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kam1nsk1
Joined: 05 Feb 2010
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 Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 3:46 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for all the advice Earthbound!
Very much appreciate the effort you've put in, really really helpful! |
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Stalin84
Joined: 30 Dec 2009
Location: Haebangchon, Seoul
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| Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 10:43 pm Post subject: |
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Hi guys. I just sold my first bike and am now without a motorcycle. I didn't have the time to take it out for a proper last ride either. I feel a bit empty, now. It had become such an important hobby in the time that I had it, however short. I will definitely get another one in the future.
Anyway, I rode a motorcycle in South Korea for seven months and didn't die, does this make me an expert rider?  |
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Brooksmatic
Joined: 06 Apr 2008
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2010 7:46 pm Post subject: |
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| I asked this earlier in the thread, but when I got my license plate from my gu office, they took my title and ownership papers. Do I just get those back when I turn in the license plate? |
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RufusW
Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Location: Busan
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| Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2010 8:15 pm Post subject: |
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| Brooksmatic, I'll also be going through that process soon. Did you need to pay for insurance before you got you plate? How much did you pay? |
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_kojak
Joined: 05 Feb 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 4:32 am Post subject: |
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I'm pretty sure this was answered on the last page, but I just want to double check...
I have my motorcycle endorsement on my New Hampshire drivers licence from the US. Can I just exchange this for a Korean drivers licence with motorcycle endorsement, or do I have to take the road test?
Also, is anyone selling a decent sized bike? I ride a 91 Honda CB750 Nigthhawk at home. Do you think I might be able to find something like this here? I could also go for something like a Honda CRF street/off road bike. I tried out a friends this summer and really liked it. Is there anything comparable made in Korea? |
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toiletgod2000
Joined: 18 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 5:56 am Post subject: |
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I'm no expert, but what I experienced firsthand 3 years ago was that to get the motorcycle license you need to pass the Korean motorcycle road test. You can exchange your car license for a Korean car license and drive <125cc or you can get an international license with your mc endorsed license (from your home country) to drive a bike up to 650 kg (weight off the top of my head, probably wrong). Have things changed? Earthbound, one of your previous posts leads me to believe that I was wrong before or that things have changed.
As for comparable domestic bikes, the closest thing is the Hyosung Comet 650. Most people don't have much love for the bigger K-bikes though. I have a Mirage 650 and have had no major problems, but I would have sprung for the import if I had the cash. I've only had it for a few riding months, and the only problem so far was the side-stand kill switch. |
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RufusW
Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Location: Busan
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| Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 6:52 am Post subject: |
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| If you're driving anything over 125cc then you need to get a Korean motorcycle license. I ride something under that so I could just convert my Uk license to a Korean one. But anything over, you need to take a test at the test facility. There' information in this thread about that... seems like it might actually be hard. |
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earthbound14
Joined: 23 Jan 2007
Location: seoul
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| Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 6:58 am Post subject: |
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| toiletgod2000 wrote: |
I'm no expert, but what I experienced firsthand 3 years ago was that to get the motorcycle license you need to pass the Korean motorcycle road test. You can exchange your car license for a Korean car license and drive <125cc or you can get an international license with your mc endorsed license (from your home country) to drive a bike up to 650 kg (weight off the top of my head, probably wrong). Have things changed? Earthbound, one of your previous posts leads me to believe that I was wrong before or that things have changed.
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No, this is pretty much true from what I remember, but honestly it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The driving test isn't that hard though so it's not much trouble to do it.
You can ride here on your international license but getting properly insured long term would be an issue. |
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toiletgod2000
Joined: 18 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 7:23 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| You can ride here on your international license but getting properly insured long term would be an issue. |
There's a one year limit for using your international license. However, I'm not sure that there's any mechanism in effect to keep you from using it longer. I've never shown any one my international license, so if I keep riding on it with no claims, who would know? There's a slim chance that someone would see that I had registered a bigger bike for a few years without my Korean license, but that seems really slim to me.
