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Too easy to be behind the bars of a motorcycle?

3K views 44 replies 21 participants last post by  rorytsm 
#1 · (Edited)
Not sure how this varies, but in the state of NC, it seems far to easy to legally drive a motorcycle.

At the age of 16, a person can take the road course given at the DMV to obtain a motorcycle license. But a person can take a 15 minute written exam and obtain a motorcycle permit. That's it. The ONLY restriction on the permit is that the driver may not ride a passenger and they must wear a helmet. They can ride anywhere, with anyone, with any bike, at any given time. At least make it mandatory to take the MSF course or SOMETHING before being able to drive on the roads freely. But no course is necessary, no nothing. That just seems like an accident waiting to happen.

After all, NC DOES have the eight highest motorcycle death rate in the nation for a reason...
 
#4 ·
Now to get a license, you have to take a course at the dmv, but to get a permit and be able to drive a motorcycle with the only restriction of not being able to ride a passenger without taking any course at all, that's not too wise...
 
#6 · (Edited)
Right, but it just seems like a 16 year old with no needed experience on any course being let free for a year or a year and a half just seems like trouble. :dunno
 
#14 ·
i think all places should have a CC restriciton for new riders as well. Maybe up to 500cc for the first year so that newbies dont buy a litre bike (or even 750/600 for that matter) and go out and kill or wreck themselves in the 1st month.
 
#15 ·
Not sure of the exact laws in your state but here in PA, you always hear about the same stipulations...cannot ride a passenger and can't ride at night while on a permit.

The problem is that the actual law states that in addition to no passengers and daylight only, you also have to be within eyesight of a licensed rider at all times. That then becomes the biggest problem, people thinking it's really easy to just pick up a permit, jump on a bike, and ride when in reality, they are just misinformed.

I will say this though....I signed up for the MSF classes right after I got my permit so I could get my license and the people that I saw passing that class and getting their license to legally ride was astounding. These people were almost dropping the bikes during the classes and clearly demonstrating a lack of riding skill, and yet when test time came after the three classes we had, they managed to not fail.

So in that respect, I think the MSF class makes it extremely too easy to obtain a license, at least here in PA.
 
#18 ·
Oh no, here in NC, the ONLY restriction with a permit is that you can't have a passenger. Everything else is free range. :shake
 
#19 ·
Wow, that seems idiotic to me.

You know how many retards we have here in PA running around on their permit and yanking on the bars to "get it to come up" or asking "where's a good place to top it out at"?

Scary to think it's just that much easier for these people to ride in NC.
 
#20 ·
Wow, that seems idiotic to me.

You know how many retards we have here in PA running around on their permit and yanking on the bars to "get it to come up" or asking "where's a good place to top it out at"?

Scary to think it's just that much easier for these people to ride in NC.
Tell me about it. Wish Something would be done. NC is EIGHTH highest on the NATION for motorcycle death rate.
 
#25 ·
#27 ·
Don't know if anyone has covered this yet, but in Australia its now 3 full years with multiple tests to get your open class Motorcycle license. Prior to that you are restricted to <660 CC AND power to weight restrictions, so all 600cc supersport bikes & alike are out.

Be careful what you ask for, its a total bitch being stuck on slow bikes for 3 years.
 
#28 ·
Yea that seems a little extream. It would suck having to ride small stuff like that around for three years, what would happen if the caught you on liter bike?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Motorcycle.com App
 
#30 ·
Well now that where on the topic. I shit my pants when I went for my license In New Orleans. I knew how to ride a bike already but the simplicity of walking away with a license had me disgusted. First of all no permit is required too take the test. I figured makes sense not ideal but I can see it, lots of people have already learned too ride and are just wanting too get their license for the street. Step one was to take the test; an assortment of 15 common sense questions. One of witch included identifying the meaning of a one way sign from a picture. If you failed this test your brain must be made of pudding. Once the big test was over it was time for the practical. The proctor then filled me in on what abilities I needed to demonstrate in order too receive my Louisiana motorcycle endorsement. Due to the limited space in the parking lot I was instructed to ride too the end of the parking lot and back 4 times. In during my travels I had to make one complete stop and shift into second once. My favorite part was when the lady told me "I know we don't have a lot of room for you bikers here so you are aloud too use your feet when your turning around if need be". Holy molly I just got my motorcycle endorsement! Its a scary thought isn't it. I didn't refuse my endorsement although I was completely disgusted by how easy it was.
 
#32 ·
Big difference over here in the UK...

First to ride any bike you need to be over the age of 21. Then you have to pass a CBT which shows the instructor you know the very basics. Once you collect your CBT certificate you need to pass a theory test, once thats passed you can then put in for your practical test. The practical test is in 2 parts, part 1 is in a controlled environment where your expected to carry out various tasks, emergency stop, riding in and out of cones, figures of 8 around cones, u-turnes between cones and avoidance. Knock a single cone over and you fail, do not hit the required speeds when doing the tests and you fail, put your foot down whilst doing a task and you fail.

Pass this then its on the road you go to take the 2nd part of your test, you are taken around the local area/town for almost an hour to show you are safe to ride. Make 10 minor mistakes, 3 of the same minor mistakes or one serious mistake and you fail. This all has to be done on a bike which is no less than 500cc....
 
#33 ·
Big difference over here in the UK...

First to ride any bike you need to be over the age of 21. Then you have to pass a CBT which shows the instructor you know the very basics. Once you collect your CBT certificate you need to pass a theory test, once thats passed you can then put in for your practical test. The practical test is in 2 parts, part 1 is in a controlled environment where your expected to carry out various tasks, emergency stop, riding in and out of cones, figures of 8 around cones, u-turnes between cones and avoidance. Knock a single cone over and you fail, do not hit the required speeds when doing the tests and you fail, put your foot down whilst doing a task and you fail.

Pass this then its on the road you go to take the 2nd part of your test, you are taken around the local area/town for almost an hour to show you are safe to ride. Make 10 minor mistakes, 3 of the same minor mistakes or one serious mistake and you fail. This all has to be done on a bike which is no less than 500cc....
This is like what would happen in my world :flex:

The way I ride, I might not even pass my own test :lol
 
#36 ·
Pretty close to the same here in Germany. I already had the endorsement on my US license and they made me take a 804 question test on the computer. After that, I had to do 3 'practice' rides with an instructor. After this, I had to take a test at the certification office. Once this was complete, I had to do a test ride with one of the certifying officials. After all that, I got my license. What a pain!
 
#44 ·
If your parents allowed you to buy a bike at 16 it's still their decision. Not the smartest parenting if you ask me, but if they feel your mature enough to own one and be on public roads, more power to them I guess.

If you did it behind their back, you were just a little douche bag kid now weren't you :lol
 
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