Licensing & Training

Two courses, and the cheap one can cost you more Maryland’s approved training comes in two forms with confusingly similar names. The Basic Rider Course is for beginners. The Basic Rider Course II — marketed as the License Waiver course — is for riders who already have some experience and need the Class M license. … Read more

In Maryland, the calendar is part of the answer Most state licensing guides are seasonless. Maryland’s should not be, because the training that most riders use to get a Class M license runs on a season: the community colleges that deliver the state-approved program schedule courses from April to October. Ask this question in November … Read more

Read this before you book In most states the choice of course affects how much you pay and how much you learn. In Utah it also decides what you are legally allowed to ride afterwards, and that catches people out every season. Utah licenses riders by the engine size of the machine they passed the … Read more

The machine you test on decides what you may ride Utah does something no rider expects from an American state, and getting it wrong is expensive because the fix is another test. Your license is restricted to the engine size of the motorcycle you passed the riding test on. Test on a 250 and you … Read more

The permit you ride on your own Missouri does something in its instruction permit statute that almost no other state does, and it is buried in a subordinate clause. Under RSMo 302.130, a temporary instruction permit entitles the holder to drive for twelve months, but the holder “must be accompanied by a licensed operator… who … Read more

The card expires in twelve months This is the fact to plan around, and it is stated in one line on the program’s own FAQ and almost nowhere else. Completing the North Carolina Motorcycle Safety Education Program course does not give you a motorcycle license. What it gives you is a DMV waiver card that … Read more

The permit is optional, and almost nobody knows it Start here, because it changes the plan. In North Carolina the motorcycle learner permit exists so you can practice legally before you are endorsed. The NCDMV’s own page says it plainly: the permit “allows you to practice riding before obtaining a full endorsement, but it not … Read more

The headline: the training is free Most states leave rider training to private schools and let them price it. Pennsylvania does not. The Pennsylvania Motorcycle Safety Program offers free rider training courses to Pennsylvania residents holding a motorcycle learner’s permit or a Class M license, provides the motorcycle and the helmet for the beginner course, … Read more

Two routes, and the difference costs you a year New Jersey splits motorcycle licensing in a way that most states do not, and the split decides how long the whole thing takes. If you already hold a New Jersey driver license, you are adding a motorcycle endorsement to it. If you do not hold one, … Read more

You need a Colorado driver license first Colorado does not issue a standalone motorcycle license. In the DMV’s own words, “you must possess a valid Colorado driver license to apply for or add a motorcycle endorsement.” The motorcycle privilege is an endorsement on the card you already hold. There are two of them. An M … Read more