What I did for my restricted test 9_05_2012

[Retep5]

Just went for my restricted yesterday.

Mt Maunganui

It was a beautiful sunny day except for the wind and large amount of water in the sky.

Thought I would sort of do a brain dump of what i did for others that may be going for their Restricted.

Course layout:
Left out of Kereiti St -> Left down Newton St -> Right down Hull RD -> Left onto Maunganui RD -> Left onto Hinau St -> Right onto Miro Street ->
Right onto Puriri St -> Right onto Maunganui Road - Left onto Bain St -> Right onto Riverton RD -> Right onto Tay St -> Left onto Maunganui Rd -> Travel along to Bayfair roundabout turn back around and back to the testing station.

Notes:
Walke talkie ear piece very hard to hear in the HJC helmet.
Remember Hazards from Bain St to Tay St like i did for my full car licence. Remember that the testing officer behind you is also a hazard.
U Turn on Tay Street.
Kept about 2-3ks under speed limit was on a ninja 250r.
Remember to put down both feet when ever you come to a stop or even a giveway.
Move your helmet and stare at hazards also slow down when you see a hazard or posiotion your bike on the road to miss it.
I like double tapping my brakes when i begin to slow down to give warning to what ever is behind me.
Try to relax and imagine your on a ticky tour.

Hope this helps anyone looking to go for their restricted.:msn-wink:

[Tigadee]

Good on ya, thanks. I'm going for mine on the 22nd...

[DODO``]

Wow! Good on ya for remembering all the routes! Nice

[nodrog]

Sweet, Im going to book in for mine soon!

[Retep5]

I wish you all a nice sunny day :P

[Nzpure]

Nah heavy rain is the key! did my restricted in the pouring rain. Don't think i was out for longer then 5 maybe 10 minutes lol

[SMOKEU]

Nah heavy rain is the key! did my restricted in the pouring rain. Don't think i was out for longer then 5 maybe 10 minutes lol

I did my 6F in heavy rain. Took about 30 minutes, but I passed first time round so it's all good.

[Old Steve]

Same route they used with me for my 6F about 6 months ago.

Remember to make exagerated head movements when looking in your mirrors and at intersections, the examiner can't see your eyes move so you've got to move your helmet to let him know you're checking your mirrors and keeping an eye out. Check your mirrors about every 10 seconds.

Don't forget to indicate when changing lane - in that route above you come out of the feeder lane passed the BP servo and need to eventually move into the centre lane to turn around at the roundabout. I left my indicator on for about 15 seconds after one corner, the examiner had a laugh but pointed out that other vehicle may assume you are turning off the road and pull out in front of you if you leave your indicator on.

[Tigadee]

Thanks for all the tips, KBers! I made it through my 6R without a hitch (except for the first quarter when they pulled me over and said I was going too slow! That and I should stick to the right-tyre track of the lane more often).

The tester noted my consistent mirror checks, indication, stopping with both legs down, and hazard ID (including watching out for/staring at potential hazards even during the non-hazard ID section of the test). Funny though, there were three testers who came along, one senior and two junior/trainees, imagine my surprise! :blink:

And they made me do a total of FOUR (well-executed) U-turns! (They must have liked my u-turns! :bleh:) Just 35 mins and we were done.

[Retep5]

Nice work congradz :rockon:

[Tigadee]

Ta! I think it was the fact that I was wearing my hi-vis vest that passed the test for me really. The rest of the test was just a formality... J/K :laugh:

[Ragingrob]

Remember to put down both feet when ever you come to a stop or even a giveway.

But it's not a stop sign... but hard to put both feet down when you're still moving!

[Tigadee]

Give way or stop sign, you stop completely irregardless of whether there is traffic or not - treat both as reasons to stop. This is for the benefit of the tester, not you. Do not ride as you normally do (e.g. slowing down but not necessarily stopping at give way signs when there is no traffic), ride as if you live and breathe the road code.

It's better if you were changing down as you are slowing down to stop, so that both feet are ready to be put down as soon as you stop. Otherwise, once you have stopped completely, just put your other foot down.

[AndyL]

Thanks for the tips, I'm looking to sit my restricted in the next month or two, but does anyone know of someone who has done the new test in the Wellington area?

[Obfuskater]

Thanks for all the great tips guys!

I just recently sat my restricted test out in Botany (South Auckland) and it made me realise that the rules of the test are quite open to the interpretation of the testing instructor. Apparently my instructor gave me the old version of the test, so I was out on the road for probably about 25 minutes tops. After this the instructor was happy enough and ended the test. There was no identifying of hazards at all.

