Taking my test next Sat

[lausie]

Hi Guys, not posted in here since christmas, been a busy year so far!!

June came around MUCH quicker than I thought and I suddenly realised that my CBT expires soon.

I took my theory test in April and thankfully passed first time round!!

I'm booked in to take my practical test next saturday at 10am - YIKES! Im taking it on my ET4 so know I'll be restricted but I don't really have a desire to drive anything bigger so don't mind.

My local centres were offering training but the prices seemed to increase by the day. A 2 day training course started off at £190 and increased to £250 the following week so am going to chance it and not have any lessons. I figure if fail first attempt I'll still have saved money!

I'm sure everyone says it but I don't think I've picked up many bad habits and have been practicing basics like slow control and u-turns without using my feet. Any other pointers or tips anyone can offer?

Laura

[skrappey]

OBSERVATIONS OBSERVATIONS.
If you don't make it bloody obvious you are looking all round you stand a good chance of failing, basically you should have a stiff neck after an hours riding to start with.
Also, don't speed but keep to the speed limits, riding too slow will fail you as well. (failing to make progress)

[Feed Your Head]

Do what the the examination expects. Keep calm. read as far ahead as possible. Best wishes and hope that those "L's" come off.
The DSA do a great book with all info in it.

[lausie]

thanks for the replies - I have been practicing the obvious observations recently and actually had to have a neck massage this evening hehehe!

I'll pick up a book or two tomorrow to go over a few things and then just hope for the best!

I'll let you know how it goes!

[Spence]

Lifesavers at every opportunity, but don't make it too contrite, I know someone who was failed for over-exaggerating her lifesavers.

[guppstah]

Best of luck

[Devo McDuff]

Got mine on Friday 'n all. Can't say I'm looking forward to it

Reckon I'm at a good enough standard to pass but it doesn't always work like that I guess. Here's hoping though

Good luck with yours Lausie.

[Lucia]

Fingers crossed for you both

[nat]

Don't do what I did. On the controlled U turn I delayed it and then didn't look over my shoulder again. I would have gone straight into a car if the examiner hadn't screamed in the earpiece at me to stop. Didn't pass not surprisingly. Got it on the second attempt though and learned a valuable lesson!!

[Feed Your Head]

i remember I failed first time around on the pulling away from a stationary position part of the test: a lorry slowed down and flashed it's lights signaling me to go ahead (something that is apparently not really allowed, even though i've been driving since i was 17 and we all do it). I did so but, lorry was infront of the examiner when it flashed me and so i failed coz the examiner said i caused the lorry to stop. Not only that, but the examiner was in a car. Second time i made sure i rode by the book. passed no problem.

[Devo McDuff]

Hmm, wish I'd read your post before about half 3 today Mod1969 .... failed on somet very similar.

Right turn from a major into a minor road and a 4x4 flashed me to allow me to go .... I was quite happy waiting for a gap but he had more or less stopped then and I didn't want to show hesitancy so after a lifesaver I started the turn and then when I had cut half way across the oncoming traffic the tosser changes his mind and turns into the minor road before me, so I had to then stop in no mans land until he had gone and the examiner said I had then caused the car behind the 4x4 to brake harsh ... serious fault and a fail. Maybe I shouldn't have gone at all but it is bloody frustrating that the only thing I failed on was a direct cause of someone being a complete numpty, wouldn't mind more than a few stern words with the knob I can tell thee!

Don't think I would be so gutted but for the fact that I had travelled from Manchester to Harrogate to take the test (to rent a T5 to qualify for the A2 license) and took a few hours training yesterday and a few more today (p*shin' down all the while!) to try and make sure I passed it ... cost a fair few bob with the hotel bill 'n all. And am also due to sort out my insurance within 10 days and thought it might be a good idea to get the full license sorted first (maybe improve the premiums?). Ah well, annoying but that's how it goes eh.

Tommy Bee was a good bloke, friendly chap and instructed me well. Said I was unlucky and should be reet next time, hope he is right

Got a question relating to the old what qualifies for the A2 quandry, I'll post in a new thread.

