While some would assume motorcycles are one of the more dangerous modes of transportation, at least four Marquette students have made them their choice motor vehicle to take on their morning commute to school.
To these students it seems not like a danger, but a cooler and more fun way to carpool.
“They’re fun, economical, and it’s cheaper than a car,” Brandon Arnold, junior, said. “Insurance is way cheaper too.”
Arnold rides a 250 Ninja.
You don’t have to have a drivers license to ride on most motorcycles. In order to ride a bike legally on Missouri roads, riders have to have a drivers permit, a class M license (for bikes that go over a certain speed), or a motorcycle endorsement from the DMV or your insurance company.
“I don’t have my license yet, but I have my permit and my motorcycle endorsement,” Arnold said.
Even though you don’t need a driver license to drive a motorcycle its still very possible to be pulled over if you don’t follow the Missouri road laws.
“I’ve been pulled over three times. Once for having a passenger without a helmet on, another was for speeding and being out past curfew, and the other one was for running a red light. The cop let me off the hook for that last one though,” Arnold said. “Cops for sure target people on motorcycles because I feel like they don’t like them for some reason.”
Arnold isn’t the only Marquette student with a motorcyce who has trouble with the local law enforcement. Mason Hendel, junior, was stopped by the police while on his bike on his way to school.
“I got pulled over for having my license plate bent too far up under my bike so no one could read it,” Hendel said. “They really just pulled me over to harass me because I have a fully stunted bike.”
While Hendel hasn’t gotten in any real trouble yet on his bike, the same can’t be said for Colin Pfitzinger, senior.
“I got a careless and imprudent on my bike for drag racing,” Pfitzinger said.
A “careless and imprudent” is a ticket that is considered worse than a speeding ticket, is issued when a driver does something deemed dangerous and unnecessary like squealing your tires at a stop sign, running a red light in an officers presence, or drag racing on public roads.
Pfitzinger said he was at a stoplight and when he took off he got pulled over for what he says was “somewhat” drag racing. He says didn’t exceed the speed limit and didn’t burn out, but because he raced someone away from the light he got pulled over and received a large fine for drag racing.
Not only does Pfitzinger have a motorcycle, but he also owns a 1991 Mustang GT. Pfitzinger and his dad split the cost of his ride to school, and with its paint job Pfitzinger says the car gets a decent amount of attention from friends.
He recently sanded and repainted his Mustang himself black with a silver racing stripe down the center of the hood and redid the interior.
“I’d cry if I got in an accident,” Pfitzinger said.
Similar to Pfitzinger, Connor Hill, junior, also has a motorcycle and a cool car to drive to school. Hill drives a 1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass and a 63600 Ninja.

“I always wanted a motorcycle growing up, and my brother got one and my parents allowed it, so my parents allowed me to get one. I had to save up half for my, 250 Ninja, I started out on a smaller bike,” Hill said, “then I moved up to my 63600 that I have now which is really fast.”
Hills bike gets up to about 150mph, and he doesn’t let anyone drive his bike.
Apart from his motorcycles Hill owns a classic, light blue 1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass and drives it to school regularly. However taking his beloved car to school didn’t exactly turn out well when he was backed into in the junior parking lot. Luckily it was his friend, so Hill didn’t get too upset.
“If it had been anyone else, it wouldn’t have ended as nicely,” Hill said.
Since then Hill has had the dent in the car fixed and the side of the car that was hit repainted.
While some students may not drive the safest on their motorcycles, Officer Joe Early said in the right situation motorcycles can be safe modes of transportation.
“If driven responsibly, motorcycles can be as safe as cars,” Officer Early said. “With beginning drivers, I think it’s better to learn the ways of the road in a car first, just because if you make a beginner’s mistake on a motorcycle it can be a fatal mistake.”
Luke Braun, senior, who rides his 2008 Kawasaki Ninja zx6r to school, agrees with Officer Early in the fact that you should learn to drive first in a car in order to properly know the ways of the road before you begin riding a motorcycle at such a young age.
“You should defiantly learn the rules of the road first and make sure you know everything because one mistake on a bike and you’re screwed. If you crash your car, who cares its only money, it’s not your life,” Braun said.
History teacher, Chris Kenny, also owns a motorcycle and drives it to school, and parks his Honda nc700 by the actual bike rack by the pool.
Kenny got into motorcycles because of his brother and has had a motorcycle for the past 6 years, but used to have bikes in high school and college.
“It’s as close to flying as you can get and it’s the feeling of freedom. It’s invigorating and exciting,” Kenny said.
While Kenny loves his bike he feels the same as Officer Early and Braun in the fact that not all teenagers are ready for the responsibility that comes with being a motorcycle driver.
Kenny has two sons and he says he would not suggest letting them ride on motorcycles at the teen age because the maturity needed to take on the extra responsibility and caution it takes to correctly and safely ride them.
“They just go so fast so quickly that it’s very easy to get into trouble quickly,” Kenny said.