Most terrifying thing I've done in a while

[Rams]

Serk,

So, now that you've seen the light on Mick O Pegs, I would urge you to consider some for the eldest spawn.    With her height, I would think they would be beneficial to her longer distance riding.  

Rams

I don't think they make Mick O Pegs for a 250cc Honda Helix...

Correct me if I am wrong but that does not appear to be a 250cc Honda.....

With any luck she'll be getting her 250cc and under motorcycle license shortly and will start getting herself to the places she needs to be on the scooter my dad gave her:

My assumption is, the intent is to eventually allow her to ride the Valkyrie.     With her height, those MOPs would come in handy....

Rams

[3fan4life]

I've heard it confirmed that getting out of any city to a small town is always worth the trouble to pass DMV driver's tests.   

I avoid the Roanoke DMV Office at all costs, I will either wait until I can go to one of the smaller offices or make a special trip even if it is highly inconvenient.

There is no "Service" at the Roanoke office. The people there are just mindless robots. I have been sent back to "fix" paperwork where I literally had forgotten to cross a T.

In 2004 I purchased a Goldwing in FL, after getting tags and paperwork done at the FL DMV, I thanked the woman and told her that this was the first time that I had ever had a positive experience at the DMV.   


Serk, it should be OK she's well practiced and we proved that the TX DMV is more reasonable than VA's.

TX didn't make you pay taxes on our trade, VA made me pay sales tax. 

[Jess from VA]

Well, now that I think about it, if the MC driving test is all inside the box in a lot (and not all over town, like for cars) (and the written, the same everywhere), maybe the advice to go to a small town is misplaced.

[Serk]

My assumption is, the intent is to eventually allow her to ride the Valkyrie.     With her height, those MOPs would come in handy....

Gotcha... Eventually I probably will allow her to ride my original Valkyrie, but it will always be mine, at least as long as I'm capable of riding. But yes, just for me if nothing else a set of pegs are on the shopping list for that Valk as well... Kinda waiting for the right deal on a nice shape used set to come along, I'm in no hurry...

There is no "Service" at the Roanoke office. The people there are just mindless robots. I have been sent back to "fix" paperwork where I literally had forgotten to cross a T.

On one of the multiple trips it took to get her learner's permit, we were refused because the slash seperating the numbers of the date were slashing the wrong direction. And people wonder why I loathe government so much!

Being on the outskirts of the 4th largest metropolotian area in the natio, you have to go WAAAAAY out to get to a DPS office, like 200+ miles. Which isn't a fun thing to do on a 250cc scooter.



And if anyone wonders why I'm so anti government, and want government mucking with as little of my life as possible - They wouldn't let her take the test today.

The form from the school certifying she's a student was more than 30 days old and she hadn't watched a special online video about how many ways you can die on the road. (Even though she's gone through motorcycle safety class, passed the written tests, passed the MSF course, etc. etc. etc.)

My deep loathing burning hatred for government, just when I don't think it can get any stronger, just doubled.

So, deal with those things, then back of the line, wait 3-6 more weeks for another testing slot to come up and then see what paperwork we missed that time.

Snuggling ridiculous.

[Serk]

Today was the big day, we finally got our turn after all this time for her to take her driving tests.

Two tests booked, car first then motorcycle an hour later.

During the car test, right out of the gate she drove over the curb in the starting area, immediate fail.

Oops.

Went back an hour later and aced the motorcycle test.

So Kali now has her driver's license, for motorcycle only. On the plus side, for the rest of her life she'll have a little bit of biker cred for having a motorcycle license before a car license!

So..... stay off the sidewalks ya'll, the kiddo is street legal now!

[old2soon]

             Serk-Happy she has her motorsickle license.  Any time you go to ANY gubmint office keep uppermost in yer noggin that Most if not ALL gubmint employees must justify their existence by finding fault with stuff we-the public-do in order to be justified. I mean how many of the folks in the dmv office actually ride?  Kinda what I thought!  RIDE SAFE.

[Serk]

             Serk-Happy she has her motorsickle license.  Any time you go to ANY gubmint office keep uppermost in yer noggin that Most if not ALL gubmint employees must justify their existence by finding fault with stuff we-the public-do in order to be justified. I mean how many of the folks in the dmv office actually ride?  Kinda what I thought!  RIDE SAFE.

Yeah, this whole thing would be funny if we weren't being subjected to it.

One last one today that summed it up nicely - Initially they weren't gonna let her take her riding test because the tester was insisting the helmet had to have a metal plate riveted to it that stated DOT compliance, a sticker wasn't good enough.

