Connecticut Motorcycle Safety Course
Verified against Connecticut Rider Education Program ·
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 →
Whether Connecticut mandates a motorcycle safety course by age is not published by the state's own program. This page covers who runs the course, what it costs, how long it takes, and exactly which tests completing it can waive.
Connecticut's motorcycle safety course requirements — including course fees from $150 to $850 and completion waiving the state skills test — are verified against Connecticut Rider Education Program (see Connecticut Department of Transportation — Connecticut Rider Education Program (CONREP)), current as of 2026-07-28.
Connecticut Motorcycle Safety Course at a Glance
| Program | Connecticut Rider Education Program |
|---|---|
| Who runs it | Connecticut Department of Transportation, which licenses training hosts and sponsors statewide, including CT State Community College campuses and independent private providers |
| Delivery model | State-approved sponsorsThe state licenses sponsors, who set their own tuition; the rider picks among them at market price. |
| Typical cost | $150–$850 |
| Course length | 16 hours |
| Mandatory under age | — |
| Waives the riding skills test | Yes |
| Waives the knowledge test | No |
CT State Community College's Basic Rider Course pairs the MSF eCourse (about 5 hours, completed independently before class) with roughly 11 hours of classroom and on-cycle range training over two days, and ends with a written knowledge test and a riding skills evaluation. Riders with prior experience and their own motorcycle may instead take the one-day Basic Rider Course 2 - License Waiver (BRC2-LW), pairing a 4-hour eCourse with about 6 hours of range time; it requires at least 600 street-riding miles or six months' experience. Semiprivate and private lesson formats are also offered at CT State campuses.
The Connecticut Rider Education Program is licensed by the state and delivered at multiple host sites: CT State Community College campuses (Gateway, Manchester, Naugatuck Valley, Quinebaug Valley, Tunxis) plus independent licensed providers including a Harley-Davidson dealership riding academy and a private motorcycle school. Motorcycles are provided for the Basic Rider Course; CT State prices its Basic Rider Course at $260 for residents, the BRC2-LW at $150, and semiprivate and private lesson formats at $425 and $850. Completing an approved course, at any host, is mandatory to obtain the endorsement — Connecticut has no path that allows a DMV-administered road test in place of it.
What Connecticut’s course covers
Connecticut teaches the Basic RiderCourse (BRC), developed by Motorcycle Safety Foundation. Full detail here.
The Motorcycle Safety Foundation's Basic RiderCourse is designed for beginning riders aged 16 and up, pairing about five hours of classroom or online learning with about ten hours of on-motorcycle training, and it ends in a written knowledge test and a rider skills test.
How Connecticut differs: CT State Community College's Basic Rider Course pairs the MSF eCourse (about 5 hours, completed independently before class) with roughly 11 hours of classroom and on-cycle range training over two days, and ends with a written knowledge test and a riding skills evaluation. Riders with prior experience and their own motorcycle may instead take the one-day Basic Rider Course 2 - License Waiver (BRC2-LW), pairing a 4-hour eCourse with about 6 hours of range time; it requires at least 600 street-riding miles or six months' experience. Semiprivate and private lesson formats are also offered at CT State campuses.
Once you complete the course, see license requirements in Connecticut.
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.
- Endorsement rules, permits, tests and fees come from the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles. Training facts come from the Connecticut Department of Transportation, which directs the Connecticut Rider Education Program, and from CT State Community College, one of the program's licensed hosts. Helmet and vision-protection rules come from the Connecticut General Statutes.
- Connecticut requires every motorcycle endorsement applicant to complete an approved novice safety course; there is no DMV-administered road test that substitutes for it, at any age.
- While riding on a motorcycle learner's permit, Connecticut requires protective headgear regardless of the rider's age, even though the general helmet law (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 14-289g) applies only under 18.
- Course tuition varies by host. CT State Community College publishes $260 for its standard Basic Rider Course and $150 for its intermediate licence-waiver course; other licensed hosts, including a private school and a dealership riding academy, set their own prices, which are not published centrally.
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: Connecticut Department of Transportation — Connecticut Rider Education Program (CONREP)