[Spence]

If that was the reason the examiner gave, then you were hard done by.

The only person at fault for the car behind the 4x4 having to brake harshly, was the driver of the car behind the 4x4 - for not leaving enough room to be able to react in time.

I'm not saying your examiner was a fairy, he just should have given a better reason for failing you.

[guppstah]

Unlucky devo, sure you will be ok next time.
In my limited riding experience , i find that 99% of near misses and mishaps are due to other people in cars either not seeing you on a bike or not being considerate to you on a bike, so why should they be any different on your test? A lot is down to luck, and things like that not happening on the day. I still have mine to come so we shall see.Lausie's is today (the original thread) isn't it?

[Devo McDuff]

The omens wern't good when the examiner noticed I took my CBT at Belle Vue in Manc ... he then asked me if I knew the bloke who ran it and I described him as a bit of a rocker, loads of piercings and that ... he then said was his name Dave, which ringed a bell as it was .... his next line was 'He ran off with my Missus' ..... ouch .... was downhill from there on in, ha ;D

[lausie]

I PASSED, I PASSED, I PASSED - WOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I took a drive up to the test area on Friday evening to have a good look around and was horried! The road was off a 50mph stretch of the A41 and I've never driven at those kind of speeds!

I incurred 2 minor faults - he said my emergency stop could have been slightly quicker and the other was that I was a little too close to an idiot on a roundabout who changed his mind about which direction to be in half way round.

I took it on my ET4 and was given an A1 licence but thats fine by me, really didn't like that 50mph road, don't see myself wanting to drive anything faster!!

Bad luck Devo, sounds like bit of a rubbish reason!! Are you going to retake it anytime soon?

[Feed Your Head]

congrats Lausie. hope you always have a safe ride.
Devo, they say it's not true, but i still believe examiners have a quota to fill. i guess you were dead unlucky. better luck next time.

[Lucia]

Well done Lausie - happy days!

[guppstah]

Well done Lausie - ditch those L's

[lausie]

Thanks guys!!

My insurance is due for renewal on 27th June so I just made a few calls - can't believe what they're trying to charge me. Best quote I've had for TPFT is £298 with £250 excess. Granted I claimed for a theft last Feb btu I've now got 1 year ncb plus a full licence....bloody rip offs!

Can anyone recomend a reasonably priced broker (obv I know they vary person to person but...).

[Lucia]

Try RAC Insure.

[lausie]

Thanks Lucia,

I had them on the list to call at lunch but ran out of time. I'll try after work now! I tried Bennetts at lunch and the best they could offer was £305 with £600 excess. He had the cheek to say "Oooooh, we've managed to get a really fantastic deal together here Laura...". I didn't hide the shock and told him where to shove it hehehe!

[Devo McDuff]

Nice1 Lausie, git .... good to hear you passed, must have been a buzz taking off the L-plates ;D

Yes, want it done and dusted so I am going to book another one for as soon as I can.

My insurance is up next weekend too ... currently with Lexham (who have used Pinnacle and NIG) and that was £425 for 3rd party, fire and theft. They have offered me a quote at £400 this time round and the best I can find elsewhere at the moment is Bennetts at £340.

I was involved in an accident in January though and although my insurance company has not paid out yet and will probably never have to (the claim is still open as it was a 50/50 ruling due to no witnesses, his insurance paid out to me but mine haven't to his as he hasn't even bothered to provide an estimate, I'd wager this is because there were hardly any damages to his car and therefore nowt to claim for, my bike was damaged by the ground not the impact of the initial collision) it can remain open for ages and my no claims is frozen ... though I think I can accumulate it again when my new premium starts .. complicated business. Don't think having a post code that is a mile or so away from Moss Side helps all that much either

From what I can gather, having a full license doesn't seem to make much difference to the premiums and I think you only start to see the benefit of the no claims bonus after 2 or 3 years.

Another problem is covering any accessories (chrome extras, whitewall tyres etc.) ... that seems like very hard work and my current insurance company don't offer it. Anyone got any advice here?

