Beware of taking the motorcycle road test on your Hayabusa, it was real bad!

I taught riding courses for a while and some of the people who showed up had no business even sitting on a motorcycle...

One lady in her late '40s showed up and honestly she was not teachable....I even had an instructor basically teaching only her and the instructor was losing her mind...

At lunch time on day 2, her husband and I had a chat, I told as much as we wanted her to be able to pass, there was no way I could pass her in good conscious because she was just not cut out to ride a motorcycle. I told him that if he himself can get her to know and understand the basics on his own, she could come back and re-take the course free of charge. He said he tried, that's why she was on the course...he had hoped we could teach her....the sad part is he had already bought her an 883 Sportster...

On other courses I taught sometimes there'd be a smartarse in the course who said even us instructors can't do the course, so me being me, I jumped on my 1200 Bandit and ran through the course we had set up at mach speed which shut them up....I actually saw them try harder after that so at the start of each serial of the course, I'd rip through it on my Bandit first just to show them it could be done.

I was at a gun range recently and there were 8-9 people trying the shooting portion of their CCW application. A couple in their 60s were just awful but both had brand new tiny lil Glock 9s. Another woman trying a 2” wheel gun and a lil .380 s/a was the worst. She missed the entire target 3 out of 4 attempts at five yards! The range master tried everything with her and told her to come out and practice. I doubt she passed. I doubt she can ride too…:laugh:
 
I was at a gun range recently and there were 8-9 people trying the shooting portion of their CCW application. A couple in their 60s were just awful but both had brand new tiny lil Glock 9s. Another woman trying a 2” wheel gun and a lil .380 s/a was the worst. She missed the entire target 3 out of 4 attempts at five yards! The range master tried everything with her and told her to come out and practice. I doubt she passed. I doubt she can ride too…:laugh:
5 yards? I could throw 5 pistols and get a grouping at that distance....
 
I took it back in 1984 on a Suzuki 185 enduro, probably an early 80's model my buddy owned. It had a two-range gear box, and a 5-speed transmission so I ran it in low range so even with the upshifting and downshifting there wasn't much speed and I had plenty of time. The box was sized differently based on CC, and clearly, I was in the small box. We were not allowed to put a foot down anywhere on the course. I would not want to take it on the Busa.
 
I took my test in 2005 on an R1 and had a one issue also. The part where have to accelerate to like 20mph and come to a complete stop within a certain distance, I didn't get up to full speed fast enough. I told the officer I was afraid I would go too fast so I held back. She gave me a look and said give it another shot, I know that bike can do it. Second attempt I dumped the clutch and pulled the front tire then did a small stoppie on the line. I was 17 at the time so I thought it was funny and knew I was going to fail for that. She actually laughed and said that was much better and she could tell I know how to control the bike and passed me! I was blown away, lol.
 
I was able to take mine on a 49cc moped here in Michigan and while it was easy anyone who's gone from a bike to a moped knows the difference in feel can be a little uncomfortable feeling. My buddy at work took his on the same kind of moped and had been riding his whole life (almost 50 now and was in his early 40s when he finally got his endorsement) and when they told him to do the speed up and stop he pulled the rear wheel up and held it there for a few seconds before setting it down. Instructor didn't even make him finish his test :laugh:.
 
Here in the UK, When i did the road part of my test back in 1986, I had to ride around the block a couple of times. On the second time around the examiner wanted me to do an emergency stop. I was only 16 and nervous, when the examiner walked infront of me to do the emergency stop i nearly ran him over. Luckly he must of been in a good mood that day as he gave me another chance, I passed.
I was so happy to have my full lincence, i pulled the "L" plates off and broke my number plate. I did my test on a Honda H100.
 
Here in the UK, When i did the road part of my test back in 1986, I had to ride around the block a couple of times. On the second time around the examiner wanted me to do an emergency stop. I was only 16 and nervous, when the examiner walked infront of me to do the emergency stop i nearly ran him over. Luckly he must of been in a good mood that day as he gave me another chance, I passed.
I was so happy to have my full lincence, i pulled the "L" plates off and broke my number plate. I did my test on a Honda H100.

A few questions please.
In the ride around a few blocks does the observer ride another bike behind you? What does the ‘L’ stand for and what does ’I broke my number plate’ mean?
 
On the flip side of teaching the courses, you get to meet some really great people....

I had a few older riders who were getting back into the sport and although they were fully licensed, they felt better to get some seat time and a bit of a refresher...

Although it wasn't course curriculum, I'd teach two up and group riding...I'd normally do this after the testing was all done and it was voluntary but I always had the full course stay for that...

If students brought their own personal bike to the course, I'd let them slowly take them through a few obstacles after the course was over just so they get the feel for their own bike.

Our licensing here in my province is graduated, although the bike CC is unlimited, we have 3 stages of licensing.

M1 is restricted as most are-no passenger, no multi lane hiway, half hour before sunset and after sunrise riding, zero alcohol or any sort of intoxicant.

