.1st Castle: School of motoring & motorcycle training in Portsmouth, Hampshire | Portsmouth driving school

Motorcycles

The practical motorcycle test - what's involved.

The new motorcycle test (introduced on Monday 27th April 2009) aims to improve the standard of road safety for motorcycle and moped riders.

In plenty of time for your test appointments we will take you to the test centre and get you parked and ready. We will take you into the motorcycle waiting room and the examiner will come in to meet you and introduce themselves. After the usual pre-test preliminaries e.g. licence and identification check the examiner will help the candidate with the fitting of the radio and earpiece. While accompanying the candidate to the machine the examiner will explain how the test will be conducted and how the radio equipment works.

MODULE ONE

The new test will be completed in two modules. The specified manoeuvres conducted at specific speeds will be tested in Module 1 on safe off-road sites and take on average 22 minutes. These specified manoeuvres are:

· At least two manoeuvres carried out at slow speed, including a slalom

· At least two manoeuvres carried out at higher speed, of which one exercise should be in second or third gear, at a speed of at least 30 km/h (approx. 19 mph) and one exercise avoiding an obstacle at a minimum speed of 50 km/h (approx. 32 mph)

· At least two braking manoeuvres, including an emergency brake at a minimum speed of 50 km/h (approx. 32 mph)

On the day of the Module 1 test, candidates will be asked by the examiner to demonstrate their riding ability on either the left-hand or right-hand circuit.

Those candidates who have demonstrated riding skills of a dangerously incompetent level during Module 1 will not be permitted to take Module 2.

Those candidates who have passed Module 1 will receive a Test Pass Certificate which they must bring with them when they take Module 2.

• Module one manoeuvre diagram

MODULE TWO

Module 2 of the test will be about 57 minutes in length and will consist of:

At the beginning of the test the examiner will check your eyesight (you must be able to see a number plate at 20.5 metres, this will have been checked already on your CBT).

Road safety questions: The examiner will ask you a couple of questions about maintainence on your motorcycle, one of these will be a "show me" the other a "tell me" question. These questions are also on our website for you to check out. Saftey questions PDF. The candidate will also be asked a question on 'balance when carrying a passenger'. These questions (and answers!) will be given to you to look at during your course and we will go over them all with you before your test.

On Road Ride: Then there will be at least 30 minutes of road riding, consisting of a road ride covering a variety of road and traffic conditions and will also include normal stops, hill and angle starts. During this test the examiner will ask you to ride following directions given over the radio. At all times follow the road ahead unless you are given a direction or turning to take. The directions are always clear and given in plenty of time - you will be used to this form of instruction as it is how we will teach you during your course.

The practical moped riding test: The practical moped riding test (which does not include the high-speed requirements) will also be carried out in two modules. The obstacle avoidance and emergency braking exercises will be carried out in Module 1 at 30 km/h (approx. 19 mph). A test for the drivers of motorcycle and side car combination is also under development.