With regards to the actual test, I got 3 minor faults I think. 1 for stalling after the emergency stop, which I half did on purpose. You know when you come to a complete stop in a high gear (3rd in this case) and then when you try to shift back into first it is a bugger to do, stalling it seems to free it up again. Is there a better technique than brute force here?

Another one for hesitancy (exactly what I was trying to avoid when the serious fault was incurred!), can't actually think when that would have been. The last one was for following to closely on one occasion .. though it was really busy (half 3 test = school run) and had been pishing it down for 2 days solid so the 4 second rule isn't always that realistic or easy to adhere to.

How many minors you actually allowed? Seemed to remember on my (recent) driving test you were allowed double figures though you weren't allow recurring minor fault of the same type. Is it the same for the bike test?

Jesus, that was a mammoth post. Like a can of ruddy pringles when I get going.

[skrappey]

Well done for passing. 'L' plates off and away into the sunset.

[lausie]

Well managed to do a bit of shopping around for insurance and have done ok.

I'm currently with ensign from MCE and when I called them yesterday lunch time they advised the lowest the could give was £298 which meant they wouldn't get their commission and they'd taken off legal cover. Funilly enough, when I called back that evening, 10 mins before they closed they were able to offer £232 TPFT with everything included (cover for leathers & helmet, breakdown assistance, legal cover etc).

There should be more rules governing insurance companies, they get away with murder!

Devo thats a pain about your claim. I had my first bike (Peugeot Vivacity) stolen 5 months after I got it - damn kids rode it for a day, stripped it of everything (even down to bloody lightbulbs) and then dumped it in a local woodland. Put my insurance up from about £170 in the first year to £380 in year two grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

[Devo McDuff]

Not heard of MCE before ... just given their online quote thing a bash and it came back with £280 .... miles better than anything I've had anywhere else. Think somet might not be right though as if I put the voluntary excess at £0 or £800 the quote didn't change, that must be wrong surely.

I've got an e-mail from them saying the quote is valid for 30 days though so will just see ...unfortunately their online payment system is down so I can't snap it up, apparently someone will ring me tomorrow.

Breakdown Assistance wise, think I'm gonna go with RAC ... the cheapest I've seen so far.

[Devo McDuff]

Rang MCE this morning with the quote reference number and she put me on hold to check it out, I just presumed she was going to come back and say there was a mistake but she actually found a better quote at £271 and even better she included the legal fee protection, helmet and leathers (what are they!) protection and breakdown cover all in before I had even mentioned it.

The Bennetts quote was £340 and if I had have those 3 extras (which I probably wouldn't have) on it would have been about £420 ..... the Lexham one would have been even more with the extras.

Cheers Lausie, you just saved me a right packet! Though it appears a bit to good to be true so I'll be a bit dubious till I see the certificate and that in front of me ...

[Spence]

This seems to have become yet another thread on insurance, but while we're at it:

I used MCE as my second insurer - great quote for the first 12 months but shot up after that, so don't just renew with them, shop around.

The same's happened to me with Carole Nash. Absolutely staggering quote for the first year, something like £140 fully comp, for two scooters (guaranteed minimum pay out for the vintage one), full breakdown and accommodation if necessary, option to add more scooters without increasing the premium. However, I used the breakdown once in the 12 months and my premiums went up by £100 for the next 12. The only reason I haven't binned them off yet is that I'm about to become an employee of a major insurance company and I want to check out the staff discount.

[lausie]

This will be my third year with MCE although they're a broker (I'm insured through Ensign). My first year was something silly like £170 but it did go up quite a bit in the 2nd year (as I explained above). That said, they were still the cheapest I could find.

It does take a bit of shopping around and perhaps slight bending of the truth regarding other quotes i.e. when they ask what your best quote has been so far, tell them what you'd like your best quote to have been so far ;o)

Spence, can't believe how good your first year quote was - Carole Nash weren't very good with their quote for me, think it was something like £450 with £600 excess!!!!!!!!!!

[Spence]

Well there were some mitigating factors Lausie; Full bike license, lots of no claims, secure garage. Oh yes, and I'm an old arse.