Motorcycle Ohio’s three course levels, and how finishing one waives the BMV skills test

If you want a motorcycle endorsement in Ohio, you do not have to take the BMV’s skills test. Finish an approved Motorcycle Ohio course and you earn a skills-test waiver instead. There are three course levels, and the right one depends on how much riding you have already done.

The three levels at a glance

Details below come from the Ohio BMV’s published course descriptions. Course rules change, so check the current requirements with Motorcycle Ohio before you sign up.

Every one of them grants a BMV skills-test waiver when you complete it.

Basic Rider Skills: if you have never ridden

This is the course most of the new riders I talk to need. You must hold a valid TIPIC, the temporary instruction permit for motorcycles, before you start. Sixteen hours covers the basics from clutch and throttle to slow-speed turns, braking and swerving. If you have not sat on a bike before, start here.

BRS for Returning Riders: if you are getting back on

This eight-hour course is for riders who are 18 or older and either have 1,000 or more miles behind them or are resuming after a break. Many of the people who call us about getting back on a bike after years away fit this description. The pace is faster because you are not learning from scratch.

BRS-2: if you already own the bike

BRS-2 is a seven-hour, range-only course, and you ride your own street-legal motorcycle. It suits someone who already has the bike they will ride every day and wants the waiver without borrowing a training bike.

What the waiver actually does

Normally the last step to an endorsement is the BMV’s motorcycle skills test, a set of low-speed exercises on a marked course. Complete a Motorcycle Ohio course and you receive a waiver of that test. You then take the waiver to the BMV. The BMV sets how long a waiver stays valid, and the window is not long, so ask Motorcycle Ohio or the BMV for the current deadline and book your BMV visit soon after finishing.

Where we fit in

We do not run the Motorcycle Ohio courses. What we offer is the practice in between: our motorcycle lessons cover the beginner rider course, private lessons and skills test prep, on bikes and with gear we provide. If you plan to take a Motorcycle Ohio course, a private lesson first is a calm way to get your clutch hand sorted before a full day on the range.