You think getting a car license is tough? Well, getting a real motorbike license is TOUGH. I'm not talking about the chuugata "mommy lets me ride bikes up to 400cc" license (which is also quite hard). No, this guide will try to help you pass the oogata motorcycle license test in Japan. Good luck, you poor son of a bitch. You're gonna need it, because you're fighting the whole bureaucratic system here, tooth and nail.
First off, I'm going to assume you have a motorcycle license in the United States. I'm going to assume you've taken an MSF course or something similar; if you're a beginner, you need to learn how to ride before attempting the test, and if you've been riding for awhile the testers will skin you alive on the test course for every small bad habit. Your alternative is a Japanese extortion cartel driving school, but the whole reason you're reading this is so you don't have to pay ridiculous fees to those guys. Right? Regardless, you DO need to be able to pass the license test in your home country. That's a start.
I'm going to say it again: if you don't know how to ride a motorcycle, go learn at home. It's cheaper to fly back to the U.S. and take an MSF course. Hell, you can fly business class, and it will still be cheaper than going to Japanese driving school. I am completely serious.
Before you think of applying for the test, you need these:
- your own helmet
- a pair of gloves (they say any gloves will work, but spend 2000 yen on some real motorcycle gloves)
- some boots that cover your ankles
- a pair of long pants, riding pants, or jeans
On the paperwork end of things, you should have:
- a Japanese regular car license (keeps you from having to take the written test in Japanese, hah, impossible)
- cash, and lots of it (for the multiple application fees, test fees, rental fees, and photo booths)
- your own pencil, and maybe a small notebook (for taking notes on the course)
Day Zero:
First, ask your Japanese friend to call up and make sure your test center accepts oogata motorcycle applications from a foreigner who doesn't have an existing chuugata license (but has a Japanese car license). That's 3 different conditions, and they all have to be filled. Lots of driving centers won't do oogata bike tests. Others are petulant bigoted assholes who can't be bothered to talk to a gaijin (even one who speaks perfect Japanese). And on rare occasions, test centers won't even let you take the oogata test until you've taken the chuugata. All of the test centers have a very short time period in which they'll accept "new" applications, and it's usually only one day a week.
First day: paperwork and proving grounds
Bring your helmet and gloves, and be ready to ride.
Arrive at the test center early, to make sure you get your application in. I say this because a few of the uninformed and/or bigoted staff members will probably try to block you from taking the oogata test, even if you meet condition 3 above. I had TWO people go back and talk to their superiors trying to block my application at two different steps. A Japanese person wouldn't doubt the supreme knowledge of the bureaucracy, but you know better. You'll need some time for them to summon their superiors and go up the chain of command to the Prime Minister to make sure it's OK for a gaijin to take their test. I think there's another eye test in there too, even if you just got your car license last week. Try not to get too pissed off at them for completely wasting your time.
Just like the car license application, you can't do everything on one day. On the first day, you get to fill out a piece of paper (mine was yellow) that has your basic information on it, and will eventually have a list of all the dates you've taken the test. Don't lose this form! You need a photo from the photo booth, and the information from your hardearned Japanese driver's license. Make sure the correct application type (大二輪) is circled. These office workers are sneaky, and someone in back might have told them, "Oh, just circle the box for chuugata instead, he'll never know the difference." When you've filled this out to their satisfaction, they should tell you to go to the garage, which is probably near the testing course.
When I went, there were a couple guys taking names (but not kicking ass) and they asked each of us to do some basic stuff with a parked big bike. Everyone has to walk the bike around in a figure eight around a couple cones, without crossing the lines (make sure the kickstand is up, smart guy). Take your time, as there's no rush. Then they'll tell you to lay the bike down on its side and then pick it up-- be careful not to crush your toes. The bike has crash guards on it, so it won't fall all the way down. You can muscle the thing up by both handlebars, or you can use the finesse method: stand on the side of the bike, wedge the seat into the small of your back, grab the left handlebar with your right hand, and grab a solid piece of the back of the bike with your left (and not the exhaust, because that will hurt). Now simply stand up, lifting with your butt, and use your foot to slip the kickstand back down. Ease it down, and presto, it's back up. After you finish, they'll direct you to a separate waiting area. From here, they might stick you on the back of a 400cc bike and tell you to do a lap and some S-curves, to make sure you can ride a smaller motorcycle before they let you ride a big bike. This isn't graded too harshly, but you need to use the same head check stuff as on the car license test, and otherwise show them you can ride safely with good technique (knees locked in, feet on the pegs, good head movements, turn signals, that sort of thing). If you can't pass this on your first try, it's a sign that you'll be wasting your time taking the test. Go take a practice course, or a beginner's course, get your chuugata and ride that for awhile, and then come back.
