Module 1 - members test experiences

[daveyboy9274]

I failed my first mod 1 test within he first few minutes with that dreaded u turn. I did pass 2nd time with 1 minor for emergency stop taking a bit more distance but the examiner said it was because I was going too fast.

nerves play a big part in the mod 1 especially in slalom & slow riding exercises.

I found mod 2 really easy especially if u have driving experience. the examiner is a glorified sat navigation haha.just remember your observations which is wot the examiner is looking for.

i wouldn't want to do it again lol!

Good luck !

[adriansk]

Passed my Mod 1 today, thank the Lord. I was nervous in the centre but as soon as I got outside to do the test I was alright. What helped me a lot was deep breaths and looking where I wanted to be rather than concentrating on cones or lines. I also kept reminding myself what I needed to do, i.e. Lifesaver check. Get your speed up, etc.

To anyone who was booked their mod 1, good luck.

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[funinacup]

Got my resit on Tuesday. Failed first time due to putting a foot down during the fig8. Entered the slalom too slow and never corrected it, so when it got to the fig8 I was unstable when turning. Never again!

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[Hoggs]

Congrats adrian

Funinacup good luck on the resit remember you can go pretty wide on the figure 8 they are looking for control over tightness

[adriansk]

Congrats adrian

Funinacup good luck on the resit remember you can go pretty wide on the figure 8 they are looking for control over tightness

 

Thanks

[Ristonbiker]

Mod 1 passed on 2nd attempt. 16/06/16

1st Attempt after all the checks with the paper work he then told me to move the bike from the bay before starting and told me as soon as he waves me in to go straight to the bay and switch off for the manual handling, then on to the slalom and figure 8 and as I got to the last cone on the slalom I was too slow and stalled and boom my feet went down but continued with no other faults.

mod 2 with different examiner told me to wait at the other side of the gates he then went on to explain the 1st part I then completed it and he then continued to explain the slalom (OH DEAR I THOUGHT) I then took a deep breath and continued and boom I new as soon as I had completed the slalom and fig 8 I should be OK so went on to then do the slow control the U-Turn and the controlled stop next was the E stop with a speed of 68kph and the swerve with a speed of 57kph still doing all lifesavers until the moment I parked up, he the called me over still in the carpark to say well done no minors and had to tell me on the carpark due to the room taken for someone on a Mod 2 test.

And then to top it off friday the 17th today I went and passed my car test mod 2 booked for the 29th june

[Guest]

You'll get multiple attempts at the speed trap:

I rode down with my instructor and another person, on his test he had at LEAST 4 attempts at EACH speed test (with/without swerve) and still ended up passing.

Don't sweat it.

I forgot a double head check after my E-stop and just came away with 1 minor.

[LisaM]

Hi all!!

Thought i would share my experience at garretts green test centre tues 14th june....

On the morning of my test i went out for a bit of practice with my instructor, weather was good and we had gone to a car park to practise the horrid fig of 8 and u turn. Getting them spot on everytime i felt confident heading over to the test centre.

Reversed the bike into a space upon arrival and had a peek into the test pad where i could see the speed trap set up on the left hand cones, meaning the fast manouvers were going to be done to the left, (i preferred the right) but not a problem as my instructor had hired the test pad on the sunday for a few of us to practice on, which i found very very helpful.

Went into the test centre to wait, there was another guy before me, he went out and done his test, weather was still good and dry, as he walked back in it began to rain! Again not a problem as they use a special grippy surface but would have preffered it dry.

Examiner called me in, checked papers and off we went, the rain got heavier....

Rode in etc etc, manual handling, slalom, fig 8 done all perfect, was feeling more relaxed and confident. He called me over to do the slow ride towards the u turn....then the rain got heavier yet (it was torrentail at this point) and then a fork of lightning came down not very far away, the examiner asked how i was feeling and if i wanted to continue, but i thought im here now, im doing well, i just want to get it done. So i told him i wanted to continue.

