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Hi all

I am taking my Mod 2 test this Friday on my GTS125 (only doing the light bike test)

I am being a bit ballsy and I haven't had any lessons. I have been riding on L plates for years so I don't feel I need to be taught how to ride, I just need some pointers on what to expect and if anyone might know of bad habits that I should be aware of that might mark me down.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. All the videos on youtube are for geared bikes.

Thanks
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Hi
I didn't know that you could do the restricted mod2 on a 125cc, I assumed you had to use a larger bike. Have you taken mod1?

Keep a close eye on the speed limit signs. If you're in the SE and taking it a Farnborough, there are loads of speed limit changes everywhere. Lots of life-saver checks before turning/changing lanes. Dont cut across roundabout lanes. Don't overtake unless absolutely necessary.

He may ask you beforehand questions on bike maintenance like how to adjust your bike for pillon passengers, etc.

I would take at least 1 day's tuition as re-sitting is expensive.
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Hi,
I did my module 2 light bike test last year. Glad I took it - it's great to throw away the l-plates and not have to bother doing the stupid cbt again.

I failed twice before passing on my 3rd go, both times for exactly the same thing! Cutting across a lane on a multi lane roundabout. In Rotherham (where I did my test) they have hellish 'spiral roundabouts', where you have to follow the road markings in a spiral fashion. When it's full of traffic it's hard to see the road markings so on my first 2 tests I cut into the wrong lane. That's an instant fail. So my tip is watch out for lanes at roundabouts. It doesn't matter if you are going the wrong way, as long as you do it safely. Keep on going the way the lanes indicate, even if the examiner has told you to go another way. I did that twice on my third test, and passed with no minors.

The other thing is keep bobbing your head left and right like a demented owl. The examiner wants to see you looking in mirrors all the time, so you have to exaggerate your head movements.

Other than that, it's not difficult at all if you're an experienced rider. I didn't have any lessons, and other than 2 stupid mistakes I didn't pick up any minors at all.

Ride confidently in the middle of your lane, and get up to speed as quickly as safely possible. It will fly by.

If you get stuck in traffic, don't filter, just wait. The less time you're actually moving, the less time you have for something to go wrong.

Good luck - you can do it!
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Lane positioning...shoulder checks...leaving a good gap between you and the vehicle in front when you have to stop in traffic...showing the examiner that you're looking in your mirrors.

Good luck.
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I did Mod1 & 2 two weeks ago.

As you've already done mod 1, here's my Mod 2 hints/tips.

Listen to the examiner. If you have a radio issue, tell them before you leave the test centre. You're allowed one or two radio issues. Beyond that, your test is cancelled.

Don't forget shoulder checks as you pull away from the test centre.

Don't cut the corner leaving the test centre!

Observation, observation, observation.

A little tip - push your mirrors slightly further out than you need, thus forcing you too move your head and consciously look. They love that.

No filtering!

Watch the speed limits and obey it religiously. Be aware of things like riding in a 30 zone, coming to a mini-roundabout and having one exit with a national speed limit sign. Lots of people focus on the roundabout and miss the sign.

Right shoulder check before speed increase/decrease.

Turning left or right, if you start a little way back from the corner, make sure you do another shoulder check just before you turn. Cyclists have been known to dart up the inside.

Stay a car-doors length away from vehicles and drop speed by 5mph. This shows you're aware of the parked car hazard. If available, move out to the next lane.

Foot down at stop signs.

Clutch control - a stall is a minor, unless you hold up other traffic and don't restart and ride off immediately. Then it's a major.

Don't do swan-neck turns to the right. I did, got a minor. Slow control!

Use the horn if you need to, but only to signal your presence.

Breathe! Relax. Try and enjoy the ride if you can. It helped me.

A roads - build up speed on the slip road. 60/70 mph. When exiting - left shoulder check at 300yds, left indicator at 200yds, one more check at 100yds.

Independent riding - just listen to the instructions carefully. Mine was just "follow the signs for Uxbridge".
The section lasted 10 minutes.

That's about all I can think of for now. PM me with any questions, best of luck!
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Thanks everyone. The roundabout thing is the only issue I think and the life saver checks. I'll do my research in the roundabouts and try and get into the habit of checking more.

The mirrors out is a good tip.

