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  1. #1
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    Default MN 3 wheeled M/C test at Eagan location

    So today I took my Spyder to the dmv and took the test for the 3 wheel restriction license.

    I called and asked what they would test me on. She (after two calls and 2 supervisors being asked) they told me that I would be given the regular car exam.

    I wasn't quite sure what to expect because when I took my driver's license initially (18 years ago) was on regular city streets in a small town. This was a closed course test.

    When I arrived and got to the dispatch window I was told that I'd be given the 'moped' test. I told her I'd been told on the phone it would be the car test. She shut the window for a minute and when she opened it back up she said 'moped test' and told me to pull up and where to park.

    A while later an older gentleman came up and had me use my left and right blinkers, looked at both from front and back and had me use my brakes.

    Then he directed me to leave and take a left, go into a 'do not enter' area near the edge of the course and that he'd wave me in and give me instructions.

    I drove where he instructed and he waved me in and told me to make a circle around each of two cones he'd set up. I clarified that he didn't want a figure 8, but a complete circle around each cone. He said yes and then that I was to turn around and head back toward him and when he dropped his hand to perform a short stop.

    So I did as he said, made a complete, tight circle around cone one, then around the opposite way to make a tight circle around cone two. Then turned around and headed for him and short stopped on his command.

    He made comments about the wide turn radius of the Spyder but otherwise said I did fine.

    He then directed me out that part of the course and to the right toward the next intersection, just short of the DMV building its self. I pulled in and parked and he met me there. He then directed me to pull out, go through the intersection, take the next right (a red light with a no turn on red sign), proceed around the block back to him, past him through the intersection, to take a left turn at the stop and around the block back to him again. He said to be sure and use my signals, physically look over my shoulder during turns and lane changes and to keep my lane when turning.

    I did as he asked and when I parked next to him again, he said that I'd had a couple of short signals and that there were a couple of places where I'd failed to fully look over my shoulder. But he passed me.

    I had been convinced that I'd fail it and was shocked. But, that was a really easy test.

    I wanted to post this because it seemed that no one really knew what to expect for this test and I'd like for anyone else who's going to be doing this to have idea of what to expect.

    A couple other notes... He put an I restriction and a note to indicate 3 wheel only for my license. He also had to check to see how much they were going to charge. They essentially charge it as a duplicate license and the cost was $13.50. Be sure to take cash or your checkbook because they don't take debit or credit cards.

    I read a lot of stuff online about the driver's test in the Eagan facility and totally psych'd myself out with how tough people said it was and how many people said they flunked and how mean the dmv people were. Everyone I dealt with was very nice, complimented me and the Spyder. There was no trickery or attempts to make me fail.

    Happy to answer any questions too!
    Last edited by kytten; 06-04-2010 at 10:25 PM.

  2. #2
    Active Member sledhead's Avatar
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    Congrats on getting that behind you.
    I have the same thing on the back of my license.... restricted to a 3 wheeled motorcycle.
    That's fine by me... no 2 wheeling for me!!!
    Cheers.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by kytten View Post
    So today I took my Spyder to the dmv and took the test for the 3 wheel restriction license.

    I called and asked what they would test me on. She (after two calls and 2 supervisors being asked) they told me that I would be given the regular car exam.

    I wasn't quite sure what to expect because when I took my driver's license initially (18 years ago) was on regular city streets in a small town. This was a closed course test.

    When I arrived and got to the dispatch window I was told that I'd be given the 'moped' test. I told her I'd been told on the phone it would be the car test. She shut the window for a minute and when she opened it back up she said 'moped test' and told me to pull up and where to park.

    A while later an older gentleman came up and had me use my left and right blinkers, looked at both from front and back and had me use my brakes.

    Then he directed me to leave and take a left, go into a 'do not enter' area near the edge of the course and that he'd wave me in and give me instructions.

    I drove where he instructed and he waved me in and told me to make a circle around each of two cones he'd set up. I clarified that he didn't want a figure 8, but a complete circle around each cone. He said yes and then that I was to turn around and head back toward him and when he dropped his hand to perform a short stop.

    So I did as he said, made a complete, tight circle around cone one, then around the opposite way to make a tight circle around cone two. Then turned around and headed for him and short stopped on his command.

    He made comments about the wide turn radius of the Spyder but otherwise said I did fine.

    He then directed me out that part of the course and to the right toward the next intersection, just short of the DMV building its self. I pulled in and parked and he met me there. He then directed me to pull out, go through the intersection, take the next right (a red light with a no turn on red sign), proceed around the block back to him, past him through the intersection, to take a left turn at the stop and around the block back to him again. He said to be sure and use my signals, physically look over my shoulder during turns and lane changes and to keep my lane when turning.

    I did as he asked and when I parked next to him again, he said that I'd had a couple of short signals and that there were a couple of places where I'd failed to fully look over my shoulder. But he passed me.

    I had been convinced that I'd fail it and was shocked. But, that was a really easy test.

    I wanted to post this because it seemed that no one really knew what to expect for this test and I'd like for anyone else who's going to be doing this to have idea of what to expect.

    A couple other notes... He put an I restriction and a note to indicate 3 wheel only for my license. He also had to check to see how much they were going to charge. They essentially charge it as a duplicate license and the cost was $13.50. Be sure to take cash or your checkbook because they don't take debit or credit cards.

    I read a lot of stuff online about the driver's test in the Eagan facility and totally psych'd myself out with how tough people said it was and how many people said they flunked and how mean the dmv people were. Everyone I dealt with was very nice, complimented me and the Spyder. There was no trickery or attempts to make me fail.

    Happy to answer any questions too!
    Congrats on passing your test. I too, here in Washington had to take the tryke test. I hear there's 3 states that require a tryke license. You must be one of those too. My test was on a closed course around cones with weaves and turns and each segment was timed. If you didn't go fast enough, you failed that part of the test. I sure would'nt want to take this test on a standard tryke, needed to get up to pretty good speed because they wanted to see if you can handle your tryke under normal traffic conditions. The examiner was impressed on how well the Spyder did on the course and said there should be a different test for these because they made the course too easy for the Spyder. Glad it worked out well for you and now you can legally enjoy your Spyder.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by rider2554 View Post
    Congrats on passing your test. I too, here in Washington had to take the tryke test. I hear there's 3 states that require a tryke license. You must be one of those too. My test was on a closed course around cones with weaves and turns and each segment was timed. If you didn't go fast enough, you failed that part of the test. I sure would'nt want to take this test on a standard tryke, needed to get up to pretty good speed because they wanted to see if you can handle your tryke under normal traffic conditions. The examiner was impressed on how well the Spyder did on the course and said there should be a different test for these because they made the course too easy for the Spyder. Glad it worked out well for you and now you can legally enjoy your Spyder.
    MN does a regular motorcycle endorsement and the 3 wheel is actually a restriction on that. They expect most people to take the m/c safety course on two wheels which auto gives them (provided they pass the course) their m/c endorsement. If you get a 2 wheel m/c endorsement you're qualified to ride any motorcycle with any number of wheels.

    I didn't want to learn to ride a 2 wheeler, so I just watched the 2 wheel m/c course and then went and took my test on the Spyder. So I have a m/c endorsement with a 3 wheel restriction. I can only drive motorcycles with 3 wheels... More than fine with me.

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