In all my years of riding I have NEVER seen anything like that, only the DOT stickers... We finally got them to accept that her helmet was indeed DOT compliant and they let her take the test, but really?

[The emperor has no clothes]

Tell Kali congratulations, and that we are proud of her. Did she go over the curb while backing out of a parking space ?

[Bighead]

 Never seen a metal plate rivited to a helmet.
Congrats to her on the pass.

[Serk]

Did she go over the curb while backing out of a parking space ?

The testing center has a drive through section where you start the test, and the curbs extend out from the area by more than usual. She pulled through at the start, and cut the wheels over too soon, clipping the curb that juts out.

From talking to people, it seems this happens to a LOT of people at this testing center. Kinda wonder if they designed it that way intentionally to make sure you're REALLY paying attention.

Found a local private company that can administer the driving test (But NOT the motorcycle test, luckily that's already done and over with!) tomorrow at 2PM for $100 ($100 well spent instead of waiting months for another slot at the DPS center!) so.... here's hoping she wraps it up tomorrow!

We wrote up a "Rules for mobility" contract and had her sign it, hopefully it helps.

Just sent her on her first solo trip to Wal Mart to get a few simple groceries. This is rather nerve racking!

[RDKLL]

My wife, a former Valkyrie pilot herself says....

GREAT JOB KALI!!!
GREAT JOB KALI!!!

[The emperor has no clothes]

Did she go over the curb while backing out of a parking space ?

The testing center has a drive through section where you start the test, and the curbs extend out from the area by more than usual. She pulled through at the start, and cut the wheels over too soon, clipping the curb that juts out.

From talking to people, it seems this happens to a LOT of people at this testing center. Kinda wonder if they designed it that way intentionally to make sure you're REALLY paying attention.

Found a local private company that can administer the driving test (But NOT the motorcycle test, luckily that's already done and over with!) tomorrow at 2PM for $100 ($100 well spent instead of waiting months for another slot at the DPS center!) so.... here's hoping she wraps it up tomorrow!

We wrote up a "Rules for mobility" contract and had her sign it, hopefully it helps.

Just sent her on her first solo trip to Wal Mart to get a few simple groceries. This is rather nerve racking!

I'm sure it's very nerve racking. Imagine what you will be like when you have the triplets all scurrying over town at once. 

[NewValker]

Good for her!  I got my bike license first too, mostly because all I could afford to fix was 1 vehicle.
Car had to wait cause the Honda was way more fun!
Craig

[Oss]

Congrats to your daughter  Well done !

In Pearl River NY the tester tells you to make a left  and when you do you fail.

On the pavement there is a one way arrow the other way  

Having been to the area before taking the test I knew about it and when asked to turn left I said why would you want me to go the wrong way  I am not doing that

I passed.

Some day over a beer I will tell you the mc test story  

[Jess from VA]

The DC DMV was corrupt for many years.

They had a whole playbook of how to fail people; failure to check your mirror and turn around and look before backing out to start the test was an automatic fail.  People were having to test 5-10 times to pass the driver's test.  They finally put some newshounds in there undercover and got it all on tape and video.  Heads rolled. 

Unfortunately, the rest of the DC G continues on as usual.  Statehood my azz. 

Hope she does well on the private test.

[cookiedough]

fond memories she will never forget, good for her.

Sometimes local hicktown DMV offices are NOT the way to go.  The one close by us 15 miles away in next small town was where my daughter went 1st time and she failed first time ONLY thing bogus she did wrong was not come to a complete stop way, way, way in advance (I guess 100 feet back or more according to DMV _itch DMV lady) when kids crossed illegally in the road ahead of her car.  Daughter slowed down to a crawl speed but according to DMV lady she needed to STOP completely for the kids illegally crossing the road ahead way, way, way, in front of her saw daughter coming upon intersection and 'felt threatened' so the kids being kids, ran across the road even though daughter was nowhere close to them (like 100 feet back or more) = AUTOMATIC failure supposedly NOT stopping well, well, well in advance of the intersection.  Who does that???????????  NO other points taken off her drivers test either.