The only thing I'm worried about on the pre checks is checking the oil. I've got a 125ie and I can't for the life of me find the dipstick. Any ideas

Thanks again.
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hands86 wrote:
Thanks everyone. The roundabout thing is the only issue I think and the life saver checks. I'll do my research in the roundabouts and try and get into the habit of checking more.

The mirrors out is a good tip.

The only thing I'm worried about on the pre checks is checking the oil. I've got a 125ie and I can't for the life of me find the dipstick. Any ideas

Thanks again.
I believe it's attached to the oil filler cap. Mine is!
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DaveLX wrote:
No filtering!

Foot down at stop signs.

On the filtering point, that's up to you. On my test I had an examiner in a car, and by filtering at junctions I engineered the situation whereby I left the examiner behind. Examiner could have no problem with that (I was doing a legal thing), but he did have to ask me to stop where safe and to wait for him to catch up. This happened 2 or 3 times, and ate into some of the allocated test time. Of course, there was the risk that he could have given me a fault if he'd thought my filtering was unsafe. Also, I made sure that I didn't filter past the front vehicle in the queue, didn't cross a solid line, etc. I specifically asked the instructor before the test whether he'd have a problem with me filtering, and he said "as long as it's safe and within the Highway code", or something similar to that. If you're outside London, then filtering may not be so common (I often see bikes waiting in traffic when outside London, and notice that drivers outside London don't seem to expect filtering as much as London drivers do), so your feelings about it may be different.

On the foot down point, my wife failed her first test for putting her right foot down. The examiner insisted that she had to put her left foot down (which is, of course, complete cobblers on a scooter, but she still got failed for it. Examiners are fallible, and they might not see so many scooters). She's not the tallest of people, and was riding a GT125 - i.e. quite a high seat - and so depending on the camber of the road it was safer for her to put the right foot down sometimes. On her second test, she made the point of specifically discussing with the examiner before the test that sometimes it was safer for her to put her right foot down, and getting his agreement that this wouldn't be counted as a fault.

Re oil checks: they won't ask you to do it, just to talk about how you do it. So you can just say "I'd check the oil level".
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Here's another one..

If the instructor says 'find somewhere safe to pull up', he doesn't mean park it on the pavement or take a side-turning. Best to stop facing back towards the road so you can pull away without reversing etc
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I thought Mod 1 & 2 had to be taken on a motorbike 600cc or more?

Please tell me I'm wrong because I want to ditch the L Plates but never learnt to ride a clutch and I don't intend to if I can avoid it,
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SeldomDaisy wrote:
I thought Mod 1 & 2 had to be taken on a motorbike 600cc or more?

Please tell me I'm wrong because I want to ditch the L Plates but never learnt to ride a clutch and I don't intend to if I can avoid it,
You can take the tests on a 125, with no tuition needed, but then you'll be restricted to riding a 125. Which may be just fine. Later on, if you want to ride something bigger, you can take a test on the appropriate sized machine - but this will mean having to take lessons with an approved instructor.

See:
https://www.gov.uk/motorcycle-practical-test/rules-for-mopeds-and-motorcycles-used-in-the-practical-riding-test

And note:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/changes-to-motorcycle-lorry-and-bus-driving-test-rules--2
Quote:
Motorcycle riders
From 10 April, DVSA will introduce the following changes for motorcycle riders to allow more flexibility:

reducing the minimum engine power requirement for medium motorcycles (category A2) from 25kW to 20kW
letting car (category B) licence holders drive large trikes above 15KW power if they are aged 21 or over
There will be more changes from 31 December 2018. DVSA will:

raise the minimum engine power requirement for large motorcycles (category A) from 40kW to 50kW
introduce a minimum mass weight requirement for large motorcycles (category A) of 175kg
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Some good advice here so not much to add. The test has changed a bit, but about 6 of us UK Mvers posted our test experiences on this thread with tips etc so there might be some nuggets here for you...

New Bike licence

Ballsy? Well, go for it I say, I did - I did my test on a GTS125 with no lessons and passed both modules first time. If you're riding your own bike, no excuse for not practicing!

Good luck with it
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Benelli Boy wrote:
DaveLX wrote:
No filtering!

Foot down at stop signs.

