learning to drive a car

[open]

Yeah, so looking to go for it but what is it like to start learning to drive a car as a motorbike rider?

I pretty much have no experience driving a car and wondering if people think it might be easier/ quicker as I ride a bike - and if so, how much quicker than usual?
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"Calamity - A more than commonly plain & unmistakable reminder that the affairs of this life are not of our own ordering."

[s]Baotian BT49qt-9 --> Honda CG125 (4 speed) '51 plate ----- 03/11/2012 Mod 2 PASSED! --> Cb500s[/s] Revoked

[Tungtvann]

Road sense and clutch control of any vehicle will help.

[J.M.]

I found it strange.

Hated the car. It felt so big (even though it was a small car) and I felt so cut-off from the road.

I found driving seriously easy. Pedals were the easiest. Steering was the most difficult. My clutch/pedal control was far above that of my steering ability.

I wouldn't expect you taking any more than 20 lessons. Highly probably is that you'll take less.
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2004 R1 & 2018 XSR900

[Derivative]

[andym]

Best advice I can give... under no circumstances try to filter in a car

Seriously though I could drive before I could ride a bike. I had plenty of road sense, so that was never an issue for me, it was just the way the power was delivered on the bike compared to the car.

It will probably just seem weird having the clutch brake and accelerator controls at your feet. Get someone to take you out in their car to get the basics (on private property of course), just to get used to the differences.

[JiveBunny]

I learned to drive on playing many hours of Gran Turismo.

[thx1138]

my examiner yelled, and grabbed the wheel and hit the brakes, just because I was squeezing through a gap between a parked car and an oncoming truck with a fag papers width either side

[Teflon-Mike]

I tell car drivers NOT to rely on any pre-existing knowledge to 'help' them when it comes to learning to ride a bike.
Its apples and oranges.. yeah they are both fruit, but different things.
Some stuff you may take from a bike may 'help' other stuff will 'hinder'.
It works both ways.
As a rider, you know and have some 'feel' for controling a powered vehicle, you may be able to translate. You ought to have a working knowledge of road convention, that may help, but from a generally different perspective, that is likely to hinder.
About the only real plus, is as a biker you OUGHT to have a damn site better hazard awareness, and be a lot more observant than typical car driver.... try not to loose it.
Car drivers tend to be very mirror dependent, and dont move thier heads much, yet... number of times a bikers shoulder check in the car has saved me grief in the car I cant count!

Only other advice I can offer, is RELAX

Always telling newbie bikers that, and that they make a lot of hassle for themselves making it hard work, trying and working too hard, and over thinking stuff.

Driving a modern car.... is SO bludy easy... TOO easy I think.... that as a biker, even if you have naturalised the work-load from that of a newbie... getting in a car... you will constantly be thinking "err. so what am I missing?" Used to working so much harder and doing so much more, and riding on your nerve endings on a bike!

I had been riding bikes about five years when I first drove a car. Though, I'm a bad case example; I was riding a motorbike almost as soon as the stabilisers were off my pavement cycle, and almost as soon after that, driving little lawn tractors about, then moving cars and bigger tractors and stuff! But I was 14 when I first drove a car on public roads.... left hand drive was also something of a mind bender.... but getting 'used' to NOT doing too much was probably biggest mind-switch.
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Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'

[Rob1970]

Its a learning curve thing

Learning to drive a car = hard
Learning to ride a bike = easy

But

Learning to drive well after initial test pass = easy
Learning to ride well after initial wobbly test pass = hard hard hard


Anyone can drive a car fast but bikes........well we all know the answer to that one

[P.]

[Nexus Icon]

[anthony_r6]

I learned to drive a car first which was relatively easy. CBT wasn't too difficult once I got the hang of it and all of my bike tests were completed by my own initiative and own learning.
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[J.M.]

[open]

So new question - can I use my motorbike licence as a provisional for a car?
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"Calamity - A more than commonly plain & unmistakable reminder that the affairs of this life are not of our own ordering."

[s]Baotian BT49qt-9 --> Honda CG125 (4 speed) '51 plate ----- 03/11/2012 Mod 2 PASSED! --> Cb500s[/s] Revoked

[J.M.]

[DrDonnyBrago]

[yaigi]

I find it quite interesting that Mr Yaigi went from bike to car and his spacial awareness was awful, he would quite often come to a near enough stop when there were parked cars either side of him and edge through at a mm per minute. I went from car to bike and in a car I fly through small gaps. So I'd watch out for that if I was you, your spacial awareness when you've got a big car around you may be a bit.... off.

Other than that I would definitely second what has been said about the maneuvers being difficult. They're not actually difficult in 'real life', it's just the way they explain it all with 'quarter turns here' and 'half turns there' and 'when the curb is at this point in your back window you blah blah blah....". It's a lot to take in, and sometimes I thought if he had just let me have a go without all the theory I could have probably just winged it better. You certainly don't think of all that theory stuff every time you reverse around a corner once you've passed, you just kinda do it naturally.

