OFFICIALLY A CLASS 2 RIDER! Finally, this 3-year project of mine to get all classes of the motorbike licence is complete. YAYYYYYY! What a journey it has been. I started taking 2B lessons in 2019, got my Class 2B licence in 2020, my Class 2A licence in 2021 and finally, FINALLY, got my Class 2 licence in 2022.
The process for Class 2 is very similar to Class 2A, where you only have:
– 3 Simulator Lessons (please clear this asap)
– Orientation (no riding)
– 3 Practical Lessons
Lesson 1 covers the slope and plank with pylon slalom, Lesson 2 covers Figure of 8 with Crank Course, and then Lesson 3 is the internal assessment. Once you clear Lesson 3 and your simulator lessons (that’s why I said to clear it fast), you can proceed to book your Traffic Police test.
Like before, I enrolled before the 12 months was up and did my simulator lessons first, then once my one year was up then I started the prac lessons. Because I haven’t been riding much, I was a little scared about the Class 2 bike on the first lesson. It is quite nice to ride, very stable, but more powerful than whatever else I’ve rode before. I took it easy on the first two lessons, just familiarising myself with the courses and not worrying about the timings. Then I took a bunch of revision lessons before Lesson 3.
During the revision lessons, I worked on learning the techniques again, remembering the route and the safety checks, and getting used to the bike. There are only six Class 2 bikes so take time to try all and see which one suits you. Each bike behaves slightly differently, eg. some have more torque, some have higher idling, some have ‘higher’ biting point. My favourite is #230 and #229 heehee!
Lesson 3 went pretty smoothly for me, even though I was nervous. I was too fast on the plank (need to exceed 10 seconds) and the bumpy course (need to exceed 8 seconds). That’s the thing about these bigger bikes – easy to ride fast, but difficult to ride slow!
Tips
With the TP test six weeks away, I focused on correcting my technique for the plank and bumpy course. It took me a couple of lessons to work on these. This was what worked for me:
For the plank, hold the clutch at biting point, throttle slightly and play with the rear brake. If you feel yourself losing balance, let go of the rear brake. Don’t slam on the rear brake, just do intermittent type of step on/step off the rear brake. Once the bike is stable, you can step on the rear brake more. In a test, if you feel yourself falling off, just throttle more to pick up speed, stabilise the bike and clear the plank. It’s better to take the points for the timing than fall off and get an immediate failure.
For the bumpy course, the right method does not even involve the throttle, but I’m not very good at clutch control and ended up stalling, so what I did was to keep the clutch at biting point and throttle a bit to inch forward. Another cheat method is to bring the clutch in that will slow the bike down. What also worked for me was changing my riding posture – shift the hips forward and have your chest over the fuel tank. Bringing more weight forward on the bike makes it more ‘front heavy’ and it’s easier to control the bike.
The other course I struggled with was the crank course. By right, you have to let go of the clutch after kicking up to Gear 2. But with the Class 2 bike, there’s a tendency of stalling because the speed is too low. I’ve managed to let go of the clutch and vibrate through, but there’s a risk of stalling when you try to brake as you take the last 90-degree turn to exit. So what you can do is, let go of the clutch after kicking up to Gear 2, then as you are making the left turn to exit, bring the clutch in slightly.
If you know me well, you will know that I am quite a kiasu person. I always do a lot of revision to practise and also to give me the confidence that I’ve put in the work. I might have overdone it this time for Class 2 though – I think I did about 20+ revision lessons in total lol. I really wanted to pass the TP test on my first attempt and I DID. Woohoo!
TP Test Day
Reported at 6.45am and around 7.15am we went for our warmup lap (we got to do two laps as there were only 35 of us)! I was so nervous and I fumbled on both laps, making mistakes like hitting the cone on the pylon slalom (that has never happened before), which made me even more worried, but I managed to calm myself down and not freak out. We were done before 8am, so we waited for the testers to arrive around 8.20am to come and verify our identities.
Then the skies opened and a heavy downpour greeted us. The test was only gonna start at 9.20am so we had some time to chill. One of the instructors, Ronald, came around 8.35am and gave us a full run-through of the entire route and what to look out for. That took about half hour and then we had a short break before the testers came down WOOOOO.