On the filtering point, that's up to you. On my test I had an examiner in a car, and by filtering at junctions I engineered the situation whereby I left the examiner behind. Examiner could have no problem with that (I was doing a legal thing), but he did have to ask me to stop where safe and to wait for him to catch up. This happened 2 or 3 times, and ate into some of the allocated test time. Of course, there was the risk that he could have given me a fault if he'd thought my filtering was unsafe. Also, I made sure that I didn't filter past the front vehicle in the queue, didn't cross a solid line, etc. I specifically asked the instructor before the test whether he'd have a problem with me filtering, and he said "as long as it's safe and within the Highway code", or something similar to that. If you're outside London, then filtering may not be so common (I often see bikes waiting in traffic when outside London, and notice that drivers outside London don't seem to expect filtering as much as London drivers do), so your feelings about it may be different.

On the foot down point, my wife failed her first test for putting her right foot down. The examiner insisted that she had to put her left foot down (which is, of course, complete cobblers on a scooter, but she still got failed for it. Examiners are fallible, and they might not see so many scooters). She's not the tallest of people, and was riding a GT125 - i.e. quite a high seat - and so depending on the camber of the road it was safer for her to put the right foot down sometimes. On her second test, she made the point of specifically discussing with the examiner before the test that sometimes it was safer for her to put her right foot down, and getting his agreement that this wouldn't be counted as a fault.

Re oil checks: they won't ask you to do it, just to talk about how you do it. So you can just say "I'd check the oil level".
My instructor advised that I shouldn't filter on my test. So I asked the examiner before I started - filtering or not? She said "don't filter".

I asked why, she said "less chance of getting it wrong and failing!"

Sound logic, so I was okay with that.

Regarding left foot down - of course you don't need to use your feet to ride a twist and go, but why is it cobblers?
I think the left foot down is called the "safety position", so I guess that's what examiners are looking for - what they're trained to look for.

Why was your examiner in a car anyway? That's a bit mad! When was your test mate?
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SeldomDaisy wrote:
I thought Mod 1 & 2 had to be taken on a motorbike 600cc or more?

Please tell me I'm wrong because I want to ditch the L Plates but never learnt to ride a clutch and I don't intend to if I can avoid it,
Just move to west London! Plenty of kids riding around here with no L-plates whatsoever.....

Or do an A1 test.

Clutch and gears is fun anyway!
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DaveLX wrote:
My instructor advised that I shouldn't filter on my test. So I asked the examiner before I started - filtering or not? She said "don't filter".

I asked why, she said "less chance of getting it wrong and failing!"
As I said, it's up to the individual. If you're not confident with it, then you don't do it (but if you're not confident with it, then should you do it at all, regardless of whether you're taking a test? I don't know.....).

My take on it is that I ride better (i.e. have better chance of passing the test) when I ride more naturally. Also, my *aim* is that I don't do illegal/unsafe/daft things on the road. That applies whether I'm on my test, or riding to work. I treated the test as a normal ride.

Filtering's fine, and legal, if done properly, as I said. I checked it with the examiner beforehand. I'm no examiner, but if I see a bike waiting in a long line of traffic on a wide road, with bags of room to filter, my first thought is that they're not confident or not paying attention.

But I've got no axe to grind. I was just sharing a tip that may or may not be useful.
DaveLX wrote:
Regarding left foot down - of course you don't need to use your feet to ride a twist and go, but why is it cobblers?
I think the left foot down is called the "safety position", so I guess that's what examiners are looking for - what they're trained to look for
The safety position is VERY relevant to a geared bike, with foot brake and foot-operated gears. i.e. it's NOT safe to put your right foot down, so the correct procedure is left foot down. And you have to do the shuffly Come Dancing thing with feet and gears. Examiners know that this is often a tricky thing to learn for first time riders, so they pay close attention to it.

With a modern scooter, the only thing you need to worry about for safety is having a good purchase on the road so that you can support the bike if you need to. I'm a tall bloke, so I use left foot down almost all of the time (if I'm stopped and there are strong cross-winds, the safest thing for me is often to brace with two feet down, but of course this is rare). I do this because I can easily flat-foot my scooter, and because if I ever want to learn to ride geared then it will be my one less thing to learn.

