November 29, 2007
Memories of a Motorcycle License Test
By Bryan Fil, general services coordinator, Yamaha Motor Canada
I ride a motorcycle – that’s mandatory when you work at a motorcycle company, right, you say?
Nope. When I started working for Yamaha Motor Canada back in December 1999, I actually didn’t ride a motorcycle. I had a little all-terrain vehicle (ATV) experience on the old, big, red three-wheelers, but primarily I spent my youth growing up on the water around sailboats, cabin cruisers, ski boats and runabouts.
When I was growing up, my mother was dead-set against me ever riding a motorcycle; my biological father used to run dirt bikes through the woods up north with me as a passenger.
Two of my good friends had street bikes in their teens, and I can vividly remember the stern looks from my mom sitting on the front porch as I looked over my friends’ bikes. You can just imagine her response when I told her I got a full-time job with Yamaha Motor Canada.
Not long after that, I signed up with my girlfriend Jacquie (now my wife) to take the Motorcycle & Moped Industry Council (MMIC) motorcycle training program at a property just north of Allan Lambert Stadium Park in downtown Toronto. (Yamaha Motor Canada is a member company of the MMIC).
Well the big day – a Saturday – arrived. My girlfriend and I agreed that I would let her make her own mistakes. She’d never even driven a manual transmission car before, and didn’t really have a good concept of the clutch control that is required to keep the bike running. As the day progressed, it became more and more natural for me to ride and I caught on pretty quick.
My wife was a little slower, and I remember that she almost ran down an instructor who wanted to talk to her; she panicked when the bike began to lurch and stall so she gave it gas instead of pulling the clutch. Way to go, Jacquie – you kept the bike running! Too bad that instructor made you lose your balance.
Sunday was another spectacular day for weather, sunny but not too hot. After an evening of dissecting the information overload we had absorbed the previous day we were both ready to go and conquer the final test. Jacquie was having a little problem maintaining the turning arc and shifting at the same time, so at lunch I told her to just rev out the motor to make the time between the two points within the allotted time frame, which she accomplished perfectly. I personally was on fire and nailed the final test with no deductions!
At the end of the day we were both pleased with the big PASSED stamp on the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario paperwork. We headed home to rest up after two days in the sun in motorcycle gear.
Next on the agenda: find a bike to ride… but that’s a blog post for another day!
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I own a 07 griz 700 that i am very impressed with the handling and “manors” of . At 1800 km the front brakes were metal on metal ….. a little early . then to purchase pads I had to pay $50 per wheel ….$100 for front pads every 1800 km. Is this normal operating cost?? yes i use them a lot but not too excessively and the callipers were not misfuntioning . Is a better system in the works??? I would live with a Kg more unsprung weight to have less operating cost . That said I do still love the machine,and am not unhappy with any other characteristics of the machine. Also if just idleing around (moving less than 8k but not steady throtle possition at all ellivations 2800-6500ft ) for more than 90 seconds it stalls or “konks out”. if this is easily fixed I would like to know how, but is not too bothersome. Thanks Bruce
Hello Bruce,
Boy, we’re way off topic considering this is a motorcycle blog and my post was referring to my licensing experience!!
Please check our terms of use and primarily point # 2. The best resource is the local dealers. They will know what is a reasonable life expectancy for brake pads in your area and are also connected to our service system for any bulletins or additional technical expertise required to diagnose an issue.
After reading your post my first thoughts on the brakes is that it’s very hard to put an exact distance on what’s ‘normal’ for brake wear. There are so many factors like temperature, trail conditions, riding style, local terrain, etc. to nail down. I personally know guys who replace brake pads on Race R6′s every weekend
because they’re so fast and so hard on the brakes that they glaze the pads over and they start to lose effectiveness. Thank goodness I’m easier on equipment. My suggestion would be to see your local dealer to find out what other customers are experiencing in your area. When riding off-road you will never get the mileage that you do on-road. Maybe you are on par with them depending on your local conditions and riding area. I’m not sure if there are any optional pads available for Grizzly 700 with a higher metallic content which wear better but can be noisier.
As for the stumbling issues, I would also definitely, take it to your local dealer to get them to check it out. It could be one of a hole slew of issues from a malfunctioning sensor to some bad fuel. They have the proper diagnostic equipment and the training to aid in solving your problem.
I am definitely not a certified technician so it’s best to have a professional have a look at it to have your issues addressed. Thanks again for choosing to ride a Yamaha.
Bryan………
January 10th, 2008 at 5:32 pm