This is what my test covered:


Lots of roundabouts and intersections
Pulling over to the side of the road, then continuing
Driving through a limited speed area (school zone)
Driving in a high speed area (80km), then pulling over into a side road and performing a U turn


And that was about it.

There were 2 things I thought I didn't do properly. The first was coming out of the bottom of a T intersection, turning right, and pulling into the left-most lane. Shoud have been the right lane, and the instructor pointed that out, but obviously wasn't serious enough to fail me. I was also worried I'd ignored the cornering speed recommendations (the yellow & black arrow signs) in the high speed zone by going too fast, but the instructor didn't mention that.

Some other interesting points to note:


I got told to hurry up while coming to a complete stop at a Give Way sign. So my instructor didn't require this at all
Putting both feet down at a stop sign was not required
I was told lots of people don't know the roundabout indicator rules, so it was lucky I reviewed these on the NZTA website the night before. This sounded like a failing offence, so I'd definitely recommend studying this if you aren't familiar
I got the feeling any riders that pull out onto the verge of the road without waiting for a proper gap in the traffic probably got failed straight away. You need to pull out into a decent gap in the traffic, rather than zooming up the verge and then merging. Seemed obvious to me, but the instructor said quite a few people do that in a test!


I tried to clarify the instructors interpretation of the maximum speed on the motorway for a learner, and was told "well, you tell me!". So that wasn't much help. Luckily from the Botany test there is no close motorway, so 80km was the fastest I could go anyway. I made sure I didn't go above about 75kph just to be safe.

So it depends on your instructor, and probably what mood they are in I think. My guy was pretty short with me at first, which made me quite nervous, however he was OK in the end. I get the feeling he sees quite a few boy-racer types, but I'm pushing 40 so he might have been more relaxed with me. I'm not sure I recommend rocking up a Botany and expecting an easy-ish test just because I happened to get one.

Hope that helps.

[Ragingrob]

Give way or stop sign, you stop completely irregardless of whether there is traffic or not - treat both as reasons to stop. This is for the benefit of the tester, not you. Do not ride as you normally do (e.g. slowing down but not necessarily stopping at give way signs when there is no traffic), ride as if you live and breathe the road code.

It's better if you were changing down as you are slowing down to stop, so that both feet are ready to be put down as soon as you stop. Otherwise, once you have stopped completely, just put your other foot down.

I wouldn't put it past some testers to mark you down for stopping at a give way when there is no need... Shows hesitation and a lack of confidence... Hesitation on the road leads to accidents...

Where in the rode code does it say that you need to stop at giveway signs?!

[Ragingrob]

Thanks for all the great tips guys!

Some other interesting points to note:

[LIST]
I got told to hurry up while coming to a complete stop at a Give Way sign. So my instructor didn't require this at all.



And I think my point just got made :2thumbsup

[Tigadee]

OK, point noted. Still better to put both feet down if stopped at the Stop or Give Way signs (for the test anyway).

[nzbiker86]

Hey,

Just joined this site, so Hello!

I've booked my restricted test, so looking to get some good practice in over the next few weeks. Seriously need to practice my u-turns, so hit and miss!
Anyway, I just wondered if anyone had completed their restricted test in the Penrose area?

I was under the impression my test could be taken around Auckland CBD, but this is the only place I could book for next month....and yes you guessed it I havent actually been around this area yet!

Cheers

Rich

[joeyy]

Went for mine today and passed.

The guy who tested me was a rider too and was really good about the whole thing. Had an ear piece, it was set quite loud and he repeated everything twice, gave short instructions so was easy to understand.

Standard look over on bike for indicators, horn, brake lights from front and rear brake

After taking off there where three parts
Part 1:
Left from VTNZ down Marguerita street, left down Hilda street, right up Ward Avenue, left on to Fenton street, indicate and change to right lane, turn right up Sophia street
Turn right down Lytton from Sophia, straight down Lytton, left at Devon street, right at Kowhai street, u-turn at end of cul-de-sac, park in front of his car.

Part 2:
Hazard awareness etc. He got out of his car and stood on the corner of Kowhai and Devon, asked me to look & remember all hazards.
Right from Kowhai street, u-turn at 1st Devon street roundabout, back down Devon, right up (other end of) Kowhai street, u-turn at top of hill, back down Kowhai street to Devon street
Left on to Devon street, u-turn at 1st Devon street roundabout, left down Kowhai street, u-turn at end of cul-de-sac and park in front of his car.

