Newbie here!! Theory test tomorrow!

[Hallsy]

Thought I'd say 'Hi' in this section first!

Currently 29 and been driving since I was 17, often said I fancied getting a bike and have now decided to go ahead with it!!

Theory test is booked tomorrow, theory I should be OK with, but I've been practicing the Hazard Perception.

Been thinking long & hard about potential bikes as I'm sure everyone does, in car terms I'm a bit of a petrol head, but trying to be fairly sensible with regards a first bike. Been to the moon & back with 'potentials', I think in time I'd need three or four bikes to fit each category!!

Pretty much decided that an enduro type bike would work pretty well for my first bike, as by the time my test is booked (and hopefully passed) I'll be getting towards winter months. Living around a few green lanes, hopefully I'd still get plenty of use out of the bike and maybe pick up a few off road skills whilst generally getting more practice on a bike. Then come the spring I can make my mind up about a more focused road bike!

Plenty of questions, but I'll post in the offroad section as it's probably more appropriate!

[angryjonny]

Good luck... I was 28 when I learned to ride. Having driven for a long time and got some road sense will help, but you'll be surprised how all that goes out the window when all your brainpower is being used up concentrating on controlling the machine instead - don't get too frustrated when you do stupid things you'd never do in a car.

I was disqualified from 2 of the clips on the hazard perception test for clicking too much, but I still passed easily enough. If it says you've been disqualified from one, don't let it get to you, just concentrate on the next clip.

[Richy92]

I did the theory about a month ago, try to keep it to a max of ten clicks per clip that worked for me. I actually did 12 on one of them which was fine, I think the limit is 14 per clip.
If you dig around the net there is a great DSA test CD available, I used it, had 1200 questions and 72 clips to help you prepare.

good luck

[Turks]

It helps to click, wait one second, then click again at very hazardous situations. If you click in quick succession the clip gets disqualified.

When I did mine, there were two young cyclists on each side of the road, so theres me clicking like crazy... the clip got disqualified. Instantly losing an entire 5 points makes the rest of the test a lot harder to pass. Never-the-less I passed first time

[angryjonny]

[Hallsy]

Thanks for the advice!

I've been practicing a bit this afternoon and seem to be scoring OK, I think once you've watched enough clips you get a feel for it. There have been a couple that I have seen too early, but as said as long as you click three times when you see something you seem to be OK.

The quality of some of the clips is pretty poor though, which can make it a bit harder to spot things early on!

[Germ]

Good luck,I'm aiming for my full licence in a month or two.

[Hallsy]

Passed

48/50 on the multiple choice, and 54/75 on Hazard Perception.

Not as good as I'd hoped on HP, but after quite a few practice goes I found myself seeing the hazards a little early and worrying about clicking too early, so clicking again to make sure.

Trouble is I had one clip where the hazard was so obvious, but seemed slow to delveop - yep, clicked too many times, zero!! Never did it in my practice ones, nevermind, still managed to get enough 4's and 5's to get through!

Now to book up my DAS

[Germ]

I've been wondering about the hazard perception test.
Are you looking for hazards such as potholes/drain covers etc or just actual other drivers and pedestrians/cyclist type things?

Don't want to click for a manhole cover if it's not considered a hazard even though I consider that sort of thing something to be wary of if not actually hazardous.

[Hallsy]

It's fairly obvious usually, the trouble is, if you're already an experienced driver you will see all sorts of potential hazards, the ones where you cover a brake pedal, or come off the throttle, etc.

It's OK to click everything you think is a possible hazard, as long as you don't click too many times!! For me, you seemed to be able to get away with the odd click where nothing happened, and up to 4 clicks when something did happen. Problem comes if you click to quickly, or rapid fire everywhere!

Basically you are looking for clues like pedestrians, parked cars, sudden braking, people cutting across, etc. Trouble comes with clicking when the DSA think you should.

Sometimes the hazard will happen very quickly and to get full points you needed to click almost as soon as you see the vehicle that causes the hazrad, yet on others it may be a slow moving hazard that you can see happening a mile off, but the DSA only want you to respond as it causes a hazard.

The one I got penalised on for clicking too many times was a DC stretch with a HGV parked in a rest spot, as soon as it started to move I knew it would be a hazrd so I clicked, and clikced three timed about 0.5 sec apart as I had been doing, but then it stopped, then it started to move again and pulled out, as you're concious you may have been too early I probably clicked a couple of times when it stopped, then again when it pulled out. Too many clicks in too short a time frame.

Still, as long as you are getting mostly 4's and 5's you can afford to make a few mistakes. I found this DVD very good practice - Driving Test Success Hazard Perception Test. I got mine from ebay for about £7 posted.

Practiced for a couple of hours yesterday and felt fairly confident today. Apparently the DSA HP one is pretty poor.

[Jamey]

Congrats Hallsy.

I'm at pretty much the same stage as you - just passed Ttheory and CBT and have booked my Mod 1 training / test for the 1st October (which is ages away and seems like years).

I think I'm gonna rent a 125cc for a week or two soon before the Mod 1.