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HanaBelle
13th September 2004, 13:07
Yes well, they offered me a killer trade in price on my EL, so I was forced-against-rational-will to buy the 800, really, I was...

Now, though, Im short one 250cc bike and three weeks shy of the full licence test date...and Im not going to risk taking that 800 out until Im legal (really, Im not)...

and even though I can *probably* ride having survived daily-without-fail commuter riding in Auckland traffic and all weathers for (counts on fingers) 11 months, nearly...

I read that LTSA sheet on the final licence test and have freaked that somehow I wont corner in the regulation fashion required and :spudwhat: wtf does "stay left *if* there is oncoming traffic" mean because, hell, I learned to stay waaaaay left while driving cars (just that teensy bit more leeway if said oncoming traffic misses the corner and ends up in YOUR lane) and its a habit to ride there around corners too...so...

Are there any real tips on what to expect in that final licence test??

Oh and is it true that highway crash bars are banned in NZ and if so, why?

Hana

Zapf
13th September 2004, 13:16
so how are u going to do the test? not on the 800 I hope

aff-man
13th September 2004, 13:47
ok my full licence test advice (i had to do it in the frikken rain)
1. Look around heaps (move helmet)
2. come to a full stop at stop signs.
3. The vinz have a pamphlet on what to expect in the practicle test, examine it and look up relevent stuff in road code(got me through)
4. take the required following distance and double it!!!!!!!!!!! (almost failed cause of this)

HanaBelle
13th September 2004, 13:54
Red Baron sold me the vulcan, bought my EL, and are lending me *their* EL250 for test purposes. I do know enough not to turn up on an 800!

H

HanaBelle
13th September 2004, 13:57
1. Look around heaps (move helmet)
2. come to a full stop at stop signs.
3. The vinz have a pamphlet on what to expect in the practicle test, examine it and look up relevent stuff in road code(got me through)
4. take the required following distance and double it!!!!!!!!!!! (almost failed cause of this)

Thank you for the tips, I will add that following distance one in particular! (nearly ran up some prats backend this morning as a reminder on that). Road code, road code...what is the rule for turning right when not facing a give way or stop sign? I heard somewhere that its illegal to enter an intersection if the way through it is not completely clear so assume that also means not sitting in the middle of it waiting for your right turn oncoming traffic to clear?

Hana

dhunt
13th September 2004, 14:05
It's all fairly straight forward. The main things they are after as already mentioned they want to see you looking round. This includes coming out of passing lanes. Indicating when leaving round abouts etc.

They are normally (ex)motorbike riders themselves and are pretty clued up if someone can ride a bike or not. Probably the most important thing is don't speed and what ever you do DONT crash (that obvious :doh:).

What normally happens is they follow you in a cage any indicate (way early) when they want you to turn etc So make sure you can see well out of your mirrors. Don't think I could do this on my current bike, can't see nothing out of them.

I remember when I sat mine my bike was playing up a bit and in the 100km area I suddenly lost power so dropped it down a couple gears and revved it up a bit and it suddenly shot up to 120km. But he didn't even mention that afterwards.

David

Hitcher
13th September 2004, 14:13
Red Baron sold me the vulcan, bought my EL, and are lending me *their* EL250 for test purposes. I do know enough not to turn up on an 800!
Firstly HanaBelle, welcome to our gargre!

Secondly, your motorcycling evolution is very similar to Mrs H's. Her first ride (for just under two weeks) was a Honda CB100, followed by the trusty Kawasaki EL250 Eliminator. What a great name for a 250! But all joking aside, a great ride and particularly for "vertically challenged" riders. Mrs H now rides a Suzuki VZ800K3 Marauder, which she loves! The main reason she isn't astride the Kawasaki Vulcan 800 is that it has spokes! Too much cleaning, etc.

Thirdly, good luck with your full licence test. I'm sure somebody will come to the party with a suitable 250. You'll notice a significant difference returning to one of these after the 800...

scroter
13th September 2004, 14:20
my test was almost 2 years ago and it included hazard identification where you are told to complete a manouvre and remember all the hazards and regurgutate them to the testing officer. also so the testing officer knows you have come to a complete stop put both feet on the ground. also if you need the practice they test you on u-turns as well. good luck to you

duckman
13th September 2004, 14:24
Remember to indicate AND then turn them off when you've completed your corner!!!! Sounds silly, but sooooo many riders forget to turn their indicators off. :whistle:

manuboy
13th September 2004, 14:30
Hey Hannabelle,

Dunno if you're keen, but i picked up my bike {slightly} b4 i was legal to ride it, then i jumped onto the new CBTA training course at Mainland Driving here in CHCH. You'll probably have a local instructor that does them as well...

