This is the my story of preparing for and taking the motorcycle riders test. If I can do it, then you can too!
Go to the bottom for tips and a map of the drivers test

I've always liked motorcycles, and always wanted to be able to ride one someday. Little did I know how much I wanted to be the one driving it! I was lucky enough to have lived next to a wonderful neighbor who happened to have a bike, and just so happened to need a girl to ride on the back of it. I was pretty much hooked - but not only did I love riding bikes, I wanted to be able to drive them myself. I loved the speed, the power, and the wind of a motorcycle and I wanted to be able to go riding whenever I wanted. I didn't want to have to wait on anyone else in order to go riding on a motorcycle. So somewhere around 2001, I decided it was time to get my temporary permit and start learning how to ride a bike myself.

Well, after having my temps for 3 years, and practicing riding on a Yamaha Exciter 250 for those years, I finally had the guts (and the time) to take the rider's test. The permit test is not so bad. It's no worse than the regular written driving test, but it just requires a little more knowledge about bikes directly. The hard part, was getting up the courage to finally take the riding test. It's not that the test is scary, but it's just one of those things you hate to take twice, and you know you probably will. But you won't know until you take it at least once. The best part about taking the test was that there are a lot of other people in the same boat as you, and you probably won't be the first person to take the test and you can watch everyone else to see how they do it.

After hearing about the test from everyone else all year long, and many unsuccessful attempts to schedule the exam, I finally called the Ravenna office, asked them when the next test was scheduled, and just told them to put my name down. This was kind of difficult, since the test was at 8 am on a Thursday morning, and I was a little worried that I wouldn't make it to work on time (I had to be at work at 9 am). But I figured, if I was going to get it done, it may as well be a Thursday morning, because something always came up on the weekends. Now comes the part of the story where you learn just how much I wanted this motorcycle endorsement on my license.

That morning, I woke up and looked out the window and saw that the whole sky was covered with clouds. I walked to the back door and opened it, and you could just feel the moisture in the air. I knew it was about to rain any second, but I kept my hopes up. They told me that if it rained at all that morning, that the test would be cancelled and not to even show up. I figured there was a 50/50 chance, so I better get ready to leave anyway. I got dressed, pulled my hair back, and ate a few cookies or something so my stomach wouldn't growl, and decided I should try to call ahead to see if anyone knew if it was cancelled. I actually called the wrong number, and got the office next door, but they said that they would go ahead and look to see if there were cones set up in the driveway. At that point, no one had shown up yet, because it was only just 7:30 and they don't show up until right before 8. The woman on the phone suggested that if I lived close enough, I may as well show up just in case. Well, I didn't really live "close enough", but I was determined to try. I figured, it was just another challenge I had to overcome. After all, I wanted my endorsement before my 30th birthday, didn't I?

I got my keys together, and started walking around looking for the keys to the truck (which had to be moved for me to get my bike out, AND had to be moved so they could pick up the HUGE dumpster which was currently in our driveway). Unfortunately, I didn't have a clue where the truck keys where. I spent the next 5 minutes and 2 phone calls trying to figure out where the keys were, and who might have them. I finally found them on the hook by the front door, but not the key hook. For some silly reason, of all the days I put keys back in the right place, the night before I hung them under my purse instead. Well, I had found them and was able to move the truck. Yay! I'm on my way! .... not.

I go into the garage and proceed to start trying to get my bike out, but unfortunately this is my new bike... which weighs a LOT more than my old bike. It is parked half way on the cement pad in the doorway to the garage, and half on the lower cement pad in the middle of the garage. So I have to rock the bike back and forth for quite a while until I can get it up over the 2 inch lip of cement in the garage. That being done, I thought I was home free, but the gravel was not cooperating either, and there was a big pile of it right in front of the garage that was making it an uphill battle (literally) to get the bike out of the garage doorway. I used a board for leverage on the doorway of the garage for my hands, and piled some pieces of broken cement where my feet went so I could push better (I'm short and my legs are just not long enough to push a bike very well). I even grabbed a hold on the dumpster and tried to grab the bike with my thighs and pull myself back. It took me AT LEAST 13 minutes (I'm counting down now) to get that sucker out of the garage and into the driveway. Whew! Got that done - here I go!.... not.

