L plate. It is not an option.

[EJK]

After 4 month and 9000km of riding on my lovely Scorpio, EJKDDORAI has been finally busted

I do not blame the police officer, it was my fault not to have the L plate on. EJKDDORAI gambled his $400 that he will not get caught riding without the L plate. But he lost the gamble, he should’ve known that the house always wins.

The reason for getting the officers attention is another reason, I will get to that later.

If you can't be bothered reading the story, then just skip to "The bright side was"

Story: I was lane splitting at 60kph+ (honestly). It was wet, busy and had lots of trucks on the bridge (Northern SH1). Very dangerous indeed but at the age of 18, how would EJ realizes/ sense danger?
While I was riding down the bridge (towards the city), I saw a Honda Police officer. Caught each others eyes and EJ felt a chill on his back. Then as he expected, the officer turns on his lights and followed behind the teenager.

Till I get stopped, I did not know what I have done wrong. All in my head was the L plate that I haven’t got it on the bike. Suddenly everything went fast. The officer spoke, he checked my Rego and wof. Plus the L plate which I haven’t got on.

The reason that I was stopped was “false indicating while lane splitting”. But he was kind enough to close his eyes on the offence. But then he said to me “By the way… where is your L plate?”. I could have said an excuse but it was really lame to lie to an officer. So I told the truth “I can’t say about it sir”. So there I got 25 points and a $400 dollar fine.

The bright side was: The officer gave me a warning for the false indication which could have been 15+ points plus extra $150. Total of 40 points and $550.
After letting me go, I said Thank you to the officer.

Price of not having the L plate on:
I see many learners riding without their L plate on. I don’t criticize them because I was one of them. But that does not mean “Ride with your own risk”. Tonight I would like to say to all of you: please, L plate is not an option! Come on, it’s only $2 dollars!

The loss of $400 means a lot to me at the moment. Most I feel pain about my planned “2 day Taupo Trip” on beginning of December being gone down the drain. Also I was just about to organize a 250cc Coro-loop ride end of November since the exams are comming to an end. But now that is gone too.

Dangers: The officer told me that I did not indicate left while entering the gap on my left (in fact at that time I was indicating right). The danger was, an Audi was accelerating from that side. I did not see that. He then told me that I could have been crushed twice. Not once but twice. How stupid was I?!

The guy got pulled over on this thread is me. There was a biker officer and the car. I know what I have done wrong. I will not be disappointed receiving some red blings for the story.
Most importantly, I will respect law and safeties since the fines are not against us, they are for us.

MacktheKnife and Maverick once told me, “The mindless ego boost will surely come back to you. But what it matter is ‘how fast’”. Yes, it did come back to me. I presume sooner or later at the young age blood, it will come back again. Hopefully till then and after, I would ride safer than ever.

Ride safe EJ

EJKDDORAI

[carbacca]

funny enough on my first ride with you i did see you with an L plate

for me personally i am more worried about insurance claims of "riding outside license conditions". sounds like you wouldnt have been pulled over if you did catch their eyes otherwise anyways

i guess i'll hang on to mine then

[Cibby]

funny enough on my first ride with you i did see you with an L plate

for me personally i am more worried about insurance claims of "riding outside license conditions". sounds like you wouldnt have been pulled over if you did catch their eyes otherwise anyways

i guess i'll hang on to mine then

Dont stress about condition, there is a secion of law somewhere that roughly states that if it was not a contribuing cause to the accident i.e you still would have had the accident even if you had been wearing your L plate, then the insurers cant use it as an excuse to decline. .

Useless bit of info for you there

[Xaria]

Sorry about the fine, but at least you got off some of it.

Good write up about it though. Will keep my L Plate on for a while longer...

[deanohit]

Hard luck EJ, maybe I should look at putting a plate on mine, but the cages are dodgy enough round here with out it.

[JimO]

my sons are new riders and the l plate will be staying on the bike until the day they dont have to have it (one reason is i will have to pay the fine) i have ridden the bike heaps with the l plate on and have never had a problem with other traffic tailgaiting etc, perhaps its a nth island thing

[davereid]

I certainly notice different treatment from other road users depending on WHAT I'm riding. So I don't find it too tricky to accept that L plate riders may be bullied a bit.

Heres what LTSA say about L plates.