Here's the deal. You watch DVD's, take a sort of verbal instruction period and then do a road test (suburban, open road). The instructors are normally ex-racers and pretty experienced. At the end of the day (assuming you didn't drop the test bike) you get a FULL license....

Hopefully you're also much better equiped to deal with everyday hazards, and you'll be riding for years to come... stoked!

The only (small) downside - $280 bucks, which is cheap when you take into account what you pay in total to get a full license anyway.

:shifty: Think about it - the course is all good.... :shifty:

riffer
13th September 2004, 14:41
Remember to indicate AND then turn them off when you've completed your corner!!!! Sounds silly, but sooooo many riders forget to turn their indicators off. :whistle:
LOL guilty. I did half my test with the indicators on!!!

Blakamin
13th September 2004, 14:55
Hey Hannabelle,

Dunno if you're keen, but i picked up my bike {slightly} b4 i was legal to ride it, then i jumped onto the new CBTA training course at Mainland Driving here in CHCH. You'll probably have a local instructor that does them as well...

Here's the deal. You watch DVD's, take a sort of verbal instruction period and then do a road test (suburban, open road). The instructors are normally ex-racers and pretty experienced. At the end of the day (assuming you didn't drop the test bike) you get a FULL license....

Hopefully you're also much better equiped to deal with everyday hazards, and you'll be riding for years to come... stoked!

The only (small) downside - $280 bucks, which is cheap when you take into account what you pay in total to get a full license anyway.

:shifty: Think about it - the course is all good.... :shifty:

What bike did you take to the test??
I'll be doing one up here resonably soon.. just wondering whether to take my bike or a...um... cbr250 ;)

dhunt
13th September 2004, 14:59
What bike did you take to the test??
I'll be doing one up here resonably soon.. just wondering whether to take my bike or a...um... cbr250 ;)
This is what you are after :)
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Motorbikes/Road-bikes/Sports-tourer/auction-15762802.htm

Paul in NZ
13th September 2004, 15:00
LOL guilty. I did half my test with the indicators on!!!

NO STINKIN' INDICATORS ON MY 1954 ajs 500CC (Ah crap I hate caps lock) to leave on when I sat mine in 1972.... I suppose ya coulda left your arm hangin' out the side for a block or 2!

No decent brakes
No electric start
handled like a steam ship

Wonderful thing.. Very.... erm.... Stately!

It was raining and the cop laughed when he saw it... Son! If you rode that here and you can re start it, ride it around the block and get back without killing yourself, you got your license!

I did, got me bit o paper and toddled off home! Had dads 3rd best cork crash hat from the 30's as well!

Paul N

manuboy
13th September 2004, 15:03
Ahhh... that was the catch. I had a gixxer 250 sorted, but it fell thru. So i used the "hire bike" they had. haahahaha... yamaha sr(?) 250. Jeeeeeeeeeesus (apologies to anybody who owns one). During the open road section, you had to demonstrate passing manouevres... except even glued to the tank i could manage 82km/h.... i couldn't catch the guy in front of me..... I got passed by two 1985 suzuki vitara's on the way back from Little River!

To be fair it needed a tune, and maybe the retstrictors could come out, i just felt like a plonker in full riding gear etc....

It's a real good course tho man... like i said, you learn some things that hopefully save your skin.... easily worth the money....

Blakamin
13th September 2004, 15:08
Had dads 3rd best cork crash hat from the 30's as well!

Paul N

that would've helped :killingme


and i think i can swing a cbr250 for a day... not buying another bike just for a course :mad:

HanaBelle
15th September 2004, 10:47
Thirdly, good luck with your full licence test. I'm sure somebody will come to the party with a suitable 250. You'll notice a significant difference returning to one of these after the 800...

But Im not riding the 800! (really, Im not <eyelash bat> so dont go looking for me on the road Mr Spuddude et al)...And actually, Im kinda worried I will stall the 250 or something freakishly stupid due to expecting it to take off the way the 800 (would do if I was riding it but Im not, see) does. So I will take it out for at least an hour before the test time to settle into it again, some.

