Sears Puch 250

License Fiasco

With the bike running, and having reached the "I'm a man" age of 16, it was time to get legal. Back then the process was not as forgiving as today. You applied for a temporary license that was good only on the day of your driving test. In fact it was only good for the trip to the testing area, which in my case was a half hour trip across the city of Toronto.

The testing area was a fenced in simulation of a couple of city blocks. As far as I can remember, and my memory is getting less reliable every day, there was only one intersection with either a 4 way stop or lights, as well as a road that encircled the entire test area. Testers would monitor the applicant's progress around the course taking note of any traffic violations, careless lane changes, etc. There was also an acceleration/braking test where one had to quickly bring their motorcycle up to 30mph or so and then stop on a painted line.

The first and only time I would have ridden the Twingle legally up to that point would be on the day of the test. I had risked taking a 5 minute spin around the neighbourhood once before to ensure the motorcycle was functioning properly, but I essentially was unfamiliar with the bike that stressful day.

It started off well enough - the weather was co-operative and I navigated the heavy traffic with excitement as well as trepidation. Upon arriving I searched for the testing officer, and upon finding him on the course was directed to the starting grid. And this is where things started to go wrong.

After proving I knew where all the controls were, I was instructed to perform the braking test. And I completely screwed up! I miscalculated the braking power by stopping at least 5 feet too soon, and was forced to coast to the finish line. I was totally humiliated. All those years of riding experience both on the mini-bike and the Honda and I blew it. How could this have happened? Why were there no second chances?

The rest of the test was unremarkable and anti-climatic. Trying to make up for my earlier error, I made exaggerated text book hand signals, kept precise speed, and started and stopped with the greatest of care. In the end I was failed for two transgressions. The start and stop test failure was not a surprise, but I was also told that I did not make a shoulder check on one of my lane changes. "Please reschedule for another try and perhaps you would like to book a training course with one of our testing officers. And, by the way, you can't ride your bike on the streets until your next test. You may push it out the gate. Have a nice day :)"

And so I did (push the bike that is), but as soon as I was out of sight of the testing facility I was once again riding without a license or insurance. Did you really expect me to push a perfectly good bike for what would have been the better part of the day? Full of mixed emotions I rode back home, frequently checking over my shoulder for the flashing red light that would pull me over, take me to jail and throw away the key.

A short time later I took the test again and was successful.