Modern Vespa

...So I decided to go for a bigger scoot. Knowledge test was easily passed about 4 weeks ago, and I was practicing like crazy on an empty parking lot. I got all the measurements done at ICBC, and set up u-turns and cones even less generously than they do. I practiced at least 1 hour almost every day and brought my skills to above the passing point.
I was at ICBC (near Boundary and Lougheed) in the morning a week ago at 8:15 and there was already plenty of people waiting. There was even one guy on the same Fly I have so I was relaxed. The guy on a Fly passed and there was a guy on Aprilia Scarabeo 200 (nice scoot!) who passed his test right before me. One hour and a half later I was called in, and a pretty blonde lady asked me for the registration. I gave the papers to her and she obviously got confused. I asked her if anything was wrong. She said that since my scoot is registered as a limited speed motorcycle I am not allowed to try MST. Then she recalled the guy on a Fly whose papers were not checked and said that his results will be annulled (sucks! poor boy ; I am so sorry my appearance there caused him the troubles ). I tried to argue that the scoot may not be taken for the road test, but will be OK for the skills test but no luck, so I had to leave. The only positive thing of the visit was that the cones were set for Aprilia (which is not much bigger than Fly) so I tested myself while the lady was away for consultations. "Passed" easily.
So I am stuck with my Fly and don't know what to do. I am not going to buy a bigger scoot without trying it and I cannot try it without passing the MST. MST courses are all booked now and. I am also quite busy at work and just have time for practicing in the evenings when most of the classes are over.
I need your suggestions, guys. I would gladly pay for some private lesson or two on somebody's MC or larger scoot (latter the better since I won't have to adjust for the clutch) and for the Motorcycle Skills Test on your machine. I don't know whether its a common practice and whether there are any alternatives, so please tell me what are the possible ways to solve this catch.

Talk to your Fly dealer and see if you can test ride the Fly 150. They may do so since you got Fly50 from them. They may even escort you to ICBC.

H

If at first you don't succeed... try, try again.

Sometimes it all depends on the staff/location.

Call a motorcycle school. You may be able to make arrangements for personalized lessons. If you take one of their courses you get to use a bike for the test. The lessons are well worth the money especially for riding in the Lower Mainland.

http://www.actionmotorcycleschool.com/mainpage.htm (my personal favorite)

http://www.sunday.ca/Main/main.htm

http://www.safetycouncil.bc.ca/

http://www.proride.net (link didn't work tonight but they are legit)

Dave

Another excellent school is Open Road Driver Training

www.openroaddrivertraining.com

Highly recommended!

Cheers,

Simon

Thank you very much, everybody.
These schools are well-known, and, indeed, respected. In my case, however, the situation is a bit more complicated since I simply cannot contribute so much time for traveling quite far from Port Moody to these schools, especially during inconvenient for me hours. On top of that, most of the classes are booked until fall.
I kept hope that I could rent a scooter somewhere and just do the test the most convenient way for myself, but I guess, the only way for me would be a blind purchase of what I may dislike later and going for tests on my new machine.
P.S. I don't believe trying another location will help. I heard ICBC is now aware of such attempts and does not allow MST to be passed on 50 cc scooters.

Hey guy ... I think you are out of luck. Why would you want a licence anyway? The rescrictions are quite clear. Even you did your test on a 200 cc scooter, you are not allowed to ride a 400 cc motorbike...you won't even be allowed to take a passenger. So just bite the bullet and take a MSF course. Nobody is going to lend you their pride a joy. Renting in Vancouver is limited to the 49 cc scooters.

I kinda agree with what ICBC is doing. Too many riders of these small scooters are not getting the proper training. For those who don't know, ICBC will allow car drivers (class six licensing) to ride a 49 cc without getting a special class 5 M/C license.

Didn't you post this on vancouverscootering.com as well?

I've been riding scoots for many years. I was living in Australia for 2003-05 and decided to upgrade my 50cc for something bigger. That meant taking 2 mandatory courses and passing 2 skills tests and a supervised ride. Then I moved back to Canada and found I couldn't transfer that licence--even though I already had a BC class 5 car licence.

So I did the Pro-ride course. I wanted to get the unrestricted licence so I didn't tell them I planned on buying a maxi-scoot--and I figured it would be good to have a full motorcycle licence anyway. Matt and the guys up there were great and I passed my road test on the first go.

They offer courses at Capilano College in NOrth Van, which accessible via Seabus and bus. I unreservedly recommend them! I learned a lot of great skills.