What REALLY irked me is 2nd attempt in next closest bigger town 40 miles away I took her this time she passed no problems and DMV guy asked her how she failed the first time and he could not believe it either.  Guess what,  I had to PAY DOUBLE FEES since in WI you have to pay for BOTH road tests when get actual license,  failed and passed road test.  That ticked me off having to pay for DMV lady being a jerk failing my daughter for no good reason.  If daughter would have stopped say 100 feet in front of the intersection and if cars behind her so as to not make the kids 'feel threatened'' enough to RUN across the road illegally I might add, then the cars behind her am sure would have passed her on the right to go around her thinking she was a goofball for stopping so far away from the intersection.  I would think a 4-5 mph crawl speed well in advance of the kids crossing would be perfectly fine, guess not.

I later found out thru others in her class to NEVER go to our local hicktown DMV office close by for they fail over 50% of first timers on the road test in order to keep their piddly small office of 2 people open ONLY 2 days per week is all.  If they passed say 80% or more which they should normally do, then the office would have no one showing up and be closed permanently.  Gotta keep the lights on I guess????????????  

Opposite end of spectrum as in most big, big cities,  I heard Madison WI DMV takes FOREVER which sucks as well.  I have been there once to register my trailer and was over 1 hour in waiting line just to get paperwork - that is nuts on a weekday even.  

I wonder how that works in TX if get cycle license before regular car license since here in WI,  the cycle license is a special endorsement code that goes ON your regular drivers license.  If she does not have regular drivers license, then do they get a separate cycle license or ????????

[Psychotic Bovine]

One piece of advice?  Have her tuck her shoe strings into her shoes.  I had a scary moment wearing sneakers on my FJ1200 many years ago.  Went to put my feet down and the left one wouldn't touch the ground.  The shoestring had wrapped itself around the shifter.
It's great she is learning to ride the Valk.  If she can handle a Valk, she can handle any motorcycle.

[Gryphon Rider]

We wrote up a "Rules for mobility" contract and had her sign it, hopefully it helps.

Would you mind emailing me a copy of that contract?  Seriously.

And, congratulations, Kali!

[Serk]

We wrote up a "Rules for mobility" contract and had her sign it, hopefully it helps.

Would you mind emailing me a copy of that contract?  Seriously.

And, congratulations, Kali!

I'll do one better and post it here.... We printed 3 copies, and Kali, Mom and myself each signed each copy so each of us have a copy. It's not perfect, just what we came up with:

---------------------------------------------
Kali's rules for mobility.

1. Cell phone will be on the vehicle, charged and turned on at all times.
2. Cell phone will NOT be used while operating a vehicle.
3. No music or other entertainment while operating a vehicle.
4. If on motorcycle all gear will be worn at all times (ATGATT). Helmet, gloves, jacket at minimum.
5. No passengers on bike or in car.
6. Notify mom and/or dad of any changes in plan, route, schedule etc. Acquire positive approval before any change.
7. Any trips other than regularly scheduled school/swim activities require positive pre-approval from Mom or Dad.
8. Forgetting any of these rules is no excuse. Not having phone charged, or phone inoperable or not with you is not an excuse.
9. Any violation of these rules or any breach of common sense as defined by Mom and Dad will result in immediate revocation of driving privileges as determined by Mom and Dad. This could be total loss, or loss of other than school/swim privileges, as decided by Mom and Dad.
10. Although I will not impair myself or allow myself to become impaired, should that ever happen, I will NOT ride or drive, and will call Mom or Dad or another responsible adult to pick me up at any time, and place.



By signing, we agree to the above rules and conditions:

[Gryphon Rider]

 

[JimC]

Serk,
Below is a link to a free ap that you can put on her phone that lets you know where she is at all times, whether she is driving or stopped, it records each stop and for how long, and the route she took for the last week or so. The nice thing is that you can see her movement, so you do not need to text or call her to find out where she is.

I warn you though, if you put it on your phone your wife can also track you!

https://www.life360.com/

Jim

[Serk]

Jim,
Life360 is the reason for rule #1 above...

Been using it for years and am a very big fan.

It is funny, I've got it set to play an alert sound when someone gets home or leaves home, and our German Shepherd Tigger (Who has fully attached to my wife) has learned that sound means mommy's home. He hears that sound and he jumps up and runs to the garage door to greet her upon her triumphant return.

Thanks for the tip, I do agree it's a very good thing to have!

[Serk]

Where government fails, the free market finds a way... 



(She just passed her car driving test, her and mommy are rushing to the DPS office to try to get the paperwork filed before they shut down for the holiday.)

Woot!

[DirtyDan]

Motorcycle endorsement ?

Dan

[Serk]

Motorcycle endorsement ?

Dan

She got that yesterday. Passed the motorcycle test but failed the car one. So for ~24 hours she had a motorcycle driver's license ONLY.

