I'm just curious how one of these classes/tests are? I have a street bike now that I've put a few thousand miles on (had my permit and it expired). So it's time to take the class and just get it done with. The one I'm looking at is a 2 day class. 8am - 5pm. I get nervous around these types of things. Is the written part hard? How about the riding course?

Thanks in advance

 

Everything is super easy the hardest part was making a figure 8 in a small square type space but if you fail you shouldn't be driving at all

 

Easy, especially since you've been riding already.

 

I don't remember having to do a figure 8. I also don't remember having to do anything other than the written portion then the dmv driving portion. Man I feel old :/. It was super easy from what I remember though! Use one of their bikes, makes it super easy.

 

I just finished a motorcycle class through the Evergreen Safety Council. It was a 2-day 8-5 class in Seattle much like what you describe. Both days were divided into classroom and riding. Both tests were administered on day 2. The written test was pretty straight forward. The test consisted of 25 multiple choice questions and you had to score at least 80% to pass. I just remember the correct answer for most questions was "maintain or increase your space cushion", "maintain or slowly close the throttle and grip the handlebars" or, "apply steady pressure to both front and rear brake". You can generally eliminate most answers that use the words "only" or "abruptly". Most correct answers have the words "slow", "steady", and "smooth". The riding test consisted of 5 skills: cone weave and stop in a box, u-turn and stop in a box, accelerate and safety stop, swerve, and right hand turns. The DOL website has a video of the riding test. I think you can lose up to 15 points and still pass. Most people lost points on the u-turn and safety stop. During day 1, you get to practice doing figure 8 u-turns. If you master that, the test u-turn is simple. People also lost points on the safety stop primarily because they didn't accelerate fast enough before braking and/or started applying the brake before reaching the designated braking area (line of cones). The other thing is that most everyone stayed in 1st gear for the entire test which is okay. 12 people took the class with me. Everyone passed the written and 9 passed the riding. Fortunately, I was one of the 9. Hope this helps.

 

Never took a class. Got the rules booklet, two days later went and took the test on my friends cruiser. Riding part is much easier on a small cruiser, sport bikes don't like 90 degree turns at slow speeds. Written part is common sense.

 

when I did my riding test they put a speaker on my shirt and followed me down the street and back. It was so basic and no figure 8. They just wanted to make sure you can stop and take off without wobbling in oklahoma.. lol

 

I'm sure every state has different tests but in CA the riding portion is pretty difficult. This is why majority of people take the 1-day class where the riding portion is done using their very small bike (forgot if it was 150cc or 250cc) but it was tiny making the turns a lot easier! Passing this class meant you get to bypass the CA DMV ride portion!

Almost guarantee you would fail the DMV riding portion if you showed up on a R1 or something big like a Busa'. The written test is easy.

There's a Youtube video floating around of this Police Motorcycle challenge, let me try to find it but holy cow, if you watch that cop on his huge bike, he was going through cones and corners like it was magic. I saw it twice and couldn't believe he didn't hit one cone. Much respect for the LE motorcycle guys if they all have to pass that test. I know I would fail for sure!

Found it, check this out, it's amazing for any rider!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9MVY8swO5M

 

if only it was this easy in WA

 

My test consist of doing a figure 8 around cones. You would lose points every time your foot touched the ground. As a beginner rider, this task is not very easy IMO. They also made me accelerate and stop between some cones. When I stopped the rear tire had to skid, to make sure I was able to handle an emergency stop. Again, maybe fearful for beginner riders. I took the test 3 months after riding, the skid stop scared me on my CBR f4i