Thankfully the rain stopped in time for our test and omg SHOW TIME. The Class 2 peeps did our dummy bike push first, then we went out on the course, followed by the Class 2A peeps. I could feel my hands turning cold and my heart was thumping so hard against my chest. I just sat up straight, focused and reminded myself of the steps (check back right, blind spot left, turn to the centre of the lane, change up to Gear 2, let go clutch, signal right, blind spot right, change lane, shift gear down to 1, come to a stop – this is only coming out of the nursery to the first stop line).
I was bib number 6 so I didn’t have a lot of traffic, but it also means the testers’ eyes were on me all the time. The riding instructors on duty were also very helpful in temporarily stopping the cars to clear the road for us. My slope went ok, Figure 8 went ok… but for the crank course, I felt the bike vibrating a bit too much for my comfort after I changed up to second gear, so I held the clutch at biting point throughout. That’s potentially 2 points but it’s ok, I shook it off and focused on the rest of the route.
The plank went ok too; I was counting in my head and silently cheered when I knew I made it past 10 seconds. For the pylon slalom however, I felt like I got really close to the last cone on the way out and I wasn’t sure if I cleared it fully so that got me worried. The e-brake was fine; kept eyes straight ahead and don’t look down, lock out arms when stopping, only look down when you’ve stopped. Please practise this in revision – looking ahead and stopping within the lines without having to look down. Then came the last course – the bumpy course! I got into the riding posture and again, counted in my head, and silently screamed with joy when I exceeded 8 seconds. Ok ok but let’s not get too excited and let’s not f*ck this up and let’s get back properly. The test is not over until you get off the bike safely. I’ve heard horror stories of people coming back from the test and falling over – that’s an IF unfortunately.
It was about 10.15am when all 35 of us were done and we were given a short break, told to come back at 10.45am. I went to grab a bite at the kopitiam outside, but I really hate suspense and couldn’t really eat properly LOL. When we got back to the reporting area, we had to wait for each tester to come down. They each took a batch to grade, then when they come down and call out your number, it means you didn’t make it. We were all praying and crossing our fingers hard that we don’t get called out. Only three testers (of five) came down and that means, the rest of us remaining PASSED. We were then asked to close our account with the instructor and then waited for the tester to come and give us our driving licences and scoresheets back. CHECK OUT MY DRIVING LICENCE yay!
Turned out my courses were all fine! I got 8 demerit points for Delay in Moving Off (2 pts), Sharp Turn (2 pts) and Failing to Check Traffic at Junction (4 pts). I’m not sure where these were (though I have a rough idea where) but it’s ok, I PASSED and that’s all that matters.
In fact, I just realised I passed all my TP tests (for 2B, 2A and 2) on the first try! Just do a lot of revision, that’s my advice haha. And know the route very well, especially all the safety checks like which blind spots to check etc.
I will miss the instructors the most, after seeing them for three years. They have been very helpful in guiding me and giving me tips, advice and encouragement. Even when I’m doing revision and not in any of their lessons, they will notice my mistakes (can be little things sometimes) and point out to me so I’ll take note for the test. Very grateful! Just reach out to them and ask them as many things as you want – they are your best resources!
Reduan, Ronald, Seri, Roslan, Nazar, Bahtera, Rafiq, Edwin, Shafie, Mus Mulyadi, Azhar, Romany, Shawn and also Kamsani, Raime, Sulaimi, Khalid, Bahawdin. All of you ROCK!! You probably don’t hear this enough, but you guys are incredible.
I’ve witnessed how the demands of their jobs can be quite harsh – such as dealing with extreme weather conditions toiling under the scorching sun or getting soaked thoroughly in torrential rain, standing for long hours, putting up with unwarranted attitudes from difficult trainees etc. – yet they always have a bright smile, a truckload of patience and a chest full of jokes ready for us trainees. I’ve also heard about how they have sacrificed their personal commitments to work overtime so that we can have more slots for our lessons. #gratitudeoverload
Bye bye ComfortDelGro Driving Centre, I don’t have anymore licences I can take at your school. All 4 classes I’ve taken, including my Class 3 in 2005, were taken at CDC. Here’s one last one for the mmrs!
