R-E Test in Joondalup - 4th October - PASSED!!!

[Tenchi]

Obviously there's everything mentioned in the sticky, and Jackie (?) linked me to some really helpful tips on speedo and mirror checks. I'm going to be practicing O-turns in Neil Hawkins Park, since it's on a funky incline, as well as riding down known test routes with the instructor. I'm doing the test on my ZZR250, so it will be a little bit harder than the CB250 that my instructor has but if I can't pass on my own bike, that says something about me as a rider...

I've had my test booked for a while now, and I'm coming up to actually doing the test. Any words of wisdom to impart on the young and inexperienced?

[Klara]

Hey Tenchi

I dont really have any wisdom to part as such as I only passed my RE yesterday, but it was at Joondalup!!!

Hopefully you get the same assessor I had - Dave or David ?? tall bald guy. He was really cool and very clear with instructions and only gave about 3 directions each time so you didnt have to remember to many directions while being nervous on your test.

One thing I got pinged on, I didnt indicate for long enough before changing lanes...oops, so thats one to watch for.

Also Joondalup has some really confusing lanes, where they go from single to dual to single again without much or any warning. Try to familiarise yourself with the lanes around the licencing centre and the main drag around there, particularly the huge roundabout near the hospital (lanes around that catch many people). My instructor took me around and showed me all the tricky roads around there that they take students on to see if they are being observant....

Thats about all I can pass on....still a newbie myself!

Good Luck!!!

[Tenchi]

Hey Tenchi

I dont really have any wisdom to part as such as I only passed my RE yesterday, but it was at Joondalup!!!

Hopefully you get the same assessor I had - Dave or David ?? tall bald guy. He was really cool and very clear with instructions and only gave about 3 directions each time so you didnt have to remember to many directions while being nervous on your test.

One thing I got pinged on, I didnt indicate for long enough before changing lanes...oops, so thats one to watch for.

Also Joondalup has some really confusing lanes, where they go from single to dual to single again without much or any warning. Try to familiarise yourself with the lanes around the licencing centre and the main drag around there, particularly the huge roundabout near the hospital (lanes around that catch many people). My instructor took me around and showed me all the tricky roads around there that they take students on to see if they are being observant....

Thats about all I can pass on....still a newbie myself!

Good Luck!!!
[/b]

First of all, congrats on getting your licence, I know Joondalup is one of the harder areas to be assessed. I'm somewhat lucky that although my test is during school times (7:55am), it's during school holidays so no school zones to get busted through.

That lane change thing is quite a problem since there are so many lanes that go from two to one... then back to two... then back to one... I personally think that Joondalup council has no sense of traffic planning but that's just me. I'm hoping for an assessor that's had a nice, warm cup of coffee, is happy to be there, etc. despite it being so early in the morning. Only consolation for being so early in the morning is that I'll be the first person he's seeing, so I stand a better chance of getting an assessor that isn't stressed out or anything.

[Triton]

Same test day as me and I just had a sucky lesson, I need to prac u-turns badly, don't know if I should use my bike or the instructors now, I think I'm way to use to the clutch on mine :|

[Satan1]

Think positively and repeat what you are doing or want to do in your head not what you don't want to do.
If you think of past mistakes you will do them again.

[thro]

The big one is head checks.

If you can ride the bike and get o turns done, head checks and road positioning is what you'll be drilled on.

Also, if you're asked to pull over to the side of the road and park the bike, make sure you're not going to be parked illegally. And watch for school zones....



Other than that, if you're confident on the bike, you'll pass

[Tenchi]

Same test day as me and I just had a sucky lesson, I need to prac u-turns badly, don't know if I should use my bike or the instructors now, I think I'm way to use to the clutch on mine :|[/b]

Yeah, I had trouble with my clutch when I first started - where I was comfortable holding it meant that I was barely engaging the gears, so I fell over all the time. Adjusted the clutch (go adjustable stuff on the ZZR!!) and O-turns were heaps easier. Repeated "Keep your chin up" every time I did an O-turn after 9zero picked me up on it and they became even easier, even in Neil Hawkins on the slope.

The big one is head checks.

If you can ride the bike and get o turns done, head checks and road positioning is what you'll be drilled on.

Also, if you're asked to pull over to the side of the road and park the bike, make sure you're not going to be parked illegally. And watch for school zones....

Other than that, if you're confident on the bike, you'll pass [/b]

Thanks man, still struggling with the head checks a tiny bit, can do the O-turns pretty well, ok with the road positioning - have a tendency to stick to the left track almost all the time when there's a single lane, which can be bad when there's parking right up against the road.

I'm pretty confident in my knowledge about the illegal zones from bus stops, corners, fire hydrants, etc. but I think I'll be brushing up before the test. The one thing that my instructor told me was to turn the bike off and remove the key, as if I was pulling over to get off and go somewhere... gotta remember to do that.

