they were pretty much giving away the endorsement here in gainesville. there was this guy on a harley that couldnt make the right u-turn and kept on putting his foot down.... he passed.

i helped my friend today get hers. remember this was a saturday afternoon. we were lucky to do the walk in coz it was packed today

 

I got my endorsement last year here in pinellas. I went the the st.pete one. 1 day in the classroom and 2 on the range. It was so easy...cost 200 dollars at the time plus 20 when you go to the dmv to get your new license. Personally I think the instructors need to be more strict. I saw people actually cheat on the exam at the end of the day.

 

The skills test (the test they will be discontinuing on Tuesday) is all about low speed balance and braking, really. The best score is a 0, you can get up to 10 points before failing.

Starts off on the outside, you go in a straight line and make a tight corner without going over the line, you make another turn and make a controlled stop, your front tire has to stop inside a drawn square. Next, you have about 25 feet to accelerate to about 15-20MPH, then you cruise another 15 feet in a narrow box and stop as quickly as possible, you're measured on feet.

After that, you do it again, but instead of braking, you swerve to avoid 2 line boundaries. Next, you take a slalom, the cones (little cone markers, actually) are really tight, they tell you which side to start on and your feet cannot touch the ground, you then continue back around and make a tight U turn, once again, feet cannot touch the ground. after thay, I think you're done, I don't think there was anything after that.

 

idk where you guys are going that they make you do a figure 8... i did mine in brooksville and they make you do a U turn, not a figure 8 (in 2 parking spaces).... I'm pretty sure the laws for the test are the same everywhere so i think someone is just trying to freak you out.

--brandon

 

pretty much the skills test is 2 U-turns (be it a figure 8 or not) in a tight space, a swerve, a quick stop from 20mph, and a test on how you take a basic turn.

i finished the class last week.

when i took it the instructor basically said

-U-turn, if you put down your foot, just don't cross the cones/lines, and vice versa. so do one, but not the other. i failed the U-turn part, but did well on everything else, and still got endorsed. so dont worry alot about the u turns. its just that the stopping and swerving part can save your life in a real life situation.

but really, take the class, its safer, and worth the money