving off/ Changing lanes.

Continuous white line - can you cross it?
Generally no. Exceptions - For emergency and access.

Sequence of lights at a pelican crossing?
Green-amber-red-flashing amber-green

What’s the rule for entering a yellow box junction?
Enter as long as you can drive out of it. Exceptions - Turning right and even at that provided you wont be blocking/obstructing traffic as a result.

Who can give traffic instructions?
Members of the Gardai, or if there are roadworks, you have to obey the instructions given by the workers. Also a person in charge of Animals.

How do you recognize a zebra crossing?
Black and white striped poles on either side of the road with a flashing amber beacon, zig zag lines on the road leading up to it, and black and white markings going across the road for the crossing.

Fabio

Fantastic stuff there, good man. Should be a sticky.

n.catenthusiast

Cheers for this man-very comprehensive, gonna give it a solid read through.



just want to confirm, before you change direction don't you check both mirrors, then indicate, then check relevant mirror, lifesaver & then turn?


Got my test comin up next week and slowly realisin the bad habits i've picked up! :eek:
Have a pre test but its 2 days afore the test itself, and I want to get started on gettin it together.....

Pkiernan

Dumb question, but what is a lifesaver?

Zascar

It's when you check your blind spot by looking over your shoulder to see what cannot be seen in your mirrors. Called a lifesaver for the obvious reason - if you manoeuvre without doing one, a car or bike etc could very easily be just behind you at your side and even though you checked your mirrors you would still not see them = potential disaster.

Mr. Presentable

Pkiernan wrote: »

Dumb question, but what is a lifesaver?

Quick check over your shoulder. Like blindspot check in car.

JCDenton

When doing a lifesaver, does your head turn to a 3 (or 9) o'clock position?

This is what I always do to check over my shoulder, but, I remember driving behind a chap once who continually turned his head right around to a 5/6 o'clock. (i.e. turning his body as well to look).

Just how far is necessary?
(From the point of view of an instructor in the test?)

shadowlover

has anyone done the test in mullingar

Zascar

I was asked by a fellow Monster rider to give some more tips on U-Turns - which are notoriously difficult on Monsters due to their totally pants turning circle. Here's my advice:

I had problems at the beginning trying to do U-Turns on my bike - and my instructor and I spent ages practising it.

First, start off with a wide road. Some smaller roads can be intimidating and put you off, Get comfortable doing the turn with some space first before you try to make it tighter.

The most important thing to do is to Lean into the corner. You can't amke a tight circle without leaning. Also very important is the direction of your head. It seemed strange at first but you really need to turn your head ALL the way around - Do Not look down at the ground, look way way down the road, but where your head points - your bike will do. It's tempting to look at the Kerb to see how far away you are, this will just make it more difficult.

Get the Rev's up, feather the back brake a little, turn quickly and lean, not gradually - the more you wait the bigger the turn will be.

At the beginngin try just doing circles in a carpark, and then a figure of eight. Then go to gradually smaller and smaller roads - keep practicing.

I do know a guy who said to the instructor that Ducati's have bad turning circles, and the instructor brought him to a bigger junction - I did not do it on my test but it might be worth a try!

Hope that helps!

MrJoeSoap

Just stumbled across this thread today, very useful information. Cheers Zascar. Any chance of a sticky?

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/travel-and-recreation/motoring-1/driving-tests/motorcycle_driving_tests_in_ireland

I also found that link quite useful.

schtat

Hi folks,

Passed the test today so thought I'd share the experience as I found it hard to find answers when I went looking on the interweb myself...


Testing Office

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Road signs (usual array of about 10 of these)
Hand signals
Rules of the road questions (who can use motorway, slippy surfaces,dipped headlights, how junction boxes work - i.e. don't go near it if you can't clear it

etc.)

Outside:

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Bike tech questions (tyres, oil change)
Bike checks: indicators front & back

Driving:

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Usual left/right turns, changing lanes, roundabouts, junctions etc.


Hazard/Obstruction test:

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Instructor parks car ahead of you and asks you to drive past him as you would any hazard (i.e. mirror, signal, shoulder, position)

Emergency Brake test:

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Instructor will ask you to drive off at 55kmh and quickly brake to 25kmh without skidding.NB: This clearly means using the front brake. Don't forget to

check mirrors during stop (and everytime you slow/stop)


U-Turn

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Clutch/back-brake to control your speed. Don't forget to do a lifesaver and signal before moving off.
I had a good sized road and it was no problem but worth mastering the clutch/feathering the back-brake.


Driving at walking speed beside Instructor

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Clutch/back-brake to control your speed (as per U-Turn)


Walking the bike and the stand test

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With engine off, take the bike off the stand and walk it a few feet.
Put bike back on stand.


Displaying Motortax disc

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You need to have this on the bike (even if the cops tell you it's safer in your wallet!)