I like being completely legal, so I plan on getting the proper Korean license in the future, but I don't see what's stopping me from just renewing my international license and using that indefinitely. When I lived in Gangwondo, you could only take the test on Thursdays. I usually worked then, so I couldn't do it. Unless you're used to driving down the shoulder, using the pedestrian crosswalk, and then changing your mind and making a U-turn in the crosswalk, the test looks pretty challenging to me! Nonetheless, it is doable. |
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earthbound14
Joined: 23 Jan 2007
Location: seoul
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| Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 7:30 am Post subject: |
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| _kojak wrote: |
Also, is anyone selling a decent sized bike? I ride a 91 Honda CB750 Nigthhawk at home. Do you think I might be able to find something like this here? I could also go for something like a Honda CRF street/off road bike. I tried out a friends this summer and really liked it. Is there anything comparable made in Korea? |
The only local bike is as toiletgod said the Comet 650. We don't get the Honda nighthawk and older bikes are either in short supply (except for a load of 400 racers) or beat to hell.
However there are a few good bikes on the market.
The Honda CB400SF V-Tec (I suggest getting a 2004 and newer)
Honda CB750 (not the same as the Night Hawk) but these had a limited run here and there are no news ones.
Honda Hornet 600 (599) a bit pricey
The Suzuki GSR 600 (As of 2007)
New this year is the Suzuki Gladius (replacing the Suzuki SV650...which never sold here....goddammmmmit)
Yamaha FZ-6 (As of 2006)
Yamaha XJR400 Usually pre 2000 though, but I nice little bike
Yamaha FZ400 (A few older models that seem in good shape are still kicking around)
Kawasaki ER6 as of 2008
All prertty good allround bikes |
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Brooksmatic
Joined: 06 Apr 2008
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 9:05 pm Post subject: |
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| RufusW wrote: |
| Brooksmatic, I'll also be going through that process soon. Did you need to pay for insurance before you got you plate? How much did you pay? |
Yes, they told me at the office I needed to get insurance first. In January 2010 the insurance rates went up drastically. My contract is up in August so I got a 6-month insurance plan with LIG for 260,000.
I'm going to ask my question again because I still have not got an answer for it:
"I asked this earlier in the thread, but when I got my license plate from my gu office, they took my title and ownership papers. Do I just get those back when I turn in the license plate?"
There are obviously people in here that know the answer to this. Please just take a second and write me an answer. |
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deizio
Joined: 15 Jun 2007
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| Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2010 3:57 pm Post subject: |
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| What's the current line on riding a 125 with a korean car license? Did the law actually change? links to official sites / info (english if possible)? |
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technique
Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Location: Jamsil, Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2010 4:41 pm Post subject: |
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This topic seems to be regularly debated, but I can tell you for certain that to be legal while riding a 125cc motorcycle, you need to have the motorcycle Type 1 endorsement. When I went to take the driving test to get my Type 2 (+250cc), the testing facility was always doing the 125cc test first. The 125cc test uses the City125.
On the other hand, I also gathered from reading here (shame on me for ass-u-me-ing) that I didn't need a motorcycle license for the crappy Hyosung GD125 I bought last year. I rode it around for a year with no plate or motorcycle license (just a Korean Auto Type 2 license) through many Police breathalyzer traps with no problem.
Now, am I going to ride my cb400 around without a plate and license? I'm not that scandalous.
Oh, and although it's the same test, it's infinitely easier to maneuver the course on a City125 than on a Daelim Daystar... |
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technique
Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Location: Jamsil, Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2010 4:48 pm Post subject: |
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| Brooksmatic wrote: |
I'm going to ask my question again because I still have not got an answer for it:
"I asked this earlier in the thread, but when I got my license plate from my gu office, they took my title and ownership papers. Do I just get those back when I turn in the license plate?"
There are obviously people in here that know the answer to this. Please just take a second and write me an answer. |
Are they supposed to take your papers? I can't comment on that. Did they take mine also? Yes, they did. I hope for both of our sakes that action is the correct one.  |
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RufusW
Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Location: Busan
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| Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2010 5:18 pm Post subject: |
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The Korean Driving license authority has a lot of information in English.
http://www.dla.go.kr/english/index.jsp
I don't know where I read it, but I'm pretty sure below 125cc can be driven no problems on a drivers' license.
Last edited by RufusW on Thu Feb 18, 2010 7:06 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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