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License test in the old days.

Brendan W

Brendan W

Forum Sage
Past Site Supporter
I told this story at the table tonight and realised it's time to put it in writing.
Long ago the bike test here consisted of the tester asking you to do a circuit along the quays, up cinema lane, along south main,up Barrack, down Parnell to Trinity and so on. He would ,on foot, observe and halt the procedure when satisfied or not but he issued a caution that at some point on the circuit he would emerge on to the roadway without warning to test the applicant's skill in emergency stops.
We're talking two stroke Honda 50 here. On the day in question it was drizzling a soft rain and our hero donned a suit of yellow oilskins and set out on his test circuit with much apprehension. The tester elected to test the emergency stop skills on Parnell, a hazardous street which could have as many as half a dozen cars parked and offered opportunities to spring out from between them at the last moment.
Spotting the Honda and yellow oilskins he carefully laid his trap and sprang it only to be run over, capsizing the bike and rider who swore at him roundly and threatened surgical procedures.
As he lay dazed on the wet street he chanced to look up to the intersection with Barrack and saw another Honda 50 with a rider in yellow oilskins carefully picking his way , checking the gaps between the cars.:D
 
Have you seen the new riding test? :-k

Click HERE. :D



For the four-wheel version of the driving test, click HERE.
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A very old man once told me his driving test consisted of the Sheriff rising shotgun while they took a trip up and down the steepest hill in town.

The guy was in his 80s sometime in the 80s.

Some people get a cheap laugh breaking up the speed limit
Scaring the pedestrians for minute
Crossing up progress driving on the grass
Leaving just enough room to pass
Sunday driver never took a test
Oh yeah, once upon a time in the west
 
When I was 17 I took the test on my 82 Katana (in 1983) the test consisted of pushing your bike through some cones etc. then I was told to go around the block, with no one with me. When I got back I got my license. I guess if you made it back alive you passed.:confused:
Fast forward to a couple of years ago here in BC (I had to get my bike license again as I had lost it years ago, long story) I went out for a 30 min ride with a couple of instructors following me giving me radio directions while I rode.
 
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Trevor that is exactly what I had to do , but I didn't even go on the road whole thing took 5 minutes at the most, Brian, Easy Sneazy
 
i had the same test when i took mine in 85. part 1 was round the cones. i took mine on a borrowed Honda CB100n. lucky for me i knew the tester very well as my trusty borrowed Honda broke down 1/4 way through the test. he spread the cones out slightly and let me retake the test on his GSX1100ET. needless to say i passed and he had some very cheap spannering done on his GSX for a while......
 
Mine was similar. It was raining and the examiner came outside with a clipboard, stood under the awning and told me to drive around the block. He saw me turn out of the lot and from a distance turn at the stoplight, then reenter the parking lot. I don't know what he wrote down but I passed. LOL
 
old test

old test

When I took my test in 1979 I think, it was just 1 lap around the DMV building with the instructor watching from the sidewalk. No cones, no anything. I was on my old Yammy 175 enduro.
 
No test. There was no motorcycle license. If you had a drivers license, it covered motorcycles.
 
Ah, the good 'ole days! In Victoria I remember a much more relaxed learners license program. You had to have your eyes checked and write a 25 question multiple choice test. If you passed you then received your learners license which allowed you to ride solo, (unaccompanied). After 2 weeks you could go for your full license. The learners was good for 4 or 6 months, tough to remember, (it was a long time ago), so I just kept letting it lapse and getting a 'fresh' one until I finally decided to get the class 6. The test was - I had to weave in and out of cones, accelerate quickly in the parking lot and hammer on the brakes, then go out in front of the BC Motor Vehicle Branch and go down the street a block and do a u turn while being observed. I rode back to the front of the building, parked, went inside and collected my license.:)
 
eddie21 said:
Ah, the good 'ole days! In Victoria I remember a much more relaxed learners license program. You had to have your eyes checked and write a 25 question multiple choice test. If you passed you then received your learners license which allowed you to ride solo, (unaccompanied). After 2 weeks you could go for your full license. The learners was good for 4 or 6 months, tough to remember, (it was a long time ago), so I just kept letting it lapse and getting a 'fresh' one until I finally decided to get the class 6. The test was - I had to weave in and out of cones, accelerate quickly in the parking lot and hammer on the brakes, then go out in front of the BC Motor Vehicle Branch and go down the street a block and do a u turn while being observed. I rode back to the front of the building, parked, went inside and collected my license.:)
Click to expand...

You got your license last year ? :eek:
 
eddie21 said:
??????!!! If last year was around 1978.... then yes!;)
Click to expand...

You must have had a stickler in Victoria. Tests were pretty slack back then. If my guy could have stayed inside out of the rain he would have....:)
 
1979 on an S model. Two cops came out, asked about the bike, then promptly awarded me a M class license.

Fast forward to 2011: $165 MSF instruction over 3 days, 2 hours killed at DMV for written test.
 
A friend of mine in Illinois just turned 75 and therefore had to re-qualify for his license. He drives one of those 9 foot long bagged out Vulcans. He told me that the test had a cone course set up with the cones set 10 feet apart. Rather than risk damaging the bike, he didn't even attempt it and went home to figure out what to do to pass it at a later date.
 
tkent02 said:
You were grandfathered in because you had the license before motorcycles were invented?
Click to expand...

Yeah, kind of like a friend of mine that has been an airline captain so long that he doesn't have a pilot's license and no one has ever checked.
 
I went for my endorsement at age 16 (holy crap - 43 yrs ago). You had to show up with a bike (I owned a Norton 650 P11 - borrowed a Honda 50) proof of ins. on bike - a car, proof of ins on car - also driver for car. Instructor sat shotgun in car, Map taped to gas tank of bike. About 1/4 into the first block, right turn at light, bike made it - red light by time car was there. When I returned had to wait about 5 min for car to return. Instructor jumped out and started yelling at me about trying to "loose" him at the light. He yelled and yelled then tried to flunk me. I explained I followed the map and he did not (he says he did) tell me to pull over and wait if this happened. My uncle (police officer) was the driver of the car. We let this guy go on and on for about 15 min. until he said I flunked. That's when my uncle spoke up - first asking if the instructor had ever rode a bike (no) If he always acted like this during a test (yes). At which time I said I would retake this test now - instructor said he was going to lunch (9:30 am) and I would have to come back another day - next opening was about a month away. Asked to talk to his boss - he said "I am the boss".
You should have seen his face when my uncle whipped out his badge - informed the guy that he drank with the guy that was incharge of that secretary of state office - the guy marked my papers passed and dropped them on the ground. This guy lost his job within a few weeks. About 6 months later, my uncle pulled this guy over for a traffic infraction - yep - he got a ticket - tried to fight it in court - even brought up that my uncle cost him his job.
The judge also drank with my uncle. I used to see this guy sometimes in the local stores. We always had a few things to say to each other. GOOD TIMES.
 
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