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Get ready for your free motorcycle permit practice test.

Learn to ride safely before you ride: gear, controls, lane position and hazards, from your state's motorcycle manual.

  • Free Practice
  • Rider Manual
  • Gear & Lanes

Try a rider question

1 of 2

According to the motorcycle manual, which two tests do most states use to license a rider?

Pick one: the correct choice and its reason show next

Or find it on the map

Choose where you’ll take your rider test

Two ways onto two wheels

Most people who sit the motorcycle knowledge test already drive a car; some are new to the road altogether. The test is the same for both, but where you start studying isn’t.

Most riders

I already drive a car

You know the signs, signals and right-of-way, and they’re still on the test. What’s new is everything a car did for you: balance, braking with both hands and a foot, where you sit in the lane and what you wear. Start with what changes, then practice only those skills.

What changes on two wheels
Starting from zero

I’m new to the road

Your state’s motorcycle page says what it asks for before a rider permit. The rider test also asks the road rules every driver learns, from signs to right-of-way, so give those the same care as the riding skills.

Your state’s motorcycle page

What changes on two wheels

The rules of the road stay the same when you swap four wheels for two, and the rider test still asks them. These are the jobs a car did for you that you now do yourself; each one is a part of the test, explained below.

What's on the motorcycle test

Your state’s rider manual is built around a handful of riding skills, and the knowledge test samples each one. Lane position comes first because it touches nearly every other part of riding.

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Lane position

A lane is wide enough to give a motorcycle three paths: the left third, the center and the right third. No single path is right every time. Choose the one that lets you see and be seen, keeps you out of drivers’ blind spots, leaves room to escape and steers clear of hazards on the road.

The middle of the lane collects oil dripped by cars, most of all near intersections, which makes it slick in the wet. Expect questions that describe a moment on the road and ask which path you should take.

Practice lane position in your state

Gear and controls

Questions cover the controls you should find without looking, the checks before every ride (tires, brakes, lights, the chain or belt) and the gear that is your only protection:

  • HelmetOne that meets U.S. Department of Transportation standards: look for the DOT label inside.
  • Eye protectionA face shield or goggles. A windshield doesn’t replace them, and tinted lenses stay home at night.
  • Jacket and pantsCovering arms and legs, snug enough not to flap, loose enough to move. Leather protects most.
  • BootsHigh and sturdy enough to cover the ankles, with slip-resistant soles and laces tucked away.
  • GlovesLeather or a similar tough material, for grip on the bars and to protect your hands.
  • Bright colorsA brightly colored or reflective layer makes it easier for drivers to notice you.
Practice gear and controls in your state

Hazards and slippery roads

Scanning ahead, swerving around an obstacle and the surfaces that cost riders their grip. On any slippery stretch: slow down first, use both brakes gently and avoid sudden moves.

  • The first minutes of rainOil on the road hasn’t washed off yet, so it’s at its slickest. Ride in the tire tracks left by cars.
  • Gravel and sandThey gather along the edges, most of all in curves and on ramps. Slow down before you reach them.
  • Paint, steel plates, manhole coversPainted lines and metal give far less grip, especially when wet. Keep the bike upright across them.
  • Railroad tracksCrossing straight within your lane is usually safer. For tracks or seams that run alongside you, move away, then cross at 45° or more.
  • Rain grooves and bridge gratingsThe bike may feel like it wanders. That’s normal: relax, hold your speed and ride straight across.
  • Shade, bridges and overpassesIce forms there first and lasts longest. Treat them as slippery until you know they aren’t.
Practice hazards in your state

  • Curves and braking

    Questions ask the order for a curve: slow before it, look through it, press the handgrip on the side you want to go, then roll on the throttle. For a quick stop, use both brakes together; the front gives most of the stopping power.

    Practice in your state : Curves and braking

  • Seeing and being seen

    Drivers look for cars and miss motorcycles, so expect questions on being noticed: headlight on, bright gear, a spot in the lane where mirrors find you, and extra care where a car may turn across your path.

    Practice in your state : Seeing and being seen

  • Passengers and groups

    A passenger or a load changes how the bike brakes, turns and balances, and the test asks how to adjust and what a passenger should do. Riding with others, keep a staggered formation, never side by side.

    Practice in your state : Passengers and groups

  • Being fit to ride

    Alcohol, drugs and lack of sleep take more from a rider than a driver, since balance and judgment are the whole job. Expect questions on how they slow you down, and on choosing not to ride.

    Practice in your state : Being fit to ride

These skills follow the national Motorcycle Operator Manual (Motorcycle Safety Foundation), which most state rider manuals build on. Your state’s own manual is the one its test is written from, and its laws (helmets, permits, passengers) are on your state’s motorcycle page.

How many questions are on the motorcycle test?

Most states ask riders 25 questions: 30 of the 50 do. The rest run from 15 questions in Illinois to 50 in Maine and New Jersey, and 39 states ask for 80% to pass. Your state’s full motorcycle test here uses its real length and mark, with 410+ rider questions to practice from.

