Passed my full today.!

[Stromble]

Well, after 9 months, 3 bikes, 2 exemptions, 1 bin, 1 Defensive driver course and some great training from Tricia1000, I passed the full test!

Was booked for Orewa this morning at 8:00am.. I was watching the weather all week with anticipation... left the house in Takapuna at 7am, absolutely pissing it down.. headed north on SH1 and the rain started to ease off at Albany, I was thinking great.! its going to be drier up there.. no such luck, very windy and heavy rain by 8am in Orewa.. (

Examiner turned up 5 mins late and asked if I really wanted to take the test today in the weather as it was going to be a challenge.! As I stood there in my dripping wet bike gear thinking that I really couldnt possibly get any wetter, I said, lets just get on with it!

So, after a very wet and challenging ride round the back streets of Orewa and upto hatfields beach in a mist of truck spray and a fun bit of aquaplaning, we got back to AA and he dished out my new 6F paper license..

Only critisism was that I didnt get onto the flush median strip earlier to turn right back into the road near McDonalds by the AA center.

Very happy now!, though doesnt really change things, as I have the bike I wanted anyway (Through exemption), I still have heaps to learn, still not got full confidence back after my incident a couple of months back, but hey, a full license doesnt make us experts..

Thanks to Tricia for my lenghty round town riding session in Takapuna a couple of months back, she is an awesome instructor and has a great approach to training and preparation for the test.

[gijoe1313]

On ya matey, just remember to bask in the nice feeling and then go out with an eye for a new ride to learn on! Yes, I know you got the bike you want to ride already, but always good to get the sales peeps excited (they know when you seem to have got a full licence )

[DingoZ]

Congrats.....

[mowgli]

Awesome. Well done

[Nasty]

Congrats that is the best news!!!

[chubby]

Good on ya. Its a great feeling when you pass. Now your ligit... git riden..

[chanceyy]

congrats its definately a great feeling .. & every day is a new day to learn something regardless of how long you have been riding

[fLaThEaD FreD]

Hope to be in that position by November. I'm still at home recovering from my first Bin.........Hard way to learn but I wont forget what I did wrong....Cheers.

[H00dz]

Awesome mate know how ya feel

ride safe & live long

[Storm]

Good stuff mate-good to see you havent been fooled into believeing a full license makes you into Rossi overnight
Many happy, incident free, trails to you

[90s]

Well done - keep your bin record at 1 eh

[EJK]

Nice! So how was the test? Hard?

[Stromble]

Nice! So how was the test? Hard?

Not really, apart from the rain... the tester tried to talk me out of taking it..! so I thought I maybe setting myself up for a fail.. but I was piss wet through and rode up a very nasty wet and windy SH1 to get there, so I want going to wait any longer..

So, anyway, basic structure was...

No headset, the guy passed instructions through the passenger window as he pulled along side me on the right.. pretty hard to understand with the enine running, pissing it down with rain on my helmet and me leaning off the bike trying to stick my head in his car.!

So...

15 mins of street riding round Orewa, roundabouts, stop signs, a u-turn on a very slippery narrow road (but made it).. unmarked intersections etc..

Then told to approach a T intersection and turn left onto the main road and pull over and he would ask me the hazards.. I only saw 2 cars, one from the left and one in the distance on the right, but I had time to pull out. I told him this when we stopped, and obviously included him as a hazard also..

Then was told to approach the next intersection and do another left, this time a much busier intersection, lots of cars approaching from the left and right and pedestrian on the left with a dog waiting to cross and another with an umbrella opposite waiting to cross. Again, told him this description and again included him as a hazard.

All good, was told to ride upto the main road which included a very sharp narrow right hand bend (obviously seeing how I took the corner for position and road condition), left onto the highway and out towards Hatfields beach and pulled in at the toilets opposite for another chat.

Next journey was back to the AA office, he pulled out first and stopped at the bus stop on the blind bend going up hill towards Orewa, asked me to overtake him and park in front, then to set off again up the hill and back to the AA office. (quite interesting as this involved a busy main road at 8:45am, wet,windy and a hill start- on a relatively long blind bend) but hey, managed to get this done and back to the AA office where I sat there like a drowned rat with folk looking and feeling very sorry for me or looking very puzzled as if to say (Why would you ride today??!?!)..

Only criticism on handing out my bit of green paper was that I didnt enter the flush median early enough to make the right turn back to the office. Asked me why this was, to which I replied that I was cautious of the paint being very slippery, but kept an eye out behind and checked the blind spot before turning etc to ensure it was safe. He still said I should've gone in earlier, but kinda saw my point, so I thanked him for the advice and the nice little piece of green paper and off I went for a nice hot coffee..!

All in all, a good result, I was very happy. Even more so that I did it in pretty adverse conditions, so ended up being a test and a half. Nothing too challenging really, just rode to the conditions and took it easy in the turns.

Timewise, pretty much 55 mins in total.

Hope that helps..!

[fergie]

congrats on the full licence and the great report, well written, onya

[blackbobcat]

Your exemption....

how easy was it to get because i need to get one for my bike....

also if you gte one can you sit the full liscence on that bike?

and an "approved handling course" so i only have restricted for 12 months.... where am i able to find one

ive been trying to find one for months