And yeah, confidence on the bike? I think I'm confident enough on the bike. It's more a level of respect that if I'm not good to the bike, the bike won't be good to me.

[Ev]

For figs if you wish to use your own bike:
With your clutch/throttle cables make sure they are well lubricated and adjusted, I usually pour some light weight machine oil down mine, easily done...problems here will make it hard or let you down.
Good Luck... Is just something I see alot which might help yous...

[thro]

Same test day as me and I just had a sucky lesson, I need to prac u-turns badly, don't know if I should use my bike or the instructors now, I think I'm way to use to the clutch on mine :|[/b]

There's a trick to o-turns which makes them much easier -

- don't be afraid to rev the bike up (almost as if you were going to launch off the lights to keep up with traffic)
- get the clutch so it's just past friction point
- control speed with rear brake

The revs will make the bike much more stable, as the engine's gyroscopic effect will be keeping it balanced. also, keeping revs up and clutch at a fixed point means you've only got one thing to worry about for control - the rear brake. Remember - revs won't make the bike launch off real fast if you're slipping the clutch - so feel free to use plenty. Unless you ride a ducati or jap race rep, chances are your bike has a wet clutch, so you'll be pressed damn hard to do any damage to the clutch...

As said, try and keep your head up - looking at the ground won't make the bike any more stable Yes, we all find it hard to not look at the ground at first, but keeping your head up allows you to see the big picture better, and your peripheral vision is more likely to pick up incoming traffic when not focused on the ground...

[Tenchi]

For figs if you wish to use your own bike:
With your clutch/throttle cables make sure they are well lubricated and adjusted, I usually pour some light weight machine oil down mine, easily done...problems here will make it hard or let you down.
Good Luck... Is just something I see alot which might help yous...[/b]

The bike's pretty new and I oil/inspect the chain, levers and cables every 2-3 weeks - roughly every 5 rides or so. I don't think I'll have any problems with the cables getting caught since it's so new.

There's a trick to o-turns which makes them much easier -

- don't be afraid to rev the bike up (almost as if you were going to launch off the lights to keep up with traffic)
- get the clutch so it's just past friction point
- control speed with rear brake

The revs will make the bike much more stable, as the engine's gyroscopic effect will be keeping it balanced. also, keeping revs up and clutch at a fixed point means you've only got one thing to worry about for control - the rear brake. Remember - revs won't make the bike launch off real fast if you're slipping the clutch - so feel free to use plenty. Unless you ride a ducati or jap race rep, chances are your bike has a wet clutch, so you'll be pressed damn hard to do any damage to the clutch...

As said, try and keep your head up - looking at the ground won't make the bike any more stable Yes, we all find it hard to not look at the ground at first, but keeping your head up allows you to see the big picture better, and your peripheral vision is more likely to pick up incoming traffic when not focused on the ground...[/b]

It's a jap bike with a wet slipper clutch with multiple plates so no damaging it there, and yeah, I give it plenty of revs - keep it up near the 4-6k RPM range, just before the power band. I use _a lot_ of rear brake and a lot of throttle to keep it nice, slow and steady. O-turns are probably the thing I'm best at.

Apparently the reason behind looking at the ground making you less stable, apart from target fixation, is that you're more prone to making micro adjustments as you do your turn - so regardless of driving or riding, keeping the eyes on the horizon means a nice, smooth turn. And, as mentioned, you have the added benefits of seeing incoming traffic.

I am definitely going to be wanting good luck on the day. I was out with my instructor today, stopped in the only small strip you can stop at on this particular street - someone on their R test rode up, it was very obvious she was planning to stop exactly where we were, and she panicked when she saw we were there. Stopped way, way too close to the corner, assessor pulls up on the verge and has a few words to them. Suffered an instant fail from the assessor (we had actually left by a different route at the same time as those two from the licencing centre, and we followed the two of them back to the licencing centre) .

[thro]

^^ that kinda sucks for the person who failed... but... nerves aside, panic like that and you're not demonstrating that you're comfortable on the bike and/or breaking the law by parking illegally...


still a really shitty way to fail though :|

[Tenchi]

^^ that kinda sucks for the person who failed... but... nerves aside, panic like that and you're not demonstrating that you're comfortable on the bike and/or breaking the law by parking illegally...

still a really shitty way to fail though :|[/b]

Yeah, I was pretty surprised that she did it. I keep thinking about what I would have done in the same situation. It's even worse around the corner - there's a much, much smaller area to park in because there's a fire hydrant, corner and bus stop all in the same area. Still, I've been thinking about what to do in all of those situations.

If I went too far, like in that situation, I'm wondering if it's ok to do a second pass... do a U-turn... come back... do a U-turn... park up behind the bikes. You should really get it in the first place, but if they're trying to reenact real life situations it's not that uncommon to go down the road, not find any parking spots, come back and do a second pass.