I feel a lot calmer about the test reading the posts, but will need to modify some things about the way I usually ride, like leaving my right foot on the brake at stops.

As for the one day CBTA course, well I did find out about that and applied to do it but it seems that the LTSA have this issue with anyone who has previously travelled slightly faster than allowed on a long flat South Island straight (Mr Plod sat at the end of the passing lane with the speed cam, nice) in a beeeg grunty rental car, go figure. 147km, 500 bucks and 50 demerit points later and I didnt have the necessary "clean licence" they require. Oh well, that'll learn me. :doh:

Hana

AMPS
15th September 2004, 10:56
WATCH YOUR SPEED. There is only a 5km/h tolerance on tests.
I don't think they're using intercoms yet, so the hazard recognition part of the test may not be the same as the car test.
Otherwise ride normally, give plenty of indication, watch following distances and don't be over-cautious. If there's a safe gap, take it.
Lou

HanaBelle
15th September 2004, 11:02
[QUOTE=dhunt]They are normally (ex)motorbike riders themselves and are pretty clued up if someone can ride a bike or not.

You know I found this with my restricted test. The AA guy who took it opened conversation with me with "so, youve been riding for a while" and commented that I had done a fair bit of practicing if I had only been on the road for 9 months. At the time, he had only seen us ride into their carpark and judged on that!

Im just worrying because it wont be my bike and I wont have ridden for 3 weeks. Kinda wondering if I did it ass-about-face but hey, yesterday I found out that the Harbour Bridge is NOT a hill (which it was on the EL250) and is, in fact, completely and utterly FLAT. That was pretty fun. :msn-wink:

Hana

Artifice
15th September 2004, 11:31
ah lessee, you aint stopped till you put your foot down.
and hmm... oh. you're supposed to be able to do the u-turn without putting your feet on the ground. lol.

i remember riding around for about 5 years on my restricted. then i bought a 400cc bike. and had to borroiw a 250 a few weeks later to get my full liscence. it was hard getting used to such high handlebars again. and his darn gearbox was upside down.

Paul in NZ
15th September 2004, 11:37
Don't worry!

The only hard part of the test is the bit where you have to jump the Goldwing (it only runs on one cylinder so you are ok) through the flaming hoop over the vat of acid full of Alligators (acid resistent ones) do a quick right hander (watch for the diesel spill) to avoid crashing through the front gates of the Mongrel Mob's HQ and finish with an Emergency Stop procedure on a black ice skid pad surrounded by razor blades...

Easy Peasy

Nah! Stress less... You will do fine!!

Paul N

Blakamin
15th September 2004, 11:47
Don't worry!

The only hard part of the test is the bit where you have to jump the Goldwing (it only runs on one cylinder so you are ok) through the flaming hoop over the vat of acid full of Alligators (acid resistent ones) do a quick right hander (watch for the diesel spill) to avoid crashing through the front gates of the Mongrel Mob's HQ and finish with an Emergency Stop procedure on a black ice skid pad surrounded by razor blades...


Paul N
I might have to take up walking! :blah:

dhunt
15th September 2004, 12:48
And actually, Im kinda worried I will stall the 250 or something freakishly stupid due to expecting it to take off the way the 800 (would do if I was riding it but Im not, see) does. So I will take it out for at least an hour before the test time to settle into it again, some.
Relax. I'm sure you will get back into it pretty quick.

The hardest part I found was he rattled off several directions for me to follow and by the time I had got to the 3rd or 4th direction I couldn't remember what to do. So was going straight through an intersection and I saw he was indicating so I turned as well (nice wide sweeping turn which involved going a bit on the opossite side of the road). I thought I've stuffed it now. But when we stopped he said he wasn't going to mark me down for it as it was obvious I was confused. Better to rely on his indicating.

Regarding hazaards you drive round a couple corners and stop and have to identifiy the hazards that you came across. Don't forget the instructor behind you is also a hazard. Cats, dogs, people, cages etc.

Hope that helps.

Good luck with the test.

David

muppitt
20th September 2004, 06:05
just stay clam and ride like you have a cop in your mirror .good luck with the test

inlinefour
27th January 2005, 23:58
Welcome and enjoy :banana: