Motorcycle Road Test

[canada_hdk21]

Hey guys anyone take the road test as of late? I have been ridding for a lot of years ( 13yrs ) but only in the states, now that i bought another bike here in Canada my license from FL doesn't transfer over and i am wondering what to expect out of the road test? I have it booked for friday.

I know there are some schools and such that you can sign up for but i am just doing the test at the moment.

thnx in advance

[speede5]

What province are you in. In Sk it is pretty simple, shoulder check, signal, drive in the right lanes and your pretty well golden. Takes all of about 15 minutes.

[canada_hdk21]

Im in Alberta, really only 15min? They have me scheduled for like 45min

[sameg]

It's about 30-45min. The tester will give you an ear piece and tell you where to go.

Pretty similar to the car road test. Playground zones, uncontrolled intersections. I don't think I even had to park once. Make sure you get up to speed, going too slow is as bad as going too fast.

Remember to cancel your signal lights, apparently that's one of the biggest causes of failure.

[canada_hdk21]

thanks for the tips

[GrrlGoalie33]

Signal lights and stalling. I failed my first test. 2 signal lights and an uphill stall did me in.

Be sure to clarify with your tester if they want you to use hand signals as well. Mine did to start just to make sure I knew them, then told me I could stop part way through the test.

[Ragz]

A uphill start is part of the alberta road test. For my test the examiner made me pull over on a hill, put the bike in neutral, power off, power on, then resume driving, the bike must not roll back. Make sure to signal when you pull over and when you pull out to resume driving. I lost a point as I forgot to signal as I was leaving the hill stop.

[burn_this_city]

It's pretty simple. Since you already have plenty of experience under your belt its just a matter of obeying the rules of the road. You'll do a mix or residential and higher speed roads. Be aware of the playground zones and uncontrolled intersections.

[metallicat]

One thing I did wrong that I didn't even realize, was I didn't get up to speed fast enough. I was so worried about obeying laws and NOT speeding, that I was actually riding way too slowly at times. Get up to the speed limit.

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by sameg

It's about 30-45min. The tester will give you an ear piece and tell you where to go.

Someone gives me a "piece" and yammering in my ear as I drive telling me where to go.

Sounds like my wife.

[CalgaryFan1988]

I think the length depends on your experience. They can tell almost immediately. I've been riding motorbikes since I was 6 and the test was probably close ten minutes.

Had to park on an uphill and take off. All basic stuff, with your experience, you'll do fine.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by oilers_fan

One thing I did wrong that I didn't even realize, was I didn't get up to speed fast enough. I was so worried about obeying laws and NOT speeding, that I was actually riding way too slowly at times. Get up to the speed limit.

Yeah that one almost killed me too. The tester could have failed me on it but didn't - just made a note of it at the end. It didn't help that my speedometer reads at least 5 km/h high.

Top 3 reasons for failing IIRC
- not cancelling signals
- speed (too fast/slow)
- uncontrolled intersections

Since you've got lots of riding experience my best advice would be to grab a driver's handbook and read it over. Lots of things a person forgets/doesn't do over the years.

Also, take some sport tape along for the earpiece so it doesn't come off when you put your helmet on.

[Northendzone]

does the tester check your bike to ensure the pipes are sufficiently loud enough to save lives?

[canada_hdk21]

thanks for the responses guys!! Yeah i am thinking everything will go just fine i have just been thinking about all the bad habits i have picked up over the years. went and grabbed a book form the DMV doing some reading


ahem, pipes? i wasn't aware they needed to be a certain volume unless you are just poking fun then, touché sir touché

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by canada_hdk21

ahem, pipes? i wasn't aware they needed to be a certain volume unless you are just poking fun then, touché sir touché

glad you could see the humour in it - loud pipes on bikes are a pet peeve of mine.

Had a good laugh last saturday at a motorcyclist with loud pipes, his bike did not seem to have a rear stop light or turn signals - I was stunned that you could even register something like that.

I could only wonder if his screams of terror as he was rear-ended would be drown out by his pipes.....

[3 Justin 3]

Uphill start is the trickiest thing, but you've been riding for 13 years so it shouldn't be a problem. My uphill start was insanely steep, but I managed.

I stalled once and went too slow on one road and got deducted 20(?) points. I used to stall all the time, now I have no problem.

It's a rather easy test.