[Leathel]

Congratulations.... to her and you, for a while you will have someone to shoot around and pick things up, they love it......until the novelty wears off

I hope all goes well from here on in

[Jess from VA]

Congratulations... to her.

For mom and dad, this is the classic good news and bad news deal.  

You guys have raised her right, and she's responsible, so hopefully it's mostly good news.  

[Beardo]

Good job Kali!

Kudos to you for the impaired driving rule too. I’ve told my kids, now 18 and 20, from the time they started going to parties, that they need to have a DD if they will be drinking. This generation is much more responsible in that regard, I’ve found, than my generation was.  While it’s easy to say “don’t drink”, that wouldn’t have worked when I was 18 or 20, so I’m realistic. I’ve had the policy of “no questions asked, I won’t get mad” for a late night phone call for a ride.

I’ve spent many a Saturday night driving them and their friends home. I’ve had my truck puked in. Didn’t get mad or say a word to the kid(not mine). Just made it clear that it would be cleaned up the next day. I’ve even told my kids friends that they can call me any time they need a ride home from a party if they don’t have a DD and I will pick them up, even if my kid isn’t with them. (Although I don’t  put myself in the position of being alone in a vehicle with a female who has been drinking or otherwise).

Congrats again kiddo.

[cookiedough]

I've heard it confirmed that getting out of any city to a small town is always worth the trouble to pass DMV driver's tests.   

not all the times as in my case.   ONLY good thing is close by and not much wait, but the small DMV only open 2 days like 4 hours each day is all likes to fail people to keep their lights on. 

[cookiedough]

the 2 rules we do not follow for my age 17 on his cycle is gear at all times required.  Although he wears helmet 100% of time, I allow him to wear shorts and t-shirt and no gloves.  You will also soon enough allow daughter to go free roaming not scheduled trips but still a good idea for her to tell you 'where about' she will be going on her honda helix.  My 17 year old goes out by himself on his cycle and wanders all over the place on a whim no idea where he plans on going when he takes off, just goes....

all the rest of the rules are a good idea, although even though she probably has no interest in riding your black I/S,  there are speakers and music on that you know to listen to???    That is one thing, besides more storage on top trunk and better wind/bug protection, on m I/S I love listening and cranking my mp3 player music, while riding vs. my wife HATES it having any music on LOUD or for that matter even on at all.  She taps me on the shoulder on back of my I/S constantly telling me to turn it down.  When Bon Jovi comes on song Wanted Dead or Alive it HAS TO BE cranked up LOUD!!!!  

I think she will find amusing the honda helix for a good scooter for basic transportation.  If like my son age 16 getting cycle license putting on over 5000 miles first summer last year, she will probably put on some much needed miles that first year on the honda helix which in turn will keep it running longer if used regularly being a good thing.  But like my son even though he started out age 16 on a very fast 750cc honda magna,  the NEED for MORE speed will be there for her having to upgrade the 250cc honda helix scooter to a REAL FASTER cycle n a few years, although I could be wrong???  Weird how age and experience affects what type of cycle to ride.  I too age 17 would not like being on a 250cc scooter for long,  but now I find age 48 for short 15-20 mile  rides locally,  I enjoy just as much my 250cc scooter finding it easier and just as fun to drive shorter trips is all though.  Plus,  I have just as much storage on my 250cc scooter for groceries as my Valk I/S has with underseat storage,  2 small gear bags on rear seat, and top storage trunk on back, even having soft side bags on my scooter if I need extra storage needs.  People cannot believe when I come out of the grocery store with 5-6 bags of groceries in hand and load up my scooter thinking NO way all this can fit on the scoot.  For larger items like toilet paper or paper towels or chips,  I even have a plastic hanging clip in front of my knees to hang one or two plastic bags down on my flat load floor between my legs.  

[Serk]

Well, we got the first one over with, and we got off easy...

Went riding with her today, after lunch I headed to the store and she headed home. Got a call just as I got to CostCo from her.

Uhoh.

"Dad. I'm okay. Mostly."

She was riding home from her natatorium to make sure she could get herself home from swim, paying more attention to the roads she was crossing than to the traffic lights.

Came up too fast to a light that was very red, noticed it, dropped anchor too hard and in her panic kept her foot on the brake pedal instead of putting it on the ground.

And over she went.

She remembered the lesson I'd given her (I previously intentionally tipped her bike on it's side, taught her HOW to properly lift a bike, and made her do it), lifted her bike up, other traffic let her by and she pulled onto a side road and parked until she'd called me, told me her status, and calmed down.