As i was doing the u turn i didnt see but a fork of lightning came down closer yet (during my debrief he told me he didnt know if id done my lifesaver or not as he was more concerned about the lightning).

After the u turn he went to speak with the safety officer to see if we were safe to continue (we were but the examiner still wanted us to stop)

I then did the controlled stop, emergency stop and avoidance manouvers(there was another close bolt of lightning). I got 48kmph on both e stop and avoidance but got minors for those as i dont think he wanted me to go again lol. I felt like i had gone faster than i did but maybe with the rain hitting me in the face with my visor up (i kept steaming up with it down) i was going slower than it felt.

But all in all i passed!!

There were 4 more guys waiting to do theirs after me and the look on their faces when i walked in dripping lolol

[Hoggs]

wow! now that is an "experience"! top stuff on your pass - mod 2 will be a breeze after that!

[Arwen]

Wow! Congrats on the excellent passing in horrific weather. It was raining during my test but no where near as bad as yours.

[JRH]

Well done for completing and passing your test in those conditions

[Guest]

Hi all!

Ok so yesterday I did my mod 1 for the second time. After dreading the u turn after failing on it last week I'd made sure id practiced plenty and went in much more relaxed than last time. Got to the u turn, did shoulder checks and then pulled forward a bikes length as practiced on my lessons. I then did my left shoulder check, full rear observation over my right shoulder (lifesaver), turned back to face forwards and within literally a second started my u turn and successfully completed it.

Needless to say I was over the moon! Completed the rest of my test ok and honestly thought I'd passed it. You can imagine my shock when I sat down and the examiner said I'd failed.

According to him after my right rear observation I hesitated before starting the u turn and as he had advised me in my briefing, I was supposed to treat the test as if I were on a road, and in my hesitation a vehicle could have approached making it unsafe to turn?! I therefore got a serious fault for this and failed! I actually couldn't pick my jaw up off the floor, I was totally speechless.

When I spoke to my instructor outside he said he wasn't happy. As far as he was concerned he watched the whole thing and Id passed. To add insult to injury my instructor keeps repeating how I'm riding above the level required for mod 2.

I genuinely just feel totally disheartened. I have no idea what the examiner wants if I can perform a test which appears to be a pass yet I fail due to a hesitation that no one else seemed to see?! It's just getting a bit hard now to stay positive and believe in myself. I've even checked on the gov site and it states a serious fault is to not carry out rear obs and a minor is a late check? I don't get it at all.

I love being out on the bike and just want to get going on my own bike. It's just rather disheartening! Not sure if anyone has had any similar experiences or comments that might help??

[Caballero]

Got to the u turn, did shoulder checks and then pulled forward a bikes length as practiced on my lessons. I then did my left shoulder check, full rear observation over my right shoulder (lifesaver), turned back to face forwards and within literally a second started my u turn and successfully completed it.

Needless to say I was over the moon! Completed the rest of my test ok and honestly thought I'd passed it. You can imagine my shock when I sat down and the examiner said I'd failed.

According to him after my right rear observation I hesitated before starting the u turn and as he had advised me in my briefing, I was supposed to treat the test as if I were on a road, and in my hesitation a vehicle could have approached making it unsafe to turn?! I therefore got a serious fault for this and failed! I actually couldn't pick my jaw up off the floor, I was totally speechless.

 

What my instructor told me was that if you do a lifesaver, a clock starts ticking, and 3 seconds means it's expired.

So, he said, on the U-turn you can either start moving forward then do the lifesaver just before you turn the handlebars, or you can do a lifesaver, move forward then turn the handlebars. In the latter case, he said, the safe thing to do is to do 2 lifesavers, not 1. In other words, a lifesaver just before you set the bike in motion, and another lifesaver just before you turn the handlebars, bearing in mind that lifesavers expire.

