Module 1 - members test experiences

[guitarman]

The only advice I have is focus on the ride and enjoy it.

[D282]

My school hired the test course out for a couple of hours before the exam. We did all the slow stuff elsewhere and then spent the majority of the two hours going over and over the swerve manoeuvre - eventually it was just routine and didn't even need to think about it when I got to the test bit.

Lots of revs through all the slow speed manoeuvres and widest turns possible through the cones in the middle.

[Phil]

I've been out today on the test pad ahead of my test on Thursday. Overall went reasonably well!

The garage thing I did fine. Slalom and figure of 8 I did ok, although I did have to go around the last cone once when doing the figure of 8, but I'm let to believe this won't constitute a fail. Bearing in mind I'd done it about 10 times.

Slow ride was ok, but didn't spent too much time on that.

U turn wasn't too bad, but I kept getting told to look right over my shoulder rather than looking at the line itself. Although I didn't touch it.

Controlled stop was reasonably easy. I was struggling a little getting the speed for the avoidance, but once I got the hang of it I was ok. Really just got to gun it in second gear once the corner starts straightening out.

[Phil]

Bummer, its a fail I was under the impression you'd to keep behind the examiner when doing the slow ride. Turns out that's been scrapped in favour of just a slow ride with the examiner behind you! I went that slow I had to put a foot down at which point it went to pot. Oh well

[levante]

Bummer, its a fail I was under the impression you'd to keep behind the examiner when doing the slow ride. Turns out that's been scrapped in favour of just a slow ride with the examiner behind you! I went that slow I had to put a foot down at which point it went to pot. Oh well

 

Unlucky,at least you'll know what to expect next time

[Phil]

You're right! Passed this time. No minors. 52 for the avoidance and 58 for the emergency stop. Roll on mod 2

[Nell]

Well done! When's your mod 2?

[Phil]

Well done! When's your mod 2?

 

Cheers! Earliest they've got is the first week or so in January so I'm going to try and book that this coming week. Hopefully the weather will be kind to me!

[levante]

You're right! Passed this time. No minors. 52 for the avoidance and 58 for the emergency stop. Roll on mod 2

Nice one Phil,well done.Remember for your mod 2,ride your ride and not what you think the examiner wants you to do,relax and just think of it as another lesson....good luck!

[Phil]

You're right! Passed this time. No minors. 52 for the avoidance and 58 for the emergency stop. Roll on mod 2

Nice one Phil,well done.Remember for your mod 2,ride your ride and not what you think the examiner wants you to do,relax and just think of it as another lesson....good luck!

 

Yep, cheers for that. I know for any sort of test it's difficult to relax when you know you're being scrutinised. I do however always feel a little bit more comfortable when I'm out on the road than I do when i'm doing all the slow maneuvers. I'll just take the comfort in knowing that if I don't pass first time, there's always another go! Been told that's a great way to calm the nerves

[Paul456]

I was meant to do my mod 1 this morning, but it was frozen over at my instructor's house so he said it was too dangerous to ride to the center, which involved nearly an hour on all back roads, so he was probably right.

What's the best way to keep an eye out for any available tests? Mod 1 and 2.

Being only 22 i would have to wait for 2 years to do my full test if i don't do it before 19th Jan, and i really really don't want to do that.

[Tango]

Being only 22 i would have to wait for 2 years to do my full test if i don't do it before 19th Jan, and i really really don't want to do that.

 

Unfortunately mate I think there's a lot of other people in the same boat as you..... Just keep looking on the website or phoning to see if there's any cancellations is all I can suggest....

[Tango]

You're right! Passed this time. No minors. 52 for the avoidance and 58 for the emergency stop. Roll on mod 2

 

Well done Phil.....and good luck with the Mod2......

[Phil]

You're right! Passed this time. No minors. 52 for the avoidance and 58 for the emergency stop. Roll on mod 2

 

Well done Phil.....and good luck with the Mod2......

 

Cheers, got it booked for 9th January, weather permitting.

[al_stu]

MOD 1 failed today

Managed to put my foot down turning out the parking space! although he said he'd have probably let that go if I hadnt then done the same on the U Turn. All nerves, didnt even think about it, didnt look round properly, didnt watch my clutch, what a bloody mess.