Glad the first one is over with. Hope the second one is just as minor and a long LONG time from now!

[The emperor has no clothes]

Glad she's ok. 

[Rams]

Glad the first one is over with. Hope the second one is just as minor and a long LONG time from now!

Thank Goodness for Guardian Angels.... 

Rams

[cookiedough]

darn daydreaming it seems like not paying attention.  It happens all too often and accidents do happen regardless.   If that is all she got being a bad elbow for a few weeks,  she got off lucky even at lower speeds.

Is the honda helix still driveable minus a few scuffs extra and hoping no broken plastic?  Do not report it to your insurance company for as you probably already know,  the honda helix valued at around 1 grand tops is certainly not worth the increase in insurance rates having a teenage driver on now the cars and cycles.    I always found that odd that the honda helix has a right foot pedal on the floor being the rear brake vs. dual braking levers on the handlebars as most scooters have for front and rear brakes.

Both  my kids then age 16 as well did minor damage to my NEW tundra truck and our fairly new 3 year old car.  One hit a mailbox at night with my truck avoiding a deer, while the other also avoided a deer collision but ran off the road bottoming out the car ripping off the lower rocker panel, that one could have been much worse for I know the road he was on and steep ditch runoff and he got back up onto the road without flipping the car over.   The entire bottom of the car had dirt and grass/brush tucked up underneath all the plastic pieces but luckily no underneath damage.   Both fixable under the 1000 collision deductible so not worth blabbering to the insurnace company as an accident to get repairs done.  Insurance is high enough with 2 kids under age 25.

My advice is to chalk it up to a learning experience and hope she pays more attention to her surroundings next time.  PLus,  I would try to avoid night time driving as much as possible for whatever reason teenagers and deer (and other night critters) do not mix.

[Serk]

Is the honda helix still driveable minus a few scuffs extra and hoping no broken plastic?  Do not report it to your insurance company for as you probably already know,  the honda helix valued at around 1 grand tops is certainly not worth the increase in insurance rates

Yup, she dusted herself off, took a breather, and rode it home... Its' fine... and yeah.... the only folks that will know about this incident are immediate family and you fine folks...

It was a learning experience, I fully expected just such a thing to occur, just wish she'd waited a little longer.

I have her the rest of today off, but she WILL get back on that bike tomorrow just to make sure it doesn't get the best of her!

[Skinhead]

You never want these things to happen, but if they do, it's good that they are minor incidents that she can learn from.  Kali now knows how quickly things can go bad on a motorcycle.  Hopefully she will develop that 6th sense and learn to automatically and continuously process what is going on around her, keeping an eye out for the unexpected.  It happens to the best riders.  I'm glad she is OK.

[Jess Tolbirt]

only issue i would have with this is that i dont think she should be learning the big bike with a car tire on it..other than that i envy you that you will get to ride with your daughter along side instead of on the back of yours...

[Gryphon]

only issue i would have with this is that i dont think she should be learning the big bike with a car tire on it..other than that i envy you that you will get to ride with your daughter along side instead of on the back of yours...

I assumed she had her mishap on the Helix.

[Serk]

only issue i would have with this is that i dont think she should be learning the big bike with a car tire on it..other than that i envy you that you will get to ride with your daughter along side instead of on the back of yours...

I assumed she had her mishap on the Helix.

That is correct, the accident was on the Helix. She's only riding the Valk around a parking lot at this point, I want her to have some miles and hours on the Helix before she takes a Valk out onto the road.

Speaking of which, small update - she got her car license Monday evening. Tuesday was the first time we'd let her get herself to swim and school (She leaves for swim at around 5:30 AM).  It was 33 degrees and she had a choice of a car (With heated seats) or the bike.....







(That was a very emotionally conflicting thing to bear witness to. Excited, proud, happy.... and terrified all at the same time.)

And she's taken the bike every day since...

[Gryphon Rider]

Now she gets to find out how hard it is to stuff all that gear into a swimming pool locker.  You can console yourself with that fact that in the city it's safer to ride at 5:30am than at rush hour.

How likely is it that the temperatures will dip below freezing when she's riding?  Even when the roads are dry, condensation dripping out of vehicle tailpipes will freeze on the road, making it dangerous within a few car lengths of intersections.  The the last few feet before, and crossing the intersection where vehicles accelerate and pour water out their tailpipes, are especially slick.  I once dumped my Valkyrie at a few degrees below freezing when braking moderately hard for a yellow light.