[Gixxerdale]

Luckily it wasn't me this time. My friend Cindy was off on a 4 day ride around Arizona with a group of 17 bikes. When she returnded to LA, she posted the following:

So I'm totally laughing out loud the other day when I
saw Gixxerdale's post about the group of Iron Butters
who got pulled over on the two lane, one way road
going uphill in Arizona outside of Wickenburg as I
knew exactly where they got busted. It just so happens
that I went on a four day ride last weekend and a
gentelman in our group (well technically he was ahead
of the group at this point) was just about to go up
that exact same stretch of road as Mr. Police Officer
was coming down. Apparently he had instant on radar
and clocked said rider at 106 MPH. Not only that while
giving a stern talking to that I witnessed a very
brief portion of it was discovered that said rider
whose been riding for 30+ years and claims to have
been a riding instructor doesn't even have a
motorcycle endorsement on his liscense. Not a cheap
couple of tickets and he was VERY lucky not to get
dragged off straight to jail from the sound of it.
:roll:

Now that guys going to be spending the bucks and probably using public transportation for a while! :mrgreen:

 

[DragonKat]

Ouch, somebody's been had for sure !!!

 

[Freakinout]

I think somebody's fib came out into the open!

 

[stevie c]

If I ever ride in the States I think I will give Arizona a miss!

 

[GIXXER-Mike]

Wow! Guess he fibbed a bit, huh?

U gotta admit though, an open road w/no traffic is definitely tempting.

 

[themeatmanlandry]

Damn.

 

[SuzukiGirl1]

geeze...why not just get the stupid endorsement???? It's not like it's THAT hard??

 

[St0nkingByte]

Fear of the double U-turn. Oh sure you can go straight and fast. You can lean in those turns at 100mph but the double U-turn is sooooo scary!

 

[SuzukiGirl1]

Yeah, that figure 8 does suck A$$!

 

[007]

the figure 8 sucked indeed - but once you get it down you are prowd of yourself. :mrgreen:

 

[themeatmanlandry]

I don't think I ever really mastered that one.

It's not like I'm doing figure 8's anyway, but it'd be nice ot know I could if I wanted.

<i still duck walk when i u-turn . . . 20K miles>

 

[LayinLo]

No driving portion to Alabama's Endorsement test.

 

[themeatmanlandry]

That must be some curriculum. :-D

 

[Gixxerdale]

Fear of the double U-turn. Oh sure you can go straight and fast. You can lean in those turns at 100mph but the double U-turn is sooooo scary!

:mrgreen:

 

[Bluejeans]

Fear of the double U-turn. Oh sure you can go straight and fast. You can lean in those turns at 100mph but the double U-turn is sooooo scary!

I didn't have to do that. My roadtest was pretty much just basic city riding. Dude followed me in a Ford POS and honked once for left turn and twice for right turn. I had to turn a bunch, never got outta third gear. He was watching for head turns, blinkers, and basic street rules. Had to cross a railroad track too. But no U-turns. Oh yeah, and I had to come to a stop and start going again up a steep hill. But it was all pretty easy.

 

[simplegame]

Oregon Endorsement

To get your endorsement in the state of Oregon you take a simple written test and then the instructor stands on the corner and watches you drive around the block. He can only see you for about ten second’s total. I guess if you survive the trip around the block they assume you can ride well. Then they charge you some unfair fee! That is all they really want in the first place is the fee.
Old and cynical, and often sarcastic.

 

[inspiron]

Man, you guys have it easy!

To get the MC license in Switzerland, you have a 2-part test ... in the first part, you have to demonstrate your basic skills in 5 areas, including starting and stopping on an incline (uphill and downhill), doing a slalom, circles and figure-8s (feet on the pegs!), slow lane (50 feet in AT LEAST than 15 seconds) and emergency stop from 35 mph.

When you have passed the first part, you are then eligible for the second part - about 20 minutes driving in traffic with the inspector riding pillion (for larger bikes) or following you in a car (for 125s and smaller).

Once you have passed both, you can take the "L" off of your bike (signifying that you have a learner's permit). The leaner's permit lets you ride within the country, but you can't take passengers unless they also have a MC license, and (what was annoying for me) you can't leave the country. Since I used to cross over into France or Germany every day, this limitation was a real pain. I'm glad I got my full license (for the big bike) within 3 months last summer!

 

[stevie c]

Inspiron, its similar in the UK.
First you spend a morning doing figure 8's, riding at walking pace, going between cones and practising position on pretend junctions.
The afternoon is spent with an earpiece in so you can hear the instructor riding through town.
If he thinks you are ok you get a CBT certificate which means you can ride a 125 with learner plates on.
Then its a bunch of lessons and sometime before your test date you have to pass a theory test on the highway code and a hazard perception test, this is were you watch 10 videos taken as if you are riding a bike.You have to watch for hazards, if you click the mouse straight away you get 5 points and this goes down the longer you take.
This is were a lot of people get stuck!You need to pass this before you take the practical.
Then its the practical on a 500 (mine was an ER500) with an earpiece in being followed by an examiner on a BMW, who gives you directions.
You also need to do an emergency stop from 30 MPH, a hill start, correctly and safely put the bike on the main stand, walk the bike in a U-turn, ride the bike in a U-turn and if your foot hits the ground during this manouver you instantly fail, and about half an hour of him watching you like a hawk as you ride through town and countryside on different roads at different speeds.
Then its back to the test centre to answer some questions about the bike , pillions etc.
If he is happy you get your licence!

You can also take a slightly easier practical test on a 125 but after you pass you are resricted to a bike of no more than 33 bhp for 2 years.

 

[inspiron]

Maybe there are a few things that the USA could still learn from "Old Europe" :twisted:

We still have squids around here (the driving tests in other countries are much less comprehensive, and the French and Belgians drive like Kamakazis anyway). Because of the helmet laws and enforcement, almost everyone is wearing an approved lid, even if they just have a T-shirt and jeans to protect their bodies.

And just for the record ... I saw a guy on a Harley this weekend WEARING A FULL FACE HELMET and FULL GEAR! :shock: He must have fallen off his crotch rocket and landed on that cruiser! :mrgreen: