P's test - heads up anyone?

Hi all, I have my P's test booked for Sat 17th July (Unanderra), & i'm shaking in my boots! I read online a couple of days ago that there was apparently the whole test marked out at the Oak Flats train station (Illawarra/Wollongong area), so i went there last night after work, & indeed the tests were marked out here & there. I tried them, & 70-80% got the hang of them, but i had a few questions, for ppl who have already done the P's test...

For the stopping test, i am pretty sure i was using the right marks on the ground for it (the marks seem to be used for both the stopping test and the swerving test), but it didn't seem like enough room to get up to 20+kms before having to stop or swerve, can anyone confirm this? I have the pdf of the test, & there is no distance for the stopping test on there, so that doesnt help, just wondering what the distance is (approx.) in the actual test.

Same for the swerving test, it used the same marks on the ground as the stopping test, but again it didn't seem like enough room to get up to 20+km before having to swerve, i think i might have just hit 20km, but not sure cos by that stage i was looking ahead & swerving!

On the cone weave i keep missing the last cone (i am using cheap yellow frisbee things as markers), i ran one over & smushed it to bits (doh! 5 left), just wondering if its better to try go slightly faster thru the cones, or slowly?? I got the hang of the u-turn mostly too, was crawling thru & going over the line, hubby showed me how to go thru it faster & leaning more, all good when turning to the left, but crap when turning to the right (not my good side!), anyone have any tips on how to turn better on ur bad side?? On my good side when u-turning my wrist doesnt even hit the tank (way off) but when u-turning on my bad side my wrist hits the tank & i STILL go wide, dunno how to fix that!

I will appreciate any helpful advice that is thrown in my general direction

When u do the day mate its drill practice of the test first, followed by a road ride and the test at the end. Just listen and learn mate!

Hey Snakeyes,

Low speed riding is a tricky thing and something lots of "experienced" riders can't do well at all so it's understandable to need to learn a few things.

You're gonna spend a long time on the day being taught how to do the test and practicing!

Re. the "getting enough distance to get up to speed" we had as much room as we wanted ie 15m plus - so unless you were starting in 5th gear I'd say you were looking at the marks the wrong way?

If not.... then accelerating and "feathering" the clutch will help get the revs up higher and more power for a faster start.

With u-turn and "good/bad" sides what are you doing differently? Try to analyse what's different.
Leaning the bike more/less, body position, where are you looking etc.

Hope that helps.

HEAD CHECK.

Last edited by tim on Fri Jun 18, 2010 2:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Headcheck, headcheck, headcheck.

Clutch & throttle control

Drag the rear brake

You'll learn all that on the day - main thing is RELAX

HEADCHECK LEFT-RIGHT main thing that bringds people un done

You will be fine, remember to enjoy urself!! Theres no need to be nervous the day is designed to help you and let you practice for the actual 5min test at the end of the day.

Just relax and enjoy or the nerves will get you every time good luck

What everyone else said. Head check is the what everyone forgets.

I did mine at tuggerah and they have a good website which details the tests you have to do at the end of the day:
http://www.wheel-skills.com.au/RTA-motorcycle-operator-skills-test-MOST

Its a piece of piss, the only thing is the u-turn in the box but just keep the rpms high with the clutch and ride brake when turning and that should help keep you upright.

Hey snakeyez, from one female to another who did the test at the end of last year, firstly no matter how many times people tell you relax if your anything like me you will still get nervous, not a bad thing, if your someone who gets nervous, learn to use the nervous to help you through.

Firstly yes they do go through all the things you will do in the test in the first half of the day including a road ride, use the road ride to settle your nerves, it worked for me.

With the test, the first thing they get you to do which I didn't realise is you go around the test and need to take a sharp right corner, it's easy but something that I didn't realise you had to do, so be aware of that, when doing it which they will teach you and when your practicing in your own time clutch and throttle control are your best friend as well as getting used to using the rear brake once you have these things together the rest falls into place.

With the cone weaves for me it was looking ahead through the cone weave that helped heaps, find what works for you and master it.

The U turn you will need to do too the right they don't ask you both sides, just the right.

The collision avoidance, master both sides, they choose on the day which way you have to go, pay attention because they tell you just before you do it and when you take off to do it make sure you head check both ways.

With getting up to 20km an hour, don't stress to much, you'll find you will get up to that speed quite easily and if you don't they do give you another go, but only one more go, so try and get it mastered, they go through that and the emergency stop quite a bit on the day so you will be fine with that I am sure.


Hope this helps, anything else, just ask. If your ever up north ol road way, let us know and more than happy to help, I was very lucky and had heaps of help from wonderful friends so am more than happy to help out other fellow riders.

also when you're doing the cone weave don't forget you can give yourself a helping hand by starting off centre rather than making it hard for yourself being dead centre to the cones off the start .. car parks are good for practising the U turns.. 2 parking spaces side by side is a good width to try with.. just remember to keep at it and you'll get there

You'll do fine.. Just Chillax!

