passed my MC test... but my brakes are too good ?

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naptime
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passed my MC test... but my brakes are too good ?

Post by naptime »

so today i had my motorcyle skills test.

i passed with flying colors. no points off.

BUT...


i had to take the quick stop portion 3 times... and finally the tester took it a 4th time :? :roll:


so, here's what went down...


there were four of us taking the test at 9am this morning...

me on the buddy, a vino 125, a hondo rebel 250 and a harley sportster.


so, the tester lines us all up, and has us all do the right blinker then left blinker, then brake. she checks from in front and from behind to ensure that all our bikes are in working order.

then she has us honk our horns one at a time :twisted:

she starts at the other end..

beep beep from the sportster

beep beep from the rebel

meep meep from the vino

HOOOOONK HOOOOOONK from my st.tropaz's stebel airhorn :lol: :P

i thought the dude on the vino was gonna fall over.

the tester was cracking up laughing...

sweet, at least were off to a good start with her in a good mood.
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naptime
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Post by naptime »

now, before goign on, its important to know that since mike found theexact dimensions and diagrams for me, i laid out the entire course in my parking lot at my shop, and have practiced 20-30 times a day for the past week in preparation.

at this point, taking the test is virtually involuntary motorfunction, as my brain and muscles, etc.. have completley learned exactly what to do.



ok, so the first test is the left turn and then stop in the 3x5 box.

the buddy and i easily maneuver the gigantic space laid out for the left hand turn, then approach and stop with the front tire inside the box as instructed.

no problem. no points.


second test is the cone weave and u-turn.

i start off, never use my brake or throttle, i just let the buddies "built in cruise control" sned me through at a nice even pace of 15 bmph through the cones, and then the u-turn.

no problem. no points.


next up was the quick stop.

such an easy test. accelerate, stabilize speed, cross the yellow line, apply both brakes, STOP AS QUICKLY AND SAFELY AS POSSIBLE.

folks. this is a buddy. you know how good your brakes are... and mine are brand new.

again, i have done this portion of the test upwards of 50 times a day for 5 days straight. i can practically do this one blindfolded and know exactly when to start and stop.

no problem right.... WRONG.
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naptime
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Post by naptime »

i start, accelerate to 15 (20 indicated) pass the yellow line, apply my brakes and stop.

i'm 3 feet from the first dashed line. SWEET!

then the tester tells me to do it again.

why? i did exactly what i was supposed to do.

she says, "something must be wrong, because you are supposed to stop ON the dashed lines."


so, non argumentively i explain that the test says to stop as quickly and safely as possible. i did exactly that. it says nothing abotu stopping ON the lines.


she says based on speed and time, it should take between 10 and 18 feet to stop, which is ON the dashed lines.

and i have stopped in only 7 feet.

so, reluctantly i go back and do it again.

this time i get on the throttle a little more, hoping the extra speed will satisfy her.

pass the line, apply brakes, stop a foot before the first line :(

she comes over and explains that you only get two chances, but because my speed is good (not goign too fast or too slow) she will give me ONE MORE CHANCE.

i again, plead with her to listen to what i'm saying. i have practiced this test 50 times a day for a week. the bike is new, and has fantastic brakes. and it only weighs 200 pounds. of course i'm goign to stop sooner than a harley would at the same speed.

but, to no avail. she's giving me a third chance..

so this time, i really get on the throttle. indicated speed was around 30.

i pass the line, and apply the brakes.

remember than involuntary motorfuntion. my hands and brain just "know" when to hit the brakes, and just "know" where i need to stop (based on where i practiced stopping.. ie: before the line)

so this time, even intentionally trying to stop too late, and going much faster than practiced.... my tire was a few millimeters from the first line...

ugghhhhhh
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naptime
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Post by naptime »

so she comes over and says she doesnt know what i'm doing wrong, but i'm stopping to soon.

lady, are you even listening to what yo uare saying. the test is the QUICK stop. you are SUPPOSED to stop as QUICKLY and SAFELY as possible.

i am doing that.. and you are telling me i'm doing it too good, and thats a problem?

wtf.. and to top it off i was NOT skidding either.


so i tell her, if she doesnt believe me, she can try it herself.

she takes me up on the offer.

i get off the bike, she gets on it. (at this point, the other guys are flipping out wondering what the heck she is doing on my bike)

she goes over, starts, gets up to about 20, passes the line, and applies the brakes......

yeah. um.. she stopped in only FIVE feet, even LESS than where i was stopping.

she slowly got off the bike and said ok, next test :lol: :lol:

so i take the final test, the obstacle swerve.

no problems. no points.

so she hands me my paper, with 0 points marked off. and tells me congrats. then apologizes for the incovenience.

so i'm legal now. woohooo
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Post by coffeebrown »

naptime:

that was all just an elaborate ruse on her part to get a little riding time on the buddy!! :lol:
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Post by illnoise »

I remember when I took the test on a Vespa super 150 (which does NOT have great brakes), the only points I got docked were on the braking portion.