Part 3:
Heading out of town to 80k/100k zones, towards the dump on SH30. Advised to do close to 100kph if bike could handle it.
Left out of Kowhai street on to Devon street, right at roundabout, straight along Fenton street, past Te Puia, along Hemo road, turn right on to SH30
Straight down SH30 approx 1km. Pull over to side of road at a 'bright green school zone sign'. Wait for tester to pull over.
Pull back on to SH30 when safe, continue at open road speeds for approx 2km until a right turn (youth justice facility entrance). U-turn at base of intersection.
Pull out left from intersection back on to SH30, continue back to town
Back down Hemo road, Fenton street, right at roundabout on to Sala street. Continue straight down Sala street. Left at traffic lights on to Te Ngae road, left down Marguerita street, pull back into VTNZ station

Test altogether would've been about 30-40 minutes. Breaks of at least a couple minutes between all 3 parts.
The only issues I had was to be extra careful with white lines, and to stay in the middle of the road (not in the right tyre track) especially on the open road.
He said he was aware of the fact that bikes like my KR can be a little difficult to manoeuver especially with tight turns, so he said he was fine with having to put my foot down once or twice in the last u-turn I did.
Stayed about 5-10kph under the limit majority of the time and that seemed fine by him.

Stoked to pass it, hope this helps somebody at least

[Calis]

Did my license here in the Mount and it was exactly how you described it - Just took my time and obeyed all of the road rules.

The Tester (Brian) told me i would be sweet as at the beginning but i was still a little nervous.

Apart from the road rules, the only challenge was the Identify Hazards Section, especially if your like me and think everything from a letter box to a lamp post is a hazard.

Brian gave me the heads up and told me exactly what to look for - Anything that is moving that could possibly cross your path - i was pretty lucky cause the street we went on was absolutely dead, but after reading this forum i remembered that him following me from behind was a hazard.

Thanks guys for this thread - it really helped my confidence with the Test.

6 more months and Hello Ducati 848 evo

[Retep5]

Did my license here in the Mount and it was exactly how you described it - Just took my time and obeyed all of the road rules.

The Tester (Brian) told me i would be sweet as at the beginning but i was still a little nervous.

Apart from the road rules, the only challenge was the Identify Hazards Section, especially if your like me and think everything from a letter box to a lamp post is a hazard.

Brian gave me the heads up and told me exactly what to look for - Anything that is moving that could possibly cross your path - i was pretty lucky cause the street we went on was absolutely dead, but after reading this forum i remembered that him following me from behind was a hazard.

Thanks guys for this thread - it really helped my confidence with the Test.

6 more months and Hello Ducati 848 evo

Congratz on the restricted. Don't want to be a bringer of bad news but I think the law changes in October will stop you from only doing 6 months to move up to your full license. I could be entirely wrong as well :wacko:.

[Alexofbbulgaria]

Thanks guys for all these tips ive got mine in 4 months but i will practice the route and things you have pointed out :)

[Calis]

Congratz on the restricted. Don't want to be a bringer of bad news but I think the law changes in October will stop you from only doing 6 months to move up to your full license. I could be entirely wrong as well :wacko:.

Cheers Mate, I really hope your totally wrong though

[evee]

Going to sit my full licence on Monday & though it's only a half hour practical test, I don't think I'll be tested on the motorway (as it's an 8.30am start time in Penrose, so right in amongst the peak hour traffic), but just in case, can anyone fill me in? Ta.

[TheDemonLord]

100 kph, but you must do it on the backwheel.

[5ive]

Going to sit my full licence on Monday & though it's only a half hour practical test, I don't think I'll be tested on the motorway (as it's an 8.30am start time in Penrose, so right in amongst the peak hour traffic), but just in case, can anyone fill me in? Ta.

The speed limit is whatever is written on the signage, the same speed limits as cars. I think the speed limit restrictions for motorcycles on motorways were removed sometime between 2012-2013.

It won't make a difference though, you won't be going anywhere near the speed limit :laugh:

[TheDemonLord]

Also if you see a rider on a Hayabusa riding like a knob - be sure to wave and say Hi!

[evee]

Sweet, thanks, & yeah, from the stories I hear about early morning full bike licence tests, I have nothing to worry about & it's over before you know it.

[Swivel]

Stopping with both feet down depends on the instructor. When I did my 6R he said it wasn't necessary. Some shorter riders may not be able to put both feet down. I did get told I failed to look over my shoulder when I made one of 3 U turns but not serious to fail full stop, but other then that it was all good. I am eligible to sit my 6F in Feb 05 so Im looking forward to that. I was told it was easier then the restricted, and that was by the instructor.