Thanks everyone for ur advice, i will take it all onboard, as i feel i need help in certain areas... i also have some questions/replies... (sorry, tis an essay!)

Tim - thanx 4 ur advice, although i'm not sure how much room i'll have for the stopping/swerving tests at the Unanderra RTA, 15m seems a good distance, but where i've been practising (Oak Flats traino carpark) theres only like 5m & then you have to stop?? weird...
Also, what is 'feathering' the clutch? I have no idea what that means! And i've now realised that on my 'bad' side, i tend to not lean as much as on my 'good side', i think i'm just scared of falling over, my balance seems to be bad on that side for some weird reason, i dont know how to change/fix that tho...

Wayne - I've been trying to do all that together; Clutch & throttle control, Drag the rear brake, but i find that i nearly fall over when i do that, i try to get up some speed (when doing the U-turn especially) & drag the rear brake all the way thru the turn, if i use it too much i nearly fall over, & if i dont use it enough then i go over the lines, seems hard to get the hang of!

Philbo - Headcheck left AND right?? I was told to just look over my shoulder in one direction, wherever the traffic is coming from, do you get 'done' in the test if you dont look both directions?? OMGGGG....

Reedy - thanx for the link to the MOST tests, its detailed, which helps, so i'll be refering to that alot i reckon!

Dizzi - thanx, i am definitely similar, i am excited to do this test (& hopefully pass the first time, lol), but am also REALLY nervous! I know everyone is telling me to just relax, & I will probably think that i'm relaxed on the day, but i'll more than likely just be equal parts nervous & excited, I just gotta remember to breathe & concentrate on what im doing.
I don't think that i completely have the hang of the clutch/throttle control, usually i do when out riding, but in the tests i seem to find it harder (when doing the sharp turn, u-turn, cone weave, every test really!), I normally have good balance, but am finding it harder doing slow slow stuff on the bike, I'm sometimes hesitant when i'm close to losing my balance...
BTW, where is the north Old Road? I'm guessing it the same as the Old Road, i've heard of it but not sure where it is... Sydney, further north? I'll be going on a ride soon with my hubby & another friend, for a weekend, all i know is that its inland NSW but he hasn't said exactly where yet, if I find out that we're going via the Old Rd, i'll be sure to holler!

So far my hubby has been helping me, we go to the Oak Flats traino carpark & i do the tests there, if i'm having trouble doing any, he goes on my bike & shows me how to do them, then i try to do what he does, it seems to be working so far.

GPZ_Jim - I wasn't sure what you meant at first, but now i geddit, i actually HAVE been starting from the centre... hehehe, thanks, i will remember to start off centre, i'm sure its much easier that way, i just never thought to do that!

I have lots to practise now, thanks everyone for your advice, & i will definitely TRY to chillax, hahaha!

p.s Does anyone think that my doing the test on my bike (ZZR250) is a bad idea?? I've read online that ppl have passed the test on them, but i keep getting told to hire one of their bikes or use a dirt bike instead. I'd rather do the test on my bike, because its the bike i'll be using forever after, just wondering if i'm making it harder on myself by using this kind of bike or not? Thanx

Hey first off all good luck. I remember how nervous I was doing mine lol Just keep practicing and headcheck both ways. That way the instructor can't mark you wrong

Some of the other guys on this forum might be able to better explain this better but feathering the clutch is when you use the friction point and the throttle at the same time to move. Have your clutch partially engaged with the engine by letting out the clutch lever about half way (you will feel the bike slowly starting to move at this point). Then you gently apply more throttle while holding the friction point. This allows you to move well at low speeds as you can keep adjusting the clutch or throttle to slightly speed up or slow down. Better yet if you can do this and use your rear brake the cone weave and u-turn is a lot easier!
The U-turn was the thing I hate the most! If you want to try this; just before you make your turn, lean your body the opposite way to the way your turning. That way the bike stays more upright and you can just focus on making the turn rather than worrying about falling off. Not the best way to make a u-turn but it works lol Or you can do it that way to get more confident before you can work on leaning during the U-turn.

As with anything the only way to get better is to practice!

for slow speed, trailing (lightly engaging) the rear brake is nearly essential as loading the engine slightly helps you move even slower! I used one of their bikes when i did my test as their cb250 had a noticeably smaller turning circle compared to my bike (el250). I did it mainly to give myself as much of an advantage as possible as i figured that you get an entire day to familiarise yourself with any handling quirks or changes in braking/clutch their bike has to yours.

You will be one of the best riders there
A person who asks for advice and then takes it on board will alway succeed IMHO