Hope to get in for retest mon/tues next week. Going to go look at a fazer this week. might put a deposit down give me extra encouragement to not freak out next time!!!

if anyones interested (and hasnt seen a mod 1 pad) my mate videoed me on Sunday having a practise, the links below. I'd reccomend not copying the 2 u turns I ballsed up on that practise as well!

http://db.tt/KwsQjpSp

[maccy]

Recently passed my mod 1 with help from other peoples posts on this forum.

Just a few tips for others, this is how I felt most comfortable doing the maneuvers, not the only way to do them and probably not the best way for everyone.

parking the bike and wheeling into the other box.

Simple really. you can do this in a 3 point turn rather than straight into the other box. just make sure you do your checks, once you get the hang of it, there is nothing to worry about here.

slalom

easiest way I found to do this was don't try and do it too slowly as the momentum keeps you steady and slide your arse slightly over your seat, in the direction you want to go.

Figure of eight

use your head and lean the bike, again don't go too slowly. don't look between the cones, look past them. an easy guide would be to look at the cone that you are going round.

slow ride

the examiner doesn't walk in front of you anymore. so as long as you are going at a reasonably slow speed, you will be fine.

U turn

confidence is all you need really, you can lean the bike a lot more than you think you can if you are new to riding. same procedure as the figure of eight. lean and look past where you want to be.

emergency stop

first few times I did this I locked the rear wheel by relying on the back brake too much. use mainly the front brake. apply it gently at first then increase it, as the bike is slowing down pull in your clutch then apply a bit of back brake. possibly not the best way to do an emergency stop in the real world, but what I found to be the best way at not locking your back wheel and failing your test. The examiner was also stood a lot further away than I thought he would be.

swerve

what I was dreading the most. by the end of my practice, it was what I felt the most comfortable with. the cones are a lot further away from the speed trap as I thought they where going to be. take an angle which means you don't have to swerve as much. example, if you are having to swerve to the right. keep as close to the cone on the left as you approach the speed trap as you can. then exit as close to the right as possible, almost going straight through.

to get the speed right for both of these. stick to 2nd or 3rd gear in your practice and listen to what the engine sounds like as you are going at 33mph. rely on that sound to judge how fast you are going rather than looking at your speedo and having to take your eyes off whats in front of you. don't carry on accelerating through the speed trap. and do your checks before every maneuver.

Good luck to everyone else going for there Mod 1.

[Guest]

Great stuff buddy ,,thanks for that. got my mod1 end of march so will take in all the info

[Dynamo_Delboy]

Start my DAS bext Thursday and got Mod1 the following Monday so hoping to feck i pass it.

[Dynamo_Delboy]

Module 1 passes today 14:43.

After a dodgy start at the training school with a few big wobbles on figure of 8 i got it together.

Set off in the afternoon for the test itself.

Arrived at the test centre with another learner.

He passes so the pressure was on.

Slow manouvers were fine although i did get 1 minor fault on slow control as i near got blew off the bike with the wind

Got 53kph for emergency stop and 57kph for hazard avoidance so all in all im well happy.

Mod 2 on 12th April

[Tango]

Nice one Derek.....congrats and good luck for the Mod2......

[Dynamo_Delboy]

Nice one Derek.....congrats and good luck for the Mod2......

 

Cheers mate.

Looking forward to it now

[Guest]

passed module 1

1 minor for not looking "well enough" on the uturn.

In the rain too!

Rock on!

[Tango]

Congrats Luke......good luck with the Mod2.......

[Guest]

my training has been very stop and start due to the weather, and work commitments etc.

anyways, finally got round to mod 1 on friday... which I failed

put my foot down at the end of the slalom, I had entered it the wrong way round and it threw me off for some unknown reason - the piece I had struggled with prior was the figures of 8 ( which were fine)

I continued the rest of the test knowing I had failed and flew through with no other faults whatsoever...

well trying to rebook for this week, just want to get it out of the way now, but gutted I failed the first time!

[bashfulpanda]

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!!!