Motorcycles require a special license

Post #325,129 by drook 4/24/10 9:10:40 AM Reply	Motorcycles require a special license People won't take another driving test just to get a small car. Besides which, if you do license them as motorcycles, you have to let them take the motorcycle driving test in them. My father took his on a Harley Davidson servicar -- http://www.flickr.co...raphy/2617584638/ No, not that one. :-( The (new) guy giving the test said he couldn't take it on that. Dad asked, "So I'm allowed to drive it on the street without a motorcycle certification or a helmet?" Umm, no? "Then it's a motorcycle." The test had a step where you have to bring it to a complete stop and start again without putting your feet down. Dad stopped, looked at the guy and said, "Is that fully stopped? I'm not quite sure. How about now?" The older guys were standing inside watching through the front window laughing their asses off. -- Drew
Post #325,134 by Another Scott 4/24/10 9:35:27 AM Reply	:-) Licensing isn't a major issue. Maybe "motorcycle" isn't the right category. A neighbor who seems to be into Green stuff (solar panels on the roof, biodiesel, etc.) had a ZAP Xebra for a while - http://www.zapworld....ra-electric-sedan It's a 3-wheeler. (It's also apparently a horrible car, if TTAC's rants are representative - http://www.thetrutha...zap-xebra-review/ http://www.thetrutha...tock-shenanigans/ ) They're apparently licensed as NEV (neighborhood electric vehicles) or LSV (low speed vehicles). IOW, they're not licensed as cars, but maybe not as motorcycles either. It likely depends on the jurisdiction. An extremely light weight low-speed limited range commuter vehicle shouldn't have to meet crash standards of cars and trucks. (Just as motorcycles and airplanes don't.) http://smallvehicles...ive-developments/ I believe most 3-wheelers are licensed as motorcycles. This looks like a fun toy, but not quite what I have in mind. http://www.popularme...torsports/4212570 :-) Cheers, Scott.
Post #325,155 by Ashton 4/24/10 2:24:30 PM Reply	That last: evolution of the Morgan 3-wheeler of yore -- with a J.A.P. (J. A. Prestwich) Vee-twin across its front. And yesss.. putting the two up-front makes vastly more sense than the other way (the rear-end is just along for the ride anyway; when it understeers, it doesn't much matter whether 1 or2 wheels back there ... happen to be sliding a bit.) At $15K for starters, it's at least a better deal than almost any Harley ~~cycle~~ 2-wheel-truck, but this is meant as a toy, of course. Vroom-vroom: at least a tyro will have a better chance of survival on this than on a 2-wheeler with that Rotax ... unless he tries to keep up with an ept rider of the latter. OTOH, my '53 LD-125 Lambretta scooter was a free-parking, perfect round-town biped mover, at >60 mpg. (Regret I didn't measure mpg on the SF --> Pasadena run; sloth that was..) A modrin version should have a real front suspension (not just 'springs') and many more techno improvements. But I'd be content with a mint '53. Cheaper than this is hard to conceive. Still.. there are such folks as should never try a 2-wheeler, for all reasons psychological and mechano-inept. (Maybe I shall electrify my Kawa KZ-550, should a properly China-engineered package arrive, intelligently designed to be adaptable to such a generic frame. I see infinite tangents which have yet to be explored by the [inside-traditional-box] 'thinkers'.) F=MA That is all ye Know; that is all ye Need to Know. With a working brain. Vroom! er ... (green) Vroom!!

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