New Hampshire NH DMV Motorcycle Practice Test 19

  • Questions25
  • Correct to pass20
  • Passing score80%
  • Minimum age16 years

Minimum age: 16 years; applicants under 18 must complete a Basic Rider Class and present parental permission

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

  1. 1. Why should pant legs be secured and bootlaces tucked away?

    Show answer

    Answer A: Loose fabric and laces can tangle in the chain, the controls or a wheel

    Anything hanging near the moving parts of a motorcycle can be caught and pulled in, which can trap a foot or lock the rear wheel.

  2. 2. A black and white regulatory sign facing traffic at a divided section reads KEEP LEFT. What does it require?

    Show answer

    Answer D: Passing the island or obstruction on its left side

    Keep Left is posted at an island or obstruction that traffic must pass on the left, which is the opposite of the far more common Keep Right situation.

  3. 3. Where should a rider keep the knees while riding?

    Show answer

    Answer B: Against the fuel tank

    Knees held against the tank anchor the rider to the motorcycle and improve balance, which matters most in turns.

  4. 4. A yellow diamond in which one line joins another at an angle warns that

    Show answer

    Answer B: traffic from another roadway will merge into the driver's lane ahead

    The merge sign warns that another traffic stream will join the same lane ahead, so drivers on both roadways must adjust speed and spacing.

  5. 5. You feel drowsy, so you open a window and turn the radio up. What does that achieve?

    Show answer

    Answer B: Very little, because the drowsiness comes back

    Cold air and loud music are not sleep, so the alerting effect lasts a minute or two and the driver is soon just as sleepy and closer to a lapse.

  6. 6. When is a rider ready to start carrying passengers?

    Show answer

    Answer B: After enough solo experience to handle the machine without thinking

    A passenger changes how the machine accelerates, brakes and turns, and only a rider who no longer has to think about the basics has attention to spare for that.

  7. 7. You are following closely behind a vehicle you intend to pass on a two-lane road. What should you do first?

    Show answer

    Answer D: Drop back to give yourself room to build speed before you pull out

    From close behind you cannot see far enough ahead and you have no room to gather speed, so the pass takes longer and starts blind.

  8. 8. On a rural two-lane road you pass small blue signs, each naming one business with an arrow and a distance. What are they?

    Show answer

    Answer D: Tourist-oriented directional signs for traveler businesses

    Tourist-oriented directional signs carry a white legend on blue and are used on rural conventional roads to guide travelers to eligible businesses.

  9. 9. What is the safest way to pass a bicyclist on a road with two lanes going your way?

    Show answer

    Answer D: Change lanes completely, as you would for a car

    A bicycle is entitled to the room a vehicle needs, and moving into the next lane gives the rider space to swerve around a drain or a pothole.

  10. 10. A face shield keeps fogging up in cool, damp weather. What helps?

    Show answer

    Answer A: Cracking the shield open slightly, or using an anti fog shield

    Fog forms when warm breath meets a cold shield, so moving a little air behind the shield or using an anti fog design is the safe fix.

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

    Show answer

    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.

  12. 12. Which of these places should never be used to turn your vehicle around?

    Show answer

    Answer C: The driveway of a fire station or the roadway in front of it

    Turning around in or in front of a fire station driveway can block emergency vehicles leaving, and most states prohibit it.

  13. 13. You have had to leave the pavement onto a loose gravel shoulder and now need to stop. How should you brake?

    Show answer

    Answer D: Use both brakes gently and evenly, expecting a much longer stopping distance

    Loose gravel cuts available traction sharply, so apply both brakes lightly and smoothly and allow far more room than you would need on pavement.

  14. 14. You have turned onto a ramp at night and your headlights pick out large white arrows painted on the pavement pointing straight back at you. What do they mean?

    Show answer

    Answer C: You are traveling against the flow and must turn back

    Wrong-way arrows are laid so that a driver going the correct way never sees them head on, so an arrow pointing at you means you are on the ramp backwards.

  15. 15. Federal law lets a state open its high-occupancy vehicle lanes to certain vehicles carrying only one person. Which of these is covered by that allowance?

    Show answer

    Answer B: Motorcycles

    Federal law lets states allow motorcycles into high-occupancy vehicle lanes regardless of the number of occupants, because keeping riders in the flow is safer than the alternative.

  16. 16. What is the main source of the noise that damages a rider's hearing?

    Show answer

    Answer A: Wind turbulence around the helmet, which rises sharply with speed

    Wind noise around a helmet is loud enough at highway speed to cause permanent hearing loss over time, which is why earplugs are recommended even on quiet machines.

  17. 17. A New Hampshire driver whose license was revoked for driving while intoxicated has it reissued. What standard then applies to that license?

    Show answer

    Answer C: An alcohol concentration of 0.03 or more is a per se violation, for at least 5 years

    RSA 265-A:35 makes such a license probationary for at least 5 years and treats an alcohol concentration of 0.03 or more as a per se violation of it.

  18. 18. A yellow sign reads SOFT SHOULDER. What is it telling you?

    Show answer

    Answer C: The shoulder may not carry the weight of a vehicle

    A soft shoulder is unpaved and can let a wheel sink, so a driver who leaves the pavement there may lose control or become stuck.

  19. 19. How should a rider take curves while carrying a passenger?

    Show answer

    Answer A: More slowly than when riding alone

    The extra weight raises the center of gravity and makes the motorcycle respond more slowly, so curves have to be taken at a lower speed.

  20. 20. Where are children in the greatest danger around a school bus?

    Show answer

    Answer B: In the roadway right around the bus, especially in front

    The danger zone is the band of roadway around the bus where the driver's view is poorest, and children crossing in front of the bus are hardest to see.

  21. 21. Which of these makes you unpredictable to other drivers?

    Show answer

    Answer B: Changing lanes suddenly without signaling, to save a moment

    An unsignalled, sudden lane change gives nobody time to react and is a common cause of sideswipe collisions.

  22. 22. You are approaching a horse and rider on a country road. What about your horn?

    Show answer

    Answer C: Do not sound it at all, because the noise can frighten the animal

    A startled horse is dangerous to its rider and to you, so pass wide and slow and leave the horn alone.

  23. 23. You are hosting a party and a guest who has been drinking wants to drive home. What should you do?

    Show answer

    Answer D: Stop serving and arrange a ride or a bed

    Only time removes alcohol, so a host who wants to prevent a crash has to remove the driving, not try to speed up sobering that cannot be sped up.

  24. 24. What has to be done with the helmet chin strap on every ride?

    Show answer

    Answer B: Fastened snugly, because an unfastened helmet comes off in a crash

    A helmet only protects while it stays on the head, and an unfastened or loose strap lets it leave the head in the first moments of a crash.

  25. 25. Why does a passenger often feel the cold sooner than the rider on a long ride?

    Show answer

    Answer B: A passenger sits still and does not have the fuel tank to shelter behind

    The rider has a screen or a tank to break the wind and is busy operating the machine, while a passenger sits exposed and inactive and chills faster.