Motorcycle-licensed pilots

[Shiny Side Up]

Must stop doing burn-outs if I have to do this afterwards...

Jeebus, hopefully that's a picture of someone you're paying to change that off the rim. I used to do that myself until I discovered I could get someone else to do it for like 20 bucks.

Keeping this aviation themed...

One must note that guys who are good with planes, tend to be guys who are good with all sorts of other mechanical stuff. In general teaching farmers, mechanics, truck drivers, bull dozer operators, welders and plumbers how to fly is alsmost always an easier task than Doctors, Lawyers and Engineers. You have to wonder is there's a "mechanically apt" gene sometimes that draws people to and makes them have a better "feel" for how they work.

This has become readily apparent in the last while when it has come to the task of removing snow. Some of the volunteers are really hard on the equipment, they seem to exude some sort of mechanical entropy.

[sidestick stirrer]

My youngest, flies a taildragger too:

[DanWEC]

I have no clear recollection of that event.

Oliver's Landing has an interesting story behind it. I
used to live there. Bit of a snobby lot. Unless all four
of your grandparents were born there, you simply
weren't a member of the "in clique". At the time, I
politely refrained from any comments on the hazards
of inbreeding.

PS I think the speed limit under the bridge is 10 kph.

Speed limit on water in Ontario unless otherwise marked is 10km/h 100 feet from shore! Though I think there is an exemption if you can blow by it by a factor of 10. Mostly because there is no way of catching you.

[Shotgun Chuck McCoy]

Much like DanWEC;

I have 2 bikes (through an interesting twist of fate) and I love them both. I love taking long trips on gravel roads into the sunset to find secluded fishing spots and being able to carry all my paraphernalia with me when I go.

[esp803]

Up in the Andes of Eastern Chile last winter! I love motorcycles.... why am I in Canada this winter....

E

[Youngback]

Most of the pilots I know ride bikes. Bikes should be a part of the SARON and SAMRA.

[AirFrame]

Too many toys. I sold the VFR that fall, after only putting 2000km on it that year. Living a 5 minute drive from work and from the airport really isn't conducive to a long engine life on a motorcycle. Especially when i'd rather fly than ride.

[Colonel Sanders]

i'd rather fly than ride

Do both! You're going to regret selling that VFR - fine
motorcycle.

It's funny, I'm renewing a retired Air Canada's 40 year
old instructor rating (really) on his aircraft, and sure
enough, he rides a motorcycle to the airport

You have to wonder is there's a "mechanically apt" gene

Funny you mention that - in my family, we call it the
"math gene" which my sister and oldest daughter lament
that they missed.

I feel sad for kids these days, that have grown up without
wrenches and pliers and screwdrivers and sockets and
oxy-act tanks, that didn't spend their childhood breaking
stuff, taking it apart, fixing it, putting it back together again
and then breaking it again.

Because that's pretty well what I still do, today.

Obligatory motorcycle eye candy: http://i.imgur.com/P6lpj.jpg

I remember, a very very long time ago, as a little kid. I doubt
if I was even 10. Mowing the lawn with a piece of shit electric
lawnmower. I don't even know where. Of course I went over
the cord, and cut it. So I stripped the wires, soldered them back
together again, and taped it up with black electrical tape. That's
just what you did, when I was a kid.

[tractor driver]

Did the dirt bike racing thing as a kid. When I graduated to street bikes, got my instructor / examiner rating as a hobby, and have carried on with that, training literally thousands of riders since. Bought the latest bikes from an U.S. Air force buddy who gets H.D.'s @ cost for serving. They're sitting in the hangar for the winter.
Appears I fit the profile.
g

[Beefitarian]

I remember, a very very long time ago, as a little kid. I doubt
if I was even 10. Mowing the lawn with a piece of shit electric
lawnmower. I don't even know where. Of course I went over
the cord, and cut it. So I stripped the wires, soldered them back
together again, and taped it up with black electrical tape. That's
just what you did, when I was a kid.

Not me, I used to mow away from the cord and move it to the part I already mowed.

[pdw]

Yes, (tractor driver) the profile is showing itself adequately so far. Anyone who's not into motorbike riding of course should be welcomed to post here as well, ... maybe to demonstrate a perspective where the adrenalin rushes aren't quite so dominant ?

You have to wonder is there's a "mechanically apt" gene

Funny you mention that - in my family, we call it the
"math gene" which my sister and oldest daughter lament
that they missed.

And assure them not to worry, they may be more mathematically apt than they are aware.

