What I did for my restricted test 9_05_2012

**Retep5** · 10th May 2012, 09:50

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.

**Tigadee** · 10th May 2012, 09:56

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

**DODO``** · 10th May 2012, 12:04

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

**nodrog:Me** · 10th May 2012, 12:28

Sweet, Im going to book in for mine soon!

**Retep5** · 12th May 2012, 12:35

I wish you all a nice sunny day :P

**Nzpure** · 12th May 2012, 15:26

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** · 12th May 2012, 21:42

Originally Posted by 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

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

**Old Steve** · 19th May 2012, 15:37

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** · 22nd May 2012, 14:11

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!

And they made me do a total of FOUR (well-executed) U-turns! (They must have liked my u-turns!

) Just 35 mins and we were done.

**Retep5** · 25th May 2012, 16:13

Nice work congradz

**Tigadee** · 25th May 2012, 16:20

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

**Ragingrob** · 25th May 2012, 16:58

Originally Posted by Retep5

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** · 25th May 2012, 22:20

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** · 27th May 2012, 19:26

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** · 5th June 2012, 21:46

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.