I got my first bike for my ninth birthday. It was a new, 1973 Yamaha GT80. I rode it all over North Texas until I was fifteen and got my first license (Motorcycle only).
I remember the officer following me in a car and honking the horn once for me to turn left and twice for right. I passed the written test and driving test the first time, but I had been riding for six years at that time and my father was a stickler for motorcycle safety so we went over the rules regularly (the one about needing a license in order to operate a motorcycle on the street not withstanding).
Now I live in Colorado and my fourteen year old daughter is bugging me about getting her motorcycle license. Now the rules are quite different than they were when I was a kid. She can get a permit at fifteen and take a motorcycle safety course. Once she passes the course and has held a permit for one year, she can go down to the DMV and get a shiny new license without having to take any tests.
I reckon when she turns fifteen next march, I'll buy her a little Honda Rebel, or shadow and get her a permit. I look forward to her getting her motorcycle license before her automobile license, just like the old-man.
