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No license penalty

231K views 42 replies 35 participants last post by  cbjason 
#1 ·
I have a driver's license, but what's the penalty for driving without a motorcycle endorsement?

I live in FL, they require you to take a safety course before you get it, but the waitlist was over a month. I can't wait that long. I know how to drive it, and have on a regular basis. I'm just scared of getting pulled over.
 
#32 ·
re: indorsement

When I lived in fl. I could've had the indorse. put on for 1$ and didn't.I didn't think was gonna ride again.....HOWEVER.....when it's in ur blood......things change over time(short time that is)....when I did the test on a RD-200 yam.
I impressed the officer so well she gave me high praise.....said"I can tell u have rode a while".....in other words....u get to show off a little and impress people on ur dr. skill(s).:icon_cool: .......I'm much older know but everything still comes to me naturally because I have rode for so long.....use defensive driving on a bike sure helps from getting hurt or killed.....:thumbsup:
 
#33 ·
I got my endorsement in Pennsylvania back in 76. Just a permit and test. Kept my endorsement for ever, even when I didn't ride. Figured it would be easier than taking the test again. Lived all over the country and when I got my drivers license in the other states, there was never any tests. In 76 there were no such thing as a MSF course. You just learn on the back roads. I understand now that Pennsylvania just passed a law to use the MSF course, but it is free to PA residences. My son is getting ready to get a bike this spring and he is going to take the MSF course here in Denver. I am thinking about taking an advanced course as well.
 
#34 · (Edited)
some guy I knew from my endorsement, got stopped, because he was riding reckless. That was in FL.
He only needed to pay the speeding fee, and they sent him to MSF course.
He was allowed to go home, but not ride again until he passed the class.
You have to know that there are people who are riding for many years already, and they only recently changed the law to mandatory.

They're pretty flexible, and generally only stop you when they see you doing something stupid, or dangerous.
As long as you can stay calm, ride like you should, and don't give 'em a reason to stop you, they won't stop you.

I've done it once, in FL, and almost ended up in an accident; though not my fault. In MSF course, they taught me to look in the mirror, and verify, by quickly looking back, to see if there's no one in your blind spot.
This little piece of information i needed, right there.
I looked in the mirror, but eventhough I was blinking, and there where no cars, some idiot f#cker kid just in his 19's thought it was cool to try to get ahead of me, almost rammed me off the road, and didn't even move to the side!

Somewhere inside myself I regret saying, but I do hope the guy's dead somewhere, due to his incapability of driving defensively or something! He was an a$$hole!
 
#36 ·
I've been riding a bike for over 36 years and I never knew you had to have a special motorcycle endorsement. I started when I was age 15 and apparently when I moved out of Florida, it never carried over. I don't know why and can't even remember what happened, but in 2008 the law changed in most states.

It's good course for beginners and if you buy a bike from a dealership, most will throw the course in for free.

It costs between $195 - $275 , the course was fun and intense, we got graded and evaluated in pouring rain, (all day) on day 4, and it was 48 degrees the entire day, from 8am-3pm.

Everything was cheaper in the old days.

:71baldboy:
 
#37 · (Edited)
No endorsement means you are driving without a license. From what I saw a couple of weeks ago in Florida, half the people there must be driving without a license. Nobody driving that way could pass the tests.

PS I just noticed this was a resurrection from 6 years ago.
 
#38 ·
Yeah, I posted, because I did a search, back in the 70's, you could ride a motorcycle legally, if you had a regular drivers license, just like you could a boat. I wanted to see if this was true or not, and to find out when the laws changed in Florida or if I totally imagined this. Its been so long I dont remember and was never pulled over. I was hoping to get some feed back for older bikers specifically from Florida what the law was 1969-1977, with regard to motorcycle endorsements, and age specific.
 
#40 ·
CLASS E: Any non-commercial motor vehicles with Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) less than 26,001 pounds, including passenger cars, 15 passenger vans including the driver, trucks or recreational vehicles and two or three wheel motor vehicles 50 cc or less, such as mopeds or small scooters. (see below). Farmers and drivers of authorized emergency vehicles who are exempt from obtaining a commercial driver license must obtain a Class E license.
 
#41 ·
Got a friend and fellow rider that is an AirForce Safety Officer at the local Air National Guard Air Base. He put on a Safety Course for the base, and allowed several PGR / ALR riders to fill in the rest of the vacant slots. It was an all day advanced course, it was fun... the insurance goons only gave me $15 off on my policy.
So mabe you could fall into something like that!
 
#42 ·
Arizona with no endorsement!

In Arizona, No Motorcycle Endorsement is the same as no license. You get a big ticket and the bike is impounded for 30 days. And another ticket if you didn't have insurance (It's hard to get MC insurance if you aren't licensed).

If the officer is in a good mood (and you are polite), he may make you walk home or call a licensed rider to pick the bike up (and you). It happened to a friend.
 
#43 ·
The wait is only a month out from when you first got interested or from now? If you are interested, sign up for the course. A month in the grand scheme of things is nothing, and you're better off taking the coursework - if it's required, it's for a reason...

Waiting a month is not a long time. I waited 3 months
Agreed...


maybe this was already asked (I am too tired to read through it all :eek:) can't you get a permit before you take the MSF class? at least that way you can ride legally.
In OH, that is exactly what you can do. I took a computerized test and after 31 questions out of 40, the test stopped and told me I passed (you can get ten wrong and still pass...)

The temp allows me to drive during the day, no interstate and no passengers...

I live in oh. I buddy of mine got pulled over going down the interstate.He didn't have a helmet on and had a passenger. He didn't have his motorcycle endorsement.The State trooper told him to get off at the next exit and head home,and that if he caught him riding again without an endorsement he will give him a ticket.In ohio you have to have your license for a year before you can ride with no helmet and carry a passenger. Most of the time the officers will let you go, the first time as long as your not doing anything stupid. You don't have to take a rider course but if you do your insurance is usually cheaper
Even with your endorsement? I thought endorsement waived the helmet/passenger thing as well as the hours and highway restriction. Don't get me wrong, I have no intention of ever riding w/out a helmet or with a passenger for at least the first year or so, but this is good to know...
 
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