Just got your Endorsement?! Check in here!

BuddyRaton · Post by **BuddyRaton** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 1:28 am

WOOOOHOOO! Well now I'm fully legal! I took my test this morning and passed! It was a bit of an adventure though as any trip to the DMV can be.

The testing facility is about 20 miles away so I loaded Bubba (oh crap...I just named it!) onto the tilt-a-rack for the first time. It took a little bit to get everything strapped down by myself. My appointment was for 8:00 AM and I wasn't ready to leave the house until 7:15 hoping I-95 through West Palm Beach would be clear. I only passed the testing place once, so I got there at just about 7:50. Not real early, but on time.

I unloaded and parked Bubba next to my truck. I figured I would start it and let it warm up so we would both be ready for the Alternate MOST. Wile Bubba was warming up I got the rest of my stuff together. Then I shut down Bubba, tossed the tie downs, handlebar collar and strap into the back of the truck and closed the sliding top. I went over to take my place on line outside at 8:00, right on time!! Trying to learn from my mistake waiting in line for my written test a week ago I just kind of called out "have they let people with appointments in yet?" All I heard i reply was the sound of mating iguanas in the bushes. As I was waiting, hoping someone would come out that at least looked official, I just stuck my hands in my pocket and leaned against the wall. My hands were just rummaging around in my pockets... not finding much very interesting (inset your own joke here)...ATM receipt, lint, truck keys, wallet, more lint, Bubba keys.....Bubba keys???? BUBBA KEYS????? OH CRAP!!!!

The search begins at 8:05!!! In the ignition...nope ...the truck???? nope....on the ground by bubba or the truck???? nope.....begin to panic????? yes...back to the line search the grass,,,crawl through the truck...back to the grass....I considered following the advice prominently printed on the cover of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy which simply states "DON'T PANIC" ...but being nervous about the test and a bit irrational....I decided to ignore that advice and follow some other words of wisdom "When in trouble or in doubt...run in circles scream and shout!" It didn't do a lot for helping my find my keys....but it did entertain everybody on line. I finally thought of the one place I hadn't looked, the bed of the truck. Sweet Ecstasy!!!!!!!

Well...maybe not Ecstasy...but it did feel pretty good to find them! 8:14....checking my appointment paper where it says "If you are more than 15 minutes late you must pay $1642 and wait at least 97 weeks for your next opportunity."....or something like that...at least that's what it looked like to me.

Back to the line. Entertained people are happy people so they let me back into my spot. Again I called out "Have they let people with appointments in yet?" An answer drifts back..."Man..you need to go to the front door...if you started there you would have been done by now!".....Ummmm thanks dude...

Around to the front door....on to another line, get checked in....another line....almost there. Time to make sure all my papers are easily accessible... drivers licence?, check..ss card?...check.....certified birth certificate.?..check,..... passport?...check..learners permit and temp registration?...sigh.......no check. "I'll be right back" Out to Bubba pop the seat.....grab my portable important paper portfolio (zip lock baggie) and hustle back in. The rest of it went well, I did fine on everything except the last maneuver, the swerve...by the time I got to it I knew that I would pass as long as I didn't lay down the bike and I really wasn't concentrating on it . I clipped the red line... -5 points. But I did hear those words..."you passed".

The rest was pretty uneventfully, but I did take time while loading up Bubba to watch the guy on the what looked like a 2300000cc VStar attempt the weave. I did feel a little bad for him........ but it was entertaining!

The rest of my day was fine except for one thing. In the middle of writing this I went out to pick up a pizza, got there....had forgotten my wallet so I had to make a second trip!

I hope your testing day went a little smoother!

Oh...I will be starting another thread revealing my adventure during my weave practice last night. Thread title??? "Boy that was Dumb"

BR Not-David

mybuddy · Post by **mybuddy** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 1:52 am

Congrats on passing!

I am taking the test here in Ohio on Wednesday. How far apart are the cones in the cone weave?

That and the swerve are the only two parts that I am worried about.

Any pointers?

Thanks and again, Congrats!

