L Plate

[duckaddict]

Hi there,

How many of you learners have your L plate on? Just got mine on Sat and felt kind of bad doing 80 on the motorway and everyone else have to change lane just to pass you :-)

Also, after one hour my hand gets numb - does one get used to this and not have this effect? or does the seasoned rider get the same "sensation" as well?

My name is duckaddict, nice to meet you too.

[MSTRS:Me]

You have an L plate on a 'none' bike?? Interesting. Incidently, the max. speed on L plate is 70kph. BUT you'd be stupid to do that anywhere the speed limit is 100. Stick with the general flow-speed of the traffic, if you value your hide.

[cowboyz]

i always had my L plate connected by one bolt throught the top of it and folded it up under the numberplate. Be buggered if I would do 80 on the open road let alone the motorway. Far too dangerous. If you have a l plate on and it is folded up at least you can say "oh, sorry officier, didnt notice it was folded up" and then when in town you can fold it back down, showing, so at least that is a $400 saving if something does go wrong and you get nabbed for something.

numb hands. I didnt notice what you are riding but it is common and it does go away. Try not to hold on so tight. If I am doing a high speed run I get pins and needles in my fingers when I am done but have done many hours touring at highway speeds and felt fine.

welcome to the site too.

[marty]

geez my hand goes numb after 5 minutes, but on the bike it's usually ok for a lot longer than that.....

[yungatart]

I ride with my L plate on only fo rinsurance purposes, but I don't obey the 70 kph rule on the open road. I ride at the speed of the traffic flow up to 110 kph- any more and you're 40 kph over and its loss of licence. I have never had any trouble from cops but should it happen I will use the excuse that some cager in a white Toyota tried to run me off the road. I've not been targeted by cagers either, for showing an L Plate.
Lots of people don't show their L Plates but it has to be your call.
Enjoy your riding
Chers

[cowboyz]

geez my hand goes numb after 5 minutes, but on the bike it's usually ok for a lot longer than that.....

thats why you have 2

[skelstar]

Get a bit more confidence and ditch the plate. Know that while you are not plated youre probably not insured either. Just got restricted (*gulp*), but probably didnt have my Lplate on the bike for 99% of the six months.

[flash]

just dont bother with one. i never did

[madboy]

Welcome to the site. I chose to ignore the learner rules. All of them. But then if you hang around here long enough you'll see I'm not likely to advise you to follow the law.

It's your call re: the L plate. Each to their own. Your likelihood of a ticket is more aligned to what you ride, how you ride and when you ride than it is to what's stuck to your bike.

Re: 70k. I think you're f***ing stupid if you choose to obey that law. You become a hindrance to traffic, and the object of scorn from so many of us for holding up the flow. The trick of staying alive on a bike in traffic is to go with the flow (as well as all the other good bits of advice). It's all good if you want to do 70 while no one is around, but you're asking for it IMO if you do it with cars around.

Contrary to what I'll say in other threads, most cops are pretty nice people and if you're not asking for it, they won't give it.

[Holy Roller]

Most of the born again bikers I know who are in their 30s and 40s don't display the L Plate or stick to the 70kph limit as others have said its too dangerous to do so. its only if and when one does something stupid to bring attention to themselves that the L Plate becomes an issue. Each to their own, you decide what you want to do. Its not all that long before the restricted comes along and one can toss the L Plate.

[bigbadwolf]

If you keep your cool when there is a cop on the road you should be fine. But if you seize up and wobble all over the place from the guilt of not obeying the learner laws, you'll draw attention to yourself.

I find that the restriction on night-time riding is stupid, I prefer to practice at night when there are no cars around at all. Was up at 4am last night hooning around Christchurch and it was farking awesome!

And no, I don't show my L-plate because it is ghey. But using it around town would probably be a good idea, for both insurance reasons if you crash, and so you don't get fined.

Chuck it on and forget about it, nobody really cares if you have it on anyway, and in a few months you won't need it anymore. So it's probably not much of a problem.

[duckaddict]

Yes, sorry for the "none" bike, it's a case of registered with KB before owning a bike. Updated now.

Thank you all for your replies - all good comments. Now I have to think hard about it, 6 months is long enough to wait and I don't want to make that any longer. Also, I have not got a ticket for seven years now and would be good to keep it that way

[madboy]

Also, I have not got a ticket for seven years now and would be good to keep it that way

Yep, I found buying a bike was the best thing I could do for my LTNZ record... no tickets ever on a bike.

[cowboyz]

I hoope you are sitting in a wooden chair on a wooden floor holding a wooden table with a comment like that.

[Pathos]

f*ck the L plate. I saw a car over take a L plater the other day using the median strip. No way that mc was below the speed limit so its just an idiot cager quelling their ego.

ride at what you feel comfortable at, thats when you're safest.