15 questions1 state
  • Illinois, 12 to pass
16 questions1 state
  • Connecticut, 12 to pass
20 questions5 states
  • Georgia, 15 to pass
  • Michigan, 16 to pass
  • New York, 14 to pass
  • Pennsylvania, 16 to pass
  • Texas, 16 to pass
25 questions30 states
  • Alaska, 20 to pass
  • Arkansas, 20 to pass
  • Colorado, 21 to pass
  • Delaware, 20 to pass
  • Florida, 20 to pass
  • Hawaii, 20 to pass
  • Idaho, 20 to pass
  • Indiana, 21 to pass
  • Iowa, 20 to pass
  • Louisiana, 20 to pass
  • Maryland, 22 to pass
  • Massachusetts, 18 to pass
  • Mississippi, 20 to pass
  • Missouri, 20 to pass
  • Montana, 20 to pass
  • Nebraska, 20 to pass
  • Nevada, 20 to pass
  • New Hampshire, 20 to pass
  • New Mexico, 20 to pass
  • North Dakota, 20 to pass
  • Oklahoma, 20 to pass
  • Oregon, 20 to pass
  • Rhode Island, 20 to pass
  • Utah, 20 to pass
  • Vermont, 20 to pass
  • Virginia, 20 to pass
  • Washington, 20 to pass
  • West Virginia, 19 to pass
  • Wisconsin, 20 to pass
  • Wyoming, 20 to pass
30 questions7 states
  • Alabama, 24 to pass
  • Arizona, 25 to pass
  • California, 24 to pass
  • Kentucky, 24 to pass
  • South Carolina, 24 to pass
  • South Dakota, 24 to pass
  • Tennessee, 24 to pass
37 questions1 state
  • North Carolina, 29 to pass
40 questions3 states
  • Kansas, 32 to pass
  • Minnesota, 32 to pass
  • Ohio, 30 to pass
50 questions2 states
  • Maine, 40 to pass
  • New Jersey, 40 to pass
  • Under 80% to pass
  • 80%, the usual mark
  • Over 80%

The mistakes you can afford

On the usual 25-question test at 80%, you can get 5 wrong. The tightest state allows 3 (3 of 15 in Illinois and 3 of 25 in Maryland); the most forgiving allows 10 (10 of 50 in Maine, 10 of 50 in New Jersey and 10 of 40 in Ohio).

State by stateMotorcycle pass marks by stateEach state’s questions, the mark to reach and the mistakes allowed, in one table.Compare the states

How to study for the rider test

Riders who already drive tend to skim the manual and trust their road sense. The test rewards the opposite: a slow read, then practice skill by skill until the answers come from the seat, not from the car.

  1. Read the rider manual first

    Your state publishes a manual for riders, apart from its driver handbook, and the rider test is written from it. Read it through once before you practice, even after years behind the wheel.

  2. Think from the saddle

    Many questions describe a moment, like a car turning across your path or wet leaves in a bend, and ask what you’d do. Picture it from the seat of the bike before you pick.

  3. One skill per round

    Short rounds on a single skill, with the reason under every answer. Which part of the lane to ride in comes up again and again, so lane position is a good first round.

    Your state’s rider topics

  4. Go back to your misses

    Once you’ve practiced 3 skills, Mixed review brings back the questions you got wrong, from all of them at once.

    Mixed review

  5. Pass the full test on different days

    Take your state’s full motorcycle test until you pass it on two or three separate days. One pass can be luck; a few in a row means you’re ready.

    Your full motorcycle test

Where our rider questions come from

Every answer on a motorcycle question names the page it rests on, so you can open the manual and see the rule for yourself. That page comes from one of two places.

First choice

Your state’s motorcycle manual

Each rule is written in our own words from the manual your state publishes for riders, with its printed page. Laws, permit steps and anything with a number always come from here. Where your manual and the national one differ, your manual wins.

Only to fill a gap

The national rider manual

Where a state’s manual leaves out a riding skill, or a state has none of its own, the question cites the Motorcycle Operator Manual of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation instead, and the answer says so. Never for a state law.

Rider manuals checked · November 4, 2026

48 of 50

confirmed as the newest edition in that check. A new edition sends every changed rule back for review before its questions return.

Editorial policyWhat’s new

Motorcycle test questions, answered

Is the motorcycle test different from the car permit test?

Yes. The rider test has its own questions from your state’s motorcycle manual, covering skills the driver handbook leaves out, such as lane position and braking on two wheels.

Are road signs on the motorcycle test?

Signs are fair game for riders too, so a round of your state’s road sign test is worth it before the real one.

Does a motorcycle safety course help?

A basic rider course teaches the skills the test asks about, on a real motorcycle. In some states, finishing an approved course can also stand in for the riding test; your state’s motorcycle page says whether it does.

Are these the real motorcycle test questions?

No: states don’t release them, and this is a free study aid rather than the official test. Our questions come from your state’s rider manual, and every answer points to the page to read.

More answers on the FAQ page

Ready to ride through it?

Your state’s motorcycle page has the full rider test in its real format and a round for every skill.

Where will you ride?

For your state

All 50 states

Your pick is kept on this device for your next visit.