On a trip to LA for the kids dance lessons, got into a conversation with a retired math teacher who survived a bullet in a school shooting. Her one strong idea was that anyone involved in running a simple household successfully is an expert mathematician, living within their budget constraints in making it work (i think what she meant there is that everything becomes a calculation).

[jump154]

Guess I fit the profile as well...although not right now, and technically only licensed for bikes in the UK as there is no license exchange. Miss my ratty old 400-4, and the GSX750 that I had to sell when emigrating. Never got round to doing the Canadian license thing as bikes here are really a toy - cannot ride to work in -20 and a snowstorm!
Good news is I did say at one point to not get another bike until my girls left home, and they are 18 next year - and there is some very nice machinery in the Triumph catalogue.....hmmm.....

[Beefitarian]

- cannot ride to work in -20 and a snowstorm!

Speaking of which. Why start this thread so long before spring?

[pdw]

Good question ... starting to think maybe 'caus it'll probably take at least until spring for EVERY pilot-with-motorcycle to get the chance to respond. Sure are lots of neat pics out there.

[Colonel Sanders]

technically only licensed for bikes in the UK as there is no license exchange

There sort of is (at least in Ontario, which is the closest thing
to a Nazi state in all of Canada. If you're in a different province,
it's probably easier).

A guy that I did his class 4 instructor rating (meets the profile)
had a Scottish motorcycle licence and wanted to get his Ontario
motorcycle rider's licence.

Not sure if you are aware, but Ontario has this retarded "graduated"
licensing program which is a huge cash grab.

Anyways, you write your M1, then between 60 and 90 days you do
an M2 test than after a number of years you are eligible for another
M test, which is permanent. Like I said, a huge cash grab.

Anyways, because of his Scottish licence, he got credit for all the
experience that retarded people from Ontario need (remember grade 13?)
and he was able to write the M1, do the M2, and do the M test all
as fast as he could book them. Had to pay for all the test, of course -
huge cash grab.

And that, in Ontario, is as good as it gets - when the government isn't
spending a billion dollars to try to buy a seat.

Oh yeah, we need something aviation related. Here's the cockpit of
an airplane:



Two levers, two rudder pedals.

[pdw]

Now I remember why I got that M ... it was just to get some practice in aquiring / paying for yet another endorsement or renewal for the aviation experience.

[jump154]

Interesting, I'd read the line "There is no exchange program for Motorcycle licenses" - but reading further I may be able to get experience credit - if they count experience 18 years ago having said that, my UK license is still valid, as back then you got a license valid until your 70th birthday.
I'd still have to do both the tests - frustrating as I was one of the first to have to do graduated licensing in the UK. Still, will be fun seeing if I can loose the examiner like I did back then....
Nice thing about Ontario is there is no limit to what you can ride. In the UK I was restricted to a 125 or lower while I had a learner's permit. Had to pass the final test then I could ride what I wanted - nice memories of my friend lending me his FJ1100 day after the test. 150 mph indicated on the A12, watching the BMW that had been tailgating me disappear in the mirrors. Memories....

Hey - I turned 44 today - does this count as a mid-life crisis?

[Skyhunter]

Ride an FZ1. Think the Col has seen it at Smith Fall's when flying the Bird Dog towing. It is pretty common among military pilots.

[I_Drive_Planes]

One must note that guys who are good with planes, tend to be guys who are good with all sorts of other mechanical stuff. In general teaching farmers, mechanics, truck drivers, bull dozer operators, welders and plumbers how to fly is alsmost always an easier task than Doctors, Lawyers and Engineers. You have to wonder is there's a "mechanically apt" gene sometimes that draws people to and makes them have a better "feel" for how they work.

This has become readily apparent in the last while when it has come to the task of removing snow. Some of the volunteers are really hard on the equipment, they seem to exude some sort of mechanical entropy.

I think there might be something to this, though I don't know if it's genetic or just based on one's experience and opportunities. Growing up I spent a large portion of my time on my grandparents' farm running equipment, exploring, and fiddling with my grandfather's vast array of collected mechanical stuff. My first job was at the tender age of 10, friends of my grandparents leased a section of land (strategically located next to the airport, perfect workplace for a 10 year old fascinated by airplanes) and paid my grandfather and I to put the whole thing up in hay. This wasn't driving in granddaddy's lap, I worked by myself and was responsible for lubricating and fueling my tractor and whatever implement I was using that day. By the time I was 11 I had learned to drive the ancient 1956 D6 cat (learned to start it too, with the pup motor that was almost more challenging) my grandfather had. Through my youth this pattern continued as I learned to ride snowmobiles, the mini bike I assembled from a box of parts, and drive automobiles. Then I eventually graduated to airplanes, then motorcycles, and now I drive trains for a living. Though I do have some good genes for being mechanically inclined; one grandfather was a heavy duty mechanic, the other was an auto mechanic and millwright, and my dad is a bodyman who used to build and race stock cars (so did my mom, actually!). I credit growing up on the farm for my being good with machines.

