Embarrassing: Failing Basic Handling Skills!

[BoristheBiter]

So says you - Passing the BHT does not show you have the skills or ability to go out on the roads, all it shows is you can manoeuvre a bike at slow speed.

And for your info I have the ride like a pro DVD and have started to go through the slow handling skills in that. For my own satisfaction and to improve my own skills on the bike I ride, but that won't teach me anything about street and open road riding. For that very early in my getting back on a bike I obtained the Police Motorcycle handling book, read and re read that book and still pick it up at times, oh and I have also purchased the Twist of the wrist II DVD and book as well, even the ACC funded DVD's have some interesting viewing in them.

I'm fascinated with all those that have come on here, proclaiming by their statements, anger whatever that the riding without the BHT will bring death and damnation but if Kate passes that, she will be safe on the roads, I'm sorry but I don't agree.

What ever you think of the BHS test it is the process used for getting your licence, unless you condone riding/driving without a licence. Do you?
What about a car licence or truck?

[Maha]

''riding without the BHT will bring death and damnation but if Kate passes that, she will be safe on the roads, I'm sorry but I don't agree''.

But you agree and advocate that riding a bike on the road unlicensed is ok?

If a young fulla was driving a WRX unlicensed for whatever reason and cleaned you out on the road, would you still think it an ok thing to do?

Like I said earlier, you dont have an arguement, you cant argue against what is law.

[MSTRS:Me]

I get where you are coming from, PhillK...

Are you sensing there's a but?

The lack of a bit of paper (licence) does not mean one cannot ride a bike/drive a whatever. BUT a basic premise for being on the roads is that a licence is mandatory. No ifs, no buts. And to get that bit of paper for a bike, one must prove to TPTB that one can perform adequate control of a bike to the tester's satisfaction. The test isn't difficult, either. Don't pass = not good enough to go on the roads. Sure, road riding isn't weaving in and out of cones, or riding 10 feet without leaving a 4 inch line or whatever, but there's a shitload more to roadriding than just point'n'shoot and try to stay upright.

In an earlier post of your's, you stated how many incompetent cardrivers there are out there. You are right. You also know that not a single learner car driver has done a practical before being let loose? What does that tell you?
And as for bikes taking out others...not a rare thing at all.

Riders that can't pass the BHS test have no place on the road.
Fullstop.

[phill-k]

''riding without the BHT will bring death and damnation but if Kate passes that, she will be safe on the roads, I'm sorry but I don't agree''.

But you agree and advocate that riding a bike on the road unlicensed is ok?

If a young fulla was driving a WRX unlicensed for whatever reason and cleaned you out on the road, would you still think it an ok thing to do?

Like I said earlier, you dont have an arguement, you cant argue against what is law.

In your eyes I don't have an argument, but if you actually read my full post you will see what I have done to better understand the riding I do, none of that is required by the licensing process, and NO ONE here has suggested to Kate that she gets the ACC DVD's or purchases the books I mention to help her understand the road riding craft. Yes I agree a few have suggested getting some training, and to that I'd agree, but having a BHT is not going to give her the skills to ride on the road and nowhere in the requirements for the learners is there any requirement for skills greater than BHT which in my eyes is a crock of shit and has nothing to do with the MRX driver taking me out on the road, that is a policing issue and frankly I see little difference in doing 120km an hour on the open road and riding a bike competently (her words) without the BHT.

[Maha]

Fact is Phil, she is not allowed to be on the road driving a car or riding a bike unlicensed, end of story.

[p.dath]

I cant believe it but couldnt get my bike around the cones for the weave, and only could do the U turn sweeping the right way. (Plus i'm a little pissed at myself for wasting $70!!)

Hi Kate.

I help out a lot at NASS in Auckland:
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/wiki/Nort..._Street_Skills

And low speed skills are difficult to learn. We spend a lot of time working on them to help people. Even after riding for a couple of years my own low speed riding skills are not as good as I would like them to be.

being able to recognise your own weak areas is a great sign. Those that fail to recognise their own weaknesses are a risk to themselves.
So don't beat yourself up over it. Just learn from it and move on.

I'd be tempted to ask for a mentor online (as in here). Or if you don't mind spending a little bit of money, a couple of hours with a riding instructor is likely to make all the difference.

There are two skills you could learn to help riding really slowly. The first is to try leaning the opposite way you want to turn (so if you are turning the bike left, lean the bike a little bit left and lean your body a little bit RIGHT). So your body weight is counteracting that of the bike. This lets the bike turn a lot tighter.

Secondly, deliberately slipping the clutch and using the rear brake. So deliberately apply a little bit more revs than you would normally. Start to let the clutch out, but don't let it out all the way - so that it is slipping - and so that the throttle is still on a little bit applying power. And if you need to ride even slower, apply the rear brake - so the the engine is driving against the rear brake.
Sounds counter-productive, I know - but it helps to have power being applied by the engine, even when riding really slow, to keep the bike stable.

A lot of new riders pulse the clutch in and out, which works initially, but makes really slow or really tight corners more difficult.


If you want to practice a difficult exercise, try this. With the bike stopped turn the bars to full lock. And then do a stationary start u-turn, while maintaining full lock. It's quite a difficult exercise for new riders (I find this difficult for me!). But if you can do that, then you'll find cone weaving easier.

A great attitude to adopt is that riding is an ongoing learning experience. 5 years from now you'll still be learning. 10 years from now you'll still be learning.


