The day of the final part of the test dawned on Tuesday 6th September. As forecast, the weather was awful! It had been forecast for a few days but this time the weather forecasters got it right. Early rain, but worst of all, howling winds. I do mean howling! They had put out a few ‘severe weather warnings’ due to the wind – oh great!
I wasn’t at all sure that they would run the tests in winds such as these. My test wasn’t until 15:00 that afternoon and I agreed to meet Keith at the usual place at 12:30, so he could get two early appointments done then pick me up for some last minute training and the afternoon test.
Well I met him there as he was saying goodbye to two ex-students who had literally both just passed their part 2 tests this morning. I congratulated them and yes, they were still running tests, albeit at the students own decision, they would not have charged for the test if you wanted to back out due to the winds.
I decided to go ahead and so Keith and I set off and headed to Gloucester to ride the likely test roads near the test centre. I did find the wide-open dual carriageway a challenge as I was getting buffeted and thrown around a bit at 50mph, but Keith urged me on saying that I really needed to get up to 60mph on this stretch otherwise I would get a ‘minor’ (minor fault that is – I think 15 or more minor faults means a fail and of course one major fault equals a fail etc.). Other than that and perhaps a heavy gust of wind catching me at slow speed, I thought I was OK.
I met the examiner and he seemed fine. He was very keen to put me at ease, while I was a bit nervous, I was determined to enjoy myself and treat this as just another excuse to go out for a ride. We did the casual sight test (which I passed of course), then he asked if I was happy in this wind and if at any time I was concerned, to simply signal and pull in at the side of the road.
He asked me some of the ‘motorbike maintenance’ questions, which I had already revised and answered easily.
I confirmed that I was fine and he fitted me with the one-way radio that he would give me instructions with. I was surprised when he then proceeded to climb into a car that he would follow me on and assess my riding.
I said to Keith beforehand that provided the first minute or two went well, I was quite confident of passing, but if I knew that I made a mistake in my first few minutes, I knew it would affect my concentration and up the pressure levels. So I had spent many evenings going through my every move for the first two minutes. I wheeled the bike off the stand, positioned it and started up. He gave me to instruction to move off and I carefully checked over both shoulders then pulled away to the first mini-roundabout. I gave the usual indication and the required rear mirror checks and lifesaver check, then turned. Then another turn at the next mini-roundabout to the traffic lights as I expected. We were now clear of the quiet ‘industrial estate’ roads that the test centre is located on and now into the main traffic around Quedgley in Gloucester, so far and I knew that I had got it right every step of the way.
Via the radio link he would tell me where to turn, it was a bit like a GPS. I was steered towards some residential backroads, where he was clearly looking at my speed (30mph max) and how I would handle all the parked cars and opposite direction traffic. Then he pulled me in behind a parked car and asked me to stop. Then the ‘pull out from behind a parked car’ manoeuvre. That went fine, then a bit more riding and he pulled me over again, this time on a pronounced hill. OK, here comes the hill stop and start. I held it nicely on the rear brake and pulled away with no drama at all. I was settling into this and really enjoying it now, but don’t get cocky – concentrate on the traffic and what the other idiots are doing, it’s them that will screw you up!
Halfway down a 40mph road in Gloucester and someone steps out into the road! I see him in plenty of time as he holds his hand up in a ‘stop’ signal. Well he isn’t a policeman, he looks like a construction worker. I stop anyway and shortly after see a cement truck start backing out onto the main road. I have no choice but to wait. This clears then I carry on. I then go onto the ‘self-drive’ part of the test, where he tells me to navigate myself and follow the signs to ‘x’. This I do without drama, then he takes over again and starts to tell me where to go.
I cannot say that I have noticed the wind at all, other than that it is still howling and the trees are bending impressively, I am just ‘in the zone’ and seem to be compensating when I need to without thinking about it – a good sign I guess.
The I come up to a roundabout with a traffic queue. I slow ride and inch forward with the rest of the traffic, taking care to leave a good distance. I am then faced with a ‘should I inch forward to close the gap or stay here until they move again’ decision. I decide to slow ride forward, but a bit too slow and wobble slightly before I brake and put my foot down and stop, no drama you understand, but not great. Forget about it and carry on.
Then after a while he directs me to turn left. I signal and 50m in front a large ‘sit-on’ lawnmower pulls out onto the road also intent on turning left at the same junction as me. I am not close enough to overtake so tuck in behind him as he reaches his full speed of 15mph! The catch is that we are now on a very narrow one way road that I know feed into the dual carriageway in about 200m, I am the traffic immediately behind him and a queue of cars is forming behind us both! The lawnmower guy pulls as far over to the left as he can obviously trying to give me room to pass. Well there is enough room for a motorbike, but not for a car. If this were me alone after my test on a motorbike, I would overtake, but the examiner following me in a car wouldn’t be able to. Now I know he said ‘ride the bike as if I wasn’t there and do not take me into account at all, other than as though I was a normal following car’, but would he agree that the gap was wide enough? They way I figured it was that if he did think it was wide enough and I sat behind the obstruction, he might give me a minor fault for hesitation. But if he thought that it wasn’t wide enough and I drove through, he might give me a major fault for dangerous driving and fail me. Well, I would sooner have a minor than a major, so I sat there until we came to the junction and I could pass him safely.
The after a couple more directed turns we were back at the test centre and he tells me to park up and shut down.
It isn’t over yet. I take my helmet off and he asks me some verbal test questions, this time on riding with pillion passengers. I had revised all of the question bank he could ask from and knew all the answers by heart, together with the rationale behind them. I easily answered the questions and he said I had passed and asked me into the test centre. I could see Keith looking at me through the window of the test centre and I gave him a smile and a wink as we headed in. Keith joined us for the debrief. The examiner said that I had collected two minor faults only (maximum of fifteen minors before you fail), one for the wobble at the roundabout (yeah, I expected that) and the other for not cancelling my indicator soon enough after turning in behind the lawnmower, but that he did understand why I didn’t do it immediately. I don’t remember any hesitation, but I know I was distracted by that bloody lawnmower!
I suspect he has a sense of humour, so I have a little joke with the examiner and congratulate him for being able to organise both a cement truck and the lawnmower to pull out in front of me on my test, I said I thought the lawnmower was a particularly inspired choice of ‘what are you going to do now’ situations and must have involved split second timing and co-ordination. He laughs and signs the pass certificate. He collects all my bits of paper and says he will send them all off the DVLC and that my upgraded licence should follow in a week or ten days.
So that’s it. Motorbike test done! Now I can ride the biggest and nastiest machine on two wheels. I felt pretty pleased with myself. Keith and I mounted up and rode back to Cheltenham. I took it easy and enjoyed the now silent ride, without Keith giving me instructions, but also keen to carry on with the same observations and standard of riding that got me through the test.
We parked up and I thanked Keith and gave him a reasonable ‘tip’ on top of the days normal charges.
Well, now I need to figure out where I go from here and when I buy something and what it might be. My prejudice is to buy a Harley Davidson the size of a small planet so I can go touring with the wife (always supposing that she will be fine on a bike, well she has said she used to enjoy going on the back of a bike).