From what you wrote, it seems the examiner deemed the lifesaver you made to have completely expired, rather than having been late. This may be justified on the basis that if you did a lifesaver just before a U-turn on a road with a 30mph limit, you had better start your U-turn quickly, because a car may have appeared in just a couple of seconds, which would mean that although conditions were safe when you did your lifesaver, the situation has changed and it's now unsafe.

[L_J]

Mod 1, attempt 2......

Arrived at training school a couple of hours early to have a warm up on their yard in TORRENTIAL rain!! A call to test centre confirmed all tests had been stopped due to water pooling. Carried on and went through all manoeuvres hoping the rain would clear by the afternoon, which it did.

Was confident, however was mega confident on first attempt and still managed a foot down on fig 8. Arrived at test centre early afternoon to clear sky.

There was no way I was going to make the same mistake with a foot down so approached slalom & figure of 8 with much more speed, downside to this was I couldn't keep it tight around the cones. Did two figure of 8's and was called over to examiner "have you had a go at this manoeuvre before, that's possibly the widest figure of 8 I think I've ever seen", I explained that I had performed it a couple of times but wasn't aware there was a limit on space, "ok, attempt it again please and keep as close to the cones as you can". I could tell he wasn't sure whether to fail me or give me another shot, I attempted it again a little slower with no issues...

Slow ride went okay although felt I was a little quick, and onto u turn. Once this was done with I was confident I'd be okay on the fast stuff, kept it fairly quick, shoulder check and turn and all was well. Rest of the test went well with a 58 km/h stop and 52 avoidance, was ushered to the gates and told to park up in a bay. Followed the examiner into debrief room "I'm pleased to say you've passed, not sure whether I should have given you another go at the figure of 8 but you we're okay on the second attempt so marked it as a minor".

Absolutely chuffed I don't have to go through that again, strange how a series of easy manoeuvres can prove to be difficult whilst under pressure, roll on Mod 2 on Tues..

[runningman]

General thought was that you can go as wide as you want on the figure of 8. Should be inside a painted box if there was limitations IMHO.

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[MotorBike001]

Did my Mod1 yesterday at Swansea and had a perfect pass.

The examiner was very good - he could tell I was nervous so he suggested just doing 1-2 circuits to warm up. I hadn't been on a bike since my lesson last Saturday.

The test was slightly different from how I'd read up on it, details:

Any moving off do 2 shoulder-checks

Manual Handling

1. Ride into space between cones and stop.

2. Move the bike to the next garage. I pulled the bike out turning as well - it's easier if you rest it slightly on the front of your legs, and I held the rear bars. Push it forward and then turn 45degress near the end. Push it back into the space.

Slalom/Figure of 8

Pull off in between the first two cones. Don't go too slow (as I did and nearly put my foot down).

On the figure of 8 I didn't realise that you could go on the outside of the cone in the slalom.

When the examiner instructs you to stop make sure you go over to him and stop facing directly straight for the next manoeuvre.

Slow Driving

Pretty easy - go slow and stop with the front wheel between the cones.

U Turn

Pretty easy again - should checks when you pull off, then one shoulder check as you turn.

Controlled Stop

A test ride and then stop with the front wheel between the cones.

Emergency Stop

You have to do over 50pkh (30mph) when passing the speed measuring device - I was doing 61. When the examiner raises his arm stop as fast as you can. My bike had ABS which makes this very easy. Locking the back wheel could potentially be a fail.

Swerve Test

Nothing to hard here - I did 53kph.

And that was it. So glad I don't have to do that again. Mod2 in a few weeks.

BTW - if you live near Swansea I would recommend SMART Motorycles for their training. The Mod1 training is done at the actual test centre - you can't get better than that..

