Swerve test

Having just seen a video clip of this
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8067672.stm I can't see what the issue
is. 31MPH missing 2 cones.. I'd say people on the road should be able
ot manage that.

Thoughts?

 

Do keep up at the back.[1]

[1] I really can't post "ginge", can I?

 

I get the impression that bureaucracy is starting to interfere too much
with the day to day getting on with what we, as citizens of this fair
country, want to do in our daily life.

On another note I liked the motorbike that runs on air link the BBC
kindly put on the page.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8028309.stm

Yet another link from the BBC, if anyone can explain this device which
appears to use ultrasound magic, I'd be much obliged.

Urbane InTech Inlet Management System
http://www.urbaneperformance.co.uk/product/?pid=14006

 

Urbane InTechT has been shown to be reliable and to instantly and
consistently deliver enhancements in 3 principal areas:-

- Improved Performance
- Improved Handling
- Improved Fuel Economy
- Lower Emissions

....and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope... Our four...no...

 

It's all explained, in detail, here:
http://www.urbaneperformance.co.uk/single.htm?ipg=8331

 

But really, anyone on a bike who can't gently swerve like that in a
controlled environment and with 20 yards prior warning shouldn't be
out on the road really.

Ok, i'll grant you that.

Paul.

 

Yep, and comp air is so free.

Ah, the potency of cheap snake oil.

 

I was expecting to see some poor Indian guy standing at the side of the
road madly pumping away with his bicycle pump.

Everyone knows it can't be real snake oil if it's cheap.

 

Some cant even manage bends

 

I really don't see what's so difficult about that. It's a fixed obstacle
with only one way round it.

Part of the test I had to pass for the MSF consisted of a wide path with
two fixed obstacles in the center. You had to swerve around the obstacle
at speed either right or left as decided by the instructor. He didn't
give the signal which direction to swerve until you were 10 feet or so
away from the obstacle.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, ginge

I've long thought that part of the car test should be driving through a
gap between two concrete blocks, spaced a foot wider than the car's
mirrors[1], at a minimum of 30MPH.

Just to reassure the nervous, you're allowed one pass at a lower speed
beforehand.

[1] See? Generous to a fault, me. Of course the flip side of this is
that subsequently anyone who sits looking at a gap three feet wider than
their car because they're too nervous to go through will be dragged from
their vehicle, neck-shot and have their corpse suspended from the
nearest lamp post to rot "pour encourager les autres".

Carrot and stick, carrot and stick...

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - "He's hopeless, but he's honest"

I have already made the greatest contribution to the fight against climate
change that I can make: I have decided not to breed. Now quit bugging me and
go and talk to the Catholics.

 

Good idea!

Re judgement: I once squeezed through a gap at a crossroads in a Ford
Escort, between the nearside kerb and a stationary car positioned in the
middle of the junction and waiting to turn right. As I did so, I felt the
tyre wall rub the kerb ever so slightly on one side and congratulated myself
on missing the stationary car by such a small margin on the other.

As I proudly surveyed the gap in my rear-view mirror, the Fiesta following
me wasn't quite so lucky and manage to miss the kerb by a good foot.

 

Ooops.

 

It's a pain in the arse to do if you've not ridden for long (like me).
Counter-steering isn't intuitive until you've got quite a few miles under
your belt; I've stopped taking the part 1 and got a bike to practice the
swerve and the rest of my on-road drills before attempting the test again.

Now I'm one week and about 300 miles into owning my own bike I'm a lot
more comfortable with counter-steering. I still don't like the test
layout: you go round a 180 degree bend then straighten up, get up to
32Mph then jig right or left after passing the timing gate. The only
thing that I can see it simulating is going round a roundabout, pegging
(somewhat) the throttle out of it then swerving through a 2m wide gateway.

The last time I was tested I went too slow the first time round (48
instead of 50Kph) but I cleared the cones; second time round, I checked
my speedo and that messed up my sighting for the timing gate and
following cones... clipped the inside cone with my foot and knocked it
over :-(