My take on the CBTA Restricted test.
I did it with Phil McDaid at riderskills.co.nz.
Turned up, did some paperwork then checked my bike over. WOF, Reg, Electrics, chain tension and tyre condition. I had to explain the chain tension and tyre checks. He then checked I had a jacket on, gloves, approved helmet, trousers and ankle covering footwear. Note - trainers do not cover ankles. Work-boots do though. I was wearing a hi-vis else he would have provided one.
He fitted a two way radio to my helmet and told me what he expected on the test. Whilst the radio is 2 way, he said he wouldn't enter into conversation. I could just ask him to repeat things and whatnot.
The test itself was over an hour. Weather was shocking. Thunderstorms/rain/sun-in-eyes/everything.... We started with a "how fast are you going" to calibrate speedometers. Then pootled around town for a bit. Lots of stop signs (one foot down), unmarked junctions (top of T goes before...), lane merges (remember to indicate) and so on. Also several U turns, although Phil does these in dead end side roads in the turning circle at the end. Still tight turns though.
He was also watching for road-craft and expected me to be in the right hand wheel tread when around town.
Out of town, we used a lot of 80kph and a brief 100kph road.
He asked me to turn around in a way I deemed appropriate at one point, on an 80kph road. 50m or so after this instruction, I pulled into a layby, pushed myself back and 90' to the curb then turned right onto the road. This was what he wanted.
This time, road-craft wise, he wanted positioning that made for best visibility on my part and best position for others to see me. Left handers sticking to the centreline. Right handers sticking on the left. Straights were depending on upcoming junctions (i.e. best place for people to see you).
His route includes a temporary 50kph on a 100kph road that has absolutely no basis to be there (I'm convinced they forgot to remove the sign) and is observed by no-body (except you of course!).
You also go a couple of junctions down the SH16 motorway.
He will ask you to pull over several times where safe to write notes - this is your judgement and doesn't mean immediately. Safe has to be somewhere where you could legally park and it is appropriate for you to stop.
He expects good progress at the speed limit if safe/appropriate.
Don't stop too close behind people in queues - leave a small car length.
Don't forget to cancel indicators!
Actually move your head when looking in mirrors and don't forget blind spot checks.
Pattern faults (i.e. making the same minor error a few times in a row) can easily accrue for positioning (i.e. wrong position on a corner - we probably went round 100 corners and only 6 need be wrong).
My bike decided to drop into neutral on a greasy roundabout then find its gear again, causing a brief sideways slide. I assumed this was bad but he said something like "Bike gearboxes are never perfect. You immediately regained control and it didn't adversely affect your riding. No issue"
I had done a training ride with him a few months prior which was very useful.
I passed first time. 3 cornering position errors and one "stop too close" error.
It was one of the hardest rides I have ever done though! I take the view that there is no margin for error on a bike so you want it to be hard.
N.B. I have recently taken the 6F CBTA with him and passed with one minor (stopping too close again - I knew straight away lol!).
Similar test, shorter, no motorway, less urban, more 100kph, far less tolerance for minor errors.
Phil had just bought a GoPro and had it on the front of the bike. He was happy to give me the video afterwards (I had a USB with me). I believe he is using it on all tests now.
You can take the CBTA full test whenever you want, but cannot apply for full license until you have held 6R for a year.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by JayDNZ
woop woop) retrain annually.
i will practice my wheelies then , do I need to do rubber burn too ?
Bookmarks