Experience with, and an interest in various machines seems to be a common thread among pilots. In the T-hangars here in Prince George there are several motorcycles, quads, and snowmobiles parked under the wings of the airplanes inside. I'm reading Chris Hadfield's book right now. He writes about driving a tractor on his dad's farm, breaking parts and being shown how to fix them, and the influence of that experience on his career path.


This is me riding the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Vietnam last year:

rsz_1rsz_p1000650.jpg (280.21 KiB) Viewed 2037 times

This is my trusty old EX500 overlooking Osoyoos on a trip through the Okanagan a few years ago:

motoosoyoos.jpg (46.16 KiB) Viewed 2037 times

[Shiny Side Up]

Not sure if you are aware, but Ontario has this retarded... huge cash grab.

Fixed it for ya. I think Cycle Canada has had a lot of running articles about how Ontario is the worst province for owning a motorcycle in. I think the last one I read figured it was going to cost you about 125% more to own a bike in Onterrible over and above the next most expensive (and prohibitive) province.

Back to an aviation bent, Motorcycles and airplanes go together. One might say that the tech that made motorcycles possible, also made airplanes possible - the quest for light weight engines, and the game of speed. Glenn Curtiss is nothing short of a heroic figure in this regard.

[Colonel Sanders]

I'd still have to do both the tests

For an experienced rider, it's no big deal. When I
wrote my (Ontario) M1 written (10? years ago) I
failed because I hadn't studied all the graduated
driving privileges for teenaged car drivers. I immediately
wrote it again and passed. Asked the examiner
what the record for back-to-back rewrites was -
"seven".

Ok, M1 out of the way. Now book an M2 which is
basically ride around some pylons in a parking lot
and ride around the block in a town with the examiner
watching. No big deal. Now book an M which is
when you ride around with a radio in your ear with
the examiner following in a mini-van. Hardest thing
about the test is not losing the mini-van in traffic.
You are leading a formation. Sound familiar?

I coached Eric to a perfect M test a couple years back,
which I don't think the examiner had seen before.

Hint: you have to ride THEIR way, which is blocking
tire track, brake light on at ALL times when decelerating
or stopped, only left foot down when stopped, and head
on swivel. If you have vertigo and a burned-out rear
brake when you finish your M exit test, you will get a
perfect score.

Oh yeah, and the money for the tests. Do it!!

Right - this is an aviation website. Here's a picture of
Eric and I taking off in formation:

[jump154]

Ride around the block in town. That used to be the whole UK test!

Minivan? You mean examiners don't ride bikes??

Pass the test - yep - play the game the way they want it played in order to get the ticket. Same as a flight test eh? My UK test I bought a new high vis Sam Bowne belt, only wore it the once. Passed alright

[Colonel Sanders]

Piece of white tape, vertical on the back of
your helmet is nearly required equipment to
pass the M exit test.

[photofly]

technically only licensed for bikes in the UK as there is no license exchange

Strictly if you hand in your UK licence to get a Canadian one you're not licensed for bikes at all, any more.

I hope you kept a photocopy of your UK licence; if you ever need to swap the Canadian one back for a UK one the Canadian one doesn't record that you can drive a manual transmission car; not only can you not get your motorbike licence back but you'd only be given entitlement to drive an automatic in the UK unless you can convince DVLA otherwise.

Big difference between riding a motorcycle in the UK and in Canada - in the UK you're expected and obliged to move to the head of a traffic queue, at lights, etc, moving between (and outside) the lanes of stationary cars. Everyone in Toronto rides a motorcycle pretending they're six feet wide waiting forty rows of cars back from the lights. I don't know why they bother to have a bike in town.

[jump154]

18 years ago there was no exchange program, so I just claimed experience and went to the G test. Still have my pink paper UK license. They now have worked out the money grab, and gone to photo licenses with 5 year expiry or something, but mine still says it is valid until 2039.

I'm constantly amused driving round here being held up by motorcycles, and wondering why they never seem to overtake anything.