Hello people! This is my first post here, I passed my MOD1 first time with 0 minors a couple of days ago! I'm doing my A2 DAS and was a total bike virgin prior to my CBT and lessons, I just wanted to offer some advice based on my experienced to others that are about to do it, I'm not going to list exactly what to do on each exercise because its been covered (so well) on this thread, I just wanted to tell you guys what helped to calm me down . I know all the instructors say "try not to be nervous", but it is very intimidating riding onto a big tarmac pad with loads of cones. My first bit of advice (after parking your bike backwards in the bay to make it easier to ride out and onto the pad), and something that helped me settle my (very large) nerves was to stand and have a look at the test pad before going into the center, it just made riding onto it a little less daunting. My examiner was really nice (I did the test at Shrewsbury) and instantly helped to calm my nerves a little! He checked the paper work and then we went outside to start. Riding onto the pad Don't be intimidated by all of the cones, I tried to forget that they were there, I just focused on the part of the test I was doing. Wait for the examiner to close the gate and explain what he/she wants you to do. Manual handing I used this part of the test to compose myself a little, park the bike up, take a deep breath and try and gain some confidence, after all pushing a bike around is easy! Slalom As many other people have said, don't go too slow focus and try and enjoy it, relax into a rhythm - thinking too much about what you are doing causes you to make mistakes and if you feel like you're about to have to put your foot down increase the revs and the bike will pick itself back up. Figure of 8 Take as much room as you can, don't try and cut it too tight, look where you want to go and before you know it the examiner will be calling you over. Slow ride This is really simple, the main thing is try and enter the box for the U-turn straight. U-turn This was the element I was most nervous about going into the test, so I asked the examiner if I could have a second to compose myself and after I had managed to calm myself down I felt confident. Just remember the shoulder check, turn the bike in and look where you want to go, not at the line. There is so much room here! Again if you feel like you're about to mess it up increase the revs and the bike will pick itself back up, dont just give up and put your foot down! Circuit ride/controlled stop After I had gotten the U-turn out of the way successfully I started to smile and nearly enjoy myself, after all the next couple of maneuvers are actually pretty good fun! Go round the circuit, focus on the exit and then accelerate. I used this first run around to check my speedo. When you stop in the box try and ask the examiner how fast you were going, if he says 50kmph+ it will fill you with confidence, and if not you know you have to either accelerate harder next time, or not release the throttle too soon! Emergency Stop Repeat the circuit and watch for the hand signal (don't look at your speedo here, you know you are going fast enough). Remember, the examiner wants to see a safe controlled stop, so be gentle with the breaks and be controlled, you have soooo much room to stop in! Just remember those shoulder checks when you stop! The swerve The best till last! By this point in the test all my nerves had gone and I was feeling great, just remember to look at the outside cone and you will sale through! And you are done! Remember the shoulder checks as you ride off and smile! It's not all bad! Sorry for the rambling post, but I was so nervous before doing the test I wanted to try and get accross some of the little things that I found helped! Hope this is at least a tad useful for somebody! GOOD LUCK!!!