My Kentucky Motorcycle Skills Test Journey
Woke up dead set on getting my motorcycle endorsement without emptying my wallet. Remembered my buddy Jim paid $300 for some fancy training course last year – no way was I doing that.
First thing Monday, I hauled myself down to the county clerk’s office. Guy behind the counter looked like he’d rather be anywhere else. Slapped down my $12 application fee and got that precious Kentucky Motorcycle Permit after passing the written test. Took three tries though – those right-of-way questions always trip me up.
Prep Work
- Dusted off my dad’s old Honda Rebel 250 sitting in the barn
- Spent $8 on traffic cones at Dollar General
- Practiced figure-eights in the church parking lot every evening for two weeks
- Burned through a whole tank of gas ($14) doing emergency stops
Test day rolled around sweaty and humid. Got to the testing site at 7 AM sharp only to find 15 other riders already lined up. The examiner – crusty dude named Earl – barely looked up from his clipboard. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the bike during the cone weave.
Made two big mistakes:
- Forgot to turn my head on the curve test (Earl yelled “Use your neck!” real loud)
- Locked the rear brake doing the quick stop – almost ate pavement
But somehow scraped by with exactly the minimum passing score. Paid my $13 endorsement fee right there at the testing center’s mobile office.
Total damage: $12 permit + $13 endorsement + $14 gas + $8 cones = $47. Took four weekends of practice but beat those $200-$300 courses. Pro tip? Learn to ride BEFORE you show up – saw six guys fail instantly because they barely knew how to clutch.
