Yay, I’m half way through my DAS course after passed my module 1 today. For those not familiar with the DAS, it is split into two modules, the first consists of a series of manoeuvres around a car park; U-turn, slalom, figure-of-8, emergency stop and swerve at 50kph, etc. The second module is done entirely on the road, being followed my a DVLA examiner.
I have spent the last day and a half practising these manoeuvres like mad in a car park with 1-Stop Instruction. The car park at their disposal is a lot smaller than the test centre and they pushed us to achieve the required manoeuvres within this tighter space, on a slight incline and at faster speeds. This made it tough, but rewarding and prepared me and my fellow student well for the module 1 test – blatantly, as we both passed first time.
For me the U-Turn proved hardest, maintaining smooth clutch control throughout to get the right speed, not too slow as to lose balance or too fast to go wide. The two speed tested manoeuvres were a bit nerve racking. These involve an emergency stop and swerve after passing through a speed camera at 50 KPH (~31 MPH). The CBF500 could manage the stop fine, but too hard on the brakes and the ABS kicks in to prevent skidding. Safe, but unfortunately a fail on the test. The swerve really tests ones confidence and control of the bike. The bike needs to lean back and to in a smooth manner, more than I was initially at ease doing considering my lack of experience. The key is too look at where the bike needs to go, rather than at the cones.
My test certificate had a couple of minor faults, one for lifting the rear wheel off the ground slightly on the emergency stop and one for handling of the bike when pushing it from one parking space to another. This latter one was because I had failed to find neutral on parking up (Doh!), so had to perform the manoeuvre holding the clutch in to hide the fact… A pass is still a pass, so I spend the rest of the day practising the module 2 routes around the Enfield DSA test centre, going through places where previous students have been caught out. Nearly there now.
