Licensing & Training

In Washington, the school is the examiner This is the fact that reframes the whole question, and it is easy to miss because no training provider states it plainly on their sales page. Washington requires four official examinations for a 2-wheel endorsement: a 50-question permit knowledge test, a permit riding skills test, a 25-question endorsement … Read more

Washington runs this differently from almost every other state Three things about the process here surprise riders who have been licensed elsewhere, and all three are in the official rules rather than in folklore. The instruction permit requires a riding test, not just a written one. The permit lasts 180 days and you get one … Read more

The course does two different jobs, and which one you need depends on your age Almost everything written about motorcycle training in Arizona treats the course as one thing. In the statute it is two. For any rider, completing a Basic RiderCourse with an MVD-recognized provider takes the place of the on-site skills evaluation. You … Read more

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 … Read more

The course is worth more in Michigan than anywhere else in this series Not because it is better, but because Michigan’s law attaches two separate benefits to it, and both are written into the statutes. First, it waives three tests. MCL 257.312b: “The requirement of a written knowledge test, road sign test, and motorcycle driving … Read more

Michigan’s course waives three tests, not one Across the states covered in this series, a safety course normally removes the riding test and leaves the written one standing. A couple of states remove both. Michigan removes three, and the statute lists them: “The requirement of a written knowledge test, road sign test, and motorcycle driving … Read more

The rule that catches everyone who moved here New York will waive your motorcycle road test for completing an approved course. It will not do it for a course you took somewhere else, and it says so plainly: “Courses completed in other states do not qualify for waiver.” That single sentence is the most valuable … Read more

Two license classes, and which one you get depends on your age New York’s motorcycle manual is direct about it: “To operate a motorcycle in New York State, you must have a motorcycle operator’s license (Class M) or a motorcycle junior operator’s license (Class MJ).” Class M — the full motorcycle license. Class MJ — … Read more

Motorcycle Ohio, and the clock that starts when you pass Ohio runs its own rider training program under its own name — Motorcycle Ohio, administered by the Department of Public Safety. Completing its Basic Rider Skills course does what a safety course does in most states: “Motorcycle Ohio course graduates will have the State of … Read more

Ohio’s route, in the state’s own words The Ohio Department of Public Safety publishes the whole process on a single leaflet, and it is refreshingly concrete. Three steps to the permit: Get the study material. “To help you study for the Knowledge test, be sure to pick up a Motorcycle Operator Manual and a Digest … Read more