M2 is the next step and the only restriction is zero alcohol and intoxicant-you can challenge M2 testing without a course at a testing site but they are brutal...most people do the course. I've seldom heard of anyone challenging the test and most opt for the course. There is supposedly an insurance rebate if you take the course but it is almost negligible.

M is fully licensed and you can also challenge this by going to a testing site. The college offers an M2 Exit course where we give a short few hour refresher followed by us in a vehicle following the rider wearing a head set whereupon we give direction and instructions...I've never heard of anyone being unsuccessful.
 
On the flip side of teaching the courses, you get to meet some really great people....

I had a few older riders who were getting back into the sport and although they were fully licensed, they felt better to get some seat time and a bit of a refresher...

Although it wasn't course curriculum, I'd teach two up and group riding...I'd normally do this after the testing was all done and it was voluntary but I always had the full course stay for that...

If students brought their own personal bike to the course, I'd let them slowly take them through a few obstacles after the course was over just so they get the feel for their own bike.

Our licensing here in my province is graduated, although the bike CC is unlimited, we have 3 stages of licensing.

M1 is restricted as most are-no passenger, no multi lane hiway, half hour before sunset and after sunrise riding, zero alcohol or any sort of intoxicant.

M2 is the next step and the only restriction is zero alcohol and intoxicant-you can challenge M2 testing without a course at a testing site but they are brutal...most people do the course. I've seldom heard of anyone challenging the test and most opt for the course. There is supposedly an insurance rebate if you take the course but it is almost negligible.

M is fully licensed and you can also challenge this by going to a testing site. The college offers an M2 Exit course where we give a short few hour refresher followed by us in a vehicle following the rider wearing a head set whereupon we give direction and instructions...I've never heard of anyone being unsuccessful.
As an instructor, what are your thoughts on the licensing process in the US? A weekend course and you can buy any bike you want and legally ride. As opposed to the licensing structure in Europe where they are restricted in CC's. Do you think that if the US had more requirements, there would be less accidents?
 
As an instructor, what are your thoughts on the licensing process in the US? A weekend course and you can buy any bike you want and legally ride. As opposed to the licensing structure in Europe where they are restricted in CC's. Do you think that if the US had more requirements, there would be less accidents
I suppose it would be all how this was implemented....if the beginner graduated CC class in North America was up to 500CC it might work as there are some stellar bikes at that level. It certainly would create a whole new market for smaller bikes.

The downside is I believe the North American motorcycle market which is already struggling would fall on it's face...we have huge areas to circumvent here and riding a small bike like that between cities which sometimes takes hours and hours on high speed highways would lead to real problems. I think accidents would rise in this case.

In Europe you drive around with a big red "L" on your vehicle which does a couple things-warn the public and police you are a learner and set you up as a target for some idiot wanting to mess around with you.

If we delve into this, we can look into many other facets of driving...what about the senior citizen who can barely walk driving a large motorhome with a trailer in tow making it almost as long as a tractor trailer yet anyone with money can get one...
 
A few questions please.
In the ride around a few blocks does the observer ride another bike behind you? What does the ‘L’ stand for and what does ’I broke my number plate’ mean?
No back in the day he stood on the curb and waited for the Learner to go around the block.
"L" is for learner, in the uk we have a Red "L" on a white background that all bike and car learners must have.
Number plate is the same as a Tag plate. The "L" was fixed to the bottom of the number plate.
 
i took my test late in 2008 , i missed the opportunity to just ride around the block and the observer would just stand on the sidewalk back in 1978, you could ride then on L plates the likes of RD250LC for 17 year olds and many young kids were killed as zero training was required then.

in EU its complex

i had to pass my CBT 'compulsary bike training' on a 125cc and then as i was over 25 could ride a bike up to 500cc followed by chief rider via intercomms- i hated the rough twin of kawasaki - so opted for a Honda cbr500 twin

i remember dropping the bike on a U turn - doh :D
 
i took my test late in 2008 , i missed the opportunity to just ride around the block and the observer would just stand on the sidewalk back in 1978, you could ride then on L plates the likes of RD250LC for 17 year olds and many young kids were killed as zero training was required then.

in EU its complex

i had to pass my CBT 'compulsary bike training' on a 125cc and then as i was over 25 could ride a bike up to 500cc followed by chief rider via intercomms- i hated the rough twin of kawasaki - so opted for a Honda cbr500 twin

i remember dropping the bike on a U turn - doh :D
My first street bike was a Kawasaki 250 triple (I took my test on it), the tester called it a popcorn maker (due to the snap, crackle and pop of the pipes...)

I was in the military when a guy I served with bought a new RZ500R as his first bike because it was "only" a 500....in those days there was zero training, all you needed was money...that bike lasted about a month before he totaled it....people who didn't know much about bikes were stunned as it was only a little 500.

Those of us who had a clue tried to steer him away from buying it but he was bound and determined....

That was his last bike...
 
Ive been lucky enough to meet and train with Greg from MotoJitsu (FastEddie), and I absolutely recommend taking his motojitsu courses on any bike you own. There isn't any reason to not pass a retest of the basic test with a busa...

...that said, I'd much rather test with my z400
 
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