EDIT: It's not like they say, "find a spot to stop on this street without doing a U-turn"

[Skinner]

I did my r's in joondalup last month, couple of things to keep an eye on...Watch those damn speed limits that keep changing in that area (i had never been to joondalup before my test)

The assessor may also ask you to do a u-turn in front of the license center and park in the motorbike parking on the same side. Just keep it in mind as it can get very busy around there.

[thro]

If I went too far, like in that situation, I'm wondering if it's ok to do a second pass... do a U-turn... come back... do a U-turn... park up behind the bikes. You should really get it in the first place, but if they're trying to reenact real life situations it's not that uncommon to go down the road, not find any parking spots, come back and do a second pass.

EDIT: It's not like they say, "find a spot to stop on this street without doing a U-turn"[/b]

If you were in that situation then sure - go up the road, turn around, come back, etc - so long as you do all of that properly in the eyes of your assessor (you have however added a lot of complications for yourself - but if you can ride, you shouldn't have a problem), he won't fail you.

Remember, the test is for your ability to ride in a safe, legal and controlled manner - it's not about following a set of commands without adapting to the situation you are presented with.

[Shai'tan]

Congrats on passing Tenchi! w00t!

[Tenchi]

I did my test today, and passed with flying colours - not a single cross to mar my sheet.

For anyone that wants to know where I went... The route I took was left out of the centre, first left (intersection with two stop signs on either side), left at the RAB, down to McLarty ave, right into McLarty and 2nd right. There I did my O-turns, which I had downpat thanks to many attempts at Neil Hawkins (level ground is sooo much easier) and my emergency braking. Had a tiny, tiny squeal on the e-braking, so he got me to do it again, this time without any squeal. After that we headed along that road to Boas ave, hooked a left into Boas, went straight to Joondalup Drive, hooked a left and rode along until we got to the Harvey Norman entrance (between Dick Smith and Harvey Norman). Went in there, parked the bike in a bay, said hello to the instructor. Exited the car park, turned left onto Joondalup Drive, left into Lakeside Drive, rode down there and pulled over in front of the police academy. Continued riding down Lakeside Drv until we got to the RAB in front of Zest/Joondalup Library, hooked a left at the RAB, went to the licencing centre, pulled over to the left, made sure everything was all clear, hooked a U-turn and parked in front of the centre. Whole test took about 40 minutes.

The only thing he asked was why I ran two orange lights. My answer was that it wasn't safe to stop. My real answer, the one I didn't say, was that I couldn't be f*cked stopping and I didn't think that he or the car behind him would stop in time. Apparently that was the right answer so he gave me a tick and I got my R-E licence - he also said if I had stopped, he would have ridden straight past me.

The biggest things that he said he liked was that I clarified everything he said by repeating it back to him, ensuring I understood exactly what he wanted, and that I didn't waste time getting out of there - that I took opportunities when they came along instead of waiting for a really, really big gap between cars. The thing he didn't like was that my speed fluctuated on Lakeside Drv, which is quite hilly.

Many thanks to everyone's helpful tips, they were all very handy. Again, thanks to Steve/9zero for accompanying me on my victory lap and on the freeway for the first time - good to see you back on the road. For teaching me how to pass the test and to a large extent how to ride safely, thanks to Steve from John's Motorcycles Joondalup. And thanks to the chick on the Vulcan from last week for showing me what NOT to do on your test and making me think about it, because I encountered other people on their test too and I was prepared for the situation.

[Triton]

Assesors name Nigel?

Exact same route - I must have been just after you, actually I may have met you, there was a couple of people coming out that had just passed heh

I'd have to give my thanks to Roy from Johns Advanced Motorcycle Training who was my instructor, and of course PSB for helping me get some extra road time!

[Tenchi]

Yeah mate, Nigel was the guy - white helmet, black jacket. Said he was the better looking of the two assessors, and that he didn't have the blue on his jacket.

Had my test at 7:55am this morning, finished at around 8:40. No one was standing around after, but before there was a guy to my right with his instructor... the instructor was riding a road-trail bike with a bash plate on the bottom, nice little 400cc bike. I don't think I would have noticed anyone standing around - was too busy being stoked about getting my licence.

[Triton]

Ahh, nah, mine was at 1:50PM

Also to add, I got clean sheet too, I passed everything first go despite shaking like a leaf heh, I think I left an indicator on for too long after a round-about but obviously not a big enough deal to take a point off.

[Tenchi]

Ahh, nah, mine was at 1:50PM

Also to add, I got clean sheet too, I passed everything first go despite shaking like a leaf heh, I think I left an indicator on for too long after a round-about but obviously not a big enough deal to take a point off.[/b]

Wow, that was actually the other time that I could have booked - I opted to go with the morning because people are usually pretty happy after their first cup of coffee. I was offered 7:55 or 2pm on October 4 when I booked my test. Congrats on getting the other one, and your licence