What You Need to Know About Simmons Motorcycle Training
Simmons Motorcycle Training runs motorcycle safety courses, primarily aimed at new riders who want to get licensed without going through a full riding school. They offer both the Basic RiderCourse and the Intermediate RiderCourse, usually held on weekends at a handful of states in the Midwest and Northeast. The whole thing takes about a day for the basic course and two days if you already know how to ride and want to level up. The basic course is split into roughly equal halves: classroom instruction and range riding. You show up in the morning, get your textbook and materials, sit through about three hours of lecture covering vision, hazard recognition, braking theory, and how motorcycles actually behave when you throw them around. Then you head out to the parking lot to practice the skills you just read about. The instructor runs through slow-speed maneuvers, clutch control, swerving, and braking. You're expected to pass a skills test at the end. The intermediate course assumes you already passed the basic course or already know how to ride. It's all range work with some classroom time mixed in. You practice advanced braking, cornering techniques, swerving around obstacles, and managing different road surfaces. This one is more useful than the basic course for most people because the skills you learned on day one tend to fade within a few weeks of not riding.
You don't need any prior experience to sign up for the basic course, but you do need a motorcycle. Simmons provides bikes if you don't have one, but showing up with your own is cheaper and you'll have a better feel for the machine since you're used to its controls. Helmets and gloves are provided, but bring your own if you can. The rental helmets at these places are well-worn and rarely clean. I signed up for the basic course at Simmons because I'd bought a used 2005 Yamaha FZ6 and wanted to get my license fast. The whole process took about six hours on a Saturday. The classroom portion was competent but dry, and the range exercises were straightforward enough that even someone who had never touched a motorcycle could complete them if they paid attention. The skills test at the end is pass/fail, and they are genuinely lenient as long as you demonstrate that you can operate the bike safely. The only thing that tripped me up was the figure-eight exercise. I kept coming too sharp and almost dragged my foot. My workaround was to widen my turning radius by easing off the throttle before the cone instead of during it. That's something they don't explicitly tell you in class but it makes the whole maneuver much easier.
Pitfalls and What People Don't Tell You
The biggest issue with Simmons Motorcycle Training is scheduling. Their weekend slots fill up weeks in advance during spring and early summer. If you're trying to get licensed before a trip or before your registration expires, you need to book early. They also run fewer sessions in winter months because outdoor ranges get icy and unpredictable. I found out the hard way when I showed up in late January and they'd canceled my session without calling ahead. The weather had turned to sleet. They offered a reschedule date three weeks out, which ruined my timeline entirely. Another problem is the ratio of students to motorcycles on the range side. Simmons tries to keep it to about four students per bike, which is reasonable, but on busy weekends they sometimes push it higher. When that happens, your actual riding time drops significantly and the instructor can't give you meaningful feedback. If you can, pick a weekday session if they offer one. Those tend to be less crowded. The course will get you a completion card that satisfies the DMV licensing requirement in most states, but it doesn't guarantee you'll pass the road test if you choose to skip the course and go the traditional DMV route instead. The skills tested on the DMV road test are different enough from what you practice in the course that some people fail. Simmons instructors will tell you they prepare you for the test, but their curriculum is focused on safety fundamentals, not passing a DMV inspector's checklist. If you need the license and aren't sure which path to take, do the Simmons course first. It gives you actual riding experience, which the DMV-only route doesn't provide.
Get the Full Details
Cost-wise, Simmons Motorcycle Training runs between $150 and $300 depending on the state and whether you're taking the basic or intermediate course. That's competitive for what you get. You're paying for the certified instruction, the use of training equipment, and the completion card. It's not a premium product, but it's solid for the price. Some private riding schools charge double for similar content. The trade-off is that Simmons tends to run larger groups, which means less individual attention. If you already have a license and just want to refresh your skills, the intermediate course is worth it. If you're a total beginner, the basic course covers everything you need to be legally licensed and generally safe on low-speed roads. It won't make you an expert rider, but it's better than nothing, which is what most people who take these courses end up being anyway.
