Lost Massachusetts Motorcycle License Endorsement
Fast forward a few years when they sent my License Renewal in the mail. Back then, for the renewal they mailed to you a card. The card was the size of an old computer punch card and on it was all of your license info and a space for your picture. When you went to the Registry to renew, they put that card on a platform under the camera. The camera took a picture of you and the card at the same time and merged it onto your license, which they then laminated and handed it across the counter to you instantly. The problem was that my endorsements were missing. My motorcycle endorsement was missing and my "eyeglass restriction" was missing. The clerk asked me if I wanted to try the eye test without my glasses anyway, and I laughed because I wouldn't be able to see the big E without them. She dutifully put a red "1" with a rubber stamp on the card. I asked her about the motorcycle endorsement and she (and her supervisor and her supervisor's supervisor) couldn't find any info about it; of course it was on my old license but that didn't matter, it wasn't in their info printouts or whatever. So I gave up. It really didn't matter to me at that point as I had married and stopped riding and didn't have a motorcycle and wasn't thinking about having one again at that point. Fast forward another 25 years. I want to buy a bike and do some riding. I call the Registry and long story somewhat shorter they can't find any info, and their info only goes back 20 years. I'll have to do it all again; take the Massachusetts Motorcycle Learner's Permit Exam, take the Massachusetts Motorcycle Road Test. Sigh. OK, well. Not happy but "it is what it is." OR! something new: Instead of the idiotic simpleton road test which is really meaningless (I mean who cares if you can make circles, when the permit allows you nearly all privileges anyway?) you can take a motorcycle training course and (assuming you pass it, I assume) you get your license. OK! So you can take one of two different courses, a Basic Rider's Course (BRC), or the Experienced Rider's Course (ERC). The BRC is for people who don't know how or have never ridden, the ERC is for folks with "1,000 to 2,000 recent (this season) riding experience". The BRC is a two day course, the ERC is a one day course. Well, I figure 30 years is a long time, I'll happily take the BRC two-day course, and if it's a little bit basic for me at the start, that'll be OK. OH NO... problem! For the BRC, they loan you a motorcycle and you have to use it, not your own. But the bikes are 250cc motorcycles, and while that may have been OK for me when I was 18, at my size that's gonna look like me sitting on a golf tee. The ERC lets you use your own bike is only 1 day and is less than half the price! But I don't have the recent experience, and I *KNOW* that I'm not riding like a confident rider yet, so it will have to wait. They only run the ERC once a month and it fills up a month or more in advance. But what if it's raining? They run the course rain or shine. Woooonderful.  But I've enrolled, and the ERC is set for next Saturday. I have to be there (20 miles from my house, no highways) at 7:00AM. So that means I'll have to leave my house by 6ish to be sure to be on time. It might be a wee bit chilly and a wee bit dark... so please -- cross your fingers and toes and wish for warm and dry weather all morning long on next Saturday for me! Anyone else ever have the experience of lost endorsements on their Massachusetts (or other) State Driver's License? |
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| You'll do fine. My best friend is an instructor for the Ohio bike licensing group and he's always said I'd smoke the class. So I'm sure you with riding time will be good. Vance |
| ron, as i recall, there are certain states where people just renew their motorcycle permits, rather than do the driving test.  |
| I know I'll have to go through Hell to get my CDL endorsement back if I ever want that. I let it expire about 5 years ago and the test to re-certify is actually harder than the test I took eight years ago. I suppose from a public safety aspect that's a good thing. I don't plan on driving a semi ever again so it's fine with me. Vance Vance |
| My regular driver's license expired last year, unbeknownst to me. I noticed it and drove in to the DMV. Luckily, found out my clerk runs her BC in agility (I came in w/ my Paw jacket on - started the dog conversations). She renewed me, we chatted the whole time, took a new picture, and got my license back...no extra fees or anything!  |
| My dad actually taught a motorcycle safety class, he did an on-road class and an off-road class, and I took the off-road class at like 7 or 8 years old and passed easily. It even rained for a while during the class. I'm sure you'll do fine, the on-road can't be that much harder. |
Well years ago in the UK taking a bike test was fun. They would send you on a list of roads to follow & there would be a man darting around & then jump in front of you for the emerg stop. Now you have to sit a test & then go around with a instructor with a intercom. He tells you what to do. Lucky I past my test with the man running around & don't have to renew it  . |
| Thanks all! I'm not concerned about passing the course, I was annoyed at the Registry for dropping my license data way back when, and I'm nervous about weather. I've been back riding now since the end of April and I've put nearly 2,000 miles on the bike and I'm feeling pretty good in the saddle at this point. I'm very much looking forward to it, and maybe picking up a pointer or ten. About the Learner's Permit... I was actually very upset about the new written test. Back in the day the test was all about handling a motorcycle; lane positioning, what to do in loose gravel, riding gear, things that were important specifically to motorcycling since there won't be an experienced driver sitting next to you. This time the written test was almost totally about the penalties for drunk driving, underage passengers, operating past junior operator's curfew. And it wasn't "what are the rules about ..." it was literally "how long is the license suspension for..." PREPOSTEROUS! Who cares? Especially at my age. Half the questions were about under 18 drivers. What a farce. No questions about distance to emergency vehicles, no questions on dimming headlights, no questions on mechanical pre-riding checks, no info about cold weather riding, nothing. Of course I had skimmed the manual quickly the night before I applied for the permit and took the test, so I was able to pass it without a problem, but I'm fortunate with my memory that way. What silliness. |
| Oh what a pain! Here in Florida now everyone must attend a safety course to get the endorsement. I got mine way before the new law and almost lost the endorsement when I married and changed my name. It was a challenge but I got it. I did take the class years ago just because I wanted to learn more. Happy riding! |
| I told my dad about this article and got very angry I never told him I had a motorcycle license when I was younger. LOL I always looked at it as a gesture of respect; I was going to ride the bike but I know that both he and my mother would be very much against it. So I didn't tell them. Along the same vein, even though they knew I was a smoker (at that time) I NEVER lit a cigarette in front of them. Ever. What's particularly funny about it to me is I sucked it up and showed my dad my motorcycle a couple of months ago, expecting him to be upset and expecting lectures about safety. He actually said that I "looked good on the bike" and he wasn't upset in the least. I had been amazed. Now he's ticked off that I didn't tell him I was riding 30 years ago. One of us must be going into our dotage. |
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