BuddyRaton · Post by **BuddyRaton** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 1:59 am

Here is a site that diagrams all the required moves. http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle- ... ycle-test/ The cones are placed 12 feet apart with a 2 foot offset from the centerline. The only advice I have is to practice....and keep track of your keys!

BR Not-David

mybuddy · Post by **mybuddy** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 2:00 am

Thanks for the link. I will go out and practice this weekend.

vitaminC · Post by **vitaminC** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 2:04 am

Congrat's!

KidDynomite · Post by **KidDynomite** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 2:07 am

Congrats......funny story.

The day I got mine was hilarious as well........Ok, only for me. I watching this guy on a Harley fail miserably while I waited. I even heard him try to tell the woman from the highway patrol that he could, "put it wherever she wanted out on the road." She didn't care and told him he'd need to come back.

3 minutes later, I had passed.......he was so stunned that he hadn't even left yet when she was giving me my paperwork.

I was rolling inside.

bwilms · Post by **bwilms** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 11:34 am

Congrats, BuddyRaton. I'm glad everything worked out in the end.

BuddyRaton wrote:The only advice I have is to practice....and keep track of your keys!

mybuddy, I couldn't agree more with the above. I did about 4 practice sessions. My final one was the day of. Three hours before my test I set up the drills from BuddyRaton's link in a parking lot and just went through them over and over again.

They should tell you this when you are taking the test, but the most important thing is "Finish what you start." If you start the cone weave, and you weave way off into another direction, just make sure you come back and make an attempt to weave through the rest of the cones and finish the U turn at the end. Do not stop. Do not put your foot down.

The cone weave was the most difficult for me. I over shot one and had to do as I wrote above - just keep going. As I missed one, nerves started to kick in, but I didn't let them get the best of me (thank goodness).

As it turns out they didn't dock me any points and I passed with 100%.

Dillinger-63 · Post by **Dillinger-63** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 6:45 pm

I just received mine today also, The toughtest part was of course "the cones" I didn't miss any, nor clip any but I started to feel the scooter get a way from me as if I was going to have to put my foot down. It was then I made up my mind.

1. I am not putting my foot down.
2. I am not going to drop this bike.

The result was I was just determined to do what I needed to do, and I also passed with a 100%.

BuddyRaton · Post by **BuddyRaton** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 8:39 pm

WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CaliGirl · Post by **CaliGirl** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 3:33 am

Congrats to both of you. I have yet to get that all done. :/

lou76 · Post by **lou76** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 6:00 am

mybuddy wrote:That and the swerve are the only two parts that I am worried about.

the tests are really not that hard, especially on something as small as a buddy... so dont let yourself get stressed about it... i rolled through it with no practice... the man who administered the test was very clear in his instructions and made the experience less stressfull... i hope you get someone as considerate and professional...

and thank god for these tests... if you can't pass it at first go, you probably WANT to have a little more practice before you put it out in four lanes... so if anyone doesn't pass at first crack, just take that as an oppurtunity to make yourself a more responsible, safer rider...

but seriously, dont strss, its not that bad... it all happens at slower speeds than you imagine, and is perfectly reasonable...
good luck!!!

Corsair · Post by **Corsair** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 6:13 pm

Great read !

casey · Post by **casey** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 12:55 am

This is a bit of a tangent, but I don't have my endorsement, exactly. I don't have a license to drive a car. I've never owned a car. I did, however, take my motorcycle test a couple of weeks ago and now have a license to drive only a cycle (a temp. one now, waiting on the real one to come in the mail). I don't know how it works in other states, but here in Texas I had a bit of trouble at the DPS. I looked up the laws about licensing and it said that any adult could get a motorcycle license without having a regular one first. But the folks working the DPS got all flustered and reluctant on me. Just a heads up, I guess.

Torgo · Post by **Torgo** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 6:23 pm

Just got mine and it was a BREEZE. I went on my lunch break -- took about 30 minutes overall. I passed the Basic Rider Course last weekend, so that helped. Took the written (missed just one question), got a new picture taken, paid my $15 and off I went.

