Ray Shearman - whaaaaaaaaat?

[mashman]

As a pommy twat I sat my bike test in the UK... I paid over the odds to fast track it, DAS course (as long as you are over the age of 25). Cost me about 1200 bucks for a 5 day course. Pass the course and you can ride what you like!!! day 1 is a ride around the cones, on a 125, in a playground as well as covering the usual basic handling stuff. Day 2, the morning is cones and the afternoon you take to the open road on a 125... Day 3 morning is open road on the 125, afternoon was straight on to the 500's. Day 4 and 5 (morning) are open road on a 500 (always riding the same roads) and a couple of mock tests... day 5 afternoon is the test... Job done, please pick up the bike of your choice and thanks for paying attention. good enough???

[Usarka]

As a pommy twat I sat my bike test in the UK... I paid over the odds to fast track it, DAS course (as long as you are over the age of 25). Cost me about 1200 bucks for a 5 day course. Pass the course and you can ride what you like!!! day 1 is a ride around the cones, on a 125, in a playground as well as covering the usual basic handling stuff. Day 2, the morning is cones and the afternoon you take to the open road on a 125... Day 3 morning is open road on the 125, afternoon was straight on to the 500's. Day 4 and 5 (morning) are open road on a 500 (always riding the same roads) and a couple of mock tests... day 5 afternoon is the test... Job done, please pick up the bike of your choice and thanks for paying attention. good enough???

The thing with this course is that you have an instructor in your ear the whole time, so you learn the RIGHT way first time. Bad habits don't even get a chance to get a shoe in.

I did this method and I reckon I would have learnt a lot of lessons the hard way if I'd done the old kiwi round the cones then she'll be right licence method.

[Mikkel]

Besides at 3k per license there would only be one license holder per family - then who is going to drive me home when Im pissed?

In Denmark the average price of a license is at least 3 grand - that's just for the car, it gets more expensive if you want to add a motorcycle endorsement.

Qualified instructors require payment, thus the mandatory 20 hours of supervised instruction becomes rather expensive. Also, there's a requirement to do a day at a watertrack training driving in slippery conditions practicing aquaplaning and such (with and without ABS). You can not get a drivers license without being able to do a parallel park, reverse park, 3-point turn, etc.

They fail people yes, but still not nearly enough.

[mashman]

The thing with this course is that you have an instructor in your ear the whole time, so you learn the RIGHT way first time. Bad habits don't even get a chance to get a shoe in.

I did this method and I reckon I would have learnt a lot of lessons the hard way if I'd done the old kiwi round the cones then she'll be right licence method.

Fair comment. In comparison the UK system does seem better. I still think that 5 days on the road wasn't enough for my riding experience (I sat my test over 4 weekends and a Friday). I hadn't been on a bike in over 10 years. I know there's no way to guarentee that you have previous riding experience, but to let someone just go ahead seems a little crazy... same can be said for the car too, but until they bring in a similar system to flying lessons i guess there's nothing that can be done!!!

[Ixion]

The call for tougher driving tests is a frequently heard one. And there is good logic in it. But, two points that bikers need to consider -

One , is that, at present the tests for cars and bikes are much the same . Obviously, there are some differences , but the standard expected is much of a muchness. Now, ideally we would like to see tests tougher for ALL road users, cages as well as bikes. But, real world calling here, that ain't going to happen. The gubbermint might agree to toughening up on bike tests , but never on cage tests. So, how would people feel if getting a bike licence was a LOT harder than getting a car licencse? Me, I'd feel that was OK, sort of puts the official stamp on us being an elite.

Secondly, a corollary of tougher tests is tougher penalties for those that drive without a licence , on the wrong licence or outside licence conditions.Otherwise, noone woiuld bother to sit the tougher test. And a tougher test would mean the penalties would have to be REALLY tough. Like gaol time, anyone? Awful lot of bikers could be in jeopardy from that .

How do people feel about that ? I'm interested in input.

EDIT: By 'tougher' I mean tougher as in showing that you can actually ride, and are sane, not tougher as in more scratchy questions, or longer ta each stage. But maybe tougher as in being followed by a bikie cop for a whole day , couple of hundred kilometres, tougher as in one speeding ticket and you're back to square one, on an L plate.

[dipshit]

How do people feel about that ? I'm interested in input.

The system in Europe is set up to help keep drug-fucked losers off the roads.

We would see too many 'waaaaaaa' posts around here complaining of how much it costs to get a licence if NZ adopted similar standards to the UK.

[dangerous]

Im going in the deep end here cos I aint read past the post Im quoting...

Who on earth elected the Canterbury regional co-ordinator of Motorcycling New Zealand, Ray Shearman? He's a plonker. Who gave him a mandate to speak for motorcyclists? He missed the obvious points;

Im backing Ray, hes a old school gentelman, a farking good old stick perhaps not the right person to have interviewed but saying that he still rides regulary on the road... and he also has a sence of humer about him, maybe, just maybe the reporter didnt see this.

[Big Dave]

Im going in the deep end here cos I aint read past the post Im quoting...

It's adequately explained.
Good or bad reporting - depending on which side of the cheque you are.

[Arkwright]

So Motorcycling has a PR problem. For some reason the public thinks we keep killing ourselves. In the midst of this the press ask Ray Shearman, Canterbury co-ordinatior for MNZ, for his opinion...

...and he blames women. Great.

Now I'm sure that Ray does a lot of great work for Motorcycling in general but, seriously, should we find the people who are going to be asked for soundbites and get them some media/PR training because that shit is not helping.

Dave

Cut the guy some slack. He's devoted his WHOLE LIFE (that's way more than half a century) to motorcycling, and all disciplins as well. Maybe old fashioned is best. It's the cage drivers that need training, not the teckie PC brigade. Bad language doesn't promte your case any either.

Arkwright

[Arkwright]

[QUOTE=Arkwright;1129822595]Cut the guy some slack. He's devoted his WHOLE LIFE (that's way more than half a century) to motorcycling, and all disciplins as well. Maybe old fashioned is best. It's the cage drivers that need training, not the teckie PC brigade. Bad language doesn't promte your case any either.

Arkwright[/.......QUOTE]

[bistard]

So Motorcycling has a PR problem. For some reason the public thinks we keep killing ourselves. In the midst of this the press ask Ray Shearman, Canterbury co-ordinatior for MNZ, for his opinion...

...and he blames women. Great.

Now I'm sure that Ray does a lot of great work for Motorcycling in general but, seriously, should we find the people who are going to be asked for soundbites and get them some media/PR training because that shit is not helping.

Dave

He may have done some good work a few decades ago,but he is well past his use by date & should retire & stop embarrasing the rest of us

[Gubb]

Bad language doesn't promte your case any either.

You're gonna fuckin' love me then.

[Big Dave]

You're gonna fuck'n love me.

Not necessarily in that order though.

[Kickaha]

He may have done some good work a few decades ago,but he is well past his use by date & should retire & stop embarrasing the rest of us

He certainly isn't past his use by date and has done good work a lot more recently than "a few decades ago"

He certainly didn't embarrass me with his comments which were based on what he has experienced

Pity Arkwright didn't check the thread date before resurrecting it

[dangerous]

He certainly isn't past his use by date and has done good work a lot more recently than "a few decades ago"

He certainly didn't embarrass me with his comments which were based on what he has experienced

Pity Arkwright didn't check the thread date before resurrecting it

This posts worth quoting, I back it all the way.