The Mod 2 test is the 4th and final hurdle to jump on the way to earning your bike licence.

The test is the same whether you’re going for A1, A2 or an unrestricted A licence, the difference being the bike you take it on (a 125 for A1, at least 395cc for A2 and at least 595cc for unrestricted).

The test takes about 40 minutes from start to finish – it seems a lot faster than that when you’re doing it. Before you set off, you’ll need to show you can read a number plate from 20 or 20.5m (depending on new or old style plates) then you’ll have some show me, tell me type questions. After that you’ll set off on a ride with the examiner following behind.

To pass, you need to complete the test with no dangerous/serious faults and no more than 10 minor faults. I failed my first one with a single major (and daft) fault… you can see that here. Second time round, I can be more smug as I passed with no faults, but Dave, the examiner, did point out a couple of bits I could have done better.

Show me, tell me

You can find the full list of show me tell me questions here, but they’re relatively simple and it’s only a minor fault if you answer every question. wrong.

The Ride

Unlike a car test, where you need to do umpteen maneuvers, there aren’t really any on your Mod 2 – you did them all at Mod 1. You do need to do some stops and starts, including at an angle from behind a parked car and if possible a hill start.

You’ll no doubt have practiced your starts a lot, just remember observations and indication.

The examiner will have given you a radio (remember to bring some headphones) so will give you instructions and directions. Don’t worry if you get the directions wrong, as long as you rude safely it doesn’t matter.

At one point in the test you’ll do an ‘independent ride’ where you’re asked to follow signs for a certain route. Again it doesn’t matter if you get lost or mixed up on the directions – I was corrected by the examiner when I was in the wrong lane (following signs for M1 North rather than South)- as long as you’re riding safely.

The Results

You’ll get your results there and then, plus, if you’ve got a good examiner, some useful feedback on your riding. If you’ve passed, the examiner will take your licence off you and you’ll get a shiny new one in the post.

If you’ve failed… chin up, you’ll do it next time. I failed first time, but aced it second time round. It happens.

I think nerves are probably the hardest part of it, they make it harder to think clearly and too easy to get tunnel vision and miss things. First tike round, I was a bundle of nerves throughout, second time, I was nervous to start, but once I got going, thought f-it, what’s the worst that could happen? Which helped me calm down a bit… seemed to work.

Once the examiner started telling me all about the little old lady who gardened the central reservation we were riding past, I pretty much knew I’d done ok.

So you’ve passed… is that the end?

Absolutely not, I know I’ve got loads to learn. Next steps for me are the Enhanced Rider Scheme and some bespoke training with Jewell Bike Training. Plus getting used to a bigger bike.