The wifey and her new FZ

[reiobard]

I read this a lot about the guys in the states.

How you all sneak off to parking lots to practice on your bikes because you are not qualified for the road yet.

How does the qualifying procedure work in the states? How do you get your bikes to the parking lot to practice?

Steve

It varies from state to state...NH has 2 ways to get your MC Endorcement.

The smart way (The way that my wife did it): Sign up and go to a 3 day, all day rider training class where they provide the bikes, teach you the basics, and you walk away with a certificate that you take to the DMV and get your endorsement.

The dangerous/dumb way (the way I did it.): I have no Idea who thinks this is a good idea, but the second way is that any schmo with a drivers license can walk into the DMV and get a "learners permit" which is good fore 30 days and allows you to ride during the day, within the state, and no passengers... those are the only restrictions. Within the 30 days of "teach yourself" time you can go to the DMV and take the skills test and get your unrestricted enforcement. I was a young squid and didn't know any better... I have reformed.


To answer your other question about parking lots. The one smart thing i did when starting to ride was that i started on a Ninja 250 so that it was small to learn on and also small enough for my wife to learn on. After i had my license i would ride the bike to the parking lot for my wife and let her practice on it before she took the test and she learned the basics of riding before going to the course.

 

[keira]

to add on to rob's post (above) i would also drive the bike across the street to the wal mart parking lot on occasion when he was working late and practice on my own. they closed early, and i had the whole lot to myself, including a road that went around the outside of the building complete with yellow lines and everything. it was literally across the street, so I didn't have to be on the road at all.

 

[sma]

I read this a lot about the guys in the states.

How you all sneak off to parking lots to practice on your bikes because you are not qualified for the road yet.

How does the qualifying procedure work in the states? How do you get your bikes to the parking lot to practice?

Steve

It's not that I'm not qualified for the road...I don't have a lot of riding experience and am not comfortable getting out on the road until I learn the bike and feel prepared for situations that may arise with other motorists.

My hubby rides the bike to the parking lot with me on the back and then he waits patiently while I go round and round.

 

[Admin]

Welcome to the site!!!:thumbup:

 

[trampld]

The methods here in Michigan are the same as described above by Reiobard - though I did not use either method when I got started on a bike...
My Brother in law in Florida had an 05 SV-650 at the time (a few years ago), a kawasaki vulcan and a little Honda scooter - I had little/no experience of the two wheel variety, so off I went on the scooter...had lots of fun on it - he finally talked me into taking the SV out and then could not get me off of it. He later replaced the SV with an 06 636 ninja and replaced the vulcan with a 1600cc mean streak all of which proved to be a lot of fun. The last straw was when I went down for a short visit and did not get a chance to ride at all - I came home and started shopping...found the FZ which was perfect for me, got my 30 day permit, bought the bike, and then did the skills test about 25 days in to the permit.
The skills test was on a 250cc scooter and was WAY easy. Really don't think it would have been fun on the FZ6 at the time.
So my first couple years of 'vacation' riding on trips to FL were w/o an endorsement.

btw - the ninja has been sold and as I understand it, it was replaced with a speed triple...have not taken it out yet.

 

[Wavex]

Awesome! :thumbup: Welcome here.