I did it just fine, but since a Vespa has a weird suspension, it looked like I rolled over the line a little, then bounced back. I told the guy to let me do it again and watch carefully so he could see what I was talking about but he said "you passed with one point knocked off, no one cares, move out."

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Post by Kaos »

I had the same issue actually, I had to ride it twice, and the instructor told me that there was no way I should be able to stop in the distance I had. But he said that there was no TECHNICAL reason that that was incorrect, so he didn't dock me any points.
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Post by gt1000 »

My interpretation is that you need to stop before you cross the 2nd line, but this could differ from state to state.

I do know that if I did the drill once and the DMV person said that it was too short and that I needed to stop on the line, I'd just listen to her and stop on the line the 2nd time. If it's a longer stopping distance, this should be very easy to modulate.

DMV folks tend to have the same sense of humor as Secret Service agents. None. I understand that and treat them accordingly.
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Post by MikieTaps »

gt1000 wrote: DMV folks tend to have the same sense of humor as Secret Service agents. None. I understand that and treat them accordingly.
Yeah I wouldnt test the sense of humor of a docked Navy Vessle either... trust me... you DO NOT want to go within 500 yards of one...
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naptime
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Post by naptime »

gt1000 wrote:My interpretation is that you need to stop before you cross the 2nd line, but this could differ from state to state.

I do know that if I did the drill once and the DMV person said that it was too short and that I needed to stop on the line, I'd just listen to her and stop on the line the 2nd time. If it's a longer stopping distance, this should be very easy to modulate.

DMV folks tend to have the same sense of humor as Secret Service agents. None. I understand that and treat them accordingly.
i tried to accomodate her.

the second go round, i rode faster, but still stopped in 9 feet.

the third go round, i went faster and applied the brakes later, but still stopped short of 10 feet.

the problem here, is learned motor function.

i quite literally practiced this and the cone weave, 50 times, daily, in my parking lot and driveway at home, for the past week.

cone weave down, quick stop back, cone weave down, quick stop back, etc....

so, the idea of stopping later, was actually easier said than done.

kind of like shaving..

if you shave.. how many years have you been shaving. chances are, if you have shaved more than once a week, for over 5 years.. you know exactly how to shave yoru face. you dont think about it, you jsut do it.

now, try and THINK about what you are doing. really try to do it completely different. i promise you'll end up with cuts on your face.

the same applies to women and shaving thier legs. they dont think abotu it, they jsut do it. its NEAR impossible to completley change the way you do it. especially if its a daily routine.


but my problem was that this woman was trying to tell me that i was doing it wrong, because i was doing it too well.

oh well. alls well that ends well. i got a perfect score, and got my license.


i'll still be taking the msf course, but the next available is late october. at l;east now i can ride at night and with a passenger (without worring about getting caught doing it lol)
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Post by Lostmycage »

Same here, every test flawless; except for the quick-stop. I had read somewhere or another that you really have to give it juice to get up to speed in time (motorcycle/shifter info) so when I went for the Quickstop, I yanked the throttle. Hard.

The tester came up to me and said based on my speed I had 26' to stop in as I stood on the 9' mark. He told me that if I had to do it again to take it easy. He then handed me my 0 point paper and wished me a good day.

Hardest part of it all was waiting the 4 hours for them to let me take the test. I wish I had brought an iPod or something....... blargh-DMV!
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Post by coffeekittie »

Such a cool topic - I didn't have any problem with my tester, but I also stopped well short of the expected distance. When he handed me my score sheet, I looked and saw I stopped in - get this- 2 feet. I remember he did give me a look though - maybe debating whether or not to bother making me do it again?
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Post by GDP »

No offense, but I'm thinking "memorizing" the test course
was not such a good idea. What if on the day, "Surprise, welcome
to the DMVs new and improved test course."
Gotta be flexible.
As everyone else says, some folks have no sense of humor
and there is no point trying.
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Post by MarsR »

When I took my test, the tester said it was ok to skid. I was a little surprised at how short a distance I was allowed to get up to speed before doing the quick stop. So I gunned it pretty good and easily got up to speed and still stopped well before getting to measurement lines, but I didn't skid. The tester commented to me that she was surprised by my quick take-off because most other scooterists were complaining about having trouble getting up to speed in the short distance. :lol: I passed with 0 points off.
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