Quote:
Originally Posted by slowstang
They're probably booked solid for a few months, but a local MSF course is what you really want to start off with. Down here they have them at some community colleges, and they last Friday night, all Saturday, and Sunday morning. You get some classroom time, then lots of parking lot time. You use their bikes and do tons of parking lot riding, people that had never touched a bike before left the course riding pretty well. The super bonus of it all is that you get a certificate for your motorcycle license endorsement. After passing the written bike permit test at the DMV and getting your permit, you give them the certificate and you get your license instantly. Without that, you have to schedule a riding test at the DMV, which they sometimes only do on certain days, and you're on your own to have a bike you can ride. Their parking lot riding test is pretty difficult too (I'd argue somewhat unreasonable), but you can do some Google-fu on that.
Edit: To add, the motorcycle permit's only restriction is that you can't have a passenger, and since it's only a written test, you can study for a couple hours, pass that, and you're free to get a bike and ride all you want, it's good for 18 months if I remember correctly, and i think you can take it again when it expires, effectively having an infinite permit.
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Pretty much spot on.
I too took the MSF course even though I had experience (required by law at the time due to my age). There were people who had never ridden a motorcycle and seldom a bicycle and they could actually ride by the end of the course.
After you pass that, you go to DMV and in California at least, you would need only to take the written exam to be issued a M1 license. The MSF course eliminates the need to do the DMV skills test. When I did my course, I believe the cost was about $200.
For the exam, they can provide a helmet and gloves if necessary.