The Enhanced Motorcycle Licensing Project has been highly successful in Minnesota and will continue as a state service once federal funding ends. In a post-test survey of 643 test applicants who utilized the service, 20 percent of the males and 46 percent of the females had completed a rider education course. Also, in a post-test survey, 86 percent of the male test applicants and 91 percent of the female test applicants indicated that evening testing hours were an important factor in their taking the motorcycle skills test. When asked specifically if they would have taken the riding skills test without the availability of evening testing hours, 32 and 33 percent respectively said they would not have taken the test without the evening testing hours. Clearly this project appears to be offering one solution to the problem of improperly licensed motorcyclists on Minnesota’s highways.

Components of Minnesota’s project are included in this manual along with tips and suggestions for other states to consider when planning improvements to their motorcycle licensing system. The concepts presented here are one method of addressing the problem of unlicensed or improperly licensed motorcyclists and can be modified to meet each state’s needs.

As a point of clarification, Minnesota’s project is referred to as the Enhanced Motorcycle Licensing Project; this terminology will continue to be used whenever specifically referencing the Minnesota project. When referencing the project in a generic sense for consideration by other states, "extended skill test project" will be used.

The extended skill test project targets unendorsed motorcycle riders who may not be able to take advantage of the regular endorsement process because they:

1. do not want to, or cannot take time off of work to get their endorsement;
2. find available exam times to be too inconvenient; and
3. feel that waiting for the test takes too much time.

Key elements of the extended skill test project are:

1. extended evening motorcycle skills testing hours at targeted exam stations;
2. a strong public information and media relations effort to advertise the evening testing hours; and
3. the availability of state training motorcycles for use by persons interested in obtaining their endorsement before purchasing their own motorcycle.
4.advanced registration with the use of a toll-free number to secure a designated time to take the skill test.