What I'm saying is cobblers is that anyone should insist that left foot down is necessary for a scooter. GTs and GTSs have quite high seats if you're not much over 5ft tall. You can't flat foot them, and when you drive on the left and have to stop on a road with a steep camber will mean that your right foot is the safest foot to use. As I said, examiners might not come across scooters that often, and their default reaction is that right foot down is wrong and unsafe. So, if you're not tall and are riding a high-seated scoot, it's a good idea to point out to your examiner beforehand that you might choose to use your right foot at times because this is safer.
DaveLX wrote:
Why was your examiner in a car anyway? That's a bit mad!
Not all test centres have examiners on bikes. And even if they do, the one examiner who's on a bike might be ill, or their bike might be out of service. So from time to time you get an examiner in a car. It happens.
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Benelli Boy wrote:
DaveLX wrote:
My instructor advised that I shouldn't filter on my test. So I asked the examiner before I started - filtering or not? She said "don't filter".

I asked why, she said "less chance of getting it wrong and failing!"
As I said, it's up to the individual. If you're not confident with it, then you don't do it (but if you're not confident with it, then should you do it at all, regardless of whether you're taking a test? I don't know.....).

My take on it is that I ride better (i.e. have better chance of passing the test) when I ride more naturally. Also, my *aim* is that I don't do illegal/unsafe/daft things on the road. That applies whether I'm on my test, or riding to work. I treated the test as a normal ride.

Filtering's fine, and legal, if done properly, as I said. I checked it with the examiner beforehand. I'm no examiner, but if I see a bike waiting in a long line of traffic on a wide road, with bags of room to filter, my first thought is that they're not confident or not paying attention.

But I've got no axe to grind. I was just sharing a tip that may or may not be useful.
DaveLX wrote:
Regarding left foot down - of course you don't need to use your feet to ride a twist and go, but why is it cobblers?
I think the left foot down is called the "safety position", so I guess that's what examiners are looking for - what they're trained to look for
The safety position is VERY relevant to a geared bike, with foot brake and foot-operated gears. i.e. it's NOT safe to put your right foot down, so the correct procedure is left foot down. And you have to do the shuffly Come Dancing thing with feet and gears. Examiners know that this is often a tricky thing to learn for first time riders, so they pay close attention to it.

With a modern scooter, the only thing you need to worry about for safety is having a good purchase on the road so that you can support the bike if you need to. I'm a tall bloke, so I use left foot down almost all of the time (if I'm stopped and there are strong cross-winds, the safest thing for me is often to brace with two feet down, but of course this is rare). I do this because I can easily flat-foot my scooter, and because if I ever want to learn to ride geared then it will be my one less thing to learn.

What I'm saying is cobblers is that anyone should insist that left foot down is necessary for a scooter. GTs and GTSs have quite high seats if you're not much over 5ft tall. You can't flat foot them, and when you drive on the left and have to stop on a road with a steep camber will mean that your right foot is the safest foot to use. As I said, examiners might not come across scooters that often, and their default reaction is that right foot down is wrong and unsafe. So, if you're not tall and are riding a high-seated scoot, it's a good idea to point out to your examiner beforehand that you might choose to use your right foot at times because this is safer.
DaveLX wrote:
Why was your examiner in a car anyway? That's a bit mad!
Not all test centres have examiners on bikes. And even if they do, the one examiner who's on a bike might be ill, or their bike might be out of service. So from time to time you get an examiner in a car. It happens.
Wasn't finding fault mate - please don't think I was!

What's interesting is the inconsistency between examiners. We both asked, we both got different answers. I filter all the time when I'm riding - in London you have to. My confidence is growing the more I do it. I actually found it easier on the XJ6 than on my LX - more stability, perhaps?

The left foot down also makes a lot of sense now I'm riding a geared bike. I agree with you, examiners should have more flexibility.

I never knew cars are still used for bike tests. I just assumed bikes were always used, I suppose.

All the best mate, ride safe.
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You too, Dave.

(Didn't think you were being funny. It's interesting that we've had different experiences, though, as you say. And I have a right old bee in my bonnet about the foot-down thing as I was SO cross with them for failing my wife on her first test for that sole reason - she had no other faults on that test. She could handle that GT just fine in every respect, apart from not being able to flat foot it.)