'L' (learner) plates
All riders on a motorcycle learner licence must have an 'L' plate attached to the rear of their motorcycle...The 'L' plate must be clearly visible to all other road users. It must not restrict your front or rear vision.

It does not say the plate has to face backwards.

So, attach it to the left hand side of your number plate, facing forwards. Paint the back of it black, so those following you won't notice it.

Job Done !

[The Stranger:Me]

You should have at least tried the genuine reason for not displaying an L plate. It's farken dangerous holding up a B-train on a motorcycle and it attracts attention from the law if you exceed 70 with an L plate.

[Hawkeye]

Let me get this clear in my head:

I was lane splitting at 60kph+ (honestly).

'L-Plate' rider lane splitting at 60+k. - got that bit.

It was wet, busy and had lots of trucks on the bridge (Northern SH1).

With you so far.

Very dangerous indeed

Would entirely agree with this one.

but at the age of 18, how would EJ realizes/ sense danger?

Nope, you lost me on this one....

Ride safe EJ

Just think about that last one and try following your own advice.

[Dealer]

I had an L-plate on my bike for the first two months of my learners licence.
It was very restictive, and i did not feel safe travelling on the motorway at 70kph, so once i was confident i pulled it off.
The important thing to remember is that if you are not riding entirely legal (especially learners), you shouldn't be doing anything to attract the attention of the law. I was never pulled over while on my learners (haven't been pulled over yet either, but thats just luck)Most of us do illegal manoevers, i.e speeding, lane changes, but there is a time and place to do these things, and a limit to how far you can push them. Lane splitting at 50kmh is ignored, at 100kmh it attracts attention.
But thats just my opinion.
It is up to the individual rider as to what risk they are going to take, and how careful they will be.

[gijoe1313]

I guess you got the usual range of replies from KBers!

Bugger, thats a few tanks worth of gas and bits of bling for the bike! Ah well, I guess your ancestors deigned to decide with the biker gods to conspire and give you a little seeing to!

Chin up, it'll be part of your receding nostalgia as the veneer of time stretches on from the comfort of your rocking chair on the verandah, watching two wheeled contraptions whizz by and thinking "Gor, blimey, them's were the days!"

Keep riding, do it safely and I guess you will be putting a little square of yellow on the back again?

[The Pastor]

dont worry dude, there will be MANY more fines to come, just factor in as a living cost - say $20 a week etc.

[sunhuntin]

I had an L-plate on my bike for the first two months of my learners licence.
It was very restictive, and i did not feel safe travelling on the motorway at 70kph, so once i was confident i pulled it off.
The important thing to remember is that if you are not riding entirely legal (especially learners), you shouldn't be doing anything to attract the attention of the law. I was never pulled over while on my learners (haven't been pulled over yet either, but thats just luck)Most of us do illegal manoevers, i.e speeding, lane changes, but there is a time and place to do these things, and a limit to how far you can push them. Lane splitting at 50kmh is ignored, at 100kmh it attracts attention.
But thats just my opinion.
It is up to the individual rider as to what risk they are going to take, and how careful they will be.

ive never been pulled up either. got checked at a warrent/rego stop, and got waved through another. have at least one cop a day in at work, all of whom would recognise my bike. most cops would ignore +70k on an l plate, as they also see the danger of it. doing that while lanesplitting slow traffic, however...

bugger, ej, but at least you have gone back, seen where you stuffed up, and have learned from it [btw, i consider 18 well old enough to see possible dangers and react properly/safely]

i test rode a 500 last weekend, and loved it. wasnt on it long enough to notice a difference in drivers opinions of me, but i find most are pretty good. got tail gated big time last week on the 250, but when they overtook, they also gated the rider i was tailing who was on a thou. gaters will do it no matter what they are following.

[scumdog]

my sons are new riders and the l plate will be staying on the bike until the day they dont have to have it (one reason is i will have to pay the fine) i have ridden the bike heaps with the l plate on and have never had a problem with other traffic tailgaiting etc, perhaps its a nth island thing

Wot 'e sed.

Never had no complaint about no tailgating or nuffink from any 'L' plater dahn 'ere.

With young blogins here who started the thread I would have given him compliance for not having the 'L' plate.

[fredie]

your a L plater . bbbbbaaahhhhhhh aaaaahhhhhh .no ?? L plate for saftey so car drivers give u extra space