Topic: EMERGENCY in Nashville - Need a coil

[B.O.X.N.I.F.E.]

My buddies and I rode to Natchez to do the the Natchez Trace Parkway. My 1/4 coil has failed. Does anyone in Nashville have a coil I can borrow? I will mail it back to you on the 6th when we make it back.

Trevor
501-2O6-88I8

[Music City Metalcraft]

I have one for a 750. should work.

[Raul CB750K1]

Totally unrelated, but how good memories do I keep or riding the Natchez Trace Nashville to Tupelo and back, on a rented Harley V-Rod back in 2002.... 

[lucky]

Totally unrelated, but how good memories do I keep or riding the Natchez Trace Nashville to Tupelo and back, on a rented Harley V-Rod back in 2002.... 

Huh???

[Duke McDukiedook]

Yes. 

[Raul CB750K1]

Totally unrelated, but how good memories do I keep or riding the Natchez Trace Nashville to Tupelo and back, on a rented Harley V-Rod back in 2002.... 

Huh???

mental note to self: please proof read your posts before sending them...

I meant to say: "What good memories I do keep OF riding the Natchez Trace Pkway, back in 2002, on a rented Harley V-Rod, Nashville to Tupelo and back...."

Right before the trip I went to the DMV to take the driving test and get my driving licence.... :-)

[Spanner 1]

Poster got a loan of a coil when he arrived in Nashville from member Music City Metalcraft ... ..
Raul, why did you have to get a U.S. license, why couldn't you use your Spanish license while you were here ?

[Raul CB750K1]

Poster got a loan of a coil when he arrived in Nashville from member Music City Metalcraft ... ..
Raul, why did you have to get a U.S. license, why couldn't you use your Spanish license while you were here ?

Long story that costed me a little problem with my employer....

I brought an "international driving licence" issued by the spanish DMV. That licence was good enough to rent a car or a motorcycle, but not good enough to drive in Tennessee. Soon after I arrived, I emailed the DMV asking whether I could drive with it in Tennesse, and the reply was "every Tennessee resident must have a Tennesse or other state driving licence". I asked trying to avoid potential problems with law officers that had never seen before an international driving licence.

So I got informed about what did I have to do to get the driving licence. No big deal. So I study the theory and go to the DMV to get the exam. I had to take some bills as proof of residence. So what did I take better than my hotel bills? Big mistake! They said I was not a resident! But I'm at a hotel! They said that meant "temporary" residence. I explained I was there on a short term delegation -six months-, showed the email from the DMV saying I couldn't drive with the international driving licence, and furthermore, no condo would rent me an appartment for less than one year.

I was on a catch-22 situation, and I think they knew because they put me on it. The DMV director, from my understanding, judged the international licence good enough, but didn't want to invalidate whoever from the DMV who told me I needed a TN driving licence.

So the director told me it would be good enough if my company issued me a letter saying I was going to be there for six months. I thought: "no big deal". BIG MISTAKE! My company director didn't want to, and still I can't understand the reason why. It was nothing controversial, but they got somewhat "offended" for me getting into trouble. "Why did you asked?" C'mon, it is my ass what will be behind bars if I get into trouble, I want to know what kind of legal risks I'm incurring into if I drive here.


I found myself being some kind of "problem to be solved" in my company, where I have always tried to be a problem solver. I think that my company didn't even know whether I would stay in TN or I would have to move, and they didn't want to issue a letter that I could use to my convenience. So they finally issued me a letter that didn't say I would be in TN, but the CMV director, reluctantly, accepted it and they gave me the driving licence.


Fast forward two months and I really wanted to ride. Getting the motorcycle endorsement looked easy to me, so after I had made a reservation on the v.rod for my birthday, 10 days prior went to the DMV and took the theory exam -my address was stated as my company office address-. They didn't remember me, and I talked as less as possible. Showing a valid driving licence was enough proof of residence, so I passed the theory exam. The day of my birthday, got the motorcycle first, went to the DMV to pass the riding test, passed it, and headed for Natchez Trace.

Returned the bike the next day with something like 500 more miles on the odometer, and every single bone of my body aching, but a big big big grin in my face.


Sorry for the thread hijack; reading about the Natchez Trace just brought me good memories...

[Spanner 1]

I actually asked this question to hear how unfriendly this state ( TN. ) is to tourists. It's INSANE to demand that someone here on vacation (from 'overseas' )  or staying for a very short time has to have a TN Driver's License to drive  ....... talk about backward 19th. century bureaucracy.
Every other country in the world accepts an Int. Driver's License.... makes me mad  AND, while I'm at it, a driving test anywhere else in the world is an actual DRIVING test, very hard to pass.... rant over. But look at the above story and how our Spanish member was 'criminalised' by the system.

[BobbyR]

A valid driver license from another country is also valid in NYS. You do not need to apply for a NYS driver license unless you become a resident of NYS.

According to NYS law, a resident of another country can get a NYS driver license. The DMV does not recommend this because:

    NYS recognizes your foreign driver license if you remain a resident of the nation that issued the license. You do not need to have a NYS driver license to drive in NYS unless you become a resident of NYS.
    If you have a driver license from any nation except Canada, you must pass a written test, complete a 5-hour pre-licensing course and pass a road test to qualify for a NYS driver license. See "New Drivers - How to Apply".

[Raul CB750K1]

I actually asked this question to hear how unfriendly this state ( TN. ) is to tourists. It's INSANE to demand that someone here on vacation (from 'overseas' )  or staying for a very short time has to have a TN Driver's License to drive  ....... talk about backward 19th. century bureaucracy.
Every other country in the world accepts an Int. Driver's License.... makes me mad  AND, while I'm at it, a driving test anywhere else in the world is an actual DRIVING test, very hard to pass.... rant over. But look at the above story and how our Spanish member was 'criminalised' by the system.

Probably that's exactly the point: TN doesn't attract much -let's call it- "long term foreign residents". If you travel to visit Graceland or Nashville or Chattanooga, it's very unlikely that tourists will contact the DMV, they will just rent a car with their driving licence. I think my case was the typical case of "better ask for forgiveness than permission".

I have to say that having the driving licence, opened a "new world" for me. Until then, my spanish ID card was usually looked at with suspicions of being fake -who in Nashville has ever seen a spanish ID card after all-. With the driving licence, shopping became a normal activity again.... :-)


If you have read my story, you would have noticed that in fact what annoyed me more was the stupid reservations of my employer, rather than the DMV. I understand that when you move somewhere, you have to accomodate to their rules. If it took a TN licence to be road legal, then let's do it, no big deal, I had 12 years driving experience, getting the licence was no big deal and I would be in peace of mind for the rest of my stay. Specially because, as you say, both the car and motorcycle test were ridiculous, to the point that when the examiner told me what should I do with the motorcycle, I rephrased every single part just to make sure I had understood the instructions correctly.


My stay in TN was one of my best experiences ever. When I left, my boss presented me with a bottle of "Gentleman Jack", a Jack Daniels speciality. I told him I would keep the bottle untouched until the day he would travel to Spain, when we would open the bottle and raise a glass "for the good old days".

Fast forward nine years, last october he came to Barcelona to attend an international fair. I took the train to meet him and we spent some hours updating us about our lives.

I kept my promise

[Tugboat]

Nice