Not a good result
Discussion
Hi all -
Took my practical test this morning; I didn't pass - I incurred two serious faults. Foot down on the U-turn was the first; annoying as I just can't do U turns 100% all of the time. Second fault was use of rear brake; I sometimes leave my foot resting on the rear brake pedal when pulling away at a roundabout. I should get into the habit of moving the foot away from the pedal I guess, rather than trying to rest it there. There's also a "comfort" factor in having the rear brake slightly on as I feel that the bike is stable like that.
I'm absolutely gutted about the result, but I intend to have another go ASAP. Just going to be difficult to do it with my current work commitments.
S
Took my practical test this morning; I didn't pass - I incurred two serious faults. Foot down on the U-turn was the first; annoying as I just can't do U turns 100% all of the time. Second fault was use of rear brake; I sometimes leave my foot resting on the rear brake pedal when pulling away at a roundabout. I should get into the habit of moving the foot away from the pedal I guess, rather than trying to rest it there. There's also a "comfort" factor in having the rear brake slightly on as I feel that the bike is stable like that.
I'm absolutely gutted about the result, but I intend to have another go ASAP. Just going to be difficult to do it with my current work commitments.
S
I used to get into that habit of dragging the back brake when pulling away slowly as it helped with my balance but my riding instructor soon stopped me from doing it, i guess it was a comfort thing as well. Having said that, it was the only way i could do a u turn by keeping my foot on the back brake all the time.
Rawwr said:
sprinter885 said:
p.s. dragging a little back brake during U turns IS the way to do it. I don't think you get failed for that.
I don't think he was talking about the brake on u-turns, just in general.sprinter885 said:
Hard luck sossidge-blame that freebie EDZ inndershell you got ???! 
Hasn't arrived yet mate, they only just took payment for the magazine subscription and have said it can take 28 days for it to arrive after the first DD payment.That's it, I failed because I was wearing a normal T-shirt under my jacket!
Bad luck mate.
I failed first time cos of the foot down on u-turn, always got it right until test day ! Drag the back brake - look where you want to go, don't start to turn until you have moved a few yards and make sure you are settled before you start.
Don't let a fail get you down mate, I failed twice ! 2nd time left an indicator on after a left hand turn onto a busy main road, some traffic lights turned red as I turned onto road and forgot all about indicator, never left it on before that or since. Passed 3rd time with 0 minors.
Don't let it get to you mate - you will do it.
Good luck Bud.
I failed first time cos of the foot down on u-turn, always got it right until test day ! Drag the back brake - look where you want to go, don't start to turn until you have moved a few yards and make sure you are settled before you start.
Don't let a fail get you down mate, I failed twice ! 2nd time left an indicator on after a left hand turn onto a busy main road, some traffic lights turned red as I turned onto road and forgot all about indicator, never left it on before that or since. Passed 3rd time with 0 minors.
Don't let it get to you mate - you will do it.
Good luck Bud.
Unlucky Sossige, you'll nail it next time.
When I did my test there were only right turn minors but I said to the examiner that I thought he might spot some back brake errors (I believed I developed a strange guily habit of rear brake before front brake). He did indicate that there may be some 'adjustment' of when the brake light switch activates on the school bikes.
I was lucky that my test u-turn was the best I'd done. Gave myself good time to settle, picked a good target to focus on, relaxed the top half, strong revs, postive clutch work on the up camber to keep it moving, and good back brake dragging on the down camber. Eyes were never off the target and the actions just happened through practice.
When I did my test there were only right turn minors but I said to the examiner that I thought he might spot some back brake errors (I believed I developed a strange guily habit of rear brake before front brake). He did indicate that there may be some 'adjustment' of when the brake light switch activates on the school bikes.
I was lucky that my test u-turn was the best I'd done. Gave myself good time to settle, picked a good target to focus on, relaxed the top half, strong revs, postive clutch work on the up camber to keep it moving, and good back brake dragging on the down camber. Eyes were never off the target and the actions just happened through practice.
Bad luck chap. Seems harsh to me, but I'm new to this game as well. I'm pretty sure on my last lesson I was advised to use a little back brake on U-turns, so hopefully that's not an issue. But I've also picked myself up on dragging the rear brake - actually, I didn't know the brake light was on, just suddenly realised my foot was still resting on the pedal. When you're a newbie there's so much that's new to remember and it's hardly a dangerous issue.
Do you think nerves were an issue at all? I'd imagine doing a U-ey on a test must be scary - guess I'll find out for myself soon enough
Better luck next time
Do you think nerves were an issue at all? I'd imagine doing a U-ey on a test must be scary - guess I'll find out for myself soon enough
Better luck next time
Thanks for all the support guys.
Martin, seems I misunderstood what he was getting at. He was suggesting that I shouldn't view it as a "pass/fail", but chalk it up to experience. He was also trying to say (albeit not very well) that the more experience I get in this way, the safer I will be.
I can see how people could view things that way if you were just going to pass the test and not take any further instruction - but for me, passing the practical test will be just the beginning of more and more learning.
I've got to get more confident leaning in bends yet
Martin, seems I misunderstood what he was getting at. He was suggesting that I shouldn't view it as a "pass/fail", but chalk it up to experience. He was also trying to say (albeit not very well) that the more experience I get in this way, the safer I will be.
I can see how people could view things that way if you were just going to pass the test and not take any further instruction - but for me, passing the practical test will be just the beginning of more and more learning.
I've got to get more confident leaning in bends yet
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