Scooter License in Ontario

[joestrummer]

Has anyone heard of a special scooter license for Ontario scooter drivers?

I have a 150cc Vespa scooter that I will be putting on the road this spring, what do I have to do from a license perspective?

Do I have to go for my M1 License?

[chadman]

Well, first you will have to get an M1 license and hold it for 90 days before getting an M2. They are pretty easy to get from a driver testing centre, by just passing a multiple choice test, but you will need one to ride your scooter. There are restrictions on the M1 such as no riding at night, no passengers and of course 0 alcohol.
Last fall the MTO introduced a special license for limited speed motorcycles see this link for more info. www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/dandv/driver/lsm.htm
I took a rider training course at the Rider Training Institute which I highly recommend. If you pass the course you get an M2 after 60 days instead of the 90. I think they just introduced a scooter training course for the spring so you might want to check into that. Most insurance companies will give you a discount after taking the course.

[big]

Honestly you'ld be better off trying for a full M licence than a restricted M. A full M allows you to operate a larger displacement vehicle, scooter or motorcycle. Just remember that with the M2 you need to wait 22 months before you move on to a full M or restricted M licence. Your M2 will expire after 5yrs., after which time you will be required to go through the M1 and M2 over again, so make sure you upgrade to your full M before this expires. I saw a lot of people at the M2 exit class who were a few months shy of their M2 expiration date. Enjoy and ride safe.

[chadman]

Well hopefully they will sort out the road part of the test before my M2 expires. As far as I can tell you have to go on a 400 series highway to pass the M and even though I got my M2 on a Kowasaki, I don't feel like going on the Don Valley or 401 and dueling with transport trucks on my LX150.
There seems to be a little bit of a grey area as far as the MTO testing is concerned when it comes to scooters over 50cc (with the white license plates). We apparently get the same test as the big CC Harley guys.

[rae]

If anyone has any advice, I would REALLY appreciate it!!

As I learned today, getting a licence for a scooter in Toronto is not as easy as one might first appreciate.

Ontario has two types of licence processes for scooters:

(1) LSM - scooters with engine capacities lower than 50cc
(2) M - scooters with engine capacities 50cc and over (this is basically the same as getting a motorcycle licence.)

I have recently purchased 150cc Vespa. Since I have no interest in learning to ride a motorcycle (that's why I bought a scooter), I figured I would one of the two courses in Toronto that offer scooter instruction. Both Humber College and the Rider Institute offer scooter training. These courses are for LSM scooters. Since I am new to the scootering world, I thought that, even though my scooter is bigger than an LSM scooter, I would take one of these courses anyway just to learn some skills. At these courses, after two days, both places will provide a drive test (LSM1 exit test) in order to qualify for an LSM2.

Because I need to take M1 exit test for my 150cc scooter (to qualify for an M2), I thought I would simply arrange with the Ministry of Transportation an M1 test exit test somewhere in Toronto.

Where here's where it gets messy for scooters over 50cc:

• The Ministry of Transport has no facility in Toronto that will perform an M1 exit test. You have to take your scooter to either, Aurora, Burlington, Brampton or Oshawa. Remember we can't ride on highways.
  
  
• For scooters under 50cc, you can get an exit test at Humber College or the Rider Institute with your course
  
  
• For motorcycles, you can get an exit test with most Ministry approved motorcycle courses in Toronto
  
  
  

So my options in order to qualify for an M2 are to:

• take a motorcycle course in Toronto (which I don't want to do) OR
  
  
• drive my scooter outside Toronto (which seems ridiculous)
  

Does this seems right to you? I'm baffled.

Rae.

[big]

Any reason why you're so dead set against taking the motorcycle test? If you take it through Humber or RTI, the M2 course is set up as a closed course test on 250cc machines and is super easy to do. They will provide you with the motorcycle and give you exceptional instruction on operating a two wheeled vehicle. You'll learn a lot about good riding habits, and danger avoidance, etc. The whole course takes place over an entire weekend and is designed to pass you, not fail you. If you just take the test at the Ministry, they could care less if you pass or not. A lot of the people who give these tests for the Ministry don't even ride.
Then you can go on and take the M Restricted licence for scooters and small displacement motorcycles. I don't know what the test is for the Restricted M, but I would assume because it's a small displacement category that it would not require you to go on the highway. Actually.....I was just reading the site and you may have to go through the Restricted M2 to get your Restricted M, which makes no sense to me. Have a look............
www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/dandv/driver/lsm.htm

My advice would be to go get your full M, then you have it and don't have to ever worry about the Ministry changing things around on you. Just my 2 Cents.

[chadman]

Well, I think the whole problem we have here is that those of us who have been riding for a while on 150cc automatic scooters with M2s are caught in the licensing neitherworld as far as graduating to the full M license goes. We don't have limited speed motorcycles so we cannot get the green plates and most of us don't want to get our scoots out on the 401 or the Don Valley for a test. With a good headwind I can barely get my lx150 up to 80km and I sure as hell don't want to borrow an unfamiliar chopper to take this test on.
The MTO should address this problem as soon as possible and create 50cc and up M license category or expand the existing M to cover smaller bikes with automatic transmission and add a "no series 400 hwy" restriction.