Yeah. screwed up the ridding test. Flatten all 5 of their cones and went straight through the corner. Needless to say the old mans name has been useless for Motorcycle test. It did work for my actual drivers license test. I got to drive the examiner Camaro for the driving test and all we talked about was the old man. Didn't even have to parallel park the car.
On to the excuses.
Only had the bike two week.
Just got the clutch dialed in finally (Once the service manual showed up I found out what I was doing wrong when I was adjusting it)
Handlebars are not what I am used to nor is the riding position. The bars are too far forward and my hands are too far apart. Not use to reaching for the stars on a fully clocked turn.
The ol Lady yelled at me for waking her up twice. I told her I had to leave early for the test and beside more beauty sleep doesn't help one I oda when you sit up in bed and spin your head around yelling like that. Scary ****. I mean put the candy down and slow step away from the children Father McKey kind of scary. I carried that fear with me all morning. Shaking like a leaf when I was filling out the paper work. Let see what else.
Oh, 240mm tire on the back....actually that didn't come in to play since I just ran straight over the cones. Okay then there is.....
There were only two of us taking the test and I do better in groups of three.
I couldn't keep my head up and focus down the path due to sleeping on the couch and my neck was sore.
Why do the teach you about walking the bike if you get dinged for putting a foot down on a slow sharp turn like that. Hell if I am a parking lot and needing to pull into a sharp tight spot. I will slow down and walk it in to be on the safe side. That all I was doing during the U-turn.
In hind sight I shouldn't have added the extra money when I paid. As it turns out it wasn't even the Gal I spoke to earlier in the week. I should have made a mental note of the name when I was on the phone. That way I would have known Tammy was not the one I already dug the trench for.
Oh well all is not lost. I came away passing the knowledge exam, I can now get a permit for 90 day and renew it one more time so January usually is not a month to ride up here. So if I renew sometime in Feb that should get me to May. The weather will be warmer, I will have some more time on the new bike under my belt and new handlebars that fit me well. The schools or testing place up here close down for winter and don't start back up until April or later.
I do have some good news after working on the bike yesterday that I will be sharing in the next posting. Right now I got to go play with the parts I picked up at the dealership on the way home.
The excuse above about the clutch adjustment had me thinking that someone else may not have the manual yet. So to save them some time I wanted to post a tidbit about what I missed with the clutch adjustment. I like my clutch to start disengaging closer to the hand grips not like the way that they are set at Harley where they are almost all the way out before it starts grabbing. So I was going about doing the adjustment by loosening the cable and adjusting the nut under the clutch inspection plate. I was not getting the results and once the manual arrived I found that I was suppose to compress the spring on the cable and hold it in the position while I made the adjustment. Then when I released the cable it would self adjust the tension on the clutch cable. Once I added that step into the adjustment I got the results I was looking for. A little late because I could have passed my test had I had more time on the vehicle with the clutch adjusted properly.
In the first section of the picture below I was trying to say it makes changing of the clutch cable easier when swapping out handlebars since you can choose to just change the top clutch cable out instead of the whole cable.
Sorry you failed - but as Thingfish says, next time borrow or rent a small and lightweight bike with sharper rake angle for the test. It'll be much easier than muscling that big old Fat Boy through the cones!
I like my clutch to start disengaging closer to the hand grips not like the way that they are set at Harley where they are almost all the way out before it starts grabbing.
Man I was just thinking about this just the other day. I hated it on my VROD, but got used to it since it is a very different ride, more of a sports bike. However, I was tinkering with the Fat Boy to have it adjusted but ran into same issue as you, no luck. Thanks again for the excellent write up.
IMO, I also agree that having the clutch adjusted to ones preference makes a difference on slow maneuvers and tight turns where clutch control is key. I actually learned to ride with my first bike, Yamaha Stryker, 21 inch front wheel and raked out front, usually a pain at slow speeds. But since the clutch disengagement was closer to handle bars it was much easier for me to control bike at slow parking lot speeds.
Good luck on your test next time! If anything fails, seek for one of those MSF 2day courses in your area if they have them. You get to practice again the basics and fundamentals plus come out with your license. They use the little 250s for class and test. It's pricey thought.
Pretty sure I got my motorcycle endorsement in college borrowing either a 250 Rebel or a 50cc Honda Spree scooter. Those tests are much more difficult on a big bike but can be done with adequate practice. Check out this cop dominating the cones:
Pretty sure I got my motorcycle endorsement in college borrowing either a 250 Rebel or a 50cc Honda Spree scooter. Those tests are much more difficult on a big bike but can be done with adequate practice. Check out this cop dominating the cones: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9MVY8swO5M
I can do precisely the same thing but with cruise control enabled...
I took my riders' course / road test with a 250 Suzuki that was provided by the company. Though the engine characteristics were perfect and the bike was light, I found myself so cramped (and I am neither really tall or real large) riding so awkwardly, it would have been easier with my FatBoy. It reminded me of a time when I found it difficult to ride a coworker's 50cc dirt bike (looked like a newbie!) but had no problem whatsoever with my 400 two stroke Kawi. Strange but true.
Test on the bike you are going to ride. Practice . Never made since to me when people use some little bike because they think they can't pass on their own bike.
10-07-2017, 02:25 PM
Did he pass?
