Minnesota Motorcycle Safety Course
Verified against Minnesota Motorcycle Safety 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 →
In Minnesota, riders under 18 must complete a motorcycle safety course before they can get the license. This page covers who runs the course, what it costs, how long it takes, and exactly which tests completing it can waive.
Minnesota's motorcycle safety course requirements — including completion waiving the state skills test — are verified against Minnesota Motorcycle Safety Program (see Minnesota DPS — About the Minnesota Motorcycle Safety Program), current as of 2026-07-28.
Minnesota Motorcycle Safety Course at a Glance
| Program | Minnesota Motorcycle Safety Program |
|---|---|
| Who runs it | Minnesota Department of Public Safety, which coordinates the program and administers licensing and testing; Minnesota State (the state colleges and universities system) conducts the rider training courses on its campuses |
| Delivery model | Community collegesCommunity colleges and universities are the delivery channel. |
| Typical cost | — |
| Course length | — |
| Mandatory under age | Yes, under 18 |
| Waives the riding skills test | Yes |
| Waives the knowledge test | No |
The Minnesota Motorcycle Safety Center also offers an Intermediate Rider Course, an Advanced Rider Course, an Expert Rider Course, and a Motorcycle Road Guard course beyond the entry-level Basic Rider Course.
Created by state statute in 1982 in response to a record 121 motorcyclist fatalities in 1980, the program began operating in 1984 and adopted the Minnesota Motorcycle Safety Center (MMSC) brand in 1997. Instructors are certified by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation. DPS coordinates public information, media relations and testing and supports the training program with equipment; Minnesota State delivers the actual rider training courses at college and university campuses across the state. The program is funded through a dedicated Motorcycle Safety Fund, historically drawing on initial permit and endorsement-renewal fees.
What Minnesota’s course covers
Minnesota teaches the Basic Rider Course, 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 Minnesota differs: The Minnesota Motorcycle Safety Center also offers an Intermediate Rider Course, an Advanced Rider Course, an Expert Rider Course, and a Motorcycle Road Guard course beyond the entry-level Basic Rider Course.
Once you complete the course, see license requirements in Minnesota.
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.
- License, permit, fee and test rules come from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Driver and Vehicle Services. Helmet, eye-protection and permit-restriction rules come from Minnesota Statutes §169.974, as published by the Minnesota Legislature.
- The Minnesota Motorcycle Safety Center's Basic Rider Course, taught on Minnesota State college and university campuses, can substitute for the Department of Public Safety's own road test at any age; the written knowledge test is still required regardless of course completion.
- Minnesota requires a helmet of a rider under 18 and of anyone still riding on a motorcycle instruction permit, regardless of age. A fully endorsed rider 18 or older may ride without one.
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: Minnesota DPS — About the Minnesota Motorcycle Safety Program