Motorcycle Endorsement

Obtaining a motorcycle endorsement

You must pass a 25-question, multiple-choice knowledge exam (80% or better) based on the material in the motorcycle manual. If you fail the exam, you must wait at least one day before retaking the exam.

Upon successful completion of the knowledge exam, you will be required to successfully complete a skills exam before the endorsement will be issued.

You will not be permitted to take a skills exam unless the motorcycle you furnish for the skills exam is properly equipped, registered, inspected (if required), insured, and in good mechanical condition. If you fail the skills exam, a one-week practice period is required before another skills exam may be taken.

Any motorcycle used for the skills exam portion must be legally transported to the exam site. For example, another licensed motorcycle operator can ride the bike to the exam location. In this instance, that operator would be required to show a valid license to the examiner. You may ride the bike to the exam location with a motorcycle learner permit. You may also transport the bike in another registered vehicle, such as a trailer, truck, or van.

Every Vermont resident who operates a motorcycle on the highway in Vermont must hold a valid Vermont Driver's or Junior Driver's license with the proper motorcycle endorsement.

Motorcycle Permit information

Vermont Rider Education Program (VREP)

Definitions (from 23 V.S.A. § 4)

• Motorcycle: any motor vehicle having a seat or saddle for the use of the rider and designed to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with the ground, and shall include autocycles but exclude motor-driven cycles, golf carts, track driven vehicles, tractors, and electric personal assistive mobility devices.

• Motor-Driven Cycle (moped): any vehicle equipped with two or three wheels, a power source providing up to a maximum of two brake horsepower, and having a maximum piston or rotor displacement of 50 cubic centimeters if a combustion engine is used, which will propel the vehicle, unassisted, at a speed not to exceed 30 miles per hour on a level road surface, and which is equipped with a power drive system that functions directly or automatically only, not requiring clutching or shifting by the operator after the drive system is engaged. Motor-driven cycles are subject to the purchase and use tax imposed under 32 V.S.A. chapter 219 rather than to a general sales tax. Neither an electric personal assistive mobility device nor a motor-assisted bicycle is a motor-driven cycle.

• Autocycle: a three-wheeled motorcycle:

  • in which the occupants sit with their legs forward;

  • designed to be controlled with a steering wheel and pedals; and

  • equipped with safety belts for all occupants.

• Fully enclosed autocycle: an autocycle equipped with a windshield and that has full top and side enclosures capable of supporting the vehicle's weight and protecting the occupants when the vehicle is resting on the enclosures.

• Motor-assisted bicycle: any bicycle or tricycle with fully operable pedals and equipped with a motor that: 

  • has a power output of not more than 1,000 watts or 1.3 horsepower; and

  • in itself is capable of producing a top speed of no more than 20 miles per hour on a paved level surface when ridden by an operator who weighs 170 pounds. 

    • Motor-assisted bicycles shall be regulated in accordance with 23 V.S.A. § 1136.