Newbie to Canada, some advice please | GTAMotorcycle.com

Newbie to Canada, some advice please

T

Tomo

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Alright all.

I'm from the UK and been riding since 2007 and done a couple of reasonable trips across Europe over the last couple of years.

I have been doing quite a bit of research and looked through these boards quite a bit over the last few months.

A couple of things shocked me. Firstly the fact I can exchange my car licence but not the bike licence. However its not a problem I accept it that's the way it is. I have read that I don't need to wait the time period between the classes and can get the full M licence I believe. Somebody please correct me if I am wrong with that.

The other thing that shocks me is the price you guys pay for insurance. Wow that's a real eye opener. I was paying £124 ($197) for 12 months fully comp on a 2004 Yamaha R6. So I know these are premiums I can only dream about in a distance past and as such will probably not be looking to get a sports bike but something a little more user friendly.

I expect I would go more down the adventure tourer route as these seem a little more insurance friendly. Any suggestions on bikes appreciated.

So having recieved my confirmation of permanent residence yesterday morning I will be looking to move over mid June and will be living in Whitby.

Where would the best riding school be to get quickly trained up and obtain my licence?

Thanks for you help and if anyone has any other pointers then please add.

Safe riding all :cool:
 
Welcome to Canada!

As you're in Whitby, I recommend you visit www.motorcyclecourse.com to get your training. great bunch of people! I should know, I worked with them for 5 years. ;)

I've no suggestions on which bike is best for you, just know that several models available in Europe are not available here and vice versa. Best thing you can do is visit all the dealerships you can to see what's available that turns your crank.

As for insurance, it's an emotional subject for riders here, so I'll just say one thing - insurance companies are in business to make money, not hand it out.
 
Welcome to Canada and the forum Tomo. There are few threads currently active that talk about situations like yours. From what I understand, you can transfer your bike license experience from the UK. You need to get an abstract from where you got your bike license and present it here along with $75. Then you can take the road test on a bike without having to wait two years to get your full M certification.

http://www.gtamotorcycle.com/vbforu...ll-M-license-when-coming-from-another-country
 
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The price of Petrol offsets the cost of Insurance, plus we have no speed cameras ;)

Where in the U.K do you live?

Biggest adjustment will be riding/driving on the opposite side of the road, took me a little bit to get use to it.
 
Welcome to the forums, and to Canada! I did my rider training through RTI and they were great. They have locations all throughout the GTA.

As far as bikes go.. you got the right idea. Steer clear of super sports. I ride a GS500, and comparatively, it's great on insurance but down on power. I believe bikes like the Ninja 650r and SV650 are also classified as sport touring models in regards to insurance so check them out
 
Yeah I guess petrol price does offset the insurance costs to a degree so long as you get the miles (kms) in.

I currently live in Burton On Trent in the Midlands.

I should be ok with riding on the other side of the road. Spent some time in Germany and had a couple of bike trips through Spain and one where I went from here to Marrakech which was an awesome adventure. Although not really a clever thing to do in January...

I think the hardest thing for me to adjust to will be the fact that you can't filter. I find nothing more satisfying that hitting traffic on a bike and being able to filter your way through it :)

Thanks for the welcomes all.
 
Welcome aboard.. On the topics of insurance and filtering.. Take that bucket of rock-salt as far away from our wounds as possible :mad:
 
On the bright side of things when I landed my uk driving lic was only valid for 90 days.

Don't compare driving on the opposite of the road in Europe with Canada.

Completely different experience, we have no lane discipline over here and they hand out driver licenses like candy(sweets).
 
I have noticed that the number of times I've been over. 401 is insane and when I see the driving its one situation where I can fully understand filtering being illegal. It would almost amount to suicide.

I guess its the same on pretty much all the 400 series
 
By the way, over here, signaling before you make a turn or a lane change is illegal.. You're either supposed to do it while you're making your turn or lane change, after you've done it or not at all. I got that from observing other drivers in traffic :cool:
 
Tomo said:
on a 2004 Yamaha R6.
Click to expand...
If you're planning on getting something similar over here it's pretty heard to beat State Farm for the best insurance rates! I'm not sure how they would treat your international license as far as "driving experience" but it'd be worth an argue ;)

Call Katherine at State Farm, 1-866-930-1221, Katherine@greglewis.ca for a kick butt quote :D (tell her Crazy Jamie sent you)

-Jamie M.
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