Cheers
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DaveLX wrote:
I did Mod1 & 2 two weeks ago.

As you've already done mod 1, here's my Mod 2 hints/tips.

Listen to the examiner. If you have a radio issue, tell them before you leave the test centre. You're allowed one or two radio issues. Beyond that, your test is cancelled.

Don't forget shoulder checks as you pull away from the test centre.

Don't cut the corner leaving the test centre!

Observation, observation, observation.

A little tip - push your mirrors slightly further out than you need, thus forcing you too move your head and consciously look. They love that.

No filtering!

Watch the speed limits and obey it religiously. Be aware of things like riding in a 30 zone, coming to a mini-roundabout and having one exit with a national speed limit sign. Lots of people focus on the roundabout and miss the sign.

Right shoulder check before speed increase/decrease.

Turning left or right, if you start a little way back from the corner, make sure you do another shoulder check just before you turn. Cyclists have been known to dart up the inside.

Stay a car-doors length away from vehicles and drop speed by 5mph. This shows you're aware of the parked car hazard. If available, move out to the next lane.

Foot down at stop signs.

Clutch control - a stall is a minor, unless you hold up other traffic and don't restart and ride off immediately. Then it's a major.

Don't do swan-neck turns to the right. I did, got a minor. Slow control!

Use the horn if you need to, but only to signal your presence.

Breathe! Relax. Try and enjoy the ride if you can. It helped me.

A roads - build up speed on the slip road. 60/70 mph. When exiting - left shoulder check at 300yds, left indicator at 200yds, one more check at 100yds.

Independent riding - just listen to the instructions carefully. Mine was just "follow the signs for Uxbridge".
The section lasted 10 minutes.

That's about all I can think of for now. PM me with any questions, best of luck!
https://modernvespa.com/forum/post1642360?highlight=#1642360

if the instructor asks you to "float" / "Lane Split" / "filter"
do as he asks.

watch out for school zones!!

all the other advice quoted is good (like the bit with the mirror, never thought of that)

if you are on a dual carrage way and go to over take a learner doing 45 in a 50, if the learner speeds up and leaves you hanging out there, just over take get back into the inside and reduce speed to 50....safely.

Mod two is about showing you can read the road, show that you observe others around you, ride safe and within the law and also that you have common sence and good judgement.

The bit that freeked me out was making progress. Don't get hung up about making progress too much.
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Benelli Boy wrote:
You too, Dave.

(Didn't think you were being funny. It's interesting that we've had different experiences, though, as you say. And I have a right old bee in my bonnet about the foot-down thing as I was SO cross with them for failing my wife on her first test for that sole reason - she had no other faults on that test. She could handle that GT just fine in every respect, apart from not being able to flat foot it.)

Cheers
It's bollocks mate. That's what I mean - examiners should have flexibility to differentiate between scooters and m/c's. After all, if they can pick and choose about filtering which is entirely legal, the same logic should apply to differentiation between varieties of PTW.

All the best.
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In my Mod 2, the examiner followed behind in a car. It happens sometimes. he said his bike was playing up and he didn't want to risk losing me!
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ashbrook wrote:
In my Mod 2, the examiner followed behind in a car. It happens sometimes. he said his bike was playing up and he didn't want to risk losing me!
Did he see the NOS bottles, or do you just have a reputation for speeding Razz emoticon Laughing emoticon
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ashbrook wrote:
In my Mod 2, the examiner followed behind in a car. It happens sometimes. he said his bike was playing up and he didn't want to risk losing me!
...and talking of variations between examiners, don't even remind me that your examiner ballsed up your test certicate and gave you a full geared licence, when we did ours test on autos and I got only the (correct) auto only licence! Laughing emoticon Laughing emoticon

(am loosing planning on doing a conversion to geared/DAS in summer 2015)
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I failed my old-style test first time round (foot down on U-turn) - but the examiner also took me to task for not riding 'up to the speed limit'. So check your Vespa speedo, and ensure you know what the *real* 30, 40, 50, 60 marks are. A few dabs of Tippex can help. If you haven't got a GPS, calibrate against one of the radar speed signs.
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Molto Verboso
2016 Piaggio BV-350
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jimc wrote:
I failed my old-style test first time round (foot down on U-turn) - but the examiner also took me to task for not riding 'up to the speed limit'. So check your Vespa speedo, and ensure you know what the *real* 30, 40, 50, 60 marks are. A few dabs of Tippex can help. If you haven't got a GPS, calibrate against one of the radar speed signs.
How do you calibrate against a radar speed sign?
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Ride towards it to get it to register, say, 30. Note what your speedo indicates - probably about 35. Stop, put a dab of Tippex at that mark. Go back and try at 40 etc - it helps if the speed limit is a 50 and there isn't much traffic.