Now, as soon as the check I'm waiting for arrives, it's off to the dealer to pick out my new Buddy! Hopefully I'll be scooting about within a couple of weeks!

BuddyRaton · Post by **BuddyRaton** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 8:02 pm

Torgo wrote:Now, as soon as the check I'm waiting for arrives, it's off to the dealer to pick out my new Buddy!

WOOOOHOOO!!!!!!!!

What color is that new Buddy going to be?

Torgo · Post by **Torgo** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 10:26 pm

BuddyRaton wrote:What color is that new Buddy going to be?

Well, in my dreams I walk in to the shop, and sitting there in the center of the room, bathed in the warm glow of a spotlight, is one of those "Italia" special edition Avocado-colored Buddies.

...then Carl Sagan and Ken Griffey Jr. start singing "What's New Pussycat" ...and the King of Sweden asks me what my shoe size is ...then Florence Henderson shows up with a tray full of pickles ... things get really ugly after that, so I'll spare you the details.

...but when I wake up I decide to go with the Sunset Orange.

polianarchy · Post by **polianarchy** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 3:49 pm

Torgo wrote:
BuddyRaton wrote:What color is that new Buddy going to be?
Well, in my dreams I walk in to the shop, and sitting there in the center of the room, bathed in the warm glow of a spotlight, is one of those "Italia" special edition Avocado-colored Buddies.

...then Carl Sagan and Ken Griffey Jr. start singing "What's New Pussycat" ...and the King of Sweden asks me what my shoe size is ...then Florence Henderson shows up with a tray full of pickles ... things get really ugly after that, so I'll spare you the details.

...but when I wake up I decide to go with the Sunset Orange.

HAHAHAHAHA!!!

Amazing dreamscape, Torgo. Thanks for the laugh!

And if you truly have your heat set on the Italia Avocado Green, why not special order one ASAP? You'll probably be one of the first to get one.

ETA: Although, now that I think about it, I'm going 4UCK1NG NUTS sitting around and waiting for my scooter. One week down, one week left to go....

Torgo · Post by **Torgo** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 7:20 pm

polianarchy wrote:And if you truly have your heat set on the Italia Avocado Green, why not special order one ASAP? You'll probably be one of the first to get one.

You can *DO* that? How? Where? When? AAAAHHH!

[Torgo races in circles with his tongue lolling out like a high-strung miniature yap-dog]

I guess it's striaght to my local scoot shop after work today...

polianarchy · Post by **polianarchy** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 9:39 pm

Torgo wrote:You can *DO* that? How? Where? When? AAAAHHH!

[Torgo races in circles with his tongue lolling out like a high-strung miniature yap-dog]

I guess it's striaght to my local scoot shop after work today...

You answered your own question! Your local scooter dealer should be able to order it for you. You'll probably need to put down a deposit, but that's really no different than anything else, eh?

*offers yap-dog Torgo a bone* Sit! Good boy!

BuddyRaton · Post by **BuddyRaton** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 2:19 am

Torgo wrote:You can *DO* that? How? Where? When? AAAAHHH!

[Torgo races in circles with his tongue lolling out like a high-strung miniature yap-dog]

I guess it's striaght to my local scoot shop after work today...

Or you can call the "Hands of Fate" Scooter shop....ask for Manos Ex #424 I'd give you the number...but you might be SOL if you call (the Satellite Of Love of course!)

Torgo · Post by **Torgo** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 1:56 pm

polianarchy wrote:*offers yap-dog Torgo a bone* Sit! Good boy!

*Climbs into polianarchy's lap and pants happily*

...er, wait a minute. Scratch that. This isn't that kind of board.

Torgo · Post by **Torgo** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 2:01 pm

BuddyRaton wrote:Or you can call the "Hands of Fate" Scooter shop....ask for Manos Ex #424 I'd give you the number...but you might be SOL if you call (the Satellite Of Love of course!)

Thanks for the tip. I'd offer you a Mentos, but the Master wouldn't approve.