I was heading to the grocery store last night and passed by the DMV on the way. I was in no rush so I turned into the parking lot to see just what the infamous circle maneuver is like. That thing is definitely no joke. I thought since I had been riding for a while that it would be super easy, so I wasn't trying too hard on my first pass. I blew it worse than I would like to admit. I took another shot and paid attention, got up off the saddle, and feathered the clutch. I was able to keep the front tire in the lines (no clue about the back), but that's with many more miles under my belt than most people taking the test and a bike that is damn near perfect for it. If you have a DMV near you, check it out during a night or weekend. It's definitely a fun and humbling experience.
I was under the impression they made the riding test intentionaly very difficult to force more people into paying for the MSF BRC that acts as a riding test waiver.
-James
HAHAHAHAHA BRETT!
I went to the DMV last night too on a whim just to play around in the cones and circle.
Its pretty easy on the GS I must admit. You just need to feather the clutch and pay attention.
Quote from: arcsecond on August 15, 2006, 09:56:50 AM
I was under the impression they made the riding test intentionaly very difficult to force more people into paying for the MSF BRC that acts as a riding test waiver.
-James
They give you the same riding test in the BRC.
Great. Now I gotta go...
Quote from: aaronstj on August 15, 2006, 10:09:29 AM
They give you the same riding test in the BRC.
Really? It's the exact same test? The BRC test was a breeze. Admitedly I was on one of the cheap tiny dirt bikes, but not a single person in my class didn't pass.
-James
my brc test was not the same as the dmv test. much easier IMO, but more thorough.
I guess it depends on the state. I believe that they're the same test, here. Either way, we did have to do a figure eight in a rather small box. I'm not sure how the "infamous circle maneuver" differs.
in my brc we had to do lots of the same exercises we did in the class-quick swerve, max stop from 15mph, stop on curve, stop from 15mph-turn and stop again, etc...no figure-8's at all.
I rented my Ninja 250 to a Harley guy who could not pass on his, and he had been riding for years. The only reason he had to take it is because he got a ticket and officer found out he never had a license despite riding for years.
Yeah, we don't have the death circle, but we do have an offset slalom (sp?) And that one is a witch with a capital B. It's so tight that you hit full lock and then lean WAY over. Way past the "new rider comfort zone" Honestly though, our test should only license you to ride in a parking lot.
Quote from: SVjohn39 on August 15, 2006, 07:06:43 PM
I rented my Ninja 250 to a Harley guy who could not pass on his, and he had been riding for years. The only reason he had to take it is because he got a ticket and officer found out he never had a license despite riding for years.
A bunch of the Harley guys in my safety class were complaining because their bikes didn't work well in the course. They also weren't very good riders though, which I'm sure is part of it. One guy said he failed on his Shadow 750 and had been riding for 16 years. I had been riding for 3 weeks and passed on my GS500, which makes me think he wasn't particularly good at handling bikes.
Quote from: pantablo on August 15, 2006, 05:13:43 PM
in my brc we had to do lots of the same exercises we did in the class-quick swerve, max stop from 15mph, stop on curve, stop from 15mph-turn and stop again, etc...no figure-8's at all.
Pablo, I'm sure you did figure-8s for the u-turn exercise. It's the double u-turn in the little box. Not a true figure 8, but close enough.
For those wondering what the circle exercise is that I was referring to, there is a circular lane marked by lines that were probably no more than 2 feet apart. I don't know the exact format, but the gist of it is that you have to go around a couple times without crossing the lines.
No circle test here had to do the box tho. The MSF is alot easier to pass than the DMV test. At the MSF they even let people that blew the first try re-do it a second time.