After the weedout test, everyone sits down and an examiner explains the pieces of the course. The Japanese oogata course has the following pieces, which may be in any order:
- Railroad crossing
- S-curve
- "Crank" (a 90 degree left turn followed by a 90 degree right turn, in confined space)
- Uneven surface, taking longer than 5 seconds (literally: "bumpy condition road", a row of fixed rods you have to cross)
- Narrow bridge, taking longer than 10 seconds
- Undivided road (a road with no centerline)
- Uphill start (may be combined with undivided road)
- Speed test (can you go 45km/h without freaking out?)
- Braking from 40km/h, in less than 11 meters (14m for rainy conditions)
- Slalom (snake your way through a line of cones) in less than 7 seconds
The first thing you'll notice is that many of these exercises are nearly identical to the MSF course in the U.S., which is one reason I highly recommend taking that course. The main difference is that unlike the MSF course, these are not individual tests, but are taken as part of a single course. In Japan, you have to run these in sequence, according to the course layout. Fail one, and you're all done.
The chuugata test isn't that much different. There's no uneven surface test for chuugata, and the time and distance requirements are a bit less strict (narrow bridge in over 7 seconds for example). Apart from that, the judges are a bit more strict for big bikes (if that's even possible), and a lot of the maneuvers are tougher on heavier bikes. In short, if you've ridden big bikes before, or have ridden smaller bikes for at least a year, there's no reason to take chuugata over oogata because you'll jump through the same administrative hoops either way. Better to jump through them just once, and not have to come back when you want to ride bigger bikes.
You should take the time to write down the course layout if possible. They may give you a blank paper with the general course layout without a path written on it. Make sure you're copying the one for oogata. My area has 2 different course layouts for oogata, and they change between them every month, for no reason except to screw with people. For the most part, the path between test challenges is pretty logical, with no extraneous loops. Therefore, if you memorize the order of the challenges, the path between them makes sense. (For my first test, the order was railroad, S-curve, crank, bumps, bridge, uphill start/no centerline, speed, braking, slalom. Yours will be different.)
The goddamn test, days 2 through infinity:
First, read here for an explanation of how to pass the oogata exam on your first try. Got it?
If, on the first try, you make it all the way through the test without them stopping you, you're amazing.
My first try I was so hung up on the stupid little rules that I made a huge mistake on the uneven surface. I was on an unfamiliar bike, coming out of a 180 degree sharp turn, trying to stand on the pegs, keep my balance, and go straight all at once. I ran "off course"-- no second try, instant fail. The guys proctoring this thing have something stuck really far up their asses, so don't let it get to you.
Preparation:
Each day you take the test, you need to apply indoors at one of the windows WITH YOUR YELLOW SHEET. Pay some cash, fill out a form in Japanese, turn it in to another window, go upstairs to fill out some computerized No.2 pencil sheet with some stuff on it, and then go to the course starting area.
If you arrive early enough, many centers will let you walk the test course. This is a rather smart idea, as it can help you memorize the layout. I walked around the first time with a guy who had tried and failed once, and we exchanged pointers about different parts of the course.
If you're first to turn in that day's application, or you're a foreigner, you'll go first. The advantage of going first is that if you fail, you waste less time waiting for everyone else. The disadvantage is that they tend to grade the first people much harder. If you complain and point out this last point to them, they will grade you even harder.
Starting the test:
As before, look behind the bike before you hop on, then put the kickstand up, and make sure the bike is in neutral. Adjust your mirrors. Pull in the clutch, turn the key, give one more quick look around for good measure, and start the engine with your right foot on the brake. If the bike won't turn over, check the simple things like the key, the killswitch, and the kickstand. You're nervous, so stupid things like this will happen.
From the start, do your head check thingie, 1-2-3 (left-right-back). The testers probably told you to do a couple U-turns from the start, or maybe a figure 8. Like the car test, you can't lose points here, but you should do the U-turns without touching down with your feet. Use counterleaning and half-clutch. It's also the only time you get to experiment with the clutch friction zone, so make the most of it.
