On monday (28/3/2022) I finally went to take my ‘mod1’ assessment in Rotherham.
The Mod1 exam consists of bike handling tasks on a bigger bike. I had been practicing the required manouvres in preparation for my mod1 exam on small (125cc) bikes for a while.
Big bikes are fun!
The mod1 exam must be taken on a bike of a certain power. The day before the mod1 exam was my first time on a bigger bike, a MT07 I think it was.
Going from a coming off a roundabout onto a faster road proved most entertaining. The acceleration could be so addictive. I can see why many bikers I’ve spoken to have relatively mundane cars – no car (at a sensible price) will match the fun so why bother trying?
I’m starting to understand what folk meant when they said things can be easier on a bigger bike compared to a 125cc motorbike. The brakes are much stronger, the engine braking when rolling off the throttle actually has an impact on speed, it feels more stable in the wind and so on.
Mod 1 motorbike exam
Of course being an exam I felt nervous. Seeing a student getting launched from his motorbike while practicing the emergency stop in a previous lesson didn’t help my nerves!
My instructor stashed my papers (licence, theory certificate, CBT certificate) in his motorbike panniers … storage doesn’t exist on the schools bikes we were using for training.
I was to go first of the 2 candidates that went together from the school for assessment.
The examiner seemed friendly enough as we were introduced and continued through the mod1 assessment.
Of all the manouvres the swerve was the one I was most nervous about, I didn’t need to be. There’s a minimum speed (50 kmph / 30 mph) for that exercise which, on the 125cc bikes meant revving the bike hard. On the big bike it was no effort at all to get up to 30 mph as I accelerated out of the bend.
I passed.
Not only did I pass, but with zero faults. Yeah, I’m pleased with that!
I received an email later the same day confirming the pass, complete with the recorded speed for the swerve and emergency stop manourvres.
Emergency stop: 57 kmph
Avoidance (swerve): 55kmph
Next steps
What now? Well the aim was to gain my full motorbike licence, so my next step is the imaginatively named ‘mod2’ exam.
The Mod2 is more like the driving test most folk would be familiar with. A ride out with the examiner who gives instruction via a radio headset.
I’m fairly comfortable with the general rules of the road, being an advanced driver. So my challenge is about making the bike controls as comfortable and instinctive as car controls have become.
