Motorcycle License in Hawaii
Verified against County driver licensing offices (Hawai'i has no single statewide DMV; the City & County of Honolulu and the Counties of Hawai'i, Maui and Kaua'i each issue licences under Hawai'i Revised Statutes Chapter 286), coordinated with the Hawai'i Department of Transportation's rider-training standards ·
Compiled and verified against primary state DMV/DPS/BMV sources by GetMotorcycleLicense Research Team — cite-or-deny, with no invented figures. How we source & verify →
Hawaii issues a Class 2 motorcycle license, applied for and issued through each county's own driver licensing office rather than a single statewide DMV. Under Act 66, effective 19 May 2025 and binding on new applications from 24 December 2025, every Class 2 Instruction Permit applicant must complete a state-approved Basic Rider Course before the permit itself can be issued. Hawaii's helmet law requires a helmet of an operator or passenger under 18 only; a rider 18 or older may ride without one.
Hawaii's motorcycle license requirements — including a training course completion that can waive the skills test if within 3 months — are verified against County driver licensing offices (Hawai'i has no single statewide DMV; the City & County of Honolulu and the Counties of Hawai'i, Maui and Kaua'i each issue licences under Hawai'i Revised Statutes Chapter 286), coordinated with the Hawai'i Department of Transportation's rider-training standards (see Hawai'i Department of Transportation — Motorcycles, Motor Scooters and Mopeds General Information (Act 66 update, current)), current as of 2026-07-28.
Hawaii Motorcycle License Requirements at a Glance
| Requirement | Hawaii |
|---|---|
| Permit | Class 2 Instruction Permit |
| Permit minimum age | — |
| Permit fee | — |
| Permit validity | — |
| Minimum age (unrestricted) | — |
| License fee | — |
| Renewal fee | — |
| Knowledge test | Required |
| Skills test | Required |
Hawai'i Revised Statutes § 286-111 assigns the fee for each category of instruction permit to the council of each county rather than to a single statewide schedule, so this record does not state one permit or licence fee as though it were uniform statewide.
How do you get a motorcycle license in Hawaii?
- Pass the knowledge test. Hawaii requires a motorcycle knowledge test.
- Hold the permit. Riders under 18 must hold it at least 180 days before taking the skills test.
- Pass the skills test, or waive it. Hawaii requires a motorcycle skills test. Completing Hawaii's motorcycle safety course waives it if within 3 months.
Common questions about motorcycle licensing in Hawaii
How old do you have to be to get a motorcycle permit in Hawaii?
Under Act 66, every applicant for a Class 2 Instruction Permit must complete a state-approved Basic Rider Course before applying, effective for new applications from 24 December 2025. A permit holder may not carry a passenger or ride at night. A permit may be renewed only if a skills test was attempted before it expired; if it expires without an attempted skills test, the holder must wait three months before applying for another. An applicant under 18 combining the motorcycle designation with a driver's licence must hold the permit for 180 days and submit both a Driver Education certificate and a Behind-the-Wheel Motorcycle certificate before the skills test.
What is the minimum age for a motorcycle license in Hawaii?
No primary Hawai'i source fetched for this record states a single statewide minimum age for the Class 2 permit or licence; fees, and some procedural details, are set at county level under HRS § 286-111. The state-approved Basic Rider Course that Act 66 now requires before permit issuance is itself open from age 16, which sets a practical floor, but this is a training-provider enrollment age, not a stated statutory permit minimum, so it is not recorded as license.minAge.permit.
Does Hawaii require a motorcycle knowledge test?
Yes, Hawaii requires a motorcycle knowledge test.
A written motorcycle knowledge test and a vision screening are required before permit issuance, in addition to the Basic Rider Course now required by Act 66. An applicant who does not already hold a Class 3 (regular) licence must also pass the rules-of-the-road written test.
Does Hawaii require a motorcycle skills test?
Yes, Hawaii requires a motorcycle skills test. In Hawaii, completing Hawaii's motorcycle safety course waives it if within 3 months.
A road test is required unless the applicant instead passes one of the state-certified motorcycle safety courses offered on Oahu or Hawai'i Island, which waives it.
Completing Hawaii's motorcycle safety course waives the state's motorcycle skills test if within 3 months. See Hawaii’s motorcycle safety course.
Hawaii helmet law
Required for some riders
A rider is exempt only if all of the following are true:
- the rider is 18 or older
Hawai'i's Motorcycle Operator Manual states plainly: 'Any operator or passengers under 18 years of age must wear an approved safety helmet securely fastened with a chin strap.' A rider 18 or older, operator or passenger, may ride without one. This is distinct from Hawai'i's moped rule under Act 222 (effective 25 June 2025), which makes a helmet mandatory for every moped rider regardless of age — the motorcycle rule recorded here is age-gated, the moped rule is not.
HRS § 286-81(2)(e) · verified 2026-07-28
Source Notes
Where a source is stale, conflicting, or required a judgment call, we document it here rather than presenting a single confident-sounding number. See our methodology for how these calls are made.
- Licensing rules come from the Hawai'i Department of Transportation and Hawai'i Revised Statutes Chapter 286. Hawai'i has no single statewide DMV: each county issues driver licences and instruction permits, and sets its own permit fees under HRS § 286-111, so this page cannot state one statewide fee figure with confidence and does not attempt to.
- Effective 24 December 2025, Hawai'i requires a state-approved Basic Rider Course before a Class 2 Instruction Permit can be issued at all — a recent change (Act 66) that a rider planning to apply should check is still current.
- Hawai'i's motorcycle helmet law applies only to a rider under 18; this differs from Hawai'i's separate moped helmet law, which applies to a moped rider of any age.
means no primary source publishes that figure — left blank on purpose rather than estimated or copied from an unverified aggregator.
Sources
Data last verified: 2026-07-28 (verified by: agent) | Source: Hawai'i Department of Transportation — Motorcycles, Motor Scooters and Mopeds General Information (Act 66 update, current)