08-20-2014, 02:55 AM
(08-19-2014, 10:41 PM)The ferret_imp Wrote: Varies from state to state, but generally you have to be 16 have to take a written test to get a drivers license, and have to take a riding test to get the MC endorsement. After that you can buy a Hyabusa if you want and go riding. There are no tiered systems in the US and I don't think there ever will be.
When I got my lic in 1966 in my home state of Ohio, I just had to ask to have the mc endorsement put on my drivers lic. Then in 1968 they made it mandatory to take a riding test, so on Jan 1 1968 when it became a legal requirement, my Dad, my younger brother and I all rode out to the testing center to take the test. When we walked in they asked why we were there and we told them. They said they didn't have it set up because it was winter and snowing and asked how we got there. We said we rode our motorcycles (about 60 miles). They said if we rode in that weather we didn't need to take the test and stamped our license. I never have taken any kind of tests written or riding with regards to motorcycle, just the written car lic test.
Now they also have a riding instruction and safety course that you can take with provided small displacement motorcycles and if you pass that course you automatically qualify for a MC endorsement.
That's pretty much the way it is in Canada too. It varies by province to some degree, but not much.