For some reason, the way the garage door was situated, and the way the dumpster was only a few feet in front of the garage, and the boat was parked just so, I had a heck of a time trying to maneuver the bike back and forth to get it turned around enough to try and squeeze it around the dumpster onto the little sidewalk part of our porch and into the main part of the driveway. At that point, I was seriously debating just parking the bike right there and sitting down in the middle of the driveway and crying. That's what I felt like doing. But then I figured, man, after 3 years, and after all the trouble I've gone through that morning, there was no way I was going to quit then. So I kept pushing the bike back and forth, little by little, nearly tipping it over, but muscling it back up and around the f***in' dumpster. Finally! I was free! I made it into the driveway and got my jacket and helmet squared up, massaged my aching thighs for a second (cause I was pretty sore from pushing the f***in' bike back and forth), and made my way onto the road.

The whole way there, I kept begging and pleading with God to please not let it rain yet. I managed to get that prayer answered... for a while anyway. At that point, I knew I was going to be late. It took WAY too long to get that bike out of the garage, and I was probably going to be 15 minutes late. Another thing they said was not to be late. Well, I was coming up with all KINDS of excuses for why I was late and why I deserved to be allowed to take that test. You know, luckily I didn't have to use any of them (so if you need a good excuse, just let me know - you can borrow one). When I got there, there was still 5 guys signing in to take the test, so I just casually walked up behind them and stood in line (hoping I was in the right line). They didn't say a word, just asked me my name, and had me sign in. I was so relieved. I did notice though, that when they asked everyone else what kind of bike they had, everyone said "250". I was so jealous. I would have rather taken it on my 250, but had my 600 instead because my 250 didn't have working turn signals. But o well, I thought, this isn't going to be so bad - 5 guys... all guys, no girls... but only 5. This should be nice and casual, shouldn't take too long. They told me to go take my bike out to the far end of the parking lot.

Ok, I guess I wasn't very observant when I pulled in, because as I pulled over there, there were probably 15 guys waiting in a line with their bikes. But, thankfully, there was one girl. We talked a little and I felt better being able to talk to someone, cause the guys didn't seem real sociable. The first guy passed the test and made it look real easy. That made me feel better. But as time went on, and one guy failed... then another... and another... I got nervous. There was about 6 of us left. And that's when it happened. It started raining. All of us just looked at each other and you knew what everyone was thinking... "I should have volunteered to go first. Crap." We were so worried that they were going to cancel the test. It didn't help that the 'quick stop' part of the test required you to stop within a certain amount of space, and the rain might lengthen that. At that point, a second tester came out to try to help things speed up with paperwork and such. They checked everyone's bikes while the others tested and things started going faster.

While my helmet visor was getting covered with water, I kept thinking, man - after all this, I can really say I want this BAD. It was getting a little chilly, my hand grips were slippery from the wetness, and I was really getting scared about that quick stop. Not too long before the rain, a guy on a crotch rocket had done his quick stop, lifted up his back tire, and nearly went over his handle bars. I didn't think that would happen on my Honda Shadow, but I didn't want to fishtail in the rain either. But I was going through with it no matter what. At least I would know what it was like and wouldn't be scared when I took the test a second time.

I felt really bad when the girl in front of me failed for missing way too many cones and hitting lines, but I couldn't think about that cause it was now my turn. In the end, I missed two cones, but I was really proud of myself cause I aced everything else. I almost screwed up the quick stop, cause I was really cautious and didn't get a high enough speed the first time, but you get 2 tries on that, thankfully. She said I got it perfect the second time, and then my 'swerve' ended up being the same speed, which made her smile. I took that as a good sign. I rode over to her and she smiled and me and said, "you missed 5 points for the cones, but you didn't miss anything else. You pass." I was so happy!

