Class M or an endorsement — and why the paperwork is the same
Arizona lets you ride a motorcycle in one of two ways. If you already hold an Arizona driver license, you add a motorcycle endorsement to it. If you do not, you apply for a Class M license in its own right. The tests, the permit and the waiting periods are identical either way; what differs is only whether the motorcycle privilege sits on top of an existing card or stands alone.
Both routes run through the same document first, and it is the one worth understanding properly, because Arizona’s version of it has two limits most riders do not find out about until they are stopped.
The Class M instruction permit
Arizona Revised Statutes section 28-3156 sets it out. “A person who is at least fifteen years and six months of age may apply to the department for an instruction permit for a class M license.” The permit is issued once the applicant has passed “all parts of the examination other than the motorcycle skill test” — so the written test comes first, and the riding test is what the permit exists to prepare you for.
Three details from the statute that matter in practice:
- It is valid for seven months. Not six, not a year. “The permit is valid for seven months from the date of issuance.” Plan the skills test inside that window or you start again.
- You must have it on you. The permit entitles you to ride “when the permittee has the permit in the permittee’s immediate possession”. Left at home, the privilege does not travel with you.
- No controlled-access highways, and no riding after dark. The permit does not authorize operation on a controlled access highway, nor “on a public highway from sunset to sunrise or when there is insufficient light to clearly discern a person and a vehicle on the highway at a distance of five hundred feet.”
That last one is the clause that catches people. It is not written as a clock time — it is written as a light condition with a 500-foot test attached to it, so an overcast dusk can put you outside the permit before sunset does. Permit conditions like these are not unique to Arizona but the wording is unusually specific; the general pattern is covered in the restrictions on a learner permit.
If you are under eighteen
This is where Arizona adds requirements that adults do not face, and where the statute contains an option almost nobody mentions.
ARS 28-3174 provides that an applicant under eighteen and at least sixteen cannot be issued a Class M license or motorcycle endorsement unless they have “held an instruction permit issued pursuant to section 28-3156 for at least six months”. The only exception is someone who already holds a valid motorcycle license or endorsement from another jurisdiction.
On top of the six months, the applicant must satisfy one of two alternatives:
- complete “a motorcycle driver education program that is approved by the department”, or
- have a parent or guardian certify completion of “at least thirty hours of motorcycle driving practice”.
The second option is the one that goes unmentioned by every training school in the state, for reasons that are not hard to work out. It is in the statute, it is a genuine alternative, and it is free. Whether it is the better choice is a separate question: thirty supervised hours with a parent is not the same preparation as a structured course, and the course route has a second benefit described below.
Note that the six-month permit period and the seven-month permit validity leave a one-month margin. A sixteen-year-old who takes the permit and then waits is working against a clock.
The skills test, and the way round it
The permit exists because the motorcycle skill test is the one part of the examination it does not cover. You can take that test at the MVD, or you can complete a Basic RiderCourse with a training provider recognized by the MVD, which is accepted in place of the on-site skills evaluation. The providers that dominate Arizona’s training market — and which occupy most of the search results for this question — issue an MSF completion card on passing, and that card is what goes to the MVD with the application.
Worth being precise about the source here: the waiver is administrative practice through recognized providers, not something ARS 28-3174 states. What the statute does say is that a department-approved motorcycle driver education program satisfies the under-18 training requirement. In practice the same course does both jobs, which is why it is the default route for most riders and effectively mandatory for teenagers who cannot log thirty parental hours.
What the course itself involves, and what it costs, is in motorcycle safety course Arizona, and the national picture is in motorcycle safety course.
The rule that surprises adult riders: eye protection
Arizona’s helmet law is permissive and its eye protection law is not, which is the reverse of what most riders assume.
ARS 28-964 requires a protective helmet only from an operator or passenger “who is under eighteen years of age”. Adults are free to ride bare-headed. But the same section requires that an operator “shall wear at all times protective glasses, goggles or a transparent face shield” approved by the director — with one exception: the requirement does not apply if the motorcycle “is equipped with a protective windshield.”
So in Arizona a 40-year-old on a naked bike with no helmet and no glasses is committing an offense, and it is the glasses, not the helmet. A full-face helmet with a shield satisfies it; sunglasses do; a bare face on a machine without a windscreen does not.
The enforcement wording on the helmet side is narrow too: the statute limits citation to an operator or passenger “who is sixteen or seventeen years of age and who has been issued a driver license or permit”. How Arizona compares with the rest of the country is in which states require a helmet, and what makes a helmet legally a helmet in reading the certification labels on a helmet.
Once you have the license
Arizona is one of the five states where lane filtering is legal, under conditions that are tighter than most riders expect — a 45 mph road limit, 15 mph for the motorcycle, and only past stopped vehicles. The statute text is in is lane splitting legal in Arizona, and how it compares with the other four states in lane filtering.
The other thing waiting for you is the machine’s paperwork: title, plate and the annual bill. Those are in motorcycle registration and how much is motorcycle registration. If you are still choosing between routes to the license generally, how to get a motorcycle license lays out the sequence that applies in most states, and motorcycle endorsement vs license explains the distinction Arizona draws at the top of this page.
Frequently asked questions
How old do you have to be to get a motorcycle permit in Arizona?
Fifteen years and six months. ARS 28-3156 allows a person who is at least fifteen years and six months of age to apply for a Class M instruction permit, which is issued after passing every part of the examination except the motorcycle skill test.
How long is an Arizona motorcycle permit valid?
Seven months from the date of issuance. That is unusual — most states use six months or a year — and it matters because an applicant under eighteen must hold the permit for at least six months before the license can be issued.
Can you ride at night on an Arizona motorcycle permit?
No. The permit does not authorize operation on a public highway from sunset to sunrise, or whenever there is insufficient light to clearly discern a person and a vehicle at 500 feet. It also does not authorize riding on a controlled access highway.
What does a rider under 18 need in Arizona?
They must have held the Class M instruction permit for at least six months, and must either complete a motorcycle driver education program approved by the department or have a parent or guardian certify at least thirty hours of motorcycle driving practice. The exception is a rider who already holds a valid motorcycle license or endorsement from another jurisdiction.
Do you need a helmet in Arizona?
Only under eighteen. ARS 28-964 requires a helmet from an operator or passenger under eighteen years of age. It separately requires every operator to wear protective glasses, goggles or a transparent face shield unless the motorcycle has a protective windshield — that one applies at any age.
Is a Class M license different from a motorcycle endorsement in Arizona?
Only in form. A Class M license stands alone; an endorsement is added to an existing Arizona driver license. The permit, the written test and the skills test requirements are the same either way.