And I'll mention it again, try and find a mentor or an experienced rider. Learning through practice alone won't make you a great rider - because you don't know what you don't know. Every now and then you need the input of someone more experienced - and they'll tell you something you never thought of, and suddenly something will click and something will become easier.

[Spearfish]

In your eyes I don't have an argument, but if you actually read my full post you will see what I have done to better understand the riding I do, none of that is required by the licensing process, and NO ONE here has suggested to Kate that she gets the ACC DVD's or purchases the books I mention to help her understand the road riding craft. Yes I agree a few have suggested getting some training, and to that I'd agree, but having a BHT is not going to give her the skills to ride on the road and nowhere in the requirements for the learners is there any requirement for skills greater than BHT which in my eyes is a crock of shit and has nothing to do with the MRX driver taking me out on the road, that is a policing issue and frankly I see little difference in doing 120km an hour on the open road and riding a bike competently (her words) without the BHT.

If she cant pass something as underrated/easy/basic as the BHS test then how can she be safe with just road craft. Road craft requiers a rider who has BHS at a high level
It's all supposed to be done in small but significant steps.
Learn the controls-learn how to control the bike with some automation so when your on the road there is thinking space for the next steps- small laps around familiar 50k roads and on and on with some formal lessons along the way.

If there is ever going to be a system that stops letting learners down and adds real personal value the the skills of riding well, it will have to involve formal training up to or better than the 6R before EVER being let loose unsupported on the roads. Learners don't even know enough to know what to ask, mostly it will be "I went for a ride and then suddenly this happens (insert event here) I got (insert level of personal damage or other) so why did that happen?".

Why go through all that and possibly loose another enthusiastic capable rider and the friends she could draw in to riding due to the 'If you survive right of passage we currently have"

KateZed, don't take anything said here personally, its about the situation you are in rather than who you are.

[imdying]

She states herself she is comfortable riding the bike she has and guess what I believe her, so you don't ever break the speed limit, roll through a compulsory stops etc, etc.

I'm comfortable doing those things, should I go and do them too?




I'm surprised you failed... here in Christchurch, it's more of a lesson, and they just keep you going round and round the cones till you can do it well enough to pass.

You might want to reconsider road riding till you've passed... it's really quite easy, so you should remember you're at the bottom of the bucket regarding bike riding skills if you can't pass it. Having said that, a Sunday afternoon in a car park with some markers and you'll be whipping through the cones in no time, so it's not a long lay off.

p.s. A girlfriend of mine ran into a wall during her BHS, luckily the instructor had his back to her


And make one of these local yokels come out and give you pointers!

[nomnomnom]

Dont worry chicky! Chin up, give it another go on a small bike! If i did the BHS on the bike I bought as a first bike (Suzuki bandit) i know i would probably have failed. The slow weave and stuff are pretty tricky first time.

When i did my BHS i went to a learner course thing first and hired a bike from them too, really little bike easy as to manovere. Did half a day practising before sitting the test and passed with flying colours Before this I had never even sat on a motorbike in my life!

Youll get there!

[Spyke]

i had to laugh when i turned up to my test, had to use one of their bike that weren't upto warrent standard eg tyres at like 5 psi and it would stall if you didn't hold the throttle open a little. now this is a test you pay 70 bucks for and this was a proper driver training centre. now that is revenue gathering some people have only just learnt to ride a bike and they are expected to do it with a shit bike. mind you i passed 95% (one foot down through the cones) as the tyres made it rather difficult to lean the bike over at all.

[Mad-V2]

The BHS is a great idea and I think that if you can't get through it without hitting a cone or dropping the bike, you should have to rebook it for another day.
You don't get second chances on the day with your Restricted test so why get a second chance on the test designed to see if you can ride a bike in the first place.
Riding in town requires that you know how to control your bike at low speed, things like stalling at a set of lights can get you killed these days.
I did my test on my TL1000s, I rode it from Whakatane to Tauranga, got on the GN125 they had for the test but it was a dangerous piece of shit so I asked if I could use my own bike, he said that would be fine as its a closed carpark and should be funny as it will probably be too big for the cone weave anyway. (didn't even mention that I shouldn't be riding my bike on the road)
I passed with ease as I'd owned my bike for 5 years already and had grown up riding dirt bikes in forestry.
Traveling on the road is dangerous no matter what you are riding/driving and should not be taken lightly. In my own opinion dirt riding is the best way to learn and should be considered before even thinking about riding on the road. You can learn to control brake lockups and general loss of traction, makes you more aware of unseen obstacles and even helps you to learn the proper way to fall if the worst should happen.
A confident rider will turn up to the BHS test and know they will pass with ease, if you cant do that, go back and keep practicing.

[Ferkletastic]

Alas the poor damsel hath been done wrong, I will defend her honor and she wilt 'reward' me...

She ain't gonna do it son. Chill.

[phill-k]

She ain't gonna do it son. Chill.

Don't remember posting that, you like altering others posts to satisfy your own needs?

Problem with KB is there are more and more wankers on here that have nothing to contribute but think they are real comedians, don't give up your cleaner job, cause you got no talent.

[blackdog]

She ain't gonna do it son. Chill.

[Katman]

Don't remember posting that, you like altering others posts to satisfy your own needs?

Problem with KB is there are more and more wankers on here that have nothing to contribute but think they are real comedians, don't give up your cleaner job, cause you got no talent.

You're kidding, right?

It was the post of the thread.