yes, you've got it. When I was a young man and riding Hogs, you didn't have to have a special lincense, just a regular drivers lincense would do it. Then when dirt bikes became the rage and every one was riding bikes the great CA government decided that they should require a "special" license to ride bikes. It did nothing to reduce the amount of accidents(which of course it was claimed by politicians it would)but certainly increased the revenue to CA coffers(wasted of course like all CA taxes). Too bad the Gov didn't know the laws of the state he is supposed to be running:), but I think this law should be done away with, it is useless except for revenue gathering.
He was legally licensed to operate this sidecar-equipped bike in CA on his driver's license.