L plate - should I? Do you?

[Rosie]

what's with all the L plate threads?

What's with dredging one up from two years ago? :spudwhat:

[avgas]

On a 750 you dont have the option.
Your a rambling idiot ha.

[motorbyclist]

What's with dredging one up from two years ago? :spudwhat:

what? i got a subscription notification email thingy and thought it was weird that it was for the 3rd L plate thread i'd seen that day

how the hell i got subscribed is beyond me... i've only been a member a month

[Terminated]

I was very fortunate when I had my Learners Licence because I could choose the time of day whenever I wanted to go for a ride.

I left the L-Plate on the whole time, and going into Wellington from Stokes Valley, I joined the motorway at Petone and took the first exit at Ngauranga, and the reverse coming back. I avoided going right through to the Terrace Tunnel until I was well into my Restricted.

I appreciate and accept a lot of riders commute and are in the thick of traffic and staying at 70kph shhhh, but I would like to think that all those that do remove their L-Plate and travel at 100kph have at least gone out in the boondocks somewhere and done some emergency braking practice from 100kph.

If a genuine learner rider chooses to ride above there skill level and hasn't at least done some emergency routines then there is not much else for me to say....Bottom Line - ride within your skill competence level.

For those in Wellington that may want to do some Saturday morning riding practise here is the link:
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=56369

Heads Up and Enjoy

[disenfranchised]

I've still got my L plate on. It's been over a year since I got my learners, and I'm not in any rush to pay for my restricted.

I don't worry about the 70k speed limit at all..I guess if I see a cop around me I might throttle back a bit.

And I never have any trouble with drivers aiming for me...but maybe that's cause I'm not ever "holding up traffic" so to speak.

[Coldrider]

When I got my licence learners was a provisional licence, the L plate was the rego sticker, white background with coloured 'L', so you had no choice.
If there is a learner in front of me I would like to know, can make allowances for extra anticipations. Otherwise i could be in my mean red commodore filling up your mirrors (nah just joking). Is there really a feeling that L plates attract drivers to drive closer to learners?
If I was to incite anyone to not display an L plate or to exceed 70 Kph could I be charged with 'aiding & abbetting', I think so.

[motorbyclist]

ok, unsubscribing

[Spuds1234]

I left mine on for a year, and only took it off when I had to ride late at night. I never felt like I was a target.

I didnt take passengers, and regularly broke the 70kmh rule on the open road and highways.

As has been pointed out, so long as your not doing anything stupid then you'll be right.

[Sidewinder]

omg who gives a f**k. ive been done heaps with out a L plate.
got done once doing over 160kmph.

anyway why ask people what you should do. if you have the balls to do it do so if not then dont worry

[Hawkeye]

Had the 'L' on for the whole time until I got my restricted. Never felt like a target. I didn't however stick to the 70k as I value life too much. I just made sure that I rode to the conditions and didn't do anything to attract attention.

I agree totally with BB1. It's easy to twist the wrist and take it up to 100k+, but you also need the skill to get back to 0k safely.
Even now that I'm on my full, I don't bring attention to myself on my daily commute to Wellingtoon. Yes I split, but only when the cages are moving at a slow pace. As soon as the speed increases, I drop back into the flow with the traffic.
I leave the fun part to the weekend where I don't need to go over the 100 and push my luck with Mr plod. I push it other ways. I'm sure there are others here that will disagree but I don't need to go 100+ over the Takas to have fun. There are not many places on there that allow you get even close to the 100k anyway.
(or is it that I ride like a nana).

[davereid]

Its been posted a zillion times... but

It costs $400 not to display it.
It will invalidate your insurance if you crash and your insurer hears of it.

The law is vague - I can't be bothered looking it up again, but basically you have to display the plate, at the rear of the bike, so it is visable to all.

So put it on the left hand side of your bike, at the rear. Maybe on the swing arm. Maybe on the number plate, facing forward as long as it is all visable - even if only from the front.

[Donor]

Frankly, those that say riding with an L plate on is an attractant for cagers are fucking paranoid, and are victims of bad fortune rather than some 4 wheeled vendetta against learner license riders.

I have consulted with many police officers, some I know on a social basis, the majority I do not, and the consensus is that so long as an L plater rides to the speed limit (whether 100 or below) and doesn't make a skidMark of them self, then then they have nothing to fear.

Those caught in random or otherwise stops without the appropriate plastic on the rear, deserve to have the $400 ticket.

Personally, I'm with the coppers on this one.

[klingon]

Frankly, those that say riding with an L plate on is an attractant for cagers are fucking paranoid, and are victims of bad fortune rather than some 4 wheeled vendetta against learner license riders...

I disagree, Donor. When I started riding with my L-plate on, I noticed people doing all sorts of dangerous stuff to me - tailgating, overtaking on medians, overtaking at speed then cutting in dangerously close etc. I've been driving in Auckland traffic for many years, so I knew this was more than your standard Auckland incompetence/aggression.

At first I thought "maybe this is how all bikes get treated" but then my partner took my bike out a few times. He's been riding for years and is extremely competent and confident, but when he was riding my bike with the 'L' on it, people treated him like shit and did all the same things they had been doing to me!

So yeah, I wasn't imagining it.

On the other hand, what I couldn't notice was how many people were extra courteous to me because of the 'L'. Maybe they followed further away, left me more room for my hill-starts and would have been more patient if I'd stalled. I have no way of knowing.

Of course there are also other factors that come into play. I'm obviously female, ride a smallish bike and try to behave courteously to other road users. Any of those things could cause me to be more of a target than my partner who is obviously male, dresses in black leather and an irridium visor, and whose bike could easily deafen innocent bystanders if he revved it close by.

I displayed an L-plate for the entire time I was on my learner's. I balanced the pros and cons and made my own decision, so I'm not going to advise people to take off their L-plate. But nor am I paranoid. I just say you have to be even MORE careful if you're going to send a message to other drivers saying "I'm new to this... please be gentle with me." Because half of them will be gentle and the other half will act like insecure bullies.

[caesius]

Yeah I got pinged $400 for no plate, but I was speeding at the time. It's ridiculous,

Speeding: $170 fine
No stupid bit of plastic: $400

Does that mean no L-plate's 2.35 times more dangerous than speeding?

[Ice_Monsta]

First day on my bike, pull out of my first street, riding along and a car passes me (when i didn't have an L plate).

Stopped got an L plate put on and all the traffic apart from a caged asian man (not intending to be racist but he fitted the stereotype) refused to let me merge in front of him. In fact i got in front of him and he went into the other lane to go around me. However most other drivers tended to stay a lot further back which made me feel more comfortable etc

Anyways, i'm going to stick with the L plate, have had my license for a while so once im confident i'll probably just go do the restricted and live with the L plate until then. fines are not my friend