Motorcycle License
There is at least two ways of getting a motorcycle endorsement on your driver’s license. The first way is through a class, which my wife and I took. It was offered through a professional organization and was affiliated with Seaman High School (the other option in town was offered by the Harley Davidson dealership). They are the same so I will describe our experience.
It started on a Friday evening with rules of the road training. You know things like how closely to follow a vehicle in front of you, how long to stop at a stop sign, etc. At the end of that night, we took the written exam and knew whether we passed it or not. First thing early Saturday morning, we were assigned a small motorcycle (350cc if I recall), and started riding drills. For example, we had to demonstrate the ability to control the throttle and clutch by walking the motorcycle across a parking lot, turning around and walking it back. This sounds easy but since we were all on borrowed bikes it was challenging. A couple of people who had no experience riding a motorcycle tipped the motorcycle over and eventually got so frustrated, they dropped the class (one of them resolved to take the next class).
Then we practiced riding in a circle and stopping within a reasonable distance of a mark and riding over an obstacle on the pavement. I believe we ended the day riding circle 8s within a targeted area. It was a very long and hot day.
First thing Sunday morning, we were back at it with training on emergency stopping. But most of the rest of the morning was just practicing. Sunday afternoon, we took the behind the wheel test (I guess it really is more of a riding test). We found out Sunday afternoon whether we passed the behind the wheel portion. Most of us passed but several didn’t with mixed reactions of whether they'd take the class again.
Then came the hard news, the paper work that we’d have to take to get our physical license would take approximately 6 weeks to get to us and, legally, we couldn’t ride without an accompanying licensed rider until then. The day we got our paper work, we went to the driver’s license place to get our license and saw a sign that suggested that if a person was caught riding a motorcycle without the proper endorsement, the fine was $500. I’m not saying we did anything illegal in that ensuing time but that fine sure would have hurt to pay.
“A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold. The rich and the poor meet together; the Lord is the Maker of them all. The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it. The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life. Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked; whoever guards his soul will keep far from them.” - Proverbs 22:1-5 ESV
“Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” - Ephesians 4:17-32
For all you four-wheeled caged drivers, please keep an eye out for motorcycles and remember they have to work harder than you do driving to not make a stupid mistake and get hurt….