She told me to go over to the bureau and get my endorsement put on my license. Great! I thought! I'll just get it done now, since I'm already late for work. So what happens in line? I realize I have no cash or checks and they don't take credit or debit cards. Poop. She says, I think you can ride with the certificate for a while until you can get the endorsement... But I figured, screw it. I made it this far... "Where's the nearest bank?"

So I went to the bank... (almost got a ticket right then and there too cause I nearly went through a stop sign at the corner of the police station trying to look for the ATM sign) and got out money and came back to get my endorsement. I was so relieved. It was almost over. There was one hitch... I found out they were going to have to retake my picture and re-issue me a license. WITH HELMET HAIR?!?!?! I don't think so. Ah, but screw it - I made it this far, I wasn't driving back out here again until I had to renew my license plate. Luckily, the woman behind the counter saw the look of horror on my face and showed me where a mirror was and said I could take all the time in the world if I wanted to redo my hair or something. She was so nice. She asked me about my test and said how she thought it was wonderful that a woman passed the test (after other guys didn't). That made me feel so good. Which helped, because I was smiling in my driver's license picture. :-)

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TIPS

I hope that anyone who wants their endorsement goes after it. It's not gonna be horrible if you don't pass the first time - it just helps you learn so you can do better the next time. But if you ARE nervous, and you want to know more about the test so you can practice ahead of time, then here are some tips and information from me, myself, and I.

Testing Layout: Click here for a view
I made a .pdf of what the parking lot looks like (from above) when you take the test. Of course it's not accurate, or to scale, but it gives the general idea. It shows the lines on the pavement in black, and the black circles are cones. Below I will describe the 4 different runs you have to make through the course.

1st Run: "Sharp Turn, Normal Stop" - You have to start on the "T". Go forward (as slow as you like) to the "L" shaped box, turn left within the lines (don't hit the lines!). Follow around back towards the front of the area and stop with your wheel in the box. This is probably the easiest of the runs, but still should be practiced. It should be a very sharp turn. Points are taken off for touching a line, putting your foot down, skidding, or stopping short.

2nd Run: "Cone Weave, U-turn" - You have to start on the "T", and then weave through cones, starting to the left of the first cone. They get wider as you go. The first cone hit is -3 points, the second cone is -5. Don't miss more than that! You then circle around and come back to the front and make a U-turn within the 'box'. Points are taken off for putting your feet down (-3,-5), or hitting a line (-5) or cone(-3,-5).

3rd Run: "Quick Stop" - Start at the "T", speed up to 12-20 mph by the first line, maintain that speed through the box/cup, and then brake as soon as your front tire hits the line at the bottom of the cup. Depending on the speed you maintained (she will time you between the first line and the second), you have so many feet/lines to brake before points are taken off. Practice getting up to 15 mph in a VERY short distance. I think that was the worst part - I couldn't look at the road and watch my speedometer at the same time.

4th Run: "Obstacle Swerve" - Start at the "T", speed up to 12-20 mph by the first line, maintain that speed through the box/cup, and then as soon as your front tire hits the line at the bottom of the cup, swerve to the left through the 2 cones. It's pretty tight, but manageable, and easier to do after you've managed the 3rd run. You get -5 points taken off if you hit a cone, or don't get the right speed this time. This one doesn't get a second chance.

To Pass: You must miss 10 or less points to pass.

Tips for the test:
Don't put your feet down - that is usually worse than missing a cone or hitting a line.
Don't stall - it's not as bad as putting your feet down, but is a silly mistake that takes off points (-1,-3,-5) needlessly.
Smile at the tester. They don't want to be there either.
Don't be afraid to ask for advice if you mess up run 3 the first time. You get 2 tries. Ask them if you were close to the right speed the first time, or if you were really off.

Tips for practicing:
Try setting up cones in a high school parking lot.
Don't have cones? Don't have time? Try this... Use the parking spaces in a middle row (two rows back to back without the cement 'stoppers'), and practice weaving in one and out the other side, and in the next and out the first side, and in the next and out the other side... like a needle and thread. It helps the maneuverability, and the turns are that tight on the test. If you can get that, you should be ok.

Good Luck!