Parts is parts: the challenges
The narrow bridge is similar to the part in the MSF course where you have to go straight and slow between two lines. In Japan, it's an actual raised piece of metal with pressure sensors at the ends to measure your time. (One more reason not to do this in the rain; this is the same kind of metal they use on sewer covers, meaning it has zero traction when wet.) Before the bridge, there's a line, and you should stop there and wait for the green light if there is one. If you fall off, or fall over, you're done. First, don't look down, or you will go down! Focus on the far end of the bar, or even better, a tree or something in line with the exit. Lock your knees on the tank, relax your arms, and proceed smoothly. Use constant throttle, and pull the clutch in about halfway, to the friction zone. If you need to slow down, use a touch of rear brake (don't use your front brake!) and if you need to speed up to keep from falling, let the clutch out a bit. It's better to go too fast and lose points than to go too slow and fall off. You don't get bonus points for going longer than 10 seconds, so a walking pace is ideal.
For the uneven surface, there is a series of bars or raised protrusions perpendicular to your path, and locked in place. Normally it wouldn't be a problem, but you have to take 5 seconds or more to cross it. To add to your misery, they dock points if you don't stand up. Again, don't look down! Focus on the end cones and aim for them.
The slalom is nearly identical to the MSF course. It's meant to be taken in 2nd gear. Watch your engine guards, and don't touch any cones. If you need to reduce speed, use your rear brake only.
Emergency braking is also the same as in MSF. You must be going 40km/h when you cross the cones, and you're aiming to stop the beast before the second line. Be in 3rd gear when you cross the cones. When you cross the line, leave the clutch out to use engine braking (5 points). Don't worry about shifting down, but you need to come to a stop with your left foot on the ground and your right foot on the rear brake (5 points). As soon as you're stopped and stable, check behind you before shifting into first gear; check behind you once more before starting. If you lock one of your brakes, you lose 10 points. (WTF?) For each 1m you are over, you lose 10 points. If you aren't going fast enough, you lose 10 points, but can try one more time before failing. Gee, thanks.
The rules are the same for S-curves and the crank. Touch a cone and you lose points; jostle or knock over a cone and go directly home. Do not pass go, do not collect driver's license. Make sure you don't cut the turn in too wide; enter at a slow speed. You can use the clutch and first gear. When you exit, don't forget your turn signal and your left-right-back check.
For the railroad tracks, it's pretty much the same as in a car. You have to come to a complete stop and check both ways to look for an oncoming imaginary train. If possible, lift your butt out of the seat when you cross the tracks.
Stupid little rules:
Most of the little rules are the same as the car test. Here are some special ones, just for bikes.
- When you stop, use both brakes. Your right foot should stay on the rear brake pedal, and your left foot should come down, or they won't consider it a full stop. The both brakes rule is actually a good rule to follow in general, as long as you use them in the right proportion.
- Before you take off from any stop, turn your head left and right, then turn your head around to look behind you. Mirrors don't count. Before you start, read off 1-2-3 (left-right-back). Then go!
- At intersections, you need to check left and right before you pull out. I'd just do left-right-back all the time, as it's simpler, and that way they can't say you didn't look around enough.
- Use your turn signals well in advance-- 30 meters or 3 seconds before you turn. This means in many cases that you'll leave your turn signal on, such as while doing the S-curve. In other cases, you'll pass an intersection or two with your turn signal on. For some reason the judges don't seem to have a problem with you leaving the turn signal on in situations like this, even though in real life everyone would assume you just forgot to cancel your signal.
- You need to stay in the left 3rd of your lane, except when about to turn right or change lanes (move to the right 3rd about 30m before you will turn, if possible). On the real road, staying in a single 3rd is a great way to be invisible. Traffic safety my ass.
- When on an undivided lane, you must stay 30cm from the left edge. Yes, this is a tiny distance! You will be docked major points for being more than 50cm from the edge, and if you're more than 1 meter from the edge it's game over for you. Nobody said the exam rules made sense.
- Use 4 fingers for the brake and clutch. You might slip by with 3, but less than that and they'll be pulling points.
- Keep your feet on the pegs and your knees locked in on the tank, without tensing up. MSF should catch this.
- Don't brake in a corner. You get docked 20 points for this, and with good reason.
- Keep your head pointed toward where you're going. Again, the reasons for this should be obvious.
Here's a site that has pretty much all the rules and why they want you to follow them, but it's all in really tough Japanese:
http://homepage3.nifty.com/andojournal/license.htm