Examiners don't mind if you go 31 or 32 in a 30, as long as you're consistent. They will definitely object if you only do 25 all the time, which is what the Vespa speedo might encourage you to do.
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Veni, Vidi, Posti
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1975 Vespa GTR 125, 1976 Vespa V90 (Resto), 2001 Vespa ET4 125 (Sold), 2009 Vespa GTS300 Super
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jimc wrote:
So check your Vespa speedo, and ensure you know what the *real* 30, 40, 50, 60 marks are. A few dabs of Tippex can help. If you haven't got a GPS, calibrate against one of the radar speed signs.
Top tips those - I used a couple of strips of bright electrical tape on my speedo instead of tippex when I did mine (and particularly useful for the Mod 1 speed tests). As for calibrating speedo's, Ashbrook tipped me off on this free speedo app called Speedview https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.codesector.speedview.free

Having done the radar speed signs too, I'd say most modern Vespa speedos are pretty much 5mph off everytime.
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A couple fom me. I was told to plan your line ahead and try to avoid riding over manhole covers etc. The instructor I had said the examiner looked for it as an indicator of road sense. Also, turning right into a junction, make sure you turn into your lane and not cut the centre white line. Instant fail that one.
@davelx avatar
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Molto Verboso
2016 Piaggio BV-350
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@davelx avatar
2016 Piaggio BV-350
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UTC quote
jimc wrote:
Ride towards it to get it to register, say, 30. Note what your speedo indicates - probably about 35. Stop, put a dab of Tippex at that mark. Go back and try at 40 etc - it helps if the speed limit is a 50 and there isn't much traffic.

Examiners don't mind if you go 31 or 32 in a 30, as long as you're consistent. They will definitely object if you only do 25 all the time, which is what the Vespa speedo might encourage you to do.
Ahh, you mean the signs that show your speed on a light-up sign. Got it. Thanks Jim
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GTS 125 Super
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I bloody failed.

He asked me to pull over, as i took off again i looked in my mirror, could see a learner driver indicating and slowing down to turn down a road behind me. I looked again the pulled away, i looked in my mirror and saw the learner behind me. it was at that moment i knew id fucked up.

My bloody right indicator stopped working mid test. he told me to pull over. I did and he said your indicators not working so im stopping the test. he said i'll do you a favour anyway because you've failed.

I planned on not filtering and he asked me to filter, got a minor for filtering up to a zebra crossing.

Oh well, im selling the scooter now as im moving to Germany, was gonna take it with me if i'd passed.

Any takers???
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hands86 wrote:
I bloody failed.

He asked me to pull over, as i took off again i looked in my mirror, could see a learner driver indicating and slowing down to turn down a road behind me. I looked again the pulled away, i looked in my mirror and saw the learner behind me. it was at that moment i knew id fucked up.
Sorry to hear that . It's always a bummer when you have planned something and it doesn't quite come to fruition. Just to help others learn from what happened to you, you failed for committing one major - basically not performing a lifesaver before you pulled away, which is a shame. The fact that you saw the car, then didn't, then did again, meant it was probably in your blind spot. The indicator giving up the ghost is a double bummer.
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If you possibly can re-take before moving, do so as I understand the test regime in Germany is far more expensive and extensive.
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Molto Verboso
2016 Piaggio BV-350
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Molto Verboso
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I'm really sorry you didn't pass mate - it just means that attempt two will be perfect!

I'd also suggest getting your licence before leaving the UK, for cost reasons. When are you going?

I think you have to wait 10 days for a mod 2 re-test?

All the best mate.
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jimc wrote:
If you possibly can re-take before moving, do so as I understand the test regime in Germany is far more expensive and extensive.
Agreed, heard likewise..

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