ACT Rider Training - info for new riders or anyone curious

Since threads are up covering this for other jurisdictions and I've been through the P test this year I thought I'd share what I know about the ACT system.

There is only one certified training facility in the ACT - Stay Upright ACT.
Interestingly, they are closer to Queanbeyan than most suburbs of Canberra as they are located in Sutton Driver Training Centre just inside the ACT/NSW border.

The Pre-Learner course is the only way to get an ACT Learner Motorcycle License and is either a single-day 7 hour course on a weekday or a 2 half-day weekend course.

Cost is $252 and includes bike and helmet hire.

BOOK WELL IN ADVANCE! If you can arrange time to do the Pre-Learner course on a weekday I highly recommend it.

The Provisional Course is a single day and includes M.O.S.T. assessment.
Cost is $203 - extra for motorcycle and/or gear hire, as you are expected to have those already!

Again - BOOK WELL IN ADVANCE! If you can arrange to do the course on a weekday I highly recommend it.

Retests are available should you fail the M.O.S.T Assessment but pass the Pre-Provisional Course and cost $48.

Info on ACT Motorcycle Restrictions for Novice Riders can be found at http://www.rego.act.gov.au/licensing/licencemotorcycrestrict.htm

I'll post more specific info on the restrictions later.

 

ACT Motorcycle Restrictions for Learner and Novice Riders

The following is mixture of quotes from the official documents on this and personal
experience!

See "Power to Weight Ratio" below for my thoughts on this.

List of Approved Motorcycles
There is a Learner and Novice Approved Motorcycle List of more than 400 motorcycles which meet the restrictions that can be downloaded from
the ACT RTA website (link here) or viewed at ACT Motor Vehicle Registries/Canberra Connect Shopfronts, Stay Upright Canberra and Motorcycle sales and service dealerships through out the ACT.

Power to Weight Ratio

This is where it gets weirdly complicated!

To simplify the below, the calculation is as follows:

For bikes under 660cc:
Bike's weight = Dry weight of bike + capacity of fuel tank + 90 kg rider allowance

For bikes 660cc or over:
Bike's weight = Dry weight of bike + capacity of fuel tank + 65 kg rider allowance

Manufacturer's claimed power in kw is divided by the bike's weight (depending on engine capacity, as above), then multiplied by 1000.

Basically, this number can't be over 150.

As NSW (and most of the rest of the country) uses LAMS, what this means is that some bikes may be learner and novice legal in the ACT but not in NSW and vice versa.

I found it too damned complicated to work out, so I made a simple spreadsheet to work it out for me. PM me if you want a copy!

Bike not on the list?

The list is NOT updated as frequently as the ACT RTA claims it is.

If you are sure that a particular bike complies with the restrictions, the onus is on you to provide sufficient evidence to prove that it does and apply for it to be added to the list. This is a free process, apart from your time to research it and complete the application.

 

Update - the rider weight allowance for bikes over 660cc is 68 kg. Looking at my quote in there I got it wrong in the previous post.

 

Yeah I found the second time doing it 10+ years later more of a refresher than anything else. I did learn a few new things though.
My clutch/brake use still needs work!

 

Yeah I'm a bit slack with those too. Luckily my bikes are fairly forgiving!

 

It does when you pop out of gear into false neutral or drop back down a gear at speed. Also not good for the clutch.