Restricted Engines

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This isn't checked by the tester. As far as the tester is concerned, your instructor is responsible for telling you to get a kit fitted.


Overall:

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Firstly, it's actually pretty simple. Just know what you need to know (rules & signs) then drive as you would normally.

People make mistakes when their nerves get the better of them, I'm guilty of that so I did my best to try and relax. I knew confidence is key: No tester will pass someone who isn't sure of what they're doing on a potentially dangerous vehicle, so I did my best 'oh yeah, I'm all over this' in the testers office without hopefully making a complete berk of myself (...jury's probably still out on that one). But confidence comes through practice, experience & knowing the rules of the road.

The other cause of failure seems to be when people start to second guess themselves (i.e. 'should I be in this lane?' etc.). I failed my car test the first time because I wasn't sure where I should be on the road, so it's down to learning the rules of the road. Once you know them, you can relax and just drive normally & confidently.

Common sense plays a big part - my instructor told me not to try and impress the tester with your safety skills if it means you're rubbernecking every 2 seconds and holding up traffic behind you. When moving off from a traffic light or junction, only do a lifesaver if you need to. For example, if there are pedestrians/cyclists around then by all means. If you're there alone then no need. The exception to this for when you're pulled in by the tester for the u-turn, walking beside him etc. then do a shoulder check before moving off.

The general rule for shoulder checks or lifesavers is that they should be done when changing lanes, turning left/right & exiting roundabouts.
I remembered the sequence of events for turning/changing lanes/roundabouts like this: MISP.

M - Mirror
I - Indicate
S - Shoulder Check
P - Position (check your position on the road after you've made the manoeuvre)

Keep plenty of distance between you and the vehicle in front and don't forget to check mirrors everytime you slow or stop.

(I'll get killed for this) but I also used the acronym 'PMS' while driving:

P - Position
M - Markings
S - Signs

I've a memory like swiss cheese so it helped me remember what I should be doing as I progressed:
Position should be centre of the road at all times (until turning at a junction or roundabout).
Markings obviously refers to Road Markings (don't drive on the hatch marks, check for filter lanes etc.) and
Signs for looking out for any speed signs in particular as they're often not very obvious little round things behind some foliage etc.


Lastly: LOOK.
Look into a junction as you approach it - both ways.
Look up the road you're about to turn into.
Look into side-roads as you pass them.
Look ahead before you move off from any position incl. junctions, or walking beside the tester etc.
Look ahead after a shouldercheck, don't drive off while your still facing backwards!.


HTH
Cheers
Ken

bluefinger

thought i'd bump this as the test might have changed since the last post.

Have a test coming up in November. Any tips on what to keep in mind along with those above?

is it really necessary to mucky up your l plate tabbard as mine will be brand new

AgileMyth

The licencing system has changed but I don't think theres been any change to the test itself.

Suasdaguna1

Lifesavers ......they'll get you if you pull away and don't do same. A very basic test but by gawd it's a synch to fail. Do you rhome work, know the rules of the road backwards, know your bike backwards.....you'll be as nervous as sh!te starting off......just do what your instructors told you.....make a mistake and we all did, put it behind you and continue on. Keep up with traffic, know your roundabout positioning, know your junction positioning etc etc......practice like hell.....be familiar with your test centre routes in general......if I never see Tallaght again I won't worry.....lastly imo unlike cage testers , bike testers are bike enthusiasts....they have to comply with the RSA format and are not there to shoot the breeze......so don't get caught up in their remoteness.......they have to tick those boxes. My examiner post my test when I eventually passed was a mine of info re tips and advice. Lastly when you get your test, it is only a piece of paper to go and get experience......not to give it Dixie down the m50.

duke886

mOST guys feel nervous about the uturn,so if you can do a perfect uturn everytime you will feel a lot more confident on the day.Find a large carpark or open area in an industrial estate and practise-practise-practise.
I had to change the bullbar handlebars on my bike to a set of straight bars as it was impossible to do any normal uturn with the bulls.

chrismon

I have mine in mid November.
I know this sounds like a ridiculous question but I just want confirmation.
When turning left I do a left lifesaver and right a right lifesaver.
At roundabouts do I look left/right or both?
Can someone give me a quick run through on when to use lifesavers and what direction to look?

RosieJoe

chrismon wrote: »

I have mine in mid November.
I know this sounds like a ridiculous question but I just want confirmation.
When turning left I do a left lifesaver and right a right lifesaver.
At roundabouts do I look left/right or both?
Can someone give me a quick run through on when to use lifesavers and what direction to look?

