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
| Permit | Class 2 Instruction Permit |
|---|---|
| Permit minimum age | — |
| Permit fee | — |
| Permit validity | — |
| Minimum age (unrestricted) | — |
| License fee | — |
| Renewal | — |
| 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.
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)