From: denis@apldbio.com (Denis Concordel)
Newsgroups: ba.motorcycles
Subject: Re: Looking for non-anal-retentive moto examiner
Date: 3 Sep 92 18:53:20 GMT
Distribution: ba
Organization: Applied Biosystems, Inc

This is amazing how many people here b... about the motorcycle drivers test.
One think I will agree on is that you are lucky if you survive your first
few months riding your motorcycle after the trainning most riders get here.
The alternative... I got my first motorcycle driver's licence 10 years ago in
France... This was a 4 part thing. First you had to answer (in limited time) 
to a bunch of questions (don;t remember how many, but close to 50) presented
to you on slides with of course a max number of error for passing (5 maybe).
Of course, some of the question were really tricky like they show you a picture
taken from the inside of a car following another car on a strait road and ask
you can you pass this car. Usually no, either you are already going to fast, or
there is a car passing you (you have to see it in your left side mirror), etc...

Once you pass the written part, you need to go for the driver's test. This was a
3 part test: low speed, higher speed and city/highway driving.
The slow test consisted of a slow (1st gear on idle most of the time) slalom
between cones, hairpin turns, riding on a board (4" wide, 15' long), small
acceleration (from 1st to 2nd gear) and braking between 2 lines. Miss 
anything and you are out...

If you're still in the running, you good for the high speed (well, 3rd gear)
test. Standing start, accelerate through 3rd gear (about 30mph) slalom at that
speed between cone (about 10 of them and they are pretty close, if you don't get
the good rythme or don't flip the bike... you'll know them off!), then brake for
a hairpin turn (tight!) accelerate as hard as you dare through 3rd gear, coast to
a line and brake as hard as you can and try not to cross the line where the DMV
dude is usually standing with his stop watch... Yet, you have a maximum time of
25sec to do it (the best candidates usually get a 20 seconds , record time are 
around 17 sec. - mosrtly by the instructors who are doing that stuff every day )

If you are still up, you take you bike for a 20-30mn ride on the road with the
DMV guy riding in a car (not crazy !) behind you and giving you direction through
a one way speaker radio system with a speaker attached on the tank of your bike.
If your ride is in or around a big city, they usually want you to show some
agressiveness on the road (not like wheelies and stupid stuff, but giood acceleration,
braking, driving at the speed limit, etc...)

Then... they give you your licence. This does not replace riding experience, but
it sure does prepare the novice riders a lot better that what is done here !

But again, having a driver's licence in the US is more a social act than a proof
of your driving abilities !.

Denis Concordel
Applied Biosystems, Inc.
denis@apldbio.com
Ride: Yamaha XT600 (Canyon version :-) )
      Husqvarna 510 (what can I say, I am a thumper guy ;-)  )

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| Standard disclaimer goes here... (like no one is responsible for what I say or do |
| but me.... even that 300 feet wheelie this morning at...                         )|
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Newsgroups: ba.motorcycles