Indiana BMV Motorcycle Practice Test 23

  • Questions25
  • Correct to pass20
  • Passing score80%
  • Minimum age16 years and 90 days

Minimum age: 16 years and 90 days for a motorcycle endorsement; a valid Indiana driver's license is required for a motorcycle learner's permit

25 questions. Pick an answer to see if it is right and why; you need 20 correct answers to pass.

  1. 1. What should a rider do before riding an unfamiliar or borrowed motorcycle?

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    Answer B: Locate and try the controls, then ride cautiously until used to the machine

    Turn signals, horn, headlight switch, fuel valve and engine cut-off switch sit in different places on different models, and hunting for them in traffic is dangerous.

  2. 2. A large X with the letters R and R beside it is painted across your lane. What does it mean?

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    Answer A: A railroad crossing lies a short distance ahead

    The pavement marking repeats the advance warning for a grade crossing, and it is used on paved approaches where speeds are high or where gates are installed.

  3. 3. Why does the situation ahead of this sign deserve extra care from a motorcyclist?

    A yellow diamond showing two black lines joining into one as they go up
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    Answer C: Because a narrow machine is easy to overlook in a mirror or a blind spot

    A motorcycle fills very little of a mirror and disappears easily into a blind spot, so the rider should adjust speed and lane position to stay visible where the streams come together.

  4. 4. What should a rider do if the front wheel locks during braking?

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    Answer A: Release the front brake immediately, then reapply it firmly

    A locked front wheel cannot steer or hold the motorcycle up, so the brake must be released to let the wheel roll again and then reapplied smoothly.

  5. 5. What is the correct order of steps for taking a turn or a curve?

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    Answer D: Slow, look, press, roll

    Reduce speed before the turn, look through it to where you want to go, press the handgrip to lean, then roll on the throttle to steady the motorcycle.

  6. 6. A curb sign reads 2 Hour Parking, 8 AM to 6 PM, Monday to Saturday. When may you stay longer than two hours?

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    Answer A: Outside those hours and on Sundays

    A time limit applies only during the days and hours printed on the sign; outside them the ordinary parking rules apply.

  7. 7. What is the danger of releasing the brake too early when moving off uphill?

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    Answer C: The motorcycle rolls backward before the clutch has taken hold

    On a grade the brake has to stay on until the engine is actually pulling, otherwise the machine runs back into whatever is behind it.

  8. 8. You have begun to move into the next lane when the gap you were aiming for closes. What is the safest action?

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    Answer C: Return to your own lane, cancel the signal and wait for a better gap

    An unfinished lane change leaves you in a space that no longer exists, and the lane you came from is still yours.

  9. 9. The green left-turn arrow ends and a steady red ball comes on for your lane, at an intersection where no turn on red is allowed. What must you do?

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    Answer D: Stop and wait, because no turn is allowed while the red ball is lit

    Once a red indication faces your lane and no turn on red is permitted there, the turn is over; only a vehicle already inside the intersection completes its movement.

  10. 10. A regulatory message is normally carried on a sign whose shape is

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    Answer A: a rectangle standing taller than it is wide

    Regulatory signs that state a law, such as speed limits and turn restrictions, use a vertical rectangle with a black legend on a white background.

  11. 11. You will leave your vehicle for several hours after dark. Where is the best place to park it?

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    Answer D: In a well-lit spot with people and cameras nearby

    Light, passing people and cameras all discourage theft and make your own return to the vehicle safer.

  12. 12. A pedestrian with a white cane draws the cane back and steps away from the curb as you approach. What does that usually mean?

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    Answer B: They are signaling you to go ahead and drive on

    Pulling the cane in and stepping back from the curb is the customary way a blind pedestrian tells drivers to proceed.

  13. 13. A traffic signal ahead is showing a flashing red light. What does it require?

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    Answer C: Stop completely, then go when the way is clear, as at a stop sign

    A flashing red light has the same meaning as a stop sign: stop completely, yield to traffic and pedestrians, then proceed when it is safe.

  14. 14. Why does riding in moderately cold weather call for extra layers of clothing?

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    Answer B: Chill and fatigue set in quickly and reduce the rider's control

    Wind at riding speed strips body heat away fast, and a chilled, tired rider reacts more slowly and can slide into hypothermia.

  15. 15. A deer crosses the road ahead of you and disappears into the trees. What should you expect?

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    Answer A: More animals may follow, since deer usually move in groups

    Deer commonly travel in groups, so one animal crossing is a warning that others are close by. Slow down and stay ready to stop well past the point where it crossed.

  16. 16. A driver on a hands free call looks straight at a red light and drives through it. What best explains this?

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    Answer B: The eyes saw it but the brain did not process it

    Attention, not eyesight, decides what a driver actually sees, and a loaded mind can leave a driver looking straight at a hazard without registering it.

  17. 17. What does a sign showing a bicycle inside a red circle with a diagonal slash prohibit?

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    Answer D: Riding a bicycle on that roadway

    This is a selective exclusion sign, used where bicycles are banned from a road such as a freeway or a tunnel.

  18. 18. Why is a motorcycle particularly hard for other drivers to judge at night?

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    Answer A: Its single headlight gives no width cues for distance and speed

    Drivers judge distance from the spacing between a pair of headlights, and a single lamp gives them nothing to measure, so they routinely misjudge how close and how fast a motorcycle is.

  19. 19. How does going a long time without sleep compare with drinking?

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    Answer A: It can impair a driver in much the same way

    Long periods awake produce slow reactions, poor judgment and lapses of attention that resemble the effects of alcohol, which is why fatigue counts as impairment.

  20. 20. Rain is falling and the outside temperature reads close to 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Why is that dangerous?

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    Answer A: The rain can freeze on contact and glaze the road with ice

    Near freezing, rain landing on cold pavement can turn to a glaze of ice almost at once, so a road that looks merely wet may have no grip at all.

  21. 21. A set of reversible express lanes is closed off with gates and signs while it runs the other way. What must you never do?

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    Answer C: Enter past a closed gate or a sign showing the lanes are closed

    When reversible lanes are closed they may already be carrying traffic in the opposite direction, so entering past a gate can put you head-on into that traffic.

  22. 22. There is a stop sign but no stop line and no crosswalk. Where must you stop?

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    Answer A: Before entering the intersection, where you can see cross traffic

    With no line or crosswalk, stop before you enter the intersection at the point where you can see traffic on the cross street.

  23. 23. Oil is visible running down the front fork tubes. What does that mean?

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    Answer C: A fork seal has failed and the suspension needs repair

    Fork oil escaping past a seal means the front suspension is losing its damping, and the oil can also reach the front brake and ruin its grip.

  24. 24. You know in advance that you will be drinking at an event. What is the most reliable plan?

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    Answer A: Arrange a driver who will not drink, or another way home, before the event begins

    A decision made before drinking is not affected by alcohol, while judging your own fitness afterward relies on the very ability alcohol impairs first.

  25. 25. Unless otherwise posted, what is the Indiana speed limit on a rural state divided highway?

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    Answer D: 60 miles per hour

    Indiana sets 60 miles per hour on a rural state divided highway unless a different limit is posted, below the 70 allowed on rural interstates.