They'll usually get you doing clutch control first lesson, followed by left hand turns, then right hand turns. After that it will be a combo of on-road driving, manuevers and emergency stops. I think I had about 15 lessons, passed first time, and I'd never been on the road before - you have that advantage at least, so it will all be about controlling the car for you.

Good luck!
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Currently own - Fazer 600, 2000, Red. (But no riding as baby on board atm)

[c_dug]

I've got my 4th lesson today, found it easy so far (mostly 4.5's and 5's out of 5), steering smoothly has been the hardest thing to get the grip of. I'd imagine I'll have less than 15 lessons in total.
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[J.M.]

Does anyone else do that threading the wheel stuff?

I hated that. Never did it. I had less control threading the wheel than driving my way... so I did it my way.
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2004 R1 & 2018 XSR900

[The Tot]

Drive in accordance to how the instructor teachers you. Then once the test is finished and you've passed, drive how you feel comfortable.

But I can't really talk though. I failed my first test back in 2005, then spent the rest of that time until 2011 on the Ninja and the Blade. Granted I did a lot of driving when i was in indonesia, in a combination of manual and autos, and believe me, you're talking about formation flying over there in cars because of how congested the roads are. As a result, I'm just as comfortable getting VERY close to other road users in the car!

Car control-wise, I think that cornering in the bike and riding in all seasons made me appreciate the dynamics of cars and how much more stable and planted they are in corners. Being a biker for close to 10 years now, your observation skills have been honed to predict and anticipate stupidity from other road users, so the same roadcraft applies to cars and bikes.

I found it a disadvantage being on the bike and learning to drive "the system" here. My key errors were:

1) Using the accelerator assertively to power out of corners
2) Heeling and toeing (at this stage, this was when my instructor knew that I wasn't a total newb) - so that's much akin to blipping and braking on downshifts
3) And making use of ALL the revs
4) Excessive positive steering input - i.e. i drove like boy racer - subsequent lessons my instructor put a glass of water on the dashboard to make a point. He didn't want ANY spillage!

So, if like me you've been on a lot of high-power inline 4's before learning to drive in a 1.2 litre petrol, you WILL rag it everywhere. You've become desensitised with speed.

So in all, I only needed 7 hours to pass with 0 faults. Passed my test and drove how I normally would. I've since got a car with the same engine characteristics of my bike - the Celica 190. I drive that like how I ride the blade and it's very rewarding and predictable.

TLDR - DO NOT TRANSFER YOUR BIKE HABITS TO A CAR OTHERWISE YOU WILL PROBABLY GET SHAFTED! for me, it served as a massive disadvantage because I was captain cornerspeed!
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The Tot 2019 Z1000SX - 2007 R1
Never argue with autism

[andyscooter]

forklifts are also bad to drive before you learn


you forget you have a passenger side to the car
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[Richy CB1000]

I've had the pleasure over the years of teaching a few bikers into cars. I think the worst took 12 lessons to test the best was only four!

The one thing you should have is the knowledge of road use, roundabouts, junctions, cross roads etc...

This is a major benefit as newbies in the car world are trying to learn to control the car and work out the rules of the road so as said above somewhere you can relax more making it easier.

Set piece parking etc... I now do student centred learning where you basically with a bit of guidance teach yourself to some extent.

Only yesterday afternoon teaching a Lithuanian lass with 50% English to parallel park, she kind of worked most of it out as she has been around in a car and seen people do it so she had a go.

After a couple of points sorted out bingo, confident in parking after 35 mins.

Don't worry about the "Pull Push" steering anymore it's not frowned upon if you don't round here on test, as long as you are in control of the steering and don't let the wheel spin back you'll be fine.

[N cee thirty]

How many lessons would it take for a person, that say has been driving a tractor (with tractor driving license passed aswell) since 10 and is now 20 and been riding a motorcycle since 16 with a full license?
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'00 Aprilia RS50 > '92 Honda CG > '99 Yamaha Fazer > '91 Yamaha RXS > '79 Suzuki X5 > 01' Honda Cg > 07' Honda Cg > 82' Kawasaki Z200 > suzuki gsxr 400 gk73a > honda vfr 400 NC30 Mod 2 Passed 09/06/2011

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[J.M.]

[Walloper]

The controls of the vehicle have minimal bearing on driving (or should have eventually).
Most of what you do when learning is hazard perception avoidance.
Using the road properly.
You should never become complacent about the road but control inputs can/should become automatic/2nd nature.

If you have difficulty 'working' the vehicle then it will detract from attention on the road.
Practice off-road to work clutch, brakes and steering is a good help.

Driving a car is MUCH easier than riding a bike. Whoever said otherwise is on cloud cuckoo land.

You do not have to maintain balance whilst driving a car at any speed where as riding a bike slowly (like in slow moving traffic) demands immense reflex and skill i.e. steering, braking and clutch slow control when compared to sitting in a car holding the brake and slipping the clutch with your feet with both hands free to diddle with the steering wheel.

If you can pass the bike test the car test should be a formality of learning to control the vehicle and a little addition to the Roadcraft you should already be familiar with.

No more than 6 lessons should do it. Possible less.
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