[Hoggs]

Good work and good luck on the mod 2

[JRH]

Well done and all the best for Mod2

[AndySv]

Module 1 at Erith, weds. Passed

Was quite nervous when it came to do the figure of 8 as I had a bad day on one of my training days where I kept putting my foot down. Instructor told me if you feel like you need to put your foot down then let the clutch out some more and get the bike to pull you round. it worked every single time and I passed with 1 minor for going a little too fast on the emergency stop. 60kmh The part I originally thought would be hard is the swerve avoidance, No, I actually had fun doing that particular manoeuvre on my training!

[JRH]

well done

[phil4]

I did my Mod1 in the carpark/test centre at Oxford's Kassam Stadium on a Monday afternoon early in Feb. It was clear but very windy.

I rolled up a few minutes late (instructor had got his times mixed up), nervous has heck.

During training I could do it all consistently except the figure of 8, I really struggled with the left turns, and more often than not couldn't do two complete circuits. So that would be the crunch point.

The examiner pointed out that it was my choice to do the test as windy, pointing out he could make no special allowances. I opted to start.

I was given the choice on whether to park in the left or right garage and chose the right. It meant a longer manoeuvre, but felt more confident doing the cornering going forward rather than backwards.

The cone weave was fine, then the figure of 8. I just told myself quite firmly "just do it". And did, before I knew it the examiner signalled and I was on for the slow ride over, I may have gone too quickly as was elated to have got round the 8.

The U turn was a doodle, I'd never had problems.

Then onto the swerve and emergency stop. The sighting run (controlled stop) was useful since the Oxford test centre is different to the normal layout, you start the run from behind the stadium seating, out of sight of the examiner, speed sensors, cones etc. So you get a chance to have a few second breather, compose yourself.

Sighting run was fine.

The swerve went ok, but was slightly confused when stopping as two of the blue comes had vanished, so rather than stop with front wheel in the box I just stopped over the line.

Emergency stop ok.

And the verdict? 2 minors as 2mph below the 50kph on the swerve. Phew!

Examiner did say I may have missed a shoulder check but he was too busy trying to not get blown over.

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[Hoggs]

Top stuff Phil - on to the mod 2 now which is the easy bit

[JRH]

[Carma90]

So after failing on my first go of the Mod 1 test by putting a foot down on the slalom (the nerves got to me/I entered the slalom too fast) my instructor was able to book me another test for this morning.

So I turned up bright and early at the instructing centre ready for redemption. Now the practice yard that I had access to was only small so the layout of the cones was a bit obscure, nonetheless everything went fine. After several run through's I was ready to head off to the test centre. My instructor took me to an industrial estate to practice a few emergency stops and swerves (I nailed these on my first go of the Mod 1 so I was confident). Before long it was time to head to the test centre, 'Right, perform a U-turn and we'll head off' said my instructor. Now I've never really been too confident with my U-turns as I end up looking at the ground. Silly, I know! As we were on an industrial estate there were kerbs either side of the road, automatically before I even put the bike into gear my mind was focusing on the kerbs. I began my U-turn, chin to shoulder, looking to where I wanted the bike to go...then I glanced at the kerb, saw I was getting too close, grabbed that front brake and down she went. Not an ideal situation to be in 10 minutes before my Mod 1 test...

No damage to the bike but my confidence was shaken. I had that deep sick/sinking feeling. My instructor reassured me the best he could but I thought that was game over. Rocked up to the test centre, parked up and awaited my fate. Manual handling, slalmon, figure of 8 and slow ride all went well, then it was time for the U-turn. Now one of the U-turn bays at this test centre has no obstructions either side, the other has a wonderful kerb right next to one of the boundary lines...guess which one I had to perform mine in! I took a deep breath and began the maneuver. Chin to shoulder, looking where I wanted to go...SUCCESS! Kept the kerb out of site and stopped a good foot from the boundary line.

The rest of the test went perfectly and I ended up passing without any minors. I don't know if this little story deserves a moral but I guess the most important thing is to just remember what you'v been taught!

[Hoggs]

Congrats on the pass Glad you managed to regroup after the little spill! Mod 2 is easy in comparison!