So today I took my Spyder to the dmv and took the test for the 3 wheel restriction license.
I called and asked what they would test me on. She (after two calls and 2 supervisors being asked) they told me that I would be given the regular car exam.
I wasn't quite sure what to expect because when I took my driver's license initially (18 years ago) was on regular city streets in a small town. This was a closed course test.
When I arrived and got to the dispatch window I was told that I'd be given the 'moped' test. I told her I'd been told on the phone it would be the car test. She shut the window for a minute and when she opened it back up she said 'moped test' and told me to pull up and where to park.
A while later an older gentleman came up and had me use my left and right blinkers, looked at both from front and back and had me use my brakes.
Then he directed me to leave and take a left, go into a 'do not enter' area near the edge of the course and that he'd wave me in and give me instructions.
I drove where he instructed and he waved me in and told me to make a circle around each of two cones he'd set up. I clarified that he didn't want a figure 8, but a complete circle around each cone. He said yes and then that I was to turn around and head back toward him and when he dropped his hand to perform a short stop.
So I did as he said, made a complete, tight circle around cone one, then around the opposite way to make a tight circle around cone two. Then turned around and headed for him and short stopped on his command.
He made comments about the wide turn radius of the Spyder but otherwise said I did fine.
He then directed me out that part of the course and to the right toward the next intersection, just short of the DMV building its self. I pulled in and parked and he met me there. He then directed me to pull out, go through the intersection, take the next right (a red light with a no turn on red sign), proceed around the block back to him, past him through the intersection, to take a left turn at the stop and around the block back to him again. He said to be sure and use my signals, physically look over my shoulder during turns and lane changes and to keep my lane when turning.
I did as he asked and when I parked next to him again, he said that I'd had a couple of short signals and that there were a couple of places where I'd failed to fully look over my shoulder. But he passed me.
I had been convinced that I'd fail it and was shocked. But, that was a really easy test.
I wanted to post this because it seemed that no one really knew what to expect for this test and I'd like for anyone else who's going to be doing this to have idea of what to expect.
A couple other notes... He put an I restriction and a note to indicate 3 wheel only for my license. He also had to check to see how much they were going to charge. They essentially charge it as a duplicate license and the cost was $13.50. Be sure to take cash or your checkbook because they don't take debit or credit cards.
I read a lot of stuff online about the driver's test in the Eagan facility and totally psych'd myself out with how tough people said it was and how many people said they flunked and how mean the dmv people were. Everyone I dealt with was very nice, complimented me and the Spyder. There was no trickery or attempts to make me fail.
Happy to answer any questions too!
I called and asked what they would test me on. She (after two calls and 2 supervisors being asked) they told me that I would be given the regular car exam.
I wasn't quite sure what to expect because when I took my driver's license initially (18 years ago) was on regular city streets in a small town. This was a closed course test.
When I arrived and got to the dispatch window I was told that I'd be given the 'moped' test. I told her I'd been told on the phone it would be the car test. She shut the window for a minute and when she opened it back up she said 'moped test' and told me to pull up and where to park.
A while later an older gentleman came up and had me use my left and right blinkers, looked at both from front and back and had me use my brakes.
Then he directed me to leave and take a left, go into a 'do not enter' area near the edge of the course and that he'd wave me in and give me instructions.
I drove where he instructed and he waved me in and told me to make a circle around each of two cones he'd set up. I clarified that he didn't want a figure 8, but a complete circle around each cone. He said yes and then that I was to turn around and head back toward him and when he dropped his hand to perform a short stop.
So I did as he said, made a complete, tight circle around cone one, then around the opposite way to make a tight circle around cone two. Then turned around and headed for him and short stopped on his command.
He made comments about the wide turn radius of the Spyder but otherwise said I did fine.
He then directed me out that part of the course and to the right toward the next intersection, just short of the DMV building its self. I pulled in and parked and he met me there. He then directed me to pull out, go through the intersection, take the next right (a red light with a no turn on red sign), proceed around the block back to him, past him through the intersection, to take a left turn at the stop and around the block back to him again. He said to be sure and use my signals, physically look over my shoulder during turns and lane changes and to keep my lane when turning.
I did as he asked and when I parked next to him again, he said that I'd had a couple of short signals and that there were a couple of places where I'd failed to fully look over my shoulder. But he passed me.
I had been convinced that I'd fail it and was shocked. But, that was a really easy test.
I wanted to post this because it seemed that no one really knew what to expect for this test and I'd like for anyone else who's going to be doing this to have idea of what to expect.
A couple other notes... He put an I restriction and a note to indicate 3 wheel only for my license. He also had to check to see how much they were going to charge. They essentially charge it as a duplicate license and the cost was $13.50. Be sure to take cash or your checkbook because they don't take debit or credit cards.
I read a lot of stuff online about the driver's test in the Eagan facility and totally psych'd myself out with how tough people said it was and how many people said they flunked and how mean the dmv people were. Everyone I dealt with was very nice, complimented me and the Spyder. There was no trickery or attempts to make me fail.
Happy to answer any questions too!
Last edited:
hyea:
