California motorcycle "knowledge" test not valid and not reliable

[jerrycon_imp]

Has anybody else taken the California motorcycle "knowledge" test (written test) recently? I took it last week, and I declare it not valid and [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reliability_(statistics)]not reliable. These are serious charges in the world of testing.

The test was some kind of twisted language game, apparently slapped together by a couple of cruiser riders as they drank lots of strong beer. I failed it once. Studied the puzzling handbook for a bit. And I was lucky to pass it the second time.

Can you imagine the horrible scenario? There you are, a motorcycle rider since 1976, and the state wants to take away your motorcycle license because you failed their crazy language game? That's the thought that flashed through my mind.

If I were ambitious, I'd write the Department of Motor Vehicles a letter recommending that they pay money to a company like [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_Testing_Service]ETS (Educational Testing Service) to construct a proper test (valid and reliable). Freedom to ride one's motorcycle is far too important to leave the testing to amateurs. I am seriously disappointed in the California DMV. I hope they will try to do better.

 

[rotor]

Has anybody else taken the California motorcycle "knowledge" test (written test) recently? I took it last week, and I declare it not valid and [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reliability_(statistics)]not reliable. These are serious charges in the world of testing.

The test was some kind of twisted language game, apparently slapped together by a couple of cruiser riders as they drank lots of strong beer. I failed it once. Studied the puzzling handbook for a bit. And I was lucky to pass it the second time.

Can you imagine the horrible scenario? There you are, a motorcycle rider since 1976, and the state wants to take away your motorcycle license because you failed their crazy language game? That's the thought that flashed through my mind.

If I were ambitious, I'd write the Department of Motor Vehicles a letter recommending that they pay money to a company like [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_Testing_Service]ETS (Educational Testing Service) to construct a proper test (valid and reliable). Freedom to ride one's motorcycle is far too important to leave the testing to amateurs. I am seriously disappointed in the California DMV. I hope they will try to do better.

Where I took the test some years ago, it wasn't much better. However, you cold get a free booklet that I went through beforehand. It was full of stuff that clearly suggested the same type of bias you are talking about. So I assumed that the test was not about motorcycling at all, but about remembering the content of that booklet...

 

[Cormanus]

Is the test available online so we can have a look at it?

 

[jerrycon_imp]

Is the test available online so we can have a look at it?

Indeed it is. This page has a link to the handbook one needs to study a bit prior to taking the practice tests, for which there are two links at the bottom of the page.

Disclaimer:
Based on info in the link itself, these practice tests may date all the way back to 2011, which indicates that their relationship to the 2018 version of the test may not be particularly strong.

Note:
The link above contains a typo: "pratice" instead of "practice," further illustrating the California DMV's tendency for sloppy work.

 

[emullick_imp]

The "riding test" is even worse. Totally on a parking lot, super low speed turns. Failed it on my Ducati Monster, passed easily on a Honda Grom.

 

[LongRanger_imp]

Wow, it's been 25 years since I took the CA motorcycle written examination. I remember that if you simply memorized the guidebook and didn't rely on actual experience, you'd be fine.

Does CA still have the law which forbids you from using hand signals if your vehicle is equipped with turn indicators? Lots of riders out here, mostly on HD's use hand signals when their bikes have functioning indicators. I always thought that was kind of odd.

 

[use2b_imp]

very strange test but the grom in the machine for that

got my MCL in the 60's and haven't taken a test since .
best i can recall it was mostly hand signals , when to yield and learning signs with no actual riding involved.
common sense was in abundance back then.

 

[Randy B]

If I recall I only had to do the written portion when I moved here from Illinois in 2008 because I had already had an active endorsement from another state.
I failed the written test the first time I took it because it had all sorts of wording that I had never heard before about counter steering and such. To me it was all intuitive on how to control the bike and I had never heard these terms before in relation to riding.

 

[rotor]

Waving hands while riding

Wow, it's been 25 years since I took the CA motorcycle written examination. I remember that if you simply memorized the guidebook and didn't rely on actual experience, you'd be fine.

Does CA still have the law which forbids you from using hand signals if your vehicle is equipped with turn indicators? Lots of riders out here, mostly on HD's use hand signals when their bikes have functioning indicators. I always thought that was kind of odd.

Signaling the turns is not done to make us feel better, it is done to communicate with the rest of the motoring public. If (as I assume) an overwhelming majority of other drivers have absolutely no clue why is that dude on the motorcycle waving his hands, the rule is quite sensible.