Ilifesaver in the direction you are moving to. Use them whenever you are pulling off from kerb. Use them changing lane position, when turning left/right. Emergency swerve, when you are overtaking the tester. Roundabouts, left when you are turning left. If you are not taking the first exit left lifesaver as you are about to take your exit.

chrismon

Thanks very much!
Very informative.

gotBass

Put a contrasting color sticker postit size or less at the back off your lid that way all the head turning work can be seen easier less need for over exaggeration as a result. Worked for me. Good luck to all.

Ayrtonf7

Planning on doing mine just before christmas. Very nice info thanks to all who posted!

beanns

great posts here lads,doing my test soon and learned a lot here. safe driving..

1986kennyd

Alright lads, just passed my test this morning, big thanks to everyone who posted all the info here, was a huge help

paulflano

Hi all,
Sorry for reviving an old thread. Just wanted to say my thanks to the above posts and give my own account of a test in tallaght today. This thread comes up high on a Google search so figured might be a good place to add.

Did my ibt and pretest with Tony Agnew (Irish motorcycle training, would highly recommend) a week before the test. I'd recommend doing a pretest at least 10 days before as you can cancel with no cost before this time if yourself or bike isn't ready. My bike had an all in one tail light cluster and mini reg which I was recommended to change. I actually seen a guy failing the test due to his indicators flashing too fast during the motorbike checks. (Caused by having led lights with no resistor in parallel with the lights BTW).

The tester was very sound, I made a mistake early on one of the questions and he asked me again.

Questions were around much of what's above. Single white line in middle of road. What can cause a bike to slip. When to use dipped lights. Hand signals. Then he picked a few roadsigns. Buy the rules of the road for the signs and cover the answers with your hand when testing yourself. The book is a boring read otherwise though so try find as many questions like above as you can get.

Went out to bike and had usual tests. Get the manual for your bike from manuals lib online. Usual stuff, oil , brake fluid, tyres. Moved the bike (remember to look all around!!) Then got on the road.

The route has recently change to include 60 and 80 km zone. Keep an eye out for the signs... I was unsure on one or two speed zones as I didn't know the route too well but just keep up with the cars in front and drop the pace when in the residential zone.

Practice your U-turn. Find a road and do it till it's built in. A little bit of countersteer before you make the turn, feather the clutch and soft of the back brake to keep it tight. And look where you want to go.

Finally, I dropped my guard slightly when all the tests were done (overtake, hillstart and u turn) and picked up a mark for missing a lifesaver at the end. Try keep focused till the end, it's only a short test through all.

Passed in the end (felt it could go two ways at the end knowing I missed a lifesaver and a bad observation).

Apologies for the long post, hope someone finds it helpful and again thanks to the lads above.

Paul

Zascar

Great stuff, well done - glad it was useful!

pudzey101

Well done . Great thread by the way . Have mine coming up in 2 months , only downfall is I'll be using a bike I'm not familiar with for the test ( my zx6r doesn't meet test requirements)
As red above a pre test or 2 should be of great use .

Safe biking all . And remember the pink lisence is still a learning process . Just because you have it doesn't make you king of the road .

TeaBagMania

Lots of good info here. Note to self, don t use the Harley for taking the test. Harley has a really high first gear and makes slow maneuvers difficult, not to mention its 360 KG

hairyslug

I did my test in Wicklow, it was a few years ago so I'm sure it has changed but there, there were 2 options, clockwise or anticlockwise around the town. Got stuck behind a car getting a pretest so I just followed them.

As for advice, I'm sure it's been said and I know how difficult it can be but try and relax, the worst that can happen is that you do it again, and show a bit of confidence about your bike and your riding style

Orla8

hi! I'm new to this and find the above info really useful. I've my test on Friday and am nervous about the technical test at the start. Can anyone shed some light on exactly what they ask and how you answer this? For e.g. how do you answer a question about the chain or brake pads?

any help would be great, thanks
Orla

Goose81

Orla8 wrote: »

hi! I'm new to this and find the above info really useful. I've my test on Friday and am nervous about the technical test at the start. Can anyone shed some light on exactly what they ask and how you answer this? For e.g. how do you answer a question about the chain or brake pads?

any help would be great, thanks
Orla

It's very simple, they ask you where you would check your brake fluid levels. You say you would have the bike level and check the fluid reservoir up on the handlebars and then at the rear of the bike under seat.

They will also where you check the engine oil, same answer , I'd have the bike up straight and level and then point to the engine oil window.

They will ask you what tyre thread depth you should have left on the tyres. They may say anything else yoh would look out for and you say I'd check all the lights are working and look for any signs of damage to the bike

If you are doing a pre test they will run though it all with you.I ended up doing the test a load of times and that's all I was ever asked

Orla8

thank you so much - that's really helpful. I was panicking there thinking I need to demonstrate how to check the chain, brake pads etc. thanks again. Orla

Paulw

I was asked how to check your oil and how to check/adjust the slack on the chain.

All depends on the tester what they ask.