Heya,

Ive got myself a 125 passed my CBT and done my bike theory, i was hoping to just book, then roll up to a test centre and take the test. can you do this? everyone i see always talks about their courses and ive never heard about anyone goin right to it car style.

Anyone done this or know if its do-able?

what you talking about mate, doing your test without any training?

Bad Idea mate, that is a no no,,you will need safty training even tho you may feel that you are the best rider since Evil Kenevil, most people fail even with training so it is always a good idea to build up your skills.

Thre's nothing stopping you from doing it- but i's not really the done thing.

For the route your planningon taking- once you get a bit of road confidence up and think you'll be able to take the test- book yourself in for a course.
For those who have been on the road for a while already (as a car driver or whatever) then a 3 day course might be enough (as you'll already have the roadscense.
Bit if your taking it as a relative noobie- then a 5day course (or a load of lessons spread out over a few weeks) is definatly the way to go.

As everyone else said it can be done but is not recommended
Only one life you get & nothing but fresh air between you & the ground (or moving object )
The training i had was priceless even though ive only passed 2 weeks ago its saved my skin twice now
Remember the dsa test is the minimum level required but with training they teach all the secrets
What ever you choose good luck

Just to go against the flow, its what I did!

although I knew several police instructors at the time and got a few hours of 121 training with them before booking my test.

I'd say its unlikely you'll pass without any form of training whatsoever, its invaluable having that second pair of eyes to be able to point out where your going wrong, all the practise in the world wont help if your practising the wrong thing!

I certainly disagree you will only ever pass through a school though, if you can find an instructor willing to spend a few hours with you then by all means go for it.

You may able to just book a couple of hours for training and assessment; if you're on your own bike there is no extra vehicle familiarisation and you can practise any weaknesses in your riding prior to testing

Bit of perspective for you...

I took DAS training and only passed on my fourth attempt (although nos 2 and 3 are due to circumstances, rather than anything much in my control*). I'm 27 years old and quite a happy little cruiser rider who likes the occasional bit of thrilling riding out on a country lane at 2am.

My girlfriend rode a 125 for 3 years on a DL196, went straight for her test, failed the first one and passed second time. She now blasts around on a 650, handles traffic a lot faster than I dare to, regularly scares me with the way she rides and fails to indicate. She's 20 and rides like a tw@t sometimes.


My personal recommendation - Get some training.
It brings habits and keeps certain thoughts in your head that will save your life and which you cannot readily get anywhere else.



* If you wanted to know, the fails were due to ditching indicator protocol in favour of avoiding an oncoming bus that ran a red light, and from being forced to test on a bike that I was physically opposed to.

The main reason i bought it up is because im student now and cant really afford a course at the moment, but have a 250 waiting to be used (no plan on getting anything bigger for a long time). but i agree with your points on forming good/bad habbits.

I rekon maby a few classes with an instructor is the best way to go for me, ive been driving cars/vans for a living a long time so road sense and indicating etc isnt much of an issue.

your road experiances in a car or van dont really go hand in hand with what you'll experiance when on a bike mate...i would deffo go for some instruction if i were in your shoes, good luck and ride safe mate

Its amazing how long a car driver takes to adapt to an indicator that doesnt self-cancel!

i'd also chuck into this that you may be able to ride - but can you ride in the manner that the examiner wants to see?
training involves teaching you to ride and be safe on the road, but also to make sure you're ticking the examiners checksheet for him as you do it.

I found my training invaluable and good value for money

As others have said and to what i mostly agree to, i found the DAS course invaluable and very enjoyable, luckily for me i could afford it.

To answer your question, you don't need any training whatsoever and can turn up and attempt your test, goes without saying that you've a fair chance of failing.
There are other considerations though, unless you attempt your test on a 125 or a bike with the correct restriction, you won't be able to take a 500cc bike to the test centre unless you load it into a van.

Also, you will be asked compulsory questions pertaining to bike riding and maintenance which you can fail on, i learned these at on my course.

Anyway, good luck in whatever route you go through and safe riding at the end of it

Try and save for some lessons, I've been driving cars and Artics on the road for 10 years. Riding bikes off (and a bit on) the road for 15. I learnt tons on my 3 day DAS course. There is no way I would have passed my test without the training.

Maybe try and take a single lesson with an Instructor and see where he thinks your at

Good luck

do you know whats involved?
are you doing the big bike test or an A2?
can you do an emergency stop & recover the bike in the correct manner?
do you know how to use slow riding skills in order to do a U turn? do you know how far down the road you can ride on the U turn before you need to do an extra lifesaver?
do you know what a bloody lifesaver is?
where do you plan to ride the bike?
if its anywhere near me, let me know so i can keep out of your way.
if you havent got the money for the CORRECT training, then save up & take the test when you have. it will save you £60 quid a time when you (most likely) fail.
i dunno what it is with people-is it arrogance or just stupidity?
you have experience driving cars/vans, big bloody deal-last time i looked a bike is a bit different from a fecking car.
sorry if you get upset with this reply-actually i'm not-i see people like you come a cropper all to often.
if you cant afford the training, ditch the idea til you can.

You can go straight to it, but i personally am going to do a course or get riding lessons when i have the money. I know for a fact there's more to riding than what i was taught in my CBT, and i thought i learnt alot in my CBT. I can't say from experience but if i were you i'd take lessons or a course, that's what im doing for sure. 5 or so mates have done it and came out the other side riding 10 times better

Indeed.

I think that going straight for the test is foolish. Having said that, there're many books that may help you, if you want to try out the self-taught route (but beware, there may be a gulf between reading, on the one hand, and understanding / prioritizing / experiencing).

I think the least you've got to do, is to take a 1 or 2-hour assessment with an approved instructor, once you think you're ready (or almost), and he'll tell you, whether you're really ready. (Besides, you can get assessments for free, so why don't go for one?)

I've tried the self-taught route, and I've had numerous problems, amongst others:
- Falling badly trying to practice the emergency stops on my own, in the wrong kind of terrain, and breaking my wrist
- Learning the hard way that in roundabouts you must give way to the right (which you don't see until you're there) and not only to the front (which you can see and may fixate upon as you approach the roundabout)
- Learning the hard way that you can't easily beat side winds when at the same time it's raining, etc

On the other hand, if you go the school route, I would recommend you try and use your own bike for practicing and taking the test, otherwise, you may end up training and taking the test on different bikes, which is not ideal, or having to repeat the test on your own bike after having failed on the school bike (if you haven't paid for a guaranteed pass scheme, that is, and even so).

I think that preparing for the test must be taken seriously, that's all...

??????

As this thread is over a year old anyhow, anyone know what he ended up doing?

no idea, did he ever come back?

I thought it would have been a bad move to tell him that I taught myself to ride offroad and took my test without any training but that was a long time ago.

